A few weeks earlier...
Boredom had settled in at the Membrane household. Dib watched with little interest as Gaz flipped through the channels.
"I can't believe it! over 700 channels and there's absolutely NOTHING worth watching!" She snarled, practically crushing the remote.
Dib couldn't help but roll his eyes, "It's daytime TV. What did you expect?"
"I EXPECTED it would be at least a little more fun than skool!"
Both Dib and Gaz had come down with some strange bug earlier that day. By lunchtime, all of the symptoms had vanished as mysteriously as they had appeared. Now both kids were stuck home alone with nothing to do, and Gaz was starting to get irritated with Dib even though he technically had done nothing wrong yet.
She turned off the TV. "I'm going to get something to eat. Touch my GameSlaveII and I remove your hands." She stalked off into the kitchen
It was obviously a good idea not to follow Gaz, so Dib wandered down the hall, going nowhere in particular. The door to his dad's lab caught his eye. Dib figured he might as well go in and explore a little. It wasn't often he was in their without his dad nearby. Besides, it wasn't like Dib had anything better to do.
The security on the lab let Dib through without any difficulty because his dad had given him complete access. He began to poke around, looking at different files and experiments, trying to figure out what all the formulas were for. Most of them were pretty complex.
Upstairs, Gaz was digging around in the fridge, looking for something even remotely edible. She finally scrounged up some old pizza that didn't have anything growing on it and a soda. She ate it quietly, wrinkling her nose slightly. Anchovies. Fish belonged in aquariums, not on pizza.
Meanwhile, Dib had hacked his way into a file that had been passworded. He didn't like the idea of anything in his dad's lab being too secret to tell to Dib and Gaz. Unfortunately, the file was not willing to give up it's secrets so easily. After about half an hour of working, all he was able to discover was that it was about "Project Living Weapon" and that it MIGHT have something to do with him. He didn't have any clue what "Project Living Weapon" was. Oh well, he'd figure it out as soon as he got something to eat. He was starved.
As he was eating some of the old pizza, he told Gaz that he had found something about Project Living Weapon, but he wasn't sure what it was.
Gaz's mind started racing. Should she tell him? Was it safe? She knew very well what Project Living Weapon was, but she wasn't sure that Dib could handle that knowledge. She picked up her skull pendant and glanced at the ID number on the back. No, she decided, Dib wouldn't be able to deal with the truth.
Zim couldn't believe it. He just couldn't. The stupid little dirt monkey had been too sick to come to skool on the day of a field trip, but not too sick to pester him and interfere with the mission. Right now, Dib was too busy gloating over the fact that he had gotten a picture of Zim without his disguise to notice the fact that a robotic arm was about to grab him from behind.
Dib realized he had lost once again when it snatched the camera and crushed it. for a second, he realized that he was completely helpless to beat Zim on his own turf. Then it happened.
Zim watched Dib give out a little yelp, double over, and fall to the ground. He tilted his head in confusion. Was there something wrong with the earth boy? Not that he really cared one way or the other, but he was curious nonetheless.
After a few seconds, Zim walked over and looked at his unconscious foe. The Dib was very pale and weak looking. For the first time in a long time, it occurred to Zim how young his enemy actually was. The irkan equivalent of Dib's age would still be smaller than Gir.
"Computer! Put the Dib Human outside!" Zim snarled as he turned back to his work.
Boredom had settled in at the Membrane household. Dib watched with little interest as Gaz flipped through the channels.
"I can't believe it! over 700 channels and there's absolutely NOTHING worth watching!" She snarled, practically crushing the remote.
Dib couldn't help but roll his eyes, "It's daytime TV. What did you expect?"
"I EXPECTED it would be at least a little more fun than skool!"
Both Dib and Gaz had come down with some strange bug earlier that day. By lunchtime, all of the symptoms had vanished as mysteriously as they had appeared. Now both kids were stuck home alone with nothing to do, and Gaz was starting to get irritated with Dib even though he technically had done nothing wrong yet.
She turned off the TV. "I'm going to get something to eat. Touch my GameSlaveII and I remove your hands." She stalked off into the kitchen
It was obviously a good idea not to follow Gaz, so Dib wandered down the hall, going nowhere in particular. The door to his dad's lab caught his eye. Dib figured he might as well go in and explore a little. It wasn't often he was in their without his dad nearby. Besides, it wasn't like Dib had anything better to do.
The security on the lab let Dib through without any difficulty because his dad had given him complete access. He began to poke around, looking at different files and experiments, trying to figure out what all the formulas were for. Most of them were pretty complex.
Upstairs, Gaz was digging around in the fridge, looking for something even remotely edible. She finally scrounged up some old pizza that didn't have anything growing on it and a soda. She ate it quietly, wrinkling her nose slightly. Anchovies. Fish belonged in aquariums, not on pizza.
Meanwhile, Dib had hacked his way into a file that had been passworded. He didn't like the idea of anything in his dad's lab being too secret to tell to Dib and Gaz. Unfortunately, the file was not willing to give up it's secrets so easily. After about half an hour of working, all he was able to discover was that it was about "Project Living Weapon" and that it MIGHT have something to do with him. He didn't have any clue what "Project Living Weapon" was. Oh well, he'd figure it out as soon as he got something to eat. He was starved.
As he was eating some of the old pizza, he told Gaz that he had found something about Project Living Weapon, but he wasn't sure what it was.
Gaz's mind started racing. Should she tell him? Was it safe? She knew very well what Project Living Weapon was, but she wasn't sure that Dib could handle that knowledge. She picked up her skull pendant and glanced at the ID number on the back. No, she decided, Dib wouldn't be able to deal with the truth.
Zim couldn't believe it. He just couldn't. The stupid little dirt monkey had been too sick to come to skool on the day of a field trip, but not too sick to pester him and interfere with the mission. Right now, Dib was too busy gloating over the fact that he had gotten a picture of Zim without his disguise to notice the fact that a robotic arm was about to grab him from behind.
Dib realized he had lost once again when it snatched the camera and crushed it. for a second, he realized that he was completely helpless to beat Zim on his own turf. Then it happened.
Zim watched Dib give out a little yelp, double over, and fall to the ground. He tilted his head in confusion. Was there something wrong with the earth boy? Not that he really cared one way or the other, but he was curious nonetheless.
After a few seconds, Zim walked over and looked at his unconscious foe. The Dib was very pale and weak looking. For the first time in a long time, it occurred to Zim how young his enemy actually was. The irkan equivalent of Dib's age would still be smaller than Gir.
"Computer! Put the Dib Human outside!" Zim snarled as he turned back to his work.