Twins of Irk
The one-eyed announcer drone popped up on screens across the Irken Empire. "Citizens of Irk!" The creature said in a mournful announcer-voice. "A great tragedy is at hand."
Kilew watched the monitor silently, her antenna twitching slightly. Geiu had been caught trying to escape in a loaded Voot Cruiser. He was now having his mind wiped of all personality. He would be used as a maintenance worker. That's what happened to Irkens that broke any serious law. They were wiped of everything and used for manual labor.
She had warned him...
"Our great and wise Tallest has been gravely injured." The creature continued. "An explosion in the 'Great Hall' has claimed the lives of the Second-to-Tallest and Third-to-Tallest. Our Tallest himself is in critical condition and is predicted to cease functioning by the end of the day. The Fourth-to-Tallest Irkens, a rarity on their own, are said to be in good health."
The old purple-eyed Irken blinked solemnly. The Tallest had actually been dead for weeks. A succession of heart attacks had claimed him. But the Soon-to-be-Tallests were not ready to take their place. Even now they were a bit too young. But younger Tallests had risen and done great things.
The other two that had stood between Tin and Pid for the title of 'Tallest' had indeed been killed in an explosion. But it had been the Nursery-Class that had set it up. Not the band of rebels that they were blaming it on.
The rest of the Empire would be crushed until the new Tallest was appointed. They would get a shock on seeing two of them. The general public knew very little about the taller members of society. And barely any cared.
She stood up making her way out of the office. She paced down the halls. Soon she would join the thousands that had come before her but she had a little to do yet.
Her long fingers brushed along a control panel.
There on a bed in the middle of a room lay a small Irken form. His back-pod had many wires plugged into it along with several in a band around his head. His nearly ruby eyes were closed, almost in death.
"How is the memory reconstruction going?" She asked.
The short red-eyed male looked up from his work. "Fine Kilew. So far we have up to his seventh cycle redone. His internal programming has been restored and the Nursery nanites flushed out. Though I believe a touch of his manic disposition and Pyromania will remain."
"Some things we cannot change." Kilew said slowly. She stroked Zims' forehead. "But I think he will continue to be the bane of any Tallest."
The male stood up and took her hand looking up at her. "It's not your fault." He said. His own advanced age showed deeply around his eyes.
"He looks so much like you." She held his hand in return.
"And Fer was like you."
They stood quietly a moment.
"I must go check on the Tallests." Kilew finally said.
"I will see you later then." The male said letting her hand go.
"Yes, Pex, you will." She left the room quietly to head farther along the hall.
In still another room she found twin Irkens just coming around.
"Nursery Watcher." Pid nodded but stopped mid way and held his head in dizziness.
"It is alright, it is I who should bow to you."
"What?" Tin asked. His right arm was in a sling. A manufactured wound of course. It took a strong-willed Nursery Drone to have done it.
"Our Tallest died, earlier. It has not yet been told to the public. We let them get used to the idea then we tell them. Gree and Trou, the Fourth and Third-to-Tallests are both already dead."
Pid blinked. "That makes us."
"Tallest." Tin finished.
Kilew nodded. "Yes."
Pid rubbed his head again. "What happened? I remember going to see Tin, and then." He paused.
"The explosion was preceded by a sonic wave designed to render any Irken in the area unconscious. The were not able to run. You two were just outside the blast-range but inside the wave." She folded her hands behind her back. "It was very fortunate."
"Yes it is." Pid said sounding astounded.
"I will leave you two to collect your thoughts then." She bowed formally to them. "My Tallest."
They barely seemed to notice her leave.
Kilew turned slightly to the female Nursery Drone that was placed in the Medic-Ward. "What do they know?"
"You mean what DID they know." The female corrected. "They knew everything. Fer told them through a data crystal and Wen filled in the gaps for them. We flushed out most of it. We reconstructed what had happened to Fer and will tell them he was among the dead in the blast. Better than having a Tallest with a guilty conscience. We also had to go in and find the Assailants. It was harder than we thought, chances are Tin will be a bit more violent than Pid, well, more than he already is."
