I'm not going to bother with a disclaimer again. You should already know all of that from earlier chapters.
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CHAPTER FOUR-- Destination: Earth
"Ship, bring up the map of the Universe. Show me the route from here to Earth." I ordered.
"Ooh, what planet is that?" OIR asked, touching Irk with one of his robot hands.
"Don't touch that screen!" I shrieked.
The ship's computer, thinking that I now wanted to go to Irk, stopped in the middle of the line it was making to Earth, and curved it to head back to Irk.
"Now, look what you've done!" I said to OIR angrily.
"What did I do? Are you talking about that line?" It replied in confusion.
"You ruined the path. SET IT RIGHT!" I lost my temper temporarily.
To my surprise, OIR listened to my command, its eyes flipping back to red. It somehow turned the curve of the line away from Irk and back towards Earth.
"What? How did you do that?" I asked in wonderment.
"I don't know." OIR replied, flipping back to green.
"I'll figure you out later." I said, staring at the map and trying to memorize the path to Earth. It was no use, it was a very complicated path.
"Ship, move the map to the secondary screen and show the front view on the main screen!" I ordered.
OIR went red again and somehow helped the ship's computer complete the task. I ignored it and looked back to the front screen.
"OIR, there's an intersection up ahead." I said, but was interrupted before I could finish.
"Oh, is there? I've never seen one of those before." OIR said, again green.
"LISTEN TO ME! Look on the map and tell me what way to go!" I said, becoming frustrated.
"Yes, Mistress!" OIR said, snapping back to red. She consulted the map as I had told her to and she relayed the answer. "The map shows to go right."
"Thank you OIR." I said, turning the ship right and continuing on. "Where's the next turn?"
OIR looked at me, thoroughly confused. She was once again green. "What turn? Where? I don't see any turn."
"Grrr!" I said. "Look at the map and tell me where to turn next!"
"Oh." OIR switched back to red and looked at the map. "Turn right when you reach the planet Nucimna."
"Thank you, OIR." I said again. She switched right back to green.
"Nooooo problem."
I sighed and accelerated the ship, looking for any signs of the planet Nucimna. I eventually saw the planet. It had to be Nucimna, because a city of solar-powered lights shone in that word.
"Well, that's a new one. I've never heard of a planet that shows their name to the whole Universe." I observed.
"I like it!" OIR replied, giggling. "I would have never known what planet it was otherwise."
"Are you going to be like this the whole trip?" I asked in exasperation.
"I dunno." OIR said, looking through the back-view screen to see the shining lights of Nucimna.
"It's going to be a long trip." I said wearily, consulting the map for where to go next. I didn't trust OIR, who was still staring at the Nucimna lights, with the job anymore.
It took us another two months to reach Earth. It was on the edge of the galaxy, whereas all the major planets were grouped in the middle.
"I don't see any way that the Earth people could be very smart. They are too far away from everything." I said to OIR.
"You never know. They might be brilliant." OIR responded.
"Then why have we never seen any Earth creatures in our part of the galaxy? You would think that they would be able to send spaceships to our area if they were smart enough to."
"Oh, yeah. You're right, and I'm wrong. You're so much smarter than I am." OIR said.
"You have a job to do." I said, changing the subject. "Ship, remove the map of Earth from the secondary screen and replace it with several screens of Earth people in their daily lives."
"Ooh." OIR said, looking at the images. "They have pretty animals."
She pointed at a picture of a creature with fur, four feet, and triangular ears. "Can I use that animal for my disguise? Pleeaase?"
"Okay. Look at the creatures and tell me all you can about them." I ordered.
OIR turned red again and stared at the screens for a full twenty minutes, until I prompted an answer out of her.
"Well."
"Well what?" She asked, turning to green.
"Tell me what you found out!" I said.
"Oh, you mean that." She turned back to red and brought her robot arm up to her forehead in salute. "The only sentient species on the planet are the humans. They are the ones with the two legs and peachish skin."
I spotted a screen that showed a larger human, probably female, holding the hand of a smaller one that was probably male.
"The young are the smaller ones, while the adult are the tallest."
"Thank you, OIR." I said. "I will take the form of a human and you can take a...a...."
"I'm going to be a kitty!" OIR yelled happily.
"Yes, you will be a 'kitty'." I said, then added to the ship, "Ship, Locate the Irken Invader named Zim."
The ship responded by showing four pictures of his location. The first one showed his up close, then further away in each of the others.
I had never seen Zim before. I knew what he must look like, because the only difference between Irkens was our size. I knew that I looked like him, except that I was a girl.
Right now, he was wearing his disguise. He looked exactly like a human, except for his green skin. He was in a building with several others humans. The building was labeled "Skool".
"So, this is where the humans learn, is it?" I observed.
"I think so." OIR replied.
"If he's taking the role of a human youth, then so will I." I decided. "It's time for us to make a landing on this planet."
"Where will we live?" OIR asked curiously.
"I don't know yet. You do have a good point, though. We need a home." I replied. "Ship, locate a vacant area near where Zim's home is."
The ship did a quick scan and eventually showed me an overview of Zim's home, with an empty lot only a couple streets away.
"We will build a home there." I said, "Ship, fly us closer to the lot and land in the middle. And, do it silently!"
