Alone again. Her face reflected on the thin see through barrier between her and
the stars. The cold comfort of lifeless space. Feeling came and went. So did thought.
Thinking brought feeling. She didn't like that at all. For once no mission flashed across
her eyes. For once she didn't feel ever nerve and sinew focused toward a goal. She felt
empty. Just the fact that she felt empty scared her even more. She was after all young for
an Irken, only a hundred or so, most Irkens reached their maximum height range
relatively quickly, and she had already reached hers. Any more growth would take eons.
She had no memories of what was before. She didn't even know who she was or is or who
she could be. This loss of ever constant identity was what in truth scared her the most. So
she sat motionless, knees tucked under her chin, feet perched on the edge of her seat. Her
black almost empty eyes reflecting the black almost empty space.
She knew her number, how could she forget it? However, she also knew
one didn't name smeets numbers. So she had to have a name. Her head kept telling her
that 0203667 was her true name. Nothing else. Yet her heart said dig deeper. A startling
thought shoved its way in.
'Irkens have names I have number. Am I really Irken? Am I really. a person?' The
commander's words came up without effort.
"You wont ever be a real Irken." A real Irken? Her mechanical side sufficed again with
the fact that while some of her DNA was yes from other races there was enough of a
majority of Irken DNA that she was for all purposes an Irken. Inside and out. The newer
more perplexing emotional side argued with this.
'Real Irkens Don't mindlessly kill, don't feel empty, and don't feel different.'
'How can I know what real Irkens feel?' Her mechanical side argued. You could find
out. stated her emotional side with enough logic that both sides were satisfied.
Then camea period of no thought. These periods were cause by the drugs at last
fading from a system where they had been a constant part of, this withdrawal also caused
her pain and further confusion. It also left her hungry. Very hungry. She hadn't eaten in a
long time, the nutrient packs that were kept in her pak for direct administration had long
run dry. Priority three stay alive. This was her next clear thought. Her body was weakened
now from the withdrawal. She needed some rations and quick. She also needed to learn
about Real Irkens, the ones that weren't genetically engineered. She decided then the most
logical thing to do would be to find a supplier planet. Supplier planets were where Irkens
soldiers stopped for a meal and to get what they needed before going onwards to victory.
Security was low She knew this instinctively although she couldn't remember how. It was
logical after all. The only ones allowed on the planet were Irken soldiers. Why would
such a planet need protection?
A quick search of her nevicomp revealed one within a fairly short distance. It
would be a day and a half. If she conserved energy be going into a rest cycle she could
have enough strength to infiltrate a food station and more importantly find out about
emotions. She had majority of Irken DNA. She was for all purposes an Irken. In her form
and sprit inside and out. The newer more perplexing emotions would be explained soon
enough. With this purpose held firmly she had a mission. With the thought of her tightly
held mission in mind, she sent herself into her energy preserving state, and thought no
more.
Irkens didn't sleep. Sleep was a process used by lesser beings to conserve and
restore energy needed for the chemical reactions that created movement and activity.
Irkens had mechanical means to produce this energy that were so effective they could
function with all of their mind power for unlimited amounts of time. They never feelt the
need for sleep. In special cases where nutrients required for energy were non obtainable,
Irkens could cut off some non necessary functions such as thought and limb movement.
The average Irken would live an Irken lifetime without using this stasis. Irkens lived a
long time. However stasis was in no means a substitute for what a human would consider
sleep. The biggest difference being simple in a complex way.
Dreams. Irkens did not dream. The meaning of dreams were clear to them, Irkens
had studied enough lesser creatures to know the meaning. Actually they knew the several
meanings for dream.
"A series of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations occurring involuntarily in the mind
during certain stages of sleep.
A state of abstraction; a trance.
A wild fancy or hope.
A condition or achievement that is longed for; an aspiration."*
For a people without sleep however, the meaning of the word never really sank in. Irkens
were on average a logical race. The had desires, and sometimes the desires could become
unrealistic or impossible, such as the Tallest's desire of Zim's death or Zim's desire to
rule the planet of earth. However the situation they were involved with allowed for the
extremity. Zim's pak was severely damaged, and he was a proverbial eternal unremovable
thorn in the sides of both Tallest. For the most part however Irkens retained a sense of
desired order. Any advances and retreats in social or material status were accounted to
skill or height with a small factor of chance. They desired things, but nothing that seemed
at the time impossible. The tallest desire for universal domination was within their means
so it wasn't really a dream but a reality.
