_
Zim's plot was brilliant.
Dib's main power, as far as he could tell, was his mind. Despite his lack of physical strength, his brain was what gave him the power to keep coming back with mechanical devices and his (he grudgingly admitted) ingenious plots to try and stop Zim.
Therefore, the simple answer was to destroy Dib's brain. Mere nanotechnology had failed the first time, and he wasn't willing to try his luck again. Strapping him down for surgery would be difficult, and he wasn't very good with human anatomy anyway.
So, go from the outside. He had discovered while studying the humans for the past few years that they were at their weakest when they were emotionally injured. So, hurt Dib's heart and he could kill Dib's brain.
And what better way to do it, emotionally and spiritually crush his soul, then hold his heart already?
"Tomorrow, I declare my love for DIB!"
_
Weakness
Chapter 2: I Can Teach You
_
Dib shimmied back up the rope that led to his room's window. He flipped in, his head still spinning.
"You're back."
Dib started, then looked over at his bed. Gaz was seated there with her bookbag, hitting buttons on her GameSlave. "Wait."
Dib sighed, accustomed to his sister's ways, and waited until the tiny machine sounded its "winner" noise. "How many times have you won that game, anyway?"
Gaz ignored the snide remark. "Help me with this." She placed her machine to the side and unzipped her bookbag, pulling out her science textbook. "I don't get osmosis."
"Well, its really simple, Gaz-"
"Good. Its pages 147-155, review questions 1-10. Ill get it tomorrow."
"But-"
Gaz picked up her GameSlave and walked out of the room, leaving a silently fuming Dib. He sighed and picked up the textbook, flipping to page 155. Simple stuff. He penciled in the answers to the questions, then set the book aside. Gaz's notebooks and textbooks were filled with Dib's handwriting. It was one of the perks of having a genius brother. How else could she play her GameSlave all day and still pass?
Now, back to the quandary at hand-Zim.
Zim was his enemy. His sworn enemy, the driving force of his anger and his abiding obsession. It would make perfect sense for him to be in love with Zim, except for the fact he hated Zim's guts. But for Zim to love him, this threw a whole new perspective on his studies. Taken for a purely scientific standpoint, this was a breakthrough. Zim was capable of human emotion! Well, he already kind of knew that-Zim was very capable of maliciousness, anger, and delusions of grandeur.
But love! This was a whole new step for Zim studies-he was capable of the higher emotions. He decided to sign online and see who was in the Swollen Eyeball chatroom. Odds were he could find someone to compare notes with.
the chatroom was pretty slow, despite the fact it was about 11:00 at night. However, the Eyes were from all over the country, so busy times were anyone's guess. Usually things started really hopping around 2 in the morning, but Dib couldn't stay up that late (it WAS a school night) so he decided to see if any of the 3 people in the chat could help him out.
InvestigatorDib:does anyone know anything about alien emotion?
MulderGirl:Nope, sorry
AsTrObOt: nm
Optic_Nerve:What kind?
InvestigatorDib: love
Optic_Nerve:You consider love an alien emotion?
Dib paused for a second. Something about the way that guy had phrased that sentence worried him. Regardless, he needed the information. He typed:
InvestigatorDib: in this case Im studying, yes I do
He waited for a response. An alert flashed on his screen. Optic_Nerve wanted a private chat. It was easier to trade notes in a single chat place, so he clicked okay.
InvestigatorDib: hello, can you help me?
Optic_Nerve: Im sure I can, how old are you?
What an odd question.
InvestigatorDib: 15
Optic_Nerve: Im 18, that's old enough
Dib paused. this was getting weird. Curiosity pressed him on.
InvestigatorDib: old enough for what?
Optic_Nerve: This. grabs InvestigatorDib and kisses him roughly
Dib turned bright red. he glanced around to make sure his father or Gaz weren't lurking around.
InvestigatorDib: you misunderstand me, Im looking for information on aliens
Optic_Nerve: I understand plenty. licks your face You're a lonely boy, so am I. Why not just let go a little? runs his fingers down your chest and to your pants I can teach you about love, the physical part anyway. tugs at your waistline, pulling it down slowly
Dib turned an even deeper red. Despite himself, he could feel the things occurring like phantom images in his mind...ghost touches of a tongue, a hand-what would if feel like to just let go? what would it be like to just be accepted by another human being, just for a few minutes, even if never again?
What would it feel like to be accepted?
He flinched out his arm, shutting the computer off. He wiped a little of the sweat off his forehead. he had been so close to giving in.
"Damn." he muttered. "I really AM lonely."
