Behind The Tube Glass
By alien freak And Xmimi89eR
story may contain gore/blood/violence/strong language
rating: T
ZaDr/ZaDf
English is my second language, my apologies if there are any mistakes.
disclaimer: I do not own Invader Zim.
SAVE GAME LEVEL?
Y/N
COMPLETE!
Gaz was waiting at her apartment door, it was around 7 PM, she was looking through her drawings as she waited for Dib. Gaz became a better artist over the years, and Dib liked to see what she draws even though she usually never show him, today she thought it would be nice if someone said something nice to her, and damn she had a lot of drawings, mostly about piggies and pizzas, but some were actually about her brother or even her father.
She looked up and saw Dib's car getting closer to her, so she put the drawings in her bag that also has her game slave then zipped it close.
It was nighttime, just like every time, just the way they both like it; Gaz liked dark and deep stuff, so nighttimes always gets her attention, for Dib, he likes the stars that comes with the night, he liked looking at them, what might be hidden in space, he always dreamed of space and stars.
Gaz walked passed the car and to the passenger seat, "finally," Gaz huffed, her brother wasn't late at all, she just wanted to say something rather than 'hello'
Dib was used to this, and said what he always says when they meet up "hi," looking at his sister from the corner of his eye, his gaze then went to the road as they headed to pizza hog.
The ride was silent as usual, but this time Gaz wasn't playing her game but looking through the window. They parked near the building and got out, the place smelled like cheese,
bad cheese.
Old memories rushed through the siblings' heads.
Gaz finds their usual table empty and sat down waiting for her brother to order. Even though their father rarely was there for them, he tried his best not to miss out this night, it was a family night, they don't talk but only eat, it's the time where she tries not to yell at her brother, it was the time where her brother tries his best not to talk about vampires, and the time where her father tries not to answer his phone; it was always quiet, and she liked it like that.
Dib finished ordering and sat in front of her, he looked as good as Dib might be, not that she saw him smile in the passed years, she know he's depressed and now broken;
she wanted him happy, but she rarely tried to make him happy, maybe a talk from now and then, but with time, he start avoiding venting to her, saying that he was annoying and should stop.
Her brother was annoying, but he was still her brother, she likes making fun of him but not like that, not in a way he can't handle.
She wanted the annoying Dib back, the childish boy who believed in the paranormal and never give up.
But all she could see now was a tired young adult, who still looked like a teenager at some point, a teen that's now the boss for the biggest science company the world knows, and to make matters worst, he hates science.
Gaz didn't know what to wait for, the pizza or the annoying tales from her brother, but she got non of both.
"How was work?" She finally found her voice, breaking the more annoying silence than her brother's voice.
"Huh- oh, it was..." he thought for a moment for the right word, "...weird..." yes, it was SO weird.
"Oh," Gaz kept her gaze at Dib, she would enjoy the silence, but maybe not this time.
Dib was playing with his hands on the table, he wasn't that depressed, but rather... strange.
"Is there something you want to tell me?" Not that she cared.
"...no," Dib said, not meeting Gaz's stare,
"Dib, don't lie to me," no matter how good he fooled others with his lies of being okay, he could never fool her.
"..." Dib didn't want to make his sister angry, so he tried to think of anything, "it's all just feels... wrong, like if everything i believed in was a lie..."
Gaz didn't know what he was talking about, but was glad he answered her, "what did you believe in?"
"My sanity..." Dib paused, "Gaz... do you think i'm insane?"
"Hm, yeah maybe," she thought that as her usual mean joke,
"What if I wasn't...?"
"Do you sleep at night Dib? It's been only two or maybe three days since you started working, it can't be THAT bad,"
"I know it's ju-" he started but the waiter cut him,
"Your order sir."
He put a cheese pizza with coke and fries on the table, "anything else?" He sound like he'd have a breakdown.
"No," Gaz said before taking a slice of pizza in her hand,
Dib looked at the food, he was hungry but didn't feel like eating, he only did it to please his sister; he opened his fries bucket and ate from it,
More silence as they ate, Gaz was already halfway through her cola and in the third slice of pizza, while Dib just finished his first and decided to eat more fries,
"You're not hungry? I told you not to eat anythin-"
"I didn't say I wasn't hungry, i'm just tired." He said and finally opened his cola to drink from it.
Gaz gave him a stare but shrugged it off to enjoy her pizza.
999999
The siblings finished their food and sat down in front of each other, no matter how Gaz ate pizza she never gained weight, but she wasn't as skinny as Dib was,
the boy looked like he never eat, and to make it worse, he was tall, she once called him 'slender-man'
her brother did not like it.