0202667 being one of the rare Irkens who used stasis, still could not dream. She was too
Irken to dream despite polluted DNA. She could not dream. She could only
remember. Irkens couldn't dream they could only remember.
So she remembered.
"0203667!"
"Yes, Sir!"
She was a smeet once more.
"You have failed in the task assigned to you!" The voice thundered it's impersonal
raging disappointment through a loud speaker.
"Yes, sir" her shrill voice more anxious then before answered. She was clothed in a one
piece black body suit that covered her hands and feet. It ended just under her chin.
"You comprehend the punishment that is required." Inside the clear liquid of her small
holding tube she quivered with fear. Despite the conflicting emotions raging in her, she
gave a clear answer her voice strong again
"Yes sir!"
The holding tube was in the center of a cell. There were wires running up over and across
every inch of the cell. The wires formed interesting patters and distractions her smeet eyes
longed to follow. However she shut them and held them tightly closed bracing for what
was to come. Her antennae lay flat against her skull, and her small smeet fists tightly
clenched. Her ever mussels were tensed for what was to come. It came in waves. It started
from her antennae and made its way down to her toe claws. The first wave was not the
most painful or the least. The initial charge of energy flayed the bare skin of her face and
burned her sensitive antennae. It didn't burn them completely, that would come later.
After all the point was to suffer and if they were deadened a large amount of pain
wouldn't be registered. This was only the initial wave.
The waves continued each one different. They were varying in length and time
between contact. Some were numbing some were sharp, some burned, and some shocked.
It was never mindless. Each wave was measured and placed in a pattern to extract the
most reaction. She resisted it as best she could at first. holding in the screams for at least
two rounds but she couldn't hold on to the screaming and sooner then later she broke. Her
eyes went wide with the pain, her limbs thrashing in the liquid, hitting the tube walls with
dull thunks. She opened her mouth to scream. Opening her mouth only let the wave enter
her lungs to cause even more pain and damage. And she screamed. she screamed till her
throat and lungs could not produce sounds or breath to make even a whisper. Still the
waves came.
Finally an unknown time later the waves stopped. The time was unknown because
it seemed an eternity to her. Although her flailing limbs had stopped responding ages ago
the still twitched and shivered. She hacked up blood from her scarred lungs and it floated
up to the tubes filter. She curled into a fetal position blind and deaf from damage. Her
failure to control her fear in a training mission the cause. She had acted in panic when
cornered unarmed by a monster drawn from her own mind to represent a threat. Being a
small smeet having only started her training she had not been able resist.
The liquid in her tube served many purposes. It stopped her from doing too much
unwanted damage to her self while undergoing punishment. It helped make the
punishment more effective.Being a conductive substance, It amplified the electric waves.
It also stopped her clothing from burning. the last use for the substance was that it carried
the healing against directly to the needed places. They activated this ability and soon
enough the pain subsided. Her limbs shaking did not. Irken healing tech was remarkable.
In a few hours not one scar would remain to testify about the pain. no physical ones at
least. Later they would go back and erase her early memories. They couldn't destroy it
totally with out depriving her of the training, so they would disable normal access. Stasis
shut off thought. While she remembered and relived the memory and others she could not
yet communicate them to her thinking self. When she awoke she would forget she had
remembered.
woo back from camp to post again! I know this is two weeks late and all of my
legions of fan are disappointed in my lack of punctuality *snort* aheh yea.. anywho I
have an excuse. last week I had the ren fest and the Scott fest! Each is a carnival of sorts
with games, booths, and food dealing with their subjects. I got all dressed up for the ren
fest and was all medieval.. Boo Ya! At the Scott fest I got a shirt that says "got haggis?".
So you can see why i couldn't possibly have posted last week. Yea.. This week has been
the week before skool, so i have been panicking. Now for actual story stuff. for those who
will ask "well what about her non numerical name Dark Destiny?". As i stated at this
point she does not consider that her actual name. More on that subject next time. I had to
down grade in the computer I typed this on, my brother taking his to college and all that.
This mean I have a lower grade of spell check. If you find my errors too horrible to deal
with you could volunteer to beta. You would get to read this story before all other human
life forms 'sept me. oh joy. *poke* pass it on no pass backs!
the stars. The cold comfort of lifeless space. Feeling came and went. So did thought.