Kilew nodded. "Very good. How did their personalities hold against the wipe?"
The female shifted a little on her feet. "Not too well. There's a fifty-fifty chance they'll be relatively the same. But there's also the other half a chance that they'll just become jerks."
Kilew raised one 'eye-brow'.
The female shrugged. "That's all I know."
Kilew sighed. "So long as they live." She started back down the hall to her office. "Come with me Fia, I'll need some help making plans to introduce those two as leaders."
Fia nodded and followed the ageing Nursery Watcher.
* * *
"And, now, for the moment you've all been waiting for!" The announcer-voice blared over every intercom, speaker and monitor across the Empire. "The rarest occurrence in Irken history! So rare it's never happen before!" There was a strategic pause.
The crowd went wild as smoke, lasers and confetti, the previous Tallest had a thing for confetti, flew through the air. Two thin figures hovering inches of the ground in proper Tallest fashion waved to them as they were lowered on a platform.
"Here they are! Almighty Tallest Red and Almighty Tallest Purple!"
The crowd exploded at this. Two Tallests that had to be called by the colors of their eyes just to tell them apart. It was definite cause for celebration.
Down in the Invader-Class section a small Invader new to his platoon cheered. For one brief moment he stopped clapping and fell silent. He had the urge to run up on stage and do something utterly unspeakable. He had the urge to harm his Tallest. The red one in particular. To keep him away from the Purple one and keep him safe.
But it quickly blinked from his mind and a quick jab from another Irken got him cheering again.
Still farther back in the over-sized room a tiny creature crouched with a handful of others along a ledge by the ceiling. They were small in size, nearly the size of newborns, or perhaps one-cycle-olds.
One with pale red eyes held an even smaller creature that squealed happily at the confetti and smoke. Wen cuddled her son as another Hatchery-Drone stroked the infants' miniscule head. The smallest caste of the Irken empire was allowed to be so affectionate, they were never publicly seen anyway.
Out on the stage the new leaders of the Irken Empire prepared to make their first of thousands of speeches.
All the while, the crowd cheered on.
End
The one-eyed announcer drone popped up on screens across the Irken Empire. "Citizens of Irk!" The creature said in a mournful announcer-voice. "A great tragedy is at hand."
Kilew watched the monitor silently, her antenna twitching slightly. Geiu had been caught trying to escape in a loaded Voot Cruiser. He was now having his mind wiped of all personality. He would be used as a maintenance worker. That's what happened to Irkens that broke any serious law. They were wiped of everything and used for manual labor.
She had warned him...
"Our great and wise Tallest has been gravely injured." The creature continued. "An explosion in the 'Great Hall' has claimed the lives of the Second-to-Tallest and Third-to-Tallest. Our Tallest himself is in critical condition and is predicted to cease functioning by the end of the day. The Fourth-to-Tallest Irkens, a rarity on their own, are said to be in good health."
The old purple-eyed Irken blinked solemnly. The Tallest had actually been dead for weeks. A succession of heart attacks had claimed him. But the Soon-to-be-Tallests were not ready to take their place. Even now they were a bit too young. But younger Tallests had risen and done great things.
The other two that had stood between Tin and Pid for the title of 'Tallest' had indeed been killed in an explosion. But it had been the Nursery-Class that had set it up. Not the band of rebels that they were blaming it on.
The rest of the Empire would be crushed until the new Tallest was appointed. They would get a shock on seeing two of them. The general public knew very little about the taller members of society. And barely any cared.
She stood up making her way out of the office. She paced down the halls. Soon she would join the thousands that had come before her but she had a little to do yet.
Her long fingers brushed along a control panel.
There on a bed in the middle of a room lay a small Irken form. His back-pod had many wires plugged into it along with several in a band around his head. His nearly ruby eyes were closed, almost in death.
"How is the memory reconstruction going?" She asked.
The short red-eyed male looked up from his work. "Fine Kilew. So far we have up to his seventh cycle redone. His internal programming has been restored and the Nursery nanites flushed out. Though I believe a touch of his manic disposition and Pyromania will remain."
