I stood on my own as I waited for the Great Assigning to begin. I hoped to spot Tak, remembering that her dream as a smeet had been to become an Invader.
He wouldn't try and talk to her - he just wanted to see how she had turned out.
He felt something tug on his leg. Looking down, he saw Daff, his SIR unit, as expected. "What?" Nij asked, not at all irritated.
"Something bad's happening back on Seeltra. We should return and see if we can use the situation to our advantage," Daff stated to his master.
"Awesome!" Nij said, already imagining what could be happening and how to use it to his advantage. "But the ceremony..." he looked up at the still empty stage. "Oh well, there'll be others."
"Master?"
"Yes Vicky?"
"I feel obliged to inform you that the Great Assigning is to take place soon. Were you not planning on attending?"
"I was planning on attending, but I wasn't planning on making it to the bonus level in my game this soon."
Vicky looked above her head, where a screen was poised with images on it moving so quickly and erratically that her optical sensors had trouble keeping up. "So are we going or not?" she asked her master.
"Guess not. Stupid bonus levels disable the pause function. Wait wait...Damn the Tallest, I died. That's incredibly discouraging. Oh, high score. Should have seen that coming. D. A. L. that's convenient, just enough spaces for the letters in my name." Dal shut off her videogaming system (V.U.), and the screen above Vicky's head went blank. Retracting the screen back into her head compartment, Vicky picked up on something.
"Master, I have just received a signal from our base on Tikop. There seems to be a situation over there, and I would advise we go investigate immediately."
"What type of situation?" Dal asked, becoming serious. Both these things were rare occurrences - a "situation" on Tikop and Dal acting serious.
"Cause is as of yet undetermined," Vicky replied. "But according to readings it is serious. A severe increase in weapon use in the last 4 Tikopian sun cycles."
"That is pretty bad. Let's go."
"I have an urgent message for the Great Meek."
"Regarding?"
"Earthen planet colonies Seeltra and Tikop."
"Please wait a moment," the guardian Meekrob said, going gracefully through the doors to inform the Great Meek of the messenger's arrival. A few moments later he returned, motioning for the messenger to go in. The messenger bowed to the guardian Meekrob and entered the hall.
The messenger approched the throne of the Great Meek, who was in the midst of meditating. Without moving an energy wave, he said "I have been sensing disturbances on Seeltra and Tikop for several days now. What have you to report?"
"The two Earthen colony planets seem to have gone to war against eachother. It seems as if we were introducing new technologies to them too quickly for them to adjust."
"Interesting," the Great Meek said, pondering. "It makes some sense though, since humans tend to have unstable social and political structures easily sent into turmoil when too many new advancements are made in a short period of time. When we give a human on Earth the Meekrob powers, we cannot include any exterior technologies. Please tell this to the Scouting Head immediatly."
"As you wish, Great Meek," the messenger said bowing again before exiting the hall.
"So, what information were you able to gather?" Dal asked Vicky, sensing the SIR's return from scouting.
"As the sensors indicated, the source of the disturbance was an increase in weapon use. It appears that the Tikopian people are at war with the neighboring planet Seeltra," Vicky reported.
"Hum..." Dal said, pondering. Vicky couldn't tell what she was pondering though, since she was playing on her V.U. at the same time. "Seeltra also has humans from Earth on it, correct?"
"Yes," Vicky replied, accessing an Irken database. "Humans abducted from Earth by the Meekrob have been placed on both Tikop and Seeltra."
"And they say we're evil," Dal noted with a hint of anger in her voice.
"So what's the news?" asked Nij.
"Well, the disturbances our sensors picked up was a significant increase in weapon use by the Seeltran people. It appears that they have gone to war with humans on Tikop, a nearby planet," reported his SIR.
"Interesting. I'll need time to come up with a way to use this to our advantage. Does the situation show any signs of resolving itself?"
"None whatsoever."
There was silence between them for several minutes. "Is planet Tikop," Nij began to say slowly. "Not a part of Operation Secret Power?"
"It seems likely," replied Daff. "Tikop also consists of humans abducted from their home planet Earth, just like Seeltra. It seems likely the Almighty Tallest would send an Invader to Tikop. I would advise asking them before making any moves."
"Good idea Daff," Nij said, sitting up from his leaned pack position. "Get them on the Comm. This could be very good, very good indeed."
"Greetings, my Almighty Tallest," Nij said once the faces of his two leaders appeared on the Comm. "I trust all is going well with you. Is Operation Impending Doom II in full swing?"
"Yes yes, the Great Assigning went well, plus we were able to get rid of Zim. Now, what do you want Nij?" Tallest Red asked. "We're busy."
Nij raised an invisible eyebrow. "Doing what?"
"Eating snacks!" Tallest Purple answered, popping some chips into his mouth.