"Ready to go home?" Dib asked, looking at his full sister.
"Yea, i just wanna show you something," she said before shifting her hands to her bag to zip it open,
Dib leaned to take a better look, it was rare for his sister to show him anything,
"It's my drawings," she tossed them on the table, then leaned back as if she didn't care. Dib took the papers in his hands, his eyes wide at Gaz's drawings, they were good. He looked from one to another, and stopping at the drawings that shows him, one of them was him sitting on the roof, he wondered how his sister could catch a position of him with being seen, he blushed.
"Gaz those are amazing!" He said while looking at the drawings once again, then he locked his gaze with his sister,
"Hm." She said, acting cold.
"There's a lot of them, they're so good! Like.. really good!" He gave a small smile on his face while he tried proving how neat the drawings were.
"Have you tried drawing your own game? Like program it, and animate it?"
Gaz blinked, "i don't care, i like playing games more than wasting time to create them," even though she thought it was a nice idea, she still thinks she didn't have that much time, "i also have school remember?"
"Yeah, i do, but they're just good, i like them." His smile became bigger, he leaned to put the drawings in front of his sister as she stood up, ready to leave,
"Uh-huh..." she said, gathering her stuff and heading back to the car. Dib swore he saw her blush.
At less tonight's family night wasn't that bad.
999999
It was around 9 PM when Dib finally made it back home, he asked his sister if she wanted to come over, but she said he had work to do and needed sleep, and didn't want to stay alone in his apartment while he slept, he thought it was fair.
He tossed his keys on the kitchen table and went upstairs to his bedroom, he thought of a shower but decided to take it tomorrow morning since he was tired. He got his pajama out and changed with it, and put his trench coat on the closet door.
He looked at his room ceiling, his old room had a map of the universe on the walls, it had posters for his favorite TV shows, a lot about aliens and vampires, he had more than one computer screen beside his bed, files at the ground.
His old room walls were smoke purplish color with blue here and there, his bed beside the window, planets hanging from the ceiling, and his paranormal tools laid on the table.
He liked that room, better than the normal one he now calls his 'bedroom'
Maybe one day he'd change it to suit his discovery more, since now he was sure aliens exist, and that made him feel a little better.
He laid on his bed, which was also beside a big window, he opened it; it felt like the first time, but now he could finally look at the stars and think that all these years he was not insane, he today learned a lot, he now knows about some races and that they exist, and that there was one of them right in his hands, and actually seems quite nice as he talked about his past,
even though something felt weird when the irken's mood switched, maybe it was something he remembered, or maybe the thought of him being trapped, yet he was nice, more nicer than any human he ever talked to.
He kept thinking and dreaming as he drifted off, this time finally relieved, maybe life finally start smiling down at him.
999999
Dib's alarm went off, the boy found himself sleeping at the window, his glasses had fallen in his lap, he was glad they didn't break.
It was 6 AM, the usual time for him. He sat at the edge of the bed, neck and back hurting him of the bad position he slept in. He yawned, then rubbed his eyes.
The closet didn't have that much clothes, he realized he had to do the laundry soon. he got his clothes and went straight to the bathroom.
After fifteen minutes he walked out, one towel on his hips and the other on his head as he dried his hair, then tossed new clothes on, and headed downstairs, his hair towel still in place.
He opened the fridge and got out a leftover sandwich that he forgot to eat, put it in the microwave to heat up, then made himself a cup of coffee. He sat down at the table and scrolled through his phone, he had some unread emails, they were all about the same things he got from weeks ago, either about his father's death, or his co-workers and company.
He drank half of the coffee, and sighed, he thought he looked like some old man that is tired of his years job, he would have laughed at this if it weren't so depressing.
Speaking of depression, Dib felt a little better this morning, things weren't this good, but they were better he thought, at less he now knows his not insane, and even better, he now has a 'friend' (if you could say that), to talk to.
He ate his sandwich and drank his coffee, then grabbed his pack and keys, and headed outside for his car.
999999
The ride was like always.
He walked through the large doors, then through the long hallways till he got to the elevator, he pressed open and waited; when the door opened there was a man inside, another scientist, Dib didn't pay him any mind as he got inside and pressed the 7th floor.
The man smelled like cigarette.
"You're Dib right?" The man asked,
"Yes i am." Dib didn't want to make conversation with any scientist here.
"Oh you're the same boy i saw before," he said while taking a good look at him, "I didn't recognize you at first when i saw you behind the building, funny, you look just like your father." He smirked and leaned away.