Thinking brought feeling. She didn't like that at all. For once no mission flashed across
her eyes. For once she didn't feel ever nerve and sinew focused toward a goal. She felt
empty. Just the fact that she felt empty scared her even more. She was after all young for
an Irken, only a hundred or so, most Irkens reached their maximum height range
relatively quickly, and she had already reached hers. Any more growth would take eons.
She had no memories of what was before. She didn't even know who she was or is or who
she could be. This loss of ever constant identity was what in truth scared her the most. So
she sat motionless, knees tucked under her chin, feet perched on the edge of her seat. Her
black almost empty eyes reflecting the black almost empty space.
She knew her number, how could she forget it? However, she also knew
one didn't name smeets numbers. So she had to have a name. Her head kept telling her
that 0203667 was her true name. Nothing else. Yet her heart said dig deeper. A startling
thought shoved its way in.
'Irkens have names I have number. Am I really Irken? Am I really. a person?' The
commander's words came up without effort.
"You wont ever be a real Irken." A real Irken? Her mechanical side sufficed again with
the fact that while some of her DNA was yes from other races there was enough of a
majority of Irken DNA that she was for all purposes an Irken. Inside and out. The newer
more perplexing emotional side argued with this.
'Real Irkens Don't mindlessly kill, don't feel empty, and don't feel different.'
'How can I know what real Irkens feel?' Her mechanical side argued. You could find
out. stated her emotional side with enough logic that both sides were satisfied.
Then camea period of no thought. These periods were cause by the drugs at last
fading from a system where they had been a constant part of, this withdrawal also caused
her pain and further confusion. It also left her hungry. Very hungry. She hadn't eaten in a
long time, the nutrient packs that were kept in her pak for direct administration had long
run dry. Priority three stay alive. This was her next clear thought. Her body was weakened
now from the withdrawal. She needed some rations and quick. She also needed to learn
about Real Irkens, the ones that weren't genetically engineered. She decided then the most
logical thing to do would be to find a supplier planet. Supplier planets were where Irkens
soldiers stopped for a meal and to get what they needed before going onwards to victory.
Security was low She knew this instinctively although she couldn't remember how. It was
logical after all. The only ones allowed on the planet were Irken soldiers. Why would
such a planet need protection?
A quick search of her nevicomp revealed one within a fairly short distance. It
would be a day and a half. If she conserved energy be going into a rest cycle she could
have enough strength to infiltrate a food station and more importantly find out about
emotions. She had majority of Irken DNA. She was for all purposes an Irken. In her form
and sprit inside and out. The newer more perplexing emotions would be explained soon
enough. With this purpose held firmly she had a mission. With the thought of her tightly
held mission in mind, she sent herself into her energy preserving state, and thought no
more.
Irkens didn't sleep. Sleep was a process used by lesser beings to conserve and
restore energy needed for the chemical reactions that created movement and activity.
Irkens had mechanical means to produce this energy that were so effective they could
function with all of their mind power for unlimited amounts of time. They never feelt the
need for sleep. In special cases where nutrients required for energy were non obtainable,
Irkens could cut off some non necessary functions such as thought and limb movement.
The average Irken would live an Irken lifetime without using this stasis. Irkens lived a
long time. However stasis was in no means a substitute for what a human would consider
sleep. The biggest difference being simple in a complex way.
Dreams. Irkens did not dream. The meaning of dreams were clear to them, Irkens
had studied enough lesser creatures to know the meaning. Actually they knew the several
meanings for dream.
"A series of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations occurring involuntarily in the mind
during certain stages of sleep.
A state of abstraction; a trance.
A wild fancy or hope.
A condition or achievement that is longed for; an aspiration."*
For a people without sleep however, the meaning of the word never really sank in. Irkens
were on average a logical race. The had desires, and sometimes the desires could become
unrealistic or impossible, such as the Tallest's desire of Zim's death or Zim's desire to
rule the planet of earth. However the situation they were involved with allowed for the
extremity. Zim's pak was severely damaged, and he was a proverbial eternal unremovable
thorn in the sides of both Tallest. For the most part however Irkens retained a sense of
desired order. Any advances and retreats in social or material status were accounted to
skill or height with a small factor of chance. They desired things, but nothing that seemed
at the time impossible. The tallest desire for universal domination was within their means
so it wasn't really a dream but a reality.
