Unfinished Business
The car pulled up silently in front of the oddly shaped green house. The parodies of pink flamingos were bent over in the lawn, the lawn gnomes deactivated for good. Dib turned off the engine but didn't move.
"You sure you want to do this?" Rin asked.
"I have to." He glanced in the rear view mirror and tilted it so he could see his daughters face. "You stay with Rin okay Puppy?" Dib used her nickname.
She nodded. "Okay daddy." Her little eyes strayed to the house then to the empty spot beside her. Gir had suddenly flown off with a brilliant flash of red in his eyes.
Dib had hoped to question him about why Zim would leave so abruptly from the sight of the Irken symbol. But all he knew was what Collie told him. That Gir had suddenly turned red and screamed 'I obey, Master!' and taken off.
Dib opened the driver side door and got out. He leaned down to the window to Rin who was sliding in to take his place. "Give me two hours."
"Two?"
Dib nodded. "Two, I don't know what'll happen in there, it might take some time to even find Zim."
"If he's in there."
"He's in there." Dib said straightening up. He flashed a smile to Collie then went around the car through the front gate.
The house was boarded up, the front door locked tight. He whirled a key ring on his finger as he went. The door took some persuading to unlock but he finally got it. One more look back to the car waiting by the curb and he went in.
* * *
At first there was nothing. No lights no sounds. Then the computer kicked out of sleep-mode and allowed Dib to see. It looked the same, a bit dustier, but the same.
He made his way to the middle of the living room floor. "Computer." He said. There was a little beep of response. "Take me to the 'Main Lab'."
An error sound grated through the air. "Voice unrecognized, not cleared for 'Main Lab'."
That wasn't right. Dib had put in a patch to make the computer recognize him as a valid personnel Irken. He bit his lip. "Zim. Let me down there."
The floor started to lower suddenly. He almost fell over.
Good, this was getting him somewhere.
But the floor elevator didn't take him to the Main Lab. It took him to the maintenance bay where the Bubbly-looking Voot Cruiser sat its shield raised waiting for someone to enter.
Dib took a few steps towards it then stopped. Halting little metal footsteps echoed from the shadows.
Gir wobbled from the dark. His head hanging at an odd angle and his bright blue eyes had dimmed considerably. His arms swung uselessly by his side. If he hadn't been a robot Dib would have sworn he was the walking dead.
"Gir?"
The dim blue eyes flashed a deep red for a moment then went back to blue. A mechanical hiss of static escaped him then. "Master remembers now." His voice sounded broken down and full of static.
"What does he remember Gir?"
Girs' head rolled to the other side as a warped vocal sound came from him. "Betrayed." Was all Dib could make out.
"Betrayed by who?" Dib circled around to the left trying to see if anything was outwardly wrong with the SIR unit.
A pair of murkily-transparent tendrils tipped with ghostly claws slid from Girs small form. The sound of tormented metal scraped through the air. Then they subsided back into Gir and the sounds faded. "Tallest." Gir said vaguely. "Master goes to find them." Girs normal voice said, his eyes brightening for a moment before dimming almost to black.
"Will he return?" Dib asked no longer trying to circle the droid.
"Yesss - sss." Girs voice trailed off into static. "Return to C-collie." A squeal of feedback echoed for a moment.
Dib watched Gir walk awkwardly to the Voot Cruiser. He climbed into it with what looked like great difficulty. The shield slid down and Dib felt his stomach turn.
There sat Gir, but he wasn't alone. Zim was there, the real Zim, not the twisted spirit that remained of him. He looked like just before he died. Small but ruthless, he seemed to be adjusting controls. The Cruiser suddenly fired up.
"Zim." Dib said quietly feeling rooted to the spot.
Red eyes clouded by the clear-ish shield turned to him with a customary disdain. The Cruiser lifted up and Gir waved good-bye then it sped up crashing through everything and whirling away through the sky.
Dib looked up through the hole and pulled his coat tighter around him. "Bye Zim."
* * *
"Ha, I have you now!" Red crowed moving his game piece across the board. The game he and Purple were playing, while vastly different than Chess was about as close as you could come to an Irken comparison.
Purple narrowed his eyes. "That was a step below illegal and just above underhanded." He said trying to find a way out of the trap.
"But it's still legal and allowed by the rules." Red smirked and settled back in his char.
Purple was mid glare when the door to their compartment hissed open. "Who?"
They both saw what looked to be a small SIR unit amble in awkwardly. The little robot lurched forward as if it only had half the control of its body that it needed.
"What is the meaning of this?" Red demanded narrowing his eyes at the droid.
Girs' eyes dimmed nearly to black and emitted a stuttering of sounds. "Ma-a-aster re-re-turns." Was the only intelligible thing he had said.
"Who sent you?" Purple asked.
Gir suddenly rose up a few inches into the air. Neither of the Tallest seemed taken aback by this, things floated and flew around them all the time. But what made them shudder was the new voice the SIR unit spoke in.
"You sent me to die, and die I did."
Reds' eyes widened. "It can't be."
"Surely it's a joke, the thing is programmed with his voice. Just a joke." Purple said pulling away from the sight.
"I had thought." The Zim-like voice continued from Girs' mouth. "That the Dib-Human had been my source of this sensation of betrayal. But I remembered." What sounded like a madness drenched laugh sent Girs' body into a fit of twitching. "It was you!"
"We, I mean." Purples shivered, the room temperature had dropped.
The sound of metal twisting and being tormented out of shape filled the air. A black haze that was in the rough shape of a tall Irken with clawed tentacles where Arachnid-legs usually were sprang forward. A mad rush of angry red eyes, cold pain and sounds of squealing metal were the only things either Tallest knew until there was nothing left.