Dib did not feel comfortable.
"Yeah i hear that a lot," said Dib, and tried to lean away from the man,
"Oh how rude of me! I'm 'Professor. Dale' a weaponry scientist, i used to be one of your father's friends."
"He never mentioned you." Dib wanted to say but stopped himself, and decided to stay quiet.
"So what does your father have in his secret lab?" Dale asked, his hands folded to his chest as he always does,
"It's secret for a reason," Dib said back, "and there isn't that big thing about it."
"Really? Weird, your father used to spend most of his time in there in the passed year," his smirk grow wider,
"What do you mean?" Dib felt a weird weight on his chest,
"I wanted to ask you the same question, is there something inside that we don't know? Are there some evil experiments on animals? Humans? Did your father catch something?"
The last line made Dib swallow, why is it taking so long for the elevator to move?
"Will you stop?" The boy finally said,
"Oh so there IS something." He laughed, "is it paranormal? I know you hate science, and i'm sure something caught your attention in there that made you come back here again." He was proud of his own theories.
Years of lying about him being okay made him a good liar, and made him able to keep a straight face, "yes i used to like the paranormal, but now i don't, i want to make my father proud, and that's the reason why i'm here, it's my dad's well after all." He shrugged, and kept a straight yet slightly sad face, he was good at this, he always hated it, but now it came in handy.
The man took aback and looked like he swallowed Dib's good lie, he didn't say anything after that, and finally he leaned to press the 4th floor even though it was already too late.
The elevator doors opened on the 7th floor, and Dib was more than relieved to be away from the weird and nosy man; he looked behind him at the elevator just before it close, Dale was looking at him, with a dark and blank expression.
He sighed, and made his way to his lab.
Dib was glad that he wore his lab coat before coming to the company, if that creepy man saw him with his trench coat, he wouldn't believe him; he guessed that Gaz's advice was at less helpful now.
he took off the lab coat and hanged it, this time, he'll get his laptop with him in the lab, Dib wanted to sign his laptop with the main computer, so he can get some access from home or if he was somewhere away from the main computer. he walked in from the waiting room, Dib thought it would be better to finish signing before going to see the irken.
the computer came to life the moment he stood in front of it, he blogged his laptop and begin his work.
after few minutes he got in with his own password, now he can control most of the lab, like some doors locks, lights, heat, all the data about the tubes, and some of the remaining cameras, he also can know if someone was near the doorway and can shut the main door till he gets there.
"not so bad," he hummed to himself, now that everything is in hand, and everything is more secured than before (especially from the creepy guy) the boy can close his laptop and do what he wants, which was, of course, going to see how the alien was doing.
he stood up, a part of him wanted more coffee, but the other part knew it was enough caffeine in his body. he hated those two voices, both of them had its own different opinion.
he got his laptop in his arms with some paperwork he should finish and made his way to the examination room.
the room was cold as always, he thought he need to change that later. in front of him was his yesterday chair, he shifted his eyes and looked at the irken who was playing with the device on his wrist, his antenna twitched at the noise of Dib's pace, and looked up, he blinked in surprise,
"so you weren't lying..." he said quietly, his gaze on the boy always.
Dib sat down, laptop in his lap and papers above it, he got a pen out; finishing all those will take at less an hour, but it was fine, he had a lot of time to spend in the lab.
he looked back at the alien and waved a hand, but didn't smile, the irken blinked twice, then he went to start writing on his papers.
few minutes passed, he could feel the alien gaze on him, "what are you doing?" Zim finally said, breaking the awkward silence between them.
"I have to finish those today," Dib replied but didn't take his eyes off of the papers. Zim leaned back a little, he hated being ignored, so he demanded the human's attention by asking another question, "what did you do yesterday?" he knew it was a stupid question, but no one ignores Zim!
and it did catch Dib's attention as his eyes were on the irken now, he stayed quiet for a second, "me and Gaz went to grab some pizza," Dib said, wondering why an alien is interested in knowing, Dib wanted to ask the same question but thought better of it.
he studied the irken expression, but it was hard, so his gaze moved to the antennae, they were in the back of his head but not as flat, he didn't know what emotion that was.
"uh.. are you okay?" he realized how often he was asking this question, Zim just shrugged, still no readable expressions on his face, Dib looked at him for a few moments.
if Dib was the alien, he'd be bored, and since he can't sleep, he'd have the whole night alone. the thought made Dib realize how damn lonely the irken must feel in the night,
he put the pen down and thought for a little, "how's your home planet looks like?" that was a question he wanted to see not hear.
