Author's notes: Oh my gosh... I finally got motivated to start writing this again after how many years?
Anyway... long story short, my computer got a virus, and while I thought my documents saved onto the disk... they didn't for whatever reason. I lost several stories including this one.
Now I have to start over from chapter 3. -sigh- Finishing this is going to be challenging.
The Situation
"Oh shoot! Shoot shoot!" Lard Nar exclaimed as he ran down the hall. Two members of his crew had been trying to keep up with him, but they had fallen behind. He wasn't sure if Spleenk had managed to catch Dib before he fell into the sewer... if they hadn't, there would be very little chance of them recovering Dib alive.
He came to a stop when he reached the hatch that led to the outer deck.
"Boss, wait for us!" Shloonktapooxis yelled. He was flying so fast, he didn't stop in time, and he smacked into Lard Nar who had just pressed the handle. The result was pretty unflattering. They ended up falling out the door and sprawling on the ground.
"Shloon... get off..." Lard Nar spoke as he tried to push himself up off the floor. He felt dizzy. Maybe he should have waited a bit longer before rushing off... he was no longer in the Matrix. His body wasn't as fast or strong, and he hadn't given his mind enough time to adjust to the real world.
"Sorry boss... you just left so fast..." Shloonktapooxis said. He floated up, allowing Lard Nar to stand.
There lying only a short distance away was Dib... Lard Nar breathed a sigh of relief. The young man had landed hard on the metal deck, but he was there at least. This entire operation wasn't a failure, unless... he approached the unconscious human and checked his pulse.
Good. He was alive after all. This was always the problem with trying to free someone from the Matrix. There was never a guarantee that they would reach the Nebber alive.
"Let's get him inside," Lard Nar told his two crew members. Ixane had just rejoined them. He was pretty sure the three of them would be able to move the young man. They probably couldn't carry him at all, but they should be able to drag him at least most of the way.
Dib groaned. He felt like he'd just fallen from his office building again. His eyes fluttered open.
"Where...?" he asked when he saw the metallic ceiling.
"It's about time you woke up."
He sat up a bit too quickly and looked over at the blurred figure who was sitting beside his bed. His vision become spotted. He felt light headed. Then he realized he was covered in wires. "What is this! What's going on!" he asked in a panic.
"Would you just shut up Dib," Gaz growled. "Your voice is obnoxious..."
"Sorry..." he mumbled. "I'm just confused. What's going on?"
"You're in the real world now," Gaz told him simply.
"Oh..." he ran a hand through his hair and felt a large gaping hole in his head. "Uh, Gaz..."
"That's always been there," Gaz remarked with a smirk.
"Well at least you're the same as ever..." he muttered. "I was really worried you know. I thought you were dead."
"Here," she stopped playing her hand-held game long enough to hand him some glasses. "The captain told me to give you this."
Dib quickly put them on and glanced around the room. He was definitely not on board any human vessel. "Can I take these wires off?" His arms were tingling. It was a weird sensation.
"If you want to end up like a sack of potatoes, go ahead."
"You really suck at explaining things you know."
A door glided open, and Lard Nar stepped into the room. "That was much harder than I thought it was going to be..." he admitted, rubbing his sore back. He's taken some pain medication after he and Ixane dragged Dib all the way there.
He forgot Shloonktapooxis didn't have hands. Freeing children was much easier than freeing an adult. This was probably going to be the last time he attempted to free anyone over the age of twelve.
Gaz stood up from her chair. "I did what you told me to," she stated, sounding annoyed. "I'm going back to my room."
"Did you tell him anything?" Lard Nar asked. Gaz had been a part of his crew for a number of years now. He knew she wasn't very good at socializing, but he was kind of hoping she would at least talk to her brother, so his crew would be less scared of her. "You know... about maybe why he's here?"
"You brought him here," Gaz retorted. "As far as I'm concerned, that's you're job." She smirked at her brother. "By the way, you're naked."
Dib frowned in thought. His eyes widened, and his face became a shade lighter. Wait, did she just say... "Ahh!" He tried to cover himself, but there was nothing he could use, and he had limited mobility thanks to the wires. It's not like he could just jump off the table. "Why didn't you say anything before!"
"You should have noticed, it's your body," Gaz stated, snickering as she turned and left the room.
Lard Nar sighed. Hopefully Dib would turn out to be the chosen one... he really didn't want to free humans this way. It was just too dangerous. "I'll get you some clothes," he said.
"Why am I naked?"
"Err..." There really was no nice way to explain what happened to the Earth. "The humans are used like batteries to power the matrix... uh, batteries don't need clothes I guess was the thought there..." Lard Nar fished for an answer. He wasn't always sure what the Irkens were thinking. "Anyway, your vitals and everything look good. Those wires can be removed."
"What is this place?" Dib asked as he began slowly picking the wires off. He was still overly aware that he wasn't wearing any clothes. "And why was I covered in wires anyway?"
"Your sister really didn't tell you anything did she?" Lard Nar ran a hand down his face. "Well... for starters, we needed a reading on your heart rate and blood pressure. Your body just suffered a pretty big shock. We didn't want you to go into cardiac arrest again or anything. Also, you haven't been using your muscles now for many years while you were floating in that tank."
"Yeah... I guess." There was a machine beeping on his right. He assumed that was probably the monitor. There was another machine sitting beside the one making noise. Most of the wires were connected to that one. "But where am I?"
