Chapter 19 - The Hatchlings Are Activated

It was an early Sunday morning. Exactly four months had passed since the egg had been laid. Zim and Zia were fast asleep, with GIR curled up at the foot of their bed and APU keeping constant surveillance over the house. But the peaceful scene did not last much longer, as an alarm started blaring!! Both Zim and Zia bolted upright in bed and GIR was knocked to the floor. "What is going on?" Zim demanded, annoyed and a little worried. Computer's voice answered him, "The incubation is over. Activation will begin in one minute." The alarm died down. "Just FYI," Computer added. Zia beamed and grabbed Zim's hand excitedly, "Come on! We can't miss this!" Then she hurried out of the room and down to the lab, dragging a very disoriented Zim behind her. APU came up beside GIR, "What's happening?" "BABIES!!!" was all GIR said before running out of the room. APU stood still for a moment, a confused look on his face. His eyes widened as the most likely situation dawn on him. "Ohhh." he said and headed out of the room. * * * Zim, Zia, GIR and APU stood in front of the incubation tube as a make-shift cold-unfeeling-robot-arm prepared to activate the babies. "Beginning Activation," Computer said, just for procedure's sake. Zim put an arm around Zia as the metal arm moved towards the tube. The glass container was cracked open like an egg and both hatchlings fell to the floor, dripping with the Kronisian jelly. The arm then attached a jet- pack to each of their backs. Zia and Zim both winced as they watched, never realizing that that's how it was done. Then the first hatchling was activated, and stood up quickly. "Girl," Computer informed them. The second hatchling was activated a second later. "Girl," Computer said again. And really the only way you could tell is that both babies had big black eyelashes jutting out from their eyes. Zia put a hand to her mouth, blinking back happy tears. "They're so beautiful." she whispered. And indeed, they were adorable little girls. One had green eyes and one had magenta. Their antennae were a mix of their parents, curled, but still angular. They just stood their blinking for a few moments, then the one with magenta eyes noticed their audience and waved a tiny hand at them. Zia suppressed a squeal and knelt down in front of them. "Hello, girls," she said gently, scooping them both up into her arms, "Hello." Both girls clung to their mother, shivering. It was a drastic temperature change from the incubation tube to the outside world. "Computer?" Zia said. And instantly, the metallic arm brought out two soft blankets, which she wrapped the babies in. GIR hurried over to Zia, being surprisingly quiet and calm. "Babies." he said. "That's right, GIR," Zia said, "Our babies." GIR clenched his fists, grinning and shaking with excitement. Unable to control himself any longer, he began running around the lab screaming, "I LIKE BABIES!!!" Zia smiled and turned to Zim. "Honey? Are you ok?" Zim was standing stock still, mouth open a bit, eyes wide and kind of misted over. Girls.his children were girls.It didn't seem possible.how could he have borne no sons? Would he have no one to carry out his legacy now? No one to follow in his footsteps? It was.devastating. Zia came over to him, looking concerned. "Zim.stop that.say something." Zim snapped out of his trance and looked at his daughters - not sons, but daughters. And all of a sudden, the empty void that had begun to consume his being was filled once again. He reached out cautiously with one finger and brushed the cheek of the one with green eyes. She looked at him and grabbed his finger, and held it tight. He tried to pull away, but she held fast. "Heh heh.she's got quit a grip there, doesn't she?" he said, still fighting for his finger. Zia laughed and looked down at the green-eyed one. "I think this one gets her stubbornness from you," she said. Zim's face brightened. "HA HA!! Zim shall have his predecessor after all!! Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!" He took the girl into his own arms and she released his finger, only to punch him right where his nose would be (it made a 'doink' sound when she did - lol). He grinned and rubbed his face. "Yes, this one definitely takes after me," he agreed. He tapped his chin with his hand, "Hmm.they'll need names.Computer! Can you think of any?" "Um.not really." Computer said. "What??" Zim cried, "Oh, just put the letters of our names together and scramble them up, would you?" "Um...ok," Computer said. It whirred for a moment, and then the words "MAIZ" and "ZIAM" appeared in big green letters on the main monitor. "Perfect!!" Zim exclaimed, "I'm genius!!" Zia just shook her head and looked down at the pink-eyed baby in her arms. "This one will be Ziam," she said. "And THIS one." Zim said, holding the green-eyed one at arms length, "Shall be called Maiz! And she shall be as AMAZING as her father is!!" APU frowned, "THAT was lame." GIR stopped his running right in front of APU and shouted "I LIKE BABIES!!" at him. APU took a step back in disgust and then was hugged forcefully by the deranged little SIR unit. * * * Shortly after, the living room floor opened up and the new Irken family, along with GIR & APU emerged from the elevator. APU turned to Zia, "Mistress, if you'll not be needing me, I'll resume my duties." Zia nodded and APU disappeared in a blur of motion. Ziam squirmed in her mother's arms and Zia looked down at her, "What is it? Are you hungry?" she asked. The infant nodded and Zia looked to Zim, questioningly, "What should we feed them?" Before Zim could answer, GIR popped up in between them. "TACOS!" he cried, holding one in each hand. "No, GIR," Zim said, annoyed, "We shall not let our children be raised on Earth filth." But Maiz was reaching for the taco hungrily. Zim pulled her away from GIR quickly, and she bit his hand. "OUCH!!" he cried, "Why you little -" "ZIM!" Zia said, shocked. But Zim was trying to shake Maiz off of him. "Get her off me!! Get her off me!!" Zia reached out and took hold of Maiz. On contact, Maiz let go, and hung limply in Zia's grasp. "That's better," Zia said, as Zim surveyed the damage. His glove was torn and bits of purple blood were dripping from the open wound. "Can we get rid of that one?" he asked angrily, pulling the ripped glove off of his bleeding hand. "No, we can't 'get rid' of her," Zia said. She set both girls down on the couch and turned towards her mate, "She couldn't have hurt you that much .oh my gosh.never mind." She pulled a first-aid-kit out of her jet pack and reached for his hand. * * * "Why can't they both behave like this one?" Zim asked, gesturing towards Ziam with his good hand. He and Zia were sitting on the living room floor, and Zia was bandaging his bitten hand. On the couch, GIR was entertaining the girls with his toys. Ziam was cradling a stuffed puppy, while Maiz was trying the pop the head off a rubber pig. GIR was horrified. "NOO!!! Don't hurt the piggy. Hurt the moose." He handed her the rubber moose in exchange for the pig. It made little difference to Maiz, as she began biting on its rubber antlers (and they stretched like pizza cheese!). "I don't know." Zia said, glancing over at the girls, "Maybe something went wrong with her programming. I mean even you were never this much trouble when we were little." She put the first-aid-kit back in her jet pack. APU, who had been watching the whole thing, very amused, walked over to them. "Perhaps, Mistress, Maiz is having a negative reaction to her environment. As you well know, Irken babies are programmed to handle procedure and order in their lives from the moment they are activated. This unorganized environment, being a very far cry from the Nest, may be confusing and upsetting her, therefore causing the disobedient behavior." Zia and Zim both blinked at him for a moment. "But what about Ziam?" Zia asked, "She seems perfectly all right with it." "Ziam may be better programmed for adaptation," APU said, "Either that or she's just weird." "Weird or not," Zim said, "I definitely like her better." They all looked back towards the couch. Maiz had just succeeded in tearing the head off the moose, and GIR was having a fit. Ziam was staring at them both, wide-eyed. "Wonderful," Zim said sarcastically, "Now we've got three babies in the house." Zia just sighed and shook her head.