Zim's antennae rose, he opened his mouth then closed it and went thinking for a while, the irken would have said why do you care? but remembered how interested the boy was in space,
he also wanted to talk, he liked talking, so he tried answering the question, "well, we d- d- don't get the chance to actually wander around the planet, we get born then immediately go to the a- a- academy to train when we are smeets,
the academy is underground- d- d; then we get assigned to invade planets, after that we get back home as heroes and real invader, we get the ch- chance to stay there till we get assigned to a new planet.
irk is like... it's a military planet, it doesn't h- h- have plants or seas, it's all metal, and red is everywhere," he said, while trying to remember more about his home, this made him realize, he didn't know that much, and never cared to know till now maybe, he missed his home.
"smeets?" he heard that word from the irken before but thought he heard wrong, now he was sure.
"eh? smeets are like... what you are like when you're born,"
"you mean babies? like kids?" a new alien word he'd have to put in his book.
"is that what you call them? but yes, kids."
"so that means you never had a childhood?" Dib asked, "what's a child-hood?" the irken was confused by these humans words.
"you get trained when you're first born? you never get the chance to have fun and stuff like that?"
"training is fun," Zim said, "when we're born, we get all the knowledge downloaded in our PAKs, so we don't have to waste years in learning, but yet we have to train our bodies and prove ourselves to the tallest."
"oh," Dib felt sorry for this, the alien didn't know what a childhood was and got trained all his life, that didn't sound fair at some point.
the boy was about to ask another question but Zim cut him off,
"so how's your planet is like?"
"you don't know...?"
"like I said before, I came h- h- here by an accident, i know nothing about this planet, I'm even g- g- glad that my PAK recognized the language." he wasn't lying, he didn't even think the tallest knows about this planet.
"uh-huh... well i guess the first thing about earth is, they don't believe in you, in aliens," Dib shrugged, he had a lot of fun time being the school joke because of his beliefs,
"they slightly look like me, but not exactly, for example, my sister has purple hair and a little shorter than me, and also, no one really has a scythe-hair lock like mine, well, no one but my dad," he paused, "earth has more liquid than land, we have animals, we have ranks, some places are more fancier than the other, we need years to learn everything from a place called school," Dib thought of what he could tell the alien.
Zim seemed to be thinking about the information he was getting, he didn't need it, but noted how different irk was from earth,
"your planet sounds boring." Zim said, shrugging,
"maybe," Dib also shrugged, he didn't know what else to say about earth.
"...my voot is still here right? my ship?"
"y- yeah," Dib did look and tried studying the ship, but it was so broken he feared he'd cut himself if he touched it, "it's in the other room," he wondered how his father got it on the 7th floor.
"When am I going to get out? i have a lot of work on it," said Zim, locking his gaze with serious expressions,
Dib was once again trapped, fixing the ship will take a long time, and he wasn't sure if there were even electrical wires in that room to attach the alien to. he swallowed, looking at the floor, "I... have work to do now-"
"don't try changing the subject, Dib." Zim said, he shot the boy a dark glare,
Dib blinked when he heard his name in the alien's tongue, he stared back, a little nervous but suspicious. the irken expressions darkened, and he folded his arms, Dib's head was blank, yet full of thoughts,
"it's now or never," Zim said narrowing his eyes, "or I'll never talk to you again, suit yourself." he thought this was the right thing to say, he knew the human liked talking, he also liked talking, but he won't like staying trapped in a stupid tube.
"We already made a truce, and it's not like I'll leave with a broken PAK." he continued,
Dib didn't like how dark the alien sounded, neither how dark he looked, his body was still, If he didn't have the laptop in his lap he would have played with his hands,
"so?"
"..."
"Dib,"
"I...-"
"it's now. or never."
the boy swallowed again, and squeezed his eyes shut, he now was annoyed more than confused, he took a deep breath, maybe he was insane after all,
"okay..." he said under his breath, "I'll do it..."
Zim's expression softened, eyes wide, he was going to be free from this filthy tube? "...really?" the word slipt out,
"yes, yes i will!" Dib snapped, "but you will have to stick to your part of the deal!"
"i won't kill you, irk...calm down," he said, taking aback at the loud yell, but then a big smile of excitement formed on his face, "my tallest finally!" he shouted happily.
Dib's anger faded, he looked at how happy the irken was, and thought if he had just made a mistake or not.
