Have faith or just give up?
Over the next few days things just seemed off.
Dib could tell that Zim hadn't given up yet, but he wasn't acting quite right.
He was quiet, not bragging about whatever progress he had made in his latest scheme.
Even when Dib confronted him, he would give a small, snarky reply, then just ignore the boy.
Sometimes even climbing into the vents.
He could see the wheels turning in the aliens head as he sat alone at lunch.
Dib was hoping he was finally coming to terms with what had happened.
No one, not even Zim deserved to live like that.
Zim groaned in frustration, rubbing his eyes.
His contacts were bothering him more than usual today.
No matter how many times he had tried to reach the Tallest, how many messages he sent, there was never any answer.
The only reason he even went to skool for the last few days was to distract himself for a few hours.
Between trying to contact his leaders and working on something he had no doubt would get him back in their good graces, he felt like his brain was melting.
As annoying as he found humans, he needed these distractions.
He felt like he was getting weak.
Since when did irkens need breaks?
An irken elite like him should be able to work day and night without losing focus at all.
But his concentration had been slipping…
The thought of what he had done, the stress of worrying, all the 'what ifs'.
Not that he hadn't done similar things in the past.
But at least he knew that for a fact that Tallest Miyuki and Spork were actually dead.
Irkens didn't really mourn their dead, there wasn't much of a point to.
Irkens didn't form bonds, simple as that.
There wasn't a need to when you're all just expendable weapons.
They only had respect for those taller than themselves.
Zim was conflicted, he was torn between his belief in following his leaders at all costs and his instinct to leave the dead behind.
Not knowing was killing him.
"Computer, have you picked up any signals from the Massive or any of the armada yet?" Shouted Zim as he stepped through the door, tossing his wig and contacts to the ground.
"Still absolutely no trace of any irken, or any other signals coming from that location. Nothing, nada, zilch.." Replied the deep, artificial voice, tired of the whole situation.
Zim sighed, rubbing his antennae that were a bit sore from being stuffed under that cheap, itchy wig.
"I made a piiie!" Came a shrill cry from what could barely be called the 'kitchen'.
"What kind of pie?" Asked the little invader very cautiously, expecting something horrible and possibly dangerous.
Gir immediately came running at full speed at his master.
"Muuuuuud piiiiiiiiie!"
He then tripped and, before Zim could react, the 'pie' was launched into his face.
"Gir, you idiot!" He screamed as he wiped the mud from his eyes before he could open them.
"I love mud pie, especially the wiggly bits!" The robot said, picking a worm off Zim's face and slurping it down.
"Disgusting… You had better be glad I remembered the paste this morning!"
With that, he slung an armful of mud in Gir's face, which he seemed to enjoy.
"I'm gonna go get cleaned up. Computer, keep scanning! Gir, go eat your filth outside!"
"Yes sir!" Said Gir with his eyes flashing red and quickly putting on his costume.
"Yes master…" The computer affirmed, but in a snippy, sarcastic tone.
Zim just ignored them, getting into his toilet and flushing himself down.
Dib watch it all from the hidden camera he had managed to get in Zim's base.
'Hidden' in the loosest sense of the word.
It was barely concealed in a fake pig head haphazardly stuck on the wall.
He had told Gir it was a gift and to hang it up for him.
He had gotten the robots help before and learned he had about a 50/50 chance of Gir just eating whatever he gave him.
He had lost some very expensive equipment that way…
He switched to another camera and saw Zim wiping the mud off his face with a towel dipped in some sort of blue liquid.
"Stupid Gir! Why does he insist on filling my life with gross earth-filth? If it's not mud, it's cheese, pudding, taco sauce, or… I don't even want to know what that sticky gray and black stuff was…"
"Nyah!" squeaked Mini Moose.
"Really? I didn't even know that existed… Never mind that! There is more work to be done!"
"Nyah!"
"Don't worry, the cold on Pluto should keep it dormant for at least another thousand years."
"Nyah!"
" That's only if it finds a heat source!"
"Nyah nyah!"
" There's no way it can reach that! That's why I put it on the other side!"
"Nyah!"
"You worry too much! Go watch your lady prison show!"
The tiny moose gave one final squeak and floated away.
"Watch that language!" Zim crossed his arms and gave a disapproving glare.
Dib scratched his head, it was beyond him how the alien could understand anything Mini Moose said.
He was now very concerned about whatever Zim was keeping on Pluto.
Hopefully, if something did go wrong, and knowing Zim it probably would, it was too far away to get to Earth.
He sat and watched Zim type for the next few hours.
With the angle of the camera, plus the fact that he knew very little of the irken language, he couldn't make out what he was planning.
Eventually, his father poked his head through the doorway and told him to go to bed.
He sighed and hit the record button.
He was going to figure out what was going on and nothing could get in his way.
That night he had nightmares about giant, man-eating beasts and horrible, flesh melting viruses.
Zim had to be stopped.
I'm having a lot of fun trying to get inside Zim's head.
How would an irken think and what makes Zim different?
Creativity is flowing