End
The car pulled up silently in front of the oddly shaped green house. The parodies of pink flamingos were bent over in the lawn, the lawn gnomes deactivated for good. Dib turned off the engine but didn't move.
"You sure you want to do this?" Rin asked.
"I have to." He glanced in the rear view mirror and tilted it so he could see his daughters face. "You stay with Rin okay Puppy?" Dib used her nickname.
She nodded. "Okay daddy." Her little eyes strayed to the house then to the empty spot beside her. Gir had suddenly flown off with a brilliant flash of red in his eyes.
Dib had hoped to question him about why Zim would leave so abruptly from the sight of the Irken symbol. But all he knew was what Collie told him. That Gir had suddenly turned red and screamed 'I obey, Master!' and taken off.
Dib opened the driver side door and got out. He leaned down to the window to Rin who was sliding in to take his place. "Give me two hours."
"Two?"
Dib nodded. "Two, I don't know what'll happen in there, it might take some time to even find Zim."
"If he's in there."
"He's in there." Dib said straightening up. He flashed a smile to Collie then went around the car through the front gate.
The house was boarded up, the front door locked tight. He whirled a key ring on his finger as he went. The door took some persuading to unlock but he finally got it. One more look back to the car waiting by the curb and he went in.
* * *
At first there was nothing. No lights no sounds. Then the computer kicked out of sleep-mode and allowed Dib to see. It looked the same, a bit dustier, but the same.
He made his way to the middle of the living room floor. "Computer." He said. There was a little beep of response. "Take me to the 'Main Lab'."
An error sound grated through the air. "Voice unrecognized, not cleared for 'Main Lab'."
That wasn't right. Dib had put in a patch to make the computer recognize him as a valid personnel Irken. He bit his lip. "Zim. Let me down there."
The floor started to lower suddenly. He almost fell over.
Good, this was getting him somewhere.
But the floor elevator didn't take him to the Main Lab. It took him to the maintenance bay where the Bubbly-looking Voot Cruiser sat its shield raised waiting for someone to enter.
Dib took a few steps towards it then stopped. Halting little metal footsteps echoed from the shadows.
Gir wobbled from the dark. His head hanging at an odd angle and his bright blue eyes had dimmed considerably. His arms swung uselessly by his side. If he hadn't been a robot Dib would have sworn he was the walking dead.
"Gir?"
The dim blue eyes flashed a deep red for a moment then went back to blue. A mechanical hiss of static escaped him then. "Master remembers now." His voice sounded broken down and full of static.
"What does he remember Gir?"
Girs' head rolled to the other side as a warped vocal sound came from him. "Betrayed." Was all Dib could make out.
"Betrayed by who?" Dib circled around to the left trying to see if anything was outwardly wrong with the SIR unit.
A pair of murkily-transparent tendrils tipped with ghostly claws slid from Girs small form. The sound of tormented metal scraped through the air. Then they subsided back into Gir and the sounds faded. "Tallest." Gir said vaguely. "Master goes to find them." Girs normal voice said, his eyes brightening for a moment before dimming almost to black.
"Will he return?" Dib asked no longer trying to circle the droid.
"Yesss - sss." Girs voice trailed off into static. "Return to C-collie." A squeal of feedback echoed for a moment.
Dib watched Gir walk awkwardly to the Voot Cruiser. He climbed into it with what looked like great difficulty. The shield slid down and Dib felt his stomach turn.
There sat Gir, but he wasn't alone. Zim was there, the real Zim, not the twisted spirit that remained of him. He looked like just before he died. Small but ruthless, he seemed to be adjusting controls. The Cruiser suddenly fired up.
"Zim." Dib said quietly feeling rooted to the spot.
Red eyes clouded by the clear-ish shield turned to him with a customary disdain. The Cruiser lifted up and Gir waved good-bye then it sped up crashing through everything and whirling away through the sky.
Dib looked up through the hole and pulled his coat tighter around him. "Bye Zim."
* * *
"Ha, I have you now!" Red crowed moving his game piece across the board. The game he and Purple were playing, while vastly different than Chess was about as close as you could come to an Irken comparison.
Purple narrowed his eyes. "That was a step below illegal and just above underhanded." He said trying to find a way out of the trap.
"But it's still legal and allowed by the rules." Red smirked and settled back in his char.
Purple was mid glare when the door to their compartment hissed open. "Who?"
They both saw what looked to be a small SIR unit amble in awkwardly. The little robot lurched forward as if it only had half the control of its body that it needed.
"What is the meaning of this?" Red demanded narrowing his eyes at the droid.
Girs' eyes dimmed nearly to black and emitted a stuttering of sounds. "Ma-a-aster re-re-turns." Was the only intelligible thing he had said.
"Who sent you?" Purple asked.
Gir suddenly rose up a few inches into the air. Neither of the Tallest seemed taken aback by this, things floated and flew around them all the time. But what made them shudder was the new voice the SIR unit spoke in.
"You sent me to die, and die I did."
Reds' eyes widened. "It can't be."
"Surely it's a joke, the thing is programmed with his voice. Just a joke." Purple said pulling away from the sight.
"I had thought." The Zim-like voice continued from Girs' mouth. "That the Dib-Human had been my source of this sensation of betrayal. But I remembered." What sounded like a madness drenched laugh sent Girs' body into a fit of twitching. "It was you!"
"We, I mean." Purples shivered, the room temperature had dropped.
The sound of metal twisting and being tormented out of shape filled the air. A black haze that was in the rough shape of a tall Irken with clawed tentacles where Arachnid-legs usually were sprang forward. A mad rush of angry red eyes, cold pain and sounds of squealing metal were the only things either Tallest knew until there was nothing left.
End