"Anyway," Nij said, glaring at the Irken snack jealously. "I was wondering if you could answer a question of mine. Is Tikop a part of Operation Secret Power?"
"Yeah, i' is," Tallest Purple replied with his mouth full. Swallowing, he continued, "Invader Dal is there, I think. Why?"
"Well, Seeltra and Tikop have gone to war against each other. If there was another Irken on Tikop, I was hoping to see if I could collaborate with them and possibly use the war to gain both planets at once."
"Well, I know for certain that Dal is there," Tallest Red said. "So go ahead and give her a call. You'll be lucky if you actually get to talk to her though," he muttered. Nij didn't notice, though, because he was bowing.
"Thank you for the information my Tallest. I shall keep you updated on my - or possibly mine and this Dal's - progress." The communication cut, Nij relaxed. "This day is getting better and better," he said happily to himself.
"Master, there is someone on the Comm that wishes to speak to you."
"Is it the Tallest?"
"No, it looks like another Irken Invader," Vicky replied.
Dal frowned, puzzled. "Coming," she said, standing up but not taking her eyes off her V.U. As she walked to the Comm room she would make the odd jab at a key. "What?" she said, once she was in the Comm room. With her excellent peripheral vision she saw another Irken, most likely male, on the screen.
"Hello, my name is Nij, and I am an Invader of Operation Secret Power stationed on Tikop. You are Dal, I presume?"
Dal raised an invisible eyebrow, concentrating equally on her game and this - interesting - conversation. "Yes, I am Dal. Make it quick though, I'm on a boss level."
"I had been wondering if you would consider working together with me to take both Seeltra and Tikop. I'm sure that we could figure out a way to use this new war to our advantage."
Dal considered this offer. "What's in it for me?" she asked.
"Glory for and infront of the Tallest, and a faster return to planet Irk."
Dal pouted, both because of losing a life in her game and because of what Nij said. "But I like it here, I can easily conquer it at my own pace, plus the humans have some decent games here. So I'll pass on your offer for now."
Then Nij said something that he immediately regretted "What, are you afraid to show you're an incompetent Invader who never looks up from her V.U. to see the sky is blue?" his calm demeanor was shattered, displaying his very rare temper.
What he said also brought out a rarely seen side of Dal. Her eyes flamed, and her hands shook as she hit the pause button on her game. She looked up at Nij, and he finally got a good look at her face, contorted in the anger he had felt a moment ago. "Do you doubt my competence?" she said in a loud, angry whisper. Without waiting for an answer, she continued "Only the best Invaders, those hand-picked by the Tallest for their skill and not height, are a part of Operation Secret Power. I would not be on Tikop if the Tallest did not have confidence in my ability to conquer these humans and thwart the Meekrob ON MY OWN. And I WILL take it without your help!" she said in a calm, angry voice, staring daggers at Nij on the screen. The transmission ended abruptly at that point.
Dal, her hand still on the Comm controls, looked over at her SIR, who was standing in the doorway calmly. "Vicky, I want you to set up surveillance on the planet Seeltra. Locate the Irken base there, and set up standard surveillance on it. Make sure they don't notice."
"The inhabitants of the base?"
"Especially them. Best keep it a secret from any humans there too if possible, I don't want to be accused of interfering with another Invader's mission without their consent."
"Should I do in-SIR surveillance as well, or should we rely sorely on the equipment's data?"
"Go there for a human hour everyday."
"Yes master," Vicky said, leaving, knowing that Dal had nothing else to say.
Dal, now alone, realized how angry she had been. Her fists were clenched so tight that her gloves ran the risk of stretching. Releasing her grip on nothing, she reached for something to throw. The first thing she touched was her V.U., but she snapped to her senses right before she was about to throw it at the wall.
Nij stared at the blank screen that stood before him. "Daff," he said, barely hearing himself. "In trying to make a friend and ally I have made an enemy. I have never failed in such a way." He sat there for several minutes, thinking things over as his SIR looked on. "Daff," Nij finally said. "Keep a close watch on the exterior of the base. I have a feeling Dal may try and spy on us in some way. I'll take over watching the other monitors while you do that."
Daff nodded and backed out of the room. He knew better than to say anything to his still furious master.
Comments: Hi there! Well, this is my first venture posting-wise here on fanfiction, so I hope I've done everything right ^.^' This is the first part of my (semi-long) story entitled The Butterfly Effect. The story will feature Zim, Gaz, Dib, and Tak from Invader Zim, but the first two chapters serve to introduce my OCs who will also come into play here and there. I have eight parts written to date, but I don't have all the time in the world so the posting of each part here won't be instantaneous. I hope to have them all up by the beginning of the week after next.
The Butterfly Effect (all chapters!) can also be found on my deviantART account, whose link can be found on my profile.
What do you guys ask for here, ratings and reviews? That's gonna take some getting used to. Anyway, until next time, this is Grav logging off.