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CHAPTER FOUR-- Destination: Earth
"Ship, bring up the map of the Universe. Show me the route from here to Earth." I ordered.
"Ooh, what planet is that?" OIR asked, touching Irk with one of his robot hands.
"Don't touch that screen!" I shrieked.
The ship's computer, thinking that I now wanted to go to Irk, stopped in the middle of the line it was making to Earth, and curved it to head back to Irk.
"Now, look what you've done!" I said to OIR angrily.
"What did I do? Are you talking about that line?" It replied in confusion.
"You ruined the path. SET IT RIGHT!" I lost my temper temporarily.
To my surprise, OIR listened to my command, its eyes flipping back to red. It somehow turned the curve of the line away from Irk and back towards Earth.
"What? How did you do that?" I asked in wonderment.
"I don't know." OIR replied, flipping back to green.
"I'll figure you out later." I said, staring at the map and trying to memorize the path to Earth. It was no use, it was a very complicated path.
"Ship, move the map to the secondary screen and show the front view on the main screen!" I ordered.
OIR went red again and somehow helped the ship's computer complete the task. I ignored it and looked back to the front screen.
"OIR, there's an intersection up ahead." I said, but was interrupted before I could finish.
"Oh, is there? I've never seen one of those before." OIR said, again green.
"LISTEN TO ME! Look on the map and tell me what way to go!" I said, becoming frustrated.
"Yes, Mistress!" OIR said, snapping back to red. She consulted the map as I had told her to and she relayed the answer. "The map shows to go right."
"Thank you OIR." I said, turning the ship right and continuing on. "Where's the next turn?"
OIR looked at me, thoroughly confused. She was once again green. "What turn? Where? I don't see any turn."
"Grrr!" I said. "Look at the map and tell me where to turn next!"
"Oh." OIR switched back to red and looked at the map. "Turn right when you reach the planet Nucimna."
"Thank you, OIR." I said again. She switched right back to green.
"Nooooo problem."
I sighed and accelerated the ship, looking for any signs of the planet Nucimna. I eventually saw the planet. It had to be Nucimna, because a city of solar-powered lights shone in that word.
"Well, that's a new one. I've never heard of a planet that shows their name to the whole Universe." I observed.
"I like it!" OIR replied, giggling. "I would have never known what planet it was otherwise."
"Are you going to be like this the whole trip?" I asked in exasperation.
"I dunno." OIR said, looking through the back-view screen to see the shining lights of Nucimna.
"It's going to be a long trip." I said wearily, consulting the map for where to go next. I didn't trust OIR, who was still staring at the Nucimna lights, with the job anymore.
It took us another two months to reach Earth. It was on the edge of the galaxy, whereas all the major planets were grouped in the middle.
"I don't see any way that the Earth people could be very smart. They are too far away from everything." I said to OIR.
"You never know. They might be brilliant." OIR responded.
"Then why have we never seen any Earth creatures in our part of the galaxy? You would think that they would be able to send spaceships to our area if they were smart enough to."
"Oh, yeah. You're right, and I'm wrong. You're so much smarter than I am." OIR said.
"You have a job to do." I said, changing the subject. "Ship, remove the map of Earth from the secondary screen and replace it with several screens of Earth people in their daily lives."
"Ooh." OIR said, looking at the images. "They have pretty animals."
She pointed at a picture of a creature with fur, four feet, and triangular ears. "Can I use that animal for my disguise? Pleeaase?"
"Okay. Look at the creatures and tell me all you can about them." I ordered.
OIR turned red again and stared at the screens for a full twenty minutes, until I prompted an answer out of her.
"Well."
"Well what?" She asked, turning to green.
"Tell me what you found out!" I said.
"Oh, you mean that." She turned back to red and brought her robot arm up to her forehead in salute. "The only sentient species on the planet are the humans. They are the ones with the two legs and peachish skin."
I spotted a screen that showed a larger human, probably female, holding the hand of a smaller one that was probably male.
"The young are the smaller ones, while the adult are the tallest."
"Thank you, OIR." I said. "I will take the form of a human and you can take a...a...."
"I'm going to be a kitty!" OIR yelled happily.
"Yes, you will be a 'kitty'." I said, then added to the ship, "Ship, Locate the Irken Invader named Zim."
The ship responded by showing four pictures of his location. The first one showed his up close, then further away in each of the others.
I had never seen Zim before. I knew what he must look like, because the only difference between Irkens was our size. I knew that I looked like him, except that I was a girl.
Right now, he was wearing his disguise. He looked exactly like a human, except for his green skin. He was in a building with several others humans. The building was labeled "Skool".
"So, this is where the humans learn, is it?" I observed.
"I think so." OIR replied.
"If he's taking the role of a human youth, then so will I." I decided. "It's time for us to make a landing on this planet."
"Where will we live?" OIR asked curiously.
"I don't know yet. You do have a good point, though. We need a home." I replied. "Ship, locate a vacant area near where Zim's home is."
The ship did a quick scan and eventually showed me an overview of Zim's home, with an empty lot only a couple streets away.
"We will build a home there." I said, "Ship, fly us closer to the lot and land in the middle. And, do it silently!"