"come on, open it open it!" said Zim, his antennae high up, his smile never faded. Dib sighed, he hoped that the alien was telling the truth, "okay, you calm down, who knows if you're gonna have side effects after staying inside this liquid for months," Dib said, removing the laptop and papers away from his lap and on the chair as he stood up, he looked from the alien to the control panel, he was afraid, yet slightly excited for some reason.
"I am calm," said Zim, trying to calm himself,
Dib ignored him and leaned down to the screen, he felt like launching a monster that's going to eat him, but tried his best not to think of the worst results.
"You need to set," said Dib, looking for a moment at the irken then back to the screen, Zim did what he was told and sat (almost), even though he still looked taller because of the tube bottom.
Dib played with the controls like last time, a hiss was heard and the green liquid started vanishing in the bottom, "take a deep breath," Dib told Zim, he knew only the liquid had the oxygen, and when the tube is empty, the alien may suffocate, so he'll have to open it fast after.
Zim took all the air his lungs could handle, then put his hands on his mouth, for a moment he wondered how he could take breathes under a liquid without it getting in his mouth but shrugged it off, his antennae leaned back.
The tube now was empty, Dib hesitated, it was only a button, and he'll either be dead or he'd see an alien face to face. But now was no turning back.
'Open'
The glass hissed and started leaning down to the ground, Zim's eyes were shut, his hands still in his mouth, he refused to breath. The glass was halfway down, Dib took a step back, looking at the setting Irken who seemed unaware that the tube now was fully open.
His antenna twitched, a freezing cold air ran on his wet body, he opened one eye, then the other, blinking. After a few seconds he removed his hands and took a careful breath as if the air was toxic. Dib watched from afar.
Zim looked at his hands, he was free, he was no longer in that small tube, he can finally walk!
"Uh-huh! I bet ya earth filthy liqui--" he tried to stand up but failed horribly as he fell back to his face in the ground beside the tube, he coughed, then tried to set back up, he burst into harsh coughing that ended up by vomiting,
Dib held his gasp and walked back towards the irken who was now moaning on the floor, he took a closer look, the aliens vomit was green and it glowed, Dib immediately recognized it as the tube liquid.
Zim coughed and vomited again, then tried setting up but failed as he coughed and almost vomit more, he felt his spooch burn, "oww..." he gasped for air, and tried to get himself together but failed again.
He now was on his knees, head almost touching the floor, antennae flat against his head and his arms squeezing his spooch.
"Why-- on irk is it s- s- s- so cold in here..." he was freezing as air touched his wet skin,
Dib froze as he watched the irken collapse on the floor, he didn't know what to do, and started looking around for something, his eyes landed on what looked like towels,
Zim felt lightheaded, everything around him began to spin, his sight blurred and darkened and he couldn't feel his limps, his forehead touched the wet floor as he coughed, he felt a weight on his neck and couldn't hold himself, even though earth gravity was much weaker than irk, his never-been-used-for-months legs failed to hold him, he could see the humans shadow from the corner of his eye, or was it just his imagination? He didn't know, and couldn't care,
The irken's breath were harsh as he fought to stay awake. Dib now was standing beside the alien, he feared getting any closer, but the alien did nothing to him, he even stopped coughing and vomiting; Dib focused his gaze in the slightly dark room, the irken was unconscious now, he didn't know if that was good or bad, but probably bad.
The only signs that the irken was alive was the glowing from his PAK and the rise of his chest.
"Urm..." he didn't know what to do now, should he get the irken back to the tube? Or wait for him to wake up?
Dib leaned down and put the towel on his back, he was surprised to find that the liquid wasn't sticky but rather like water yet much thicker.
He moved the irken away from the vomit and wept what was left of it from his face. Zim was now against the bottom of the tube, wires still attached to him.
The boy was sitting next to the irken as he wept more and more of the remaining liquid.
When he was done, he tossed the towel away then got a new one and put it on the sleeping irken, it was cold after all.
"He should be awake soon..." he whispered to himself, it was another fact he knew about Irkens. Dib grabbed his laptop and tried figuring out the lights and the temperature.
The alien should be awake soon.
END OF CHAPTER FIVE!
Alien freak: i was kinda sick the passed few days so it was hard for me to write; the scene where Zim is collapsing in pain was actually how i felt but I didn't vomit thankfully :')
It's good to write from experience.
And oh yes here we go with some good parts! I hope my little baby is fine...
I know i've made my story in the worst time ever, since it's the end of the year and some of you had already started final exams, but damn i needed to get that energy out, forgive me :'0
Well, i'll see ya next time!
This was alien freak signing off.