Hello folks, how have you been? Personally, I'm doing GREAT! All my finals are over and tomorrow is the last day of school! :D This was my first year of high school and while right now I'm sooo EXHAUSTED I can still tell that this year has been really rewarding. I've met lots of new friends and I think my artistic skills has improved greatly. I'm gonna enjoy summer break so much but I'm really looking forward to next year of school :)
Anonymous replies:
Guest: Here it is and I hope your still excited :D
Chocolate334: *EXCITEMENT OVERLOAD*
Guest: Oh, I know that feeling! I'm about to leave a review but then I get busy or I can't think of anything at the moment so I just leave it for later. That's fine though, no need to be sorry c: And yes, things are definitely heating up, so stay put!
Chapter 19
Lard Nar noted how Dib looked extra tired when he arrived at the lab the next day. The teen greeted them sloppily and basically fell into his chair, sighing.
"Tough night?" Sev En asked, looking amused. Dib groaned and nodded. That was when Zim arrived, marching angrily to his own chair without looking at Dib. Now that was strange, what had gotten their panties in a twist? Lard Nar shared a looked with Sev En, who looked just as confused.
"All right, I'm just gonna go ahead and ask. What's those angry faces about?" Lard Nar said. Zim opened his mouth, but Dib was faster.
"Nothing! Zim wanted to do a thing and I said no, so now he's throwing a fit." Zim huffed heavily and stuck his tongue out at the human. Well, that sounded believable. You didn't need to know Zim for a long time before realizing he would get angry if thing didn't go his way.
"All right, but let's not have that affect our work today", Lard Nar said," I guess you know how to push your bickering aside and work, right?" Personally, he thought that should be a qualification on every work place.
"Yeah, yeah, we'll work all right", Dib sighed. There was a bit of a silence where Zim grumbled and whined to himself.
"Despite that Dib is a dookie with no understanding of the amazingness in my idea, Zim is still willing to work side by side with him for now", Zim said after a while.
"... Right", Lard Nar said,"Well then! Sev En, why don't you enlighten us on what we're going today?" Sev En sighed at that.
"I'm afraid we cannot stall this any longer. Our work is pretty much in stand-by until we find a suitable subject to attach the PAK to. I suggest we spend our full time searching for a fitting species from now on. We might need to travel to other planets."
"Great", Lard Nar huffed", any suggestions?"
"I think-" Dib began.
"ME! Pick me! Pick ZIM! Zim can be the cyborg! Me!" Zim interrupted loudly, standing in his chair and raising his arms. Dib groaned and hid his face in his hands.
"Yeah. This is what we were fighting about", he mumbled. Lard Nar stared at Zim, still standing with his raised arms, but now glaring daggers at the human boy.
"Zim? Why on Vort would you want to be our subject?" Sev En asked gently.
"Beacuse-"
"Because he saw GIR and thought that robots were cool and now wants to be one", Dib interrupted quickly, earning an even angrier glare from Zim. But then Zim grinned and nodded.
"Yes! That's it", Zim said victoriously. Lard Nar and Sev En shared a dubious glance. Was this for real?
"Zim, I don't think that is a good enough reason for us to pierce your spine with metal and replace your eyeballs with optical implants", Sev En tried, to which Dib nodded fiercely.
"That's what I told him! But he won't listen!" Dib exclaimed. Lard Nar's thoughts couldn't help but consider the possibility though. Zim as their first test subject? Well, he seemed willing enough. He was intelligent, that was for sure, even more intelligent than any Vortian could have realized. And yesterday, he shuddered, yesterday Zim had acted without second thought to save him from falling to a certain doom.
Lard Nar's over dramatic gasp put a sudden stop at Zim's and Dib's bickering.
"It makes perfect sense!" he said, almost not believing it himself," Zim has all the qualities we're looking for." Dib stared at him, almost desperately.
"You're not helping my cause, Lard Nar", he whined. But Lard Nar had started thinking about it and couldn't help himself.
"You haven't even considered it", he retorted and was going to add more, but Sev En stopped him with a hand to his shoulder.
"This requires more thought", Sev en said," Zim, your suggestion is of a very serious matter and I think you need to think about it for a while longer before deciding."
"But I did think! I thought for an eternity and I am sure!" Zim said.
"You can't be serious", Dib said, looking and the two Vortians in doubt. "You're encouraging him to think this is a good idea!"
"I'm afraid we are low on options, Dib", Sev En said. Dib sank into his chair his an exasperated sigh.
"He's my friend", he mumbled," not some lab rat."
"I know that", Lard Nar snapped back," heck, I just started liking him myself! I don't want him hurt either, but we can do this! Sev and I are professionals at what we do, or else we wouldn't be here. And you're a genius, Dib! Just look at what you've discovered about Zim. You have your father's genes and everything that he accomplished, you could do twice as good!" Dib looked somewhat bashful at that, and Lard Nar knew he was listening," Zim, or anyone who we decided to do this on, really, couldn't be in safer hands!"
Lard Nar stood up at the end of his speech, one fist in the air and the other gesticulating to his coworkers. There was a bit of awkward silence where no one really knew what to say. Lard Nar coughed and sat down again.
"Still don't wanna do this", Dib mumbled. Then that speech had all been a huge waste of breath. Lard Nar sighed.
"Because you're a whiny smeet", Zim muttered, arm crossed.
"We do not need to decide this today", Sev En shrugged," Why don't we all go home and think this over thoroughly and we'll discuss it tomorrow."