"Some things we cannot change." Kilew said slowly. She stroked Zims' forehead. "But I think he will continue to be the bane of any Tallest."
The male stood up and took her hand looking up at her. "It's not your fault." He said. His own advanced age showed deeply around his eyes.
"He looks so much like you." She held his hand in return.
"And Fer was like you."
They stood quietly a moment.
"I must go check on the Tallests." Kilew finally said.
"I will see you later then." The male said letting her hand go.
"Yes, Pex, you will." She left the room quietly to head farther along the hall.
In still another room she found twin Irkens just coming around.
"Nursery Watcher." Pid nodded but stopped mid way and held his head in dizziness.
"It is alright, it is I who should bow to you."
"What?" Tin asked. His right arm was in a sling. A manufactured wound of course. It took a strong-willed Nursery Drone to have done it.
"Our Tallest died, earlier. It has not yet been told to the public. We let them get used to the idea then we tell them. Gree and Trou, the Fourth and Third-to-Tallests are both already dead."
Pid blinked. "That makes us."
"Tallest." Tin finished.
Kilew nodded. "Yes."
Pid rubbed his head again. "What happened? I remember going to see Tin, and then." He paused.
"The explosion was preceded by a sonic wave designed to render any Irken in the area unconscious. The were not able to run. You two were just outside the blast-range but inside the wave." She folded her hands behind her back. "It was very fortunate."
"Yes it is." Pid said sounding astounded.
"I will leave you two to collect your thoughts then." She bowed formally to them. "My Tallest."
They barely seemed to notice her leave.
Kilew turned slightly to the female Nursery Drone that was placed in the Medic-Ward. "What do they know?"
"You mean what DID they know." The female corrected. "They knew everything. Fer told them through a data crystal and Wen filled in the gaps for them. We flushed out most of it. We reconstructed what had happened to Fer and will tell them he was among the dead in the blast. Better than having a Tallest with a guilty conscience. We also had to go in and find the Assailants. It was harder than we thought, chances are Tin will be a bit more violent than Pid, well, more than he already is."
Kilew nodded. "Very good. How did their personalities hold against the wipe?"
The female shifted a little on her feet. "Not too well. There's a fifty-fifty chance they'll be relatively the same. But there's also the other half a chance that they'll just become jerks."
Kilew raised one 'eye-brow'.
The female shrugged. "That's all I know."
Kilew sighed. "So long as they live." She started back down the hall to her office. "Come with me Fia, I'll need some help making plans to introduce those two as leaders."
Fia nodded and followed the ageing Nursery Watcher.
* * *
"And, now, for the moment you've all been waiting for!" The announcer-voice blared over every intercom, speaker and monitor across the Empire. "The rarest occurrence in Irken history! So rare it's never happen before!" There was a strategic pause.
The crowd went wild as smoke, lasers and confetti, the previous Tallest had a thing for confetti, flew through the air. Two thin figures hovering inches of the ground in proper Tallest fashion waved to them as they were lowered on a platform.
"Here they are! Almighty Tallest Red and Almighty Tallest Purple!"
The crowd exploded at this. Two Tallests that had to be called by the colors of their eyes just to tell them apart. It was definite cause for celebration.
Down in the Invader-Class section a small Invader new to his platoon cheered. For one brief moment he stopped clapping and fell silent. He had the urge to run up on stage and do something utterly unspeakable. He had the urge to harm his Tallest. The red one in particular. To keep him away from the Purple one and keep him safe.
But it quickly blinked from his mind and a quick jab from another Irken got him cheering again.
Still farther back in the over-sized room a tiny creature crouched with a handful of others along a ledge by the ceiling. They were small in size, nearly the size of newborns, or perhaps one-cycle-olds.
One with pale red eyes held an even smaller creature that squealed happily at the confetti and smoke. Wen cuddled her son as another Hatchery-Drone stroked the infants' miniscule head. The smallest caste of the Irken empire was allowed to be so affectionate, they were never publicly seen anyway.
Out on the stage the new leaders of the Irken Empire prepared to make their first of thousands of speeches.
All the while, the crowd cheered on.
End