Hi, guys! Hope you're ready for this chapter! It's super dark...

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Chapter Seven: Dib

I watched after Gaz and Dad as they left me alone. They were the first friendly faces I've seen in a long time. I don't know how long. How many days have I been here? I can barely remember.

"So, Dib," a familiar and high-pitched voice shouted, "things are going good for you here, aren't they?"

I glanced at Zim and found him leaning against the table with his chin resting in his hand. GIR had climbed up onto the seat next to him. His question was clearly sarcastic, but I answered it anyways. Exactly like I was told to. "Yes. It's good here."Despite the fact that I was doing what they asked, I still tensed, though I tried to logic my way through my fear. They're not going to hurt me for doing what they said. I'll be okay. I just have to not freak out over Zim's green skin. I keep thinking that he comes to visit me at night, but that can't be true. No one can get in here unless they're let in, so that begged the question, "What are you doing here, Zim?"

"Oh, I'm just here to visit my friend," he answered casually, picking his head up.

"We're not friends," I corrected. I was still reasonably sure that Zim was an alien, added to the fact that I still remember all of our interactions at Skool. Alien or not, we're still horrible to each other.

"Of course we are!" Zim yelled before quickly lowering his voice. "We saved the Earth from that hamster remember? That hamster I altered with my alien technology."

I tensed at his words. I remember that. I remember everything, but I can't say anything. I can't.

"Then there was Tak," Zim continued. "Remember Tak? She tried to suck out the core of the Earth. Then you stole her ship and worked and worked on it until you got it to fly for you."

I gritted my teeth to keep from yelling at him. What he was saying was rousing all of the memories again. I can't say anything. I can't. But the urge to try to convince the people here that Zim was an alien was hard to fight because if I managed to make them believe me, they'd let me go.

"What's wrong, Dib?" he asked. "Dog got your tongue?"

"It's cat got your tongue," I spat.

"I'm a dog!" GIR exclaimed.

GIR's voice made me jump. I had almost forgotten that Zim's "dog" was actually a robot. It was getting harder and harder to bite back the words that wanted to come out. Dad, Gaz, please come back and get him to stop talking.

Zim's mouth warped into a twisted form of a smirk. "That's right Dib. The dog is a robot, remember? And me?" He reached up and grasped the edge of his wig, shifting it slightly. One of his antenna slithered out from underneath the wig. "I'm an alien."

I shouted. I couldn't take it anymore. I stood up and leaned into the table. "Get out of here, you alien!" The doors burst open, and the two doctors who escorted me here rushed in. I knew I should be afraid. I had broken their rules, but I was too angry to care. "You cold-hearted space monster! You sent me here!" I shouted. The "doctors" grabbed at my arms, trying to force me back down into the chair. "No!" I yelled, straining to pull my arms free from their grasp. "Let me go!"

A sharp, electric pain coursed through my side, reminding me who was really in charge here. I cried out in pain but still refused to sit back down. The damage was already done. All I could do was warn Zim to stay away from me.

The doctors started to drag me off, and though I fought against them, they were stronger than I was. My heels scrapped against the floor as they pulled me out of the room. "You stay away from me, alien scum! I never want to see you again! You sent me here!"

The doors to the visitors' area closed in front of me, blocking Zim from my vision. My dad stood beside the double doors, a tablet in his hand. He looked up from it and watched me as I pulled against the doctors dragging me off. I didn't need to see his eyes to know that disappointment lied behind his goggles. Gaz came up next to him and watched me, too, though there was something in her expression that was different than her usual apathy.

The doctors dragged me into the elevator, and as the doors closed, they electrocuted me again with one of their shock prods, forcing me to stop because of the pain. "Dib, we understand that learning this new information is difficult for you," one of the doctors said with a sympathy that I knew to be fake, "but we thought you understood that our rules are here to help you." His voice took on a much darker tone, dropping the fake sympathy completely. "You cannot accuse people of being aliens. Do you know why?"

I knew their answer as to why and my dad's answer as to why, but I wasn't going to say anything. If I say anything, it will only reinforce their ideas in my mind and eliminate my own. I have to keep my own mind intact.

After a second or two more of silence, the doctor sighed. "We had hoped to only lock you in your room for a time out, but it looks like we need to use the tank again."

I tensed at the mention of it. Not the tank. Being in the tank was calming at first, but after a while, I started to see things. It hurt.

The elevator dinged, and the doors opened onto my level. I had hardly noticed that the elevator had moved at all. The doctors towed me from the elevator and turned left down the hall.

I dreaded every second to the tank room, and we arrived there all too soon. The doctors forced me inside and onto the platform where they shoved me into the tight, plastic suit and zipped me inside. The slipped my hands into gloves and wrapped my wrists in tape. They pushed me deeper into the room until we came to the large tank of water.

"Now, Dib," a voice said, ringing through the speakers in the ceiling, "while you're in there, I want you to think about what you did in the visitors' room today. I hope that you will come to the realization that what you did was wrong. You cannot accuse people of being aliens because…" The voice trailed off. They were waiting for me to answer, but I refused.

The two doctors beside me shoved earplugs into my ears and lowered the helmet over my head. It covered my entire face and went all the way down to my neck. There was only one hole, and it was connected to a tube that would provide me with oxygen. I felt the doctors press around my neck as they sealed it with duct tape, and the tight suit wiggled around my as they connected the suspension cords before they roughly shoved me forward.

I knew that I was floating in the water, but I couldn't feel anything. I wasn't wet or cold, and I had no sense of gravity. I couldn't even tell if I was floating with my face down in the water or if I was on my back. I couldn't see or hear, and the air that was pumped into the helmet had no scent to it. Complete sensory deprivation. There's nothing wrong with a little sensory deprivation, but after an extended period of time, I knew from experience that you started to hallucinate, and after they pulled you out, you're so senseless that you'd listen to anything they tell you.

I tried to focus on my breathing, making its sound as loud as possible to give me something, anything, to remind me that I still existed. I knew it wouldn't be enough, but I had to try.

I eventually saw things in the darkness. I saw Zim and GIR. I was in his base below his house. He was laughing, but I didn't know what about. GIR was running around with Minimoose on top of his head.

A bright light suddenly flashed, and the scene changed. It was too bright, but I couldn't close my eyes or lift my hand to shield my gaze.

"Dib," a voice called, "listen to me. Zim is just a human boy with a skin condition. You cannot accuse people of being aliens because…"

The voice trailed off, waiting for me to answer. I knew what to say. It was the only thing that could be true. "Because aliens aren't real."

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope to see you soon for chapter 8!