0202667 being one of the rare Irkens who used stasis, still could not dream. She was too
Irken to dream despite polluted DNA. She could not dream. She could only
remember. Irkens couldn't dream they could only remember.
So she remembered.
"0203667!"
"Yes, Sir!"
She was a smeet once more.
"You have failed in the task assigned to you!" The voice thundered it's impersonal
raging disappointment through a loud speaker.
"Yes, sir" her shrill voice more anxious then before answered. She was clothed in a one
piece black body suit that covered her hands and feet. It ended just under her chin.
"You comprehend the punishment that is required." Inside the clear liquid of her small
holding tube she quivered with fear. Despite the conflicting emotions raging in her, she
gave a clear answer her voice strong again
"Yes sir!"
The holding tube was in the center of a cell. There were wires running up over and across
every inch of the cell. The wires formed interesting patters and distractions her smeet eyes
longed to follow. However she shut them and held them tightly closed bracing for what
was to come. Her antennae lay flat against her skull, and her small smeet fists tightly
clenched. Her ever mussels were tensed for what was to come. It came in waves. It started
from her antennae and made its way down to her toe claws. The first wave was not the
most painful or the least. The initial charge of energy flayed the bare skin of her face and
burned her sensitive antennae. It didn't burn them completely, that would come later.
After all the point was to suffer and if they were deadened a large amount of pain
wouldn't be registered. This was only the initial wave.
The waves continued each one different. They were varying in length and time
between contact. Some were numbing some were sharp, some burned, and some shocked.
It was never mindless. Each wave was measured and placed in a pattern to extract the
most reaction. She resisted it as best she could at first. holding in the screams for at least
two rounds but she couldn't hold on to the screaming and sooner then later she broke. Her
eyes went wide with the pain, her limbs thrashing in the liquid, hitting the tube walls with
dull thunks. She opened her mouth to scream. Opening her mouth only let the wave enter
her lungs to cause even more pain and damage. And she screamed. she screamed till her
throat and lungs could not produce sounds or breath to make even a whisper. Still the
waves came.
Finally an unknown time later the waves stopped. The time was unknown because
it seemed an eternity to her. Although her flailing limbs had stopped responding ages ago
the still twitched and shivered. She hacked up blood from her scarred lungs and it floated
up to the tubes filter. She curled into a fetal position blind and deaf from damage. Her
failure to control her fear in a training mission the cause. She had acted in panic when
cornered unarmed by a monster drawn from her own mind to represent a threat. Being a
small smeet having only started her training she had not been able resist.
The liquid in her tube served many purposes. It stopped her from doing too much
unwanted damage to her self while undergoing punishment. It helped make the
punishment more effective.Being a conductive substance, It amplified the electric waves.
It also stopped her clothing from burning. the last use for the substance was that it carried
the healing against directly to the needed places. They activated this ability and soon
enough the pain subsided. Her limbs shaking did not. Irken healing tech was remarkable.
In a few hours not one scar would remain to testify about the pain. no physical ones at
least. Later they would go back and erase her early memories. They couldn't destroy it
totally with out depriving her of the training, so they would disable normal access. Stasis
shut off thought. While she remembered and relived the memory and others she could not
yet communicate them to her thinking self. When she awoke she would forget she had
remembered.
woo back from camp to post again! I know this is two weeks late and all of my
legions of fan are disappointed in my lack of punctuality *snort* aheh yea.. anywho I
have an excuse. last week I had the ren fest and the Scott fest! Each is a carnival of sorts
with games, booths, and food dealing with their subjects. I got all dressed up for the ren
fest and was all medieval.. Boo Ya! At the Scott fest I got a shirt that says "got haggis?".
So you can see why i couldn't possibly have posted last week. Yea.. This week has been
the week before skool, so i have been panicking. Now for actual story stuff. for those who
will ask "well what about her non numerical name Dark Destiny?". As i stated at this
point she does not consider that her actual name. More on that subject next time. I had to
down grade in the computer I typed this on, my brother taking his to college and all that.
This mean I have a lower grade of spell check. If you find my errors too horrible to deal
with you could volunteer to beta. You would get to read this story before all other human
life forms 'sept me. oh joy. *poke* pass it on no pass backs!