"You're on the Nebber," Lard Nar explained. "It's a small ship... there isn't a lot of room. I'll give you a tour after the Letter M finds you some clothes. Right now you're in the med-bay."
"The Letter M has been here the whole time?" Dib questioned. He hadn't seen him since middle school. Everyone thought the Letter M had run away from home or something. After a few years, his parents gave up looking.
"He was the first one we were able to successfully remove from the Matrix..." Lard Nar said.
"What do you mean successfully?"Dib asked raising a brow.
"Uh..." this was a bit more embarrassing to talk about. "Well... Spleenk didn't learn how to catch over night... and that pill I gave you had to be modified a few times. The Letter M was the first successful experiment you could say. We managed to get him out somehow, but since we didn't have a system, everything was kind of sporadic."
As Lard Nar was talking, the Letter M walked into the room with a bundle of clothes. "I heard that," he informed the captain as he handed the clothes over to Dib.
Lard Nar cleared his throat and adverted his gaze from both of the humans who were giving him a weird look. "It's still a risk every time we do it... but the important thing is you're out now."
"Ok, you can tell me more in a minute," Dib spoke. He was eager to get dressed, but he didn't really want to do it with the others in the room. "After I get dressed," he added.
The captain and the Letter M took the not too subtle hint and stepped out into the hallway.
With them gone, Dib took a second to reflect on what he'd been told. The life he'd been living for the past seven years had all been an illusion. According to the captain, he had been rescued from that dream world because they believed he could destroy the Irkens.
He got dressed in what he suspected were the Letter M's clothes. They were a bit small on him, but he couldn't really see himself fitting in anyone else's.
No longer naked, he headed towards the door. Lard Nar was waiting for him in the hallway, but the Letter M had gone someplace else. The ship didn't really look that big.
"How are you feeling?" Lard Nar asked.
"Not bad considering," Dib replied adjusting his sleeves. "So I've been stuck in an alien tank for a few years... and now I'm on board your ship."
"That's right."
"Ok..." he ran a hand through his scythed hair and winced when he felt the hole in his head. "So... what's the plan?"
"You need to get caught up with the rest of us," Lard Nar admitted clasping his hands behind his back. "There's a lot you need to learn before you're ready to re-enter the Matrix. Don't worry, learning will be fairly easy." He began walking through the corridor. "Come with me. I'll introduce you to my crew."
Dib followed along behind the captain, looking around at the small space. The walls were a dull grey colour, and there were wires and cables along the ground. They passed by two steal doors and climbed up a latter.
There were a few computer systems set up on metal tables with wires twisting along the wall and over a portion of the floor. Five metal chairs with bizarre machines connected to them were set up on the far side of the room. One of the nearby screens had an endless flow of green lettering and a small satellite was fixated.
Dib couldn't help staring at all of the machinery that appeared to be mostly computers and other recognizable devices. There were a few unfamiliar pieces of alien technology thrown into the mix.
Sitting at one of the monitors was the Letter M. He seemed engrossed in whatever he was doing. The short chubby Irken from before was sitting in another chair. He smiled when he noticed Dib and his captain, and he spun around to face them.
There was another alien holding a wrench. This one had four arms, and it seemed to be working on fixing up one of the machines. Nearby was a strange looking purple cone looking thing hovering around and another alien dressed in a purple cloak.
"You!" Zim shouted, pointing a finger at Dib. "It's been a long time earth-smell! Did you enjoy your suffocating filth tank?"
"Zim...?" Dib questioned. He couldn't believe that his old nemesis was really there, shouting at him.
"I warned you didn't I?" Lard Nar told him.
"Yeah, you did," Dib said.
"Hello," the alien with the wrench greeted.
"That's Spleenk," Lard Nar explained. "Ixane is the one wearing the cloak, the other Irken is Skoodge, and he's Shloontapooxis." He gestured to the floating cone alien last.
"What is all of this stuff?" Dib questioned.
"Did your brains turn to mush Dib-stink?" Zim teased. "Surely even you can recognize computers when you see them!"
"They aren't just regular computers," Lard Nar continued with the explanation. "They're what allow us to connect to the Matrix." He walked over to one of the metal chairs. "Come sit here, I'll show you."
"Um..." Dib raised a brow. He was curious about the different devices, but he wasn't sure he wanted to be used as an alien experiment.
"We've all been," Lard Nar tried to coax him. "Several times."
"Yeah, it's much safer than being flushed into the sewers," Spleenk encouraged. "And you've already done that."
Everyone stared at the mechanic as the whole room fell into an awkward silence. "Too soon?" Spleenk asked.
"Until you've been flushed yourself, you shouldn't joke about it," the Letter M responded.
"Sorry," Spleenk said sheepishly.
Dib decided that trying out a cool piece of technology out-weighed his trust issues with aliens. If it wasn't for the captain, he would still be stuck in that virtual world. He already owed Lard Nar a favour.
"Well... alright..." he agreed somewhat hesitantly.
Fun Fact: in the original fic, Lard Nar and his crew had a lot less trouble carrying Dib. Lard Nar and Shloon also didn't have a wipe-out on the way to the deck. And you would have never known that if I didn't put this here. xD
I'll be updating this fic whenever I feel up to writing it. The motivation comes and goes. Stupid writer's block.