"What? But it's still morning", Sev En whined. There was nothing else to do though, so he stood up and stretched.
"Why do I get the feeling it's all decided already and you just said that to please me?" Dib muttered bitterly and stood up.
"I don't know what you're talking about", Sev En said sweetly.
Dib and Zim left soon after that, leaving the two Vortians standing idly in their lab. Sev En turned to Lard Nar with wide eyes.
"Oh my gods, Lardy! It makes perfect sense! Zim is the one we've been looking for! I think he might cope perfectly with having a PAK attached to him!" He exclaimed, excitement shining in his eyes.
"I know! He's stubborn, loyal and intelligent! With proper training, he could help defend the empire against any attacks!" Lard Nar answered, just as excitingly.
"The Irken race as a whole could be the race we are looking for. With the right guidance, maybe Irk could become a civilized planet and the Irkens could work together with us!"
"Yeah..." Lard Nar breathed, almost blown away at the new possibilities. And to think this would have seemed like crazy talk just two days ago. Or, at least, even more like crazy talk … "That would suddenly make this project a whole lot bigger, huh."
"It could be worth it", Sev En smiled, seemingly having contained his excitement for the sake of Dib and now, he could finally brainstorm with someone just as excited as him.
"But Dib … "Lard Nar frowned. Without Dib's cooperation, they couldn't go through with this.
"He is just worried. Maybe he will be less emotional tomorrow, and then we'll try to convince him", Sev En said," We cannot forget that Zim is his friend. It comes naturally to care about your friends."
"Your right, I guess", Lard Nar sighed. He didn't see the need to worry about it. Off course they would take on every safety measure available.
"Off course I am", Sev En said.
...
Zim looked out their window, delighted at the raindrops falling from the sky outside.
"Dib! It's raining! We're going out!" He exclaimed. Dib didn't look up from where he lay face down on his bed. But he heard how the rain hit the window and thought that, at least, the weather knew how he felt and had decided to share his sour emotions in the only way possible.
"Nah, I'm not in the mood", he said into his pillow.
It wasn't that he didn't trust the Vortians. He was pretty sure they wouldn't screw up if they used Zim for the project. After all, his dad had succeeded at the same thing. But …
"Nonsense! Get in the mood then so we can go out", Zim huffed.
… Zim was his friend. He'd gone from an interesting object to study, to a weird sort of acquaintance slash pet, to Dib's friend. Maybe even his best friend ever. Not that he had many to begin with.
Dib looked up. Yup, it sure was raining a lot.
"We don't even have any raincoats! We'll wait until it stops raining", he said, turning so he was on his back. Zim groaned and flopped onto his own bed.
"Also, GIR would break if he got wet", Dib added, thinking that might change Zim's mind. The Irken looked up, eyes wide.
"Why?" he asked.
"Why?" GIR asked as well, from where he was under the bed.
"GIR's a robot. He's all wires and electricity and stuff. All that water would make him short circuit and he'd explode", Dib said, somewhat enjoying how Zim's face turned into one of horror. Under the bed though, a series of maniacal giggles could be heard.
"I WANNA explode", GIR said. Dib snorted. He'd come to terms with GIR's lack of self-preservation and keenness to random outburst, and it sort of made him understand why Zim liked him so much. There was just … something. Something cute about it.
"Let's not go out", Zim decided. Satisfied, Dib closed his eyes and went back to worrying. He had until tomorrow to find an argument strong enough to change Lard Nar and Zim's mind about this whole thing. He grimaced. Why would Lard Nar even think this was a good idea? Dib admitted he felt a bit betrayed by that, he hadn't thought anyone would really agree to Zim's idea. It was so perfectly crazy in his own head, why didn't Lard Nar see it too?
At least Sev En was being somewhat reasonable. Though if it was up to Dib, this wouldn't even be an issue. There would be no 'Let's talk more about this tomorrow'. There would just be a plain 'NO' and then the whole thing would be done with. They'd move on to find a different subject. Maybe get some ice cream, I dunno.
"Zim", Dib sighed. It was futile to try to change Zim's mind, he had learned that yesterday. But his human stubbornness made him try once more," I can't let you do this. The process of turning someone into a cyborg this advanced is both dangerous and painful. I'm not about to stand by idly while you go through that just because of some stupid impulse you had."
"I do not fear pain!" Zim answer proudly," and it cannot be more dangerous than my life on Irk was, eh? I will manage the turn-into-robot procedure because I AM A … ehhhh … what's the word in human … someone-who-does-not-die-er."
"A survivor?" Dib said, a small smile playing on his lips.
"YES! Zim is a survivor!"
"Oh, well. I guess I can't argue with that logic", Dib smiled.
"So you are convinced? PERFECT", Zim said. Once again, Dib turned serious.
"No. I'm not convinced, but I don't see how I'll ever win this argument. Especially against Lard Nar tomorrow, so I figure I might as well deal with it and do what I can to keep you safe throughout the project", Dib said. Zim didn't seem to see the logic, though. But that suited him just fine.
"... So you'll let me be a robot?" Zim asked suspiciously. Dib sighed. He couldn't believe what he was about to say.
"Yes, Zim. You can be a robot."
TBC
I'm happy that I managed to finish this chapter so fast. I though I wasn't gonna be able to write until school ended, but here I am :D
Also I'm not sure if they've actually used the term PAK before in this fanfic (I forget details like that lol) but I decided to have them start doing that now.
/Sagapaga, who wishes you all the best of luck and an amazing summer.