"In here!" Zim's voice could be heard through the holographic door to his base. It swung open wildly, and Zim stepped into the living room, followed by the mass of clothing he'd met before. Once fully inside, two red hands reached up from the stranger's side and lowered the hood of her sweatshirt. Without saying a word, the female irken looked around the room. Her almond-shaped red eyes fixed onto the green monkey picture above the sofa. "Tasteful." She said.
"Yes, I know." Zim replied, pleased with himself. "You can get rid of your, uh, disguise thing. You don't need it here." He said, pushing the door shut. He pulled off his wig and shook out his antennae, then grabbed his bookbag and took off down the hallway, leaving her standing there.
The female nodded after him, and pulled off the sweatshirt. Underneath, she wore a form-fitting jumpsuit that was dull yellow in color, and had red patch pockets on her thighs and chest. Red gloves covered her arms up to her elbows, and matching boots were on her legs.
"Listen, um, Min, was it?" Zim called from the hallway.
"That's right."
"Listen, Min, I just want to say that I meant no harm to you back there in that alley. I was just trying to keep you from making a very stupid mistake." He returned into the living room without his disguise, ruby eyes reflecting the light from the windows.
Her gracefully curling antennae twitched as she looked at him. She was about two inches taller than he was; still very small, according to Irken standards. Despite her lack of height, however, she had the kind of bearing that made people listen to her. "Oh, really?" She responded.
"Yes. To be out there without a real disguise, and to even think about using your spiderlegs during the day-- You were just begging to be hacked apart by one of those human scientist sporemonkeys!" He pointed up at her to emphasize his point.
Min's eyes narrowed. "I'll have you know that I was doing FINE, up until you saw--" She stopped herself in mid-sentence. "Well, suffice it to say that I had no previous trouble. Besides, the creatures here are too stupid to notice anyway, I've found." She mentioned with a wave of her red claw-like hand.
Zim huffed an amused laugh. "You can say that again!"
"The creatures here are too stupid to--"
Zim's amused snicker formed into a laugh. "No, no! That's just an expression here on Earth! One I've picked up! You don't have to repeat yourself." He said, shaking his head, smiling slightly. Min looked at him, eyes narrowing through the confusion spread thickly across her face. In her distraction, she didn't hear a small shadow creep up behind her with a quiet squeaking sound.
"HI!! Wanna play with my moose?" GIR cried happily, jumping in front of her from out of nowhere and shoving his toy moose in her face with a *squeak!*.
Min yelped and recoiled from the rubber animal, and looked down with confusion at the little robot that was holding it. "...Uh, no..."
"...OK!" Gir yelled. He lowered the pig to his side, and stood there, staring at her blankly for a second. "...I want a freezie!" With that, he took off towards the kitchen. "Freezie! Freezie! Freezie..."
"Put on your disguise, GIR, before you leave!" Zim yelled after him.
"You... have... a SIR unit?" Min said, nervously watching GIR disappear beyond the doorway. Zim looked at her, and shrugged. "That's GIR. He's not your normal SIR unit."
Gir poked his head in through the doorway, half into his dog suit. "I'm advanced!!" He walked past them again, mumbling to himself and zipping up. He stopped to look up at Min. He glanced at Zim, then back at Min again. "Master! She looks like you, and she's pretty!! Are you gonna kiss her??" Gir yelled, pointing up at her.
"GIR!!" Zim barked in surprise. Before he had a chance to say anything else, the demented robot ran out through the front door, giggling madly and pulling up his hood on the way out.
"What a strange little robot." Min commented.
"Wait until the sugar from the brainfreezie hits his circuits. You think he acts strange NOW..." Zim added, watching the door.
"Um, what does 'kiss' mean?"
"Huh?" He said, blinking uneasily. "Oh, it's nothing. A disgusting squishy thing that humans do." Zim waved away the topic, trying to dismiss a sudden feeling of awkwardness that he had no idea where came from. "Uhh, eh, so what exactly are you doing here, anyway? Why this planet?"
Min sat down on the couch, eyes straying to the carpet. "I... I kind of got left behind after my team moved out. I was gathering data for an imperial research project, and something went wrong. I 'm not too sure what. Suddenly, everyone was just gone, and I was stuck here." Zim sat down next to her on the couch. She looked over at him with a blink of her long green eyelashes. "That was... only a few weeks ago, but it felt like an eternity. When you're alone, it always does."
Zim stared back at her. "I know what you mean..." Blinking again under his stare, Min stood up and began pacing. "So, what kind of research were you doing?" Zim pressed, watching her pace.
"...I've been, uh, monitoring signals from the Control Brain. With enough data, I may be able to plot the exact edges of the empire." She stopped and stared into space for a second. "Very important work, y'know?" She added uneasily.
Zim nodded slowly, eyes narrowing in thought. The edge of the Control Brain signals were supposed to the THE edge of the empire. Wandering into the void beyond the threshold of the Control Brain's emanations was considered a fate worse than death. Zim had heard more than his share of horror stories about unfortunate bastards who strayed too far from Devastis, trying to find new territories to conquer, only to literally fall apart on the planet's surface, or implode, or worse. Such stories were always whispered when told, and he actually found himself glad that Min didn't go into any more detail, but he soon regretted her new choice of subject:
"So, what're YOU doing here?" She asked, glancing over at Zim, who fidgeted at the question.
"Uhh, It's a... long story..." Zim stammered. Shouldn't she know about him already? Would she find out? Perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea to tell her HIS side of the story. He jumped off the couch, and grabbed Min's claw, leading her towards the kitchen. "You're going to find out eventually anyway, so I may as well show you..."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Min stood in the control room of Zim's base. "Wow! This place is enormous!" She started to press buttons on the main computer console. "How many chambers does this place actually have?"
"Somewhere around 50 or 60. I never bothered to count." Zim answered, walking up behind her, staring at the computer screen. She was checking out the schematic files of the base. Zim leaned in close to her and pointed at a cluster of chambers. "Those are the labs. That's the containment area. That's all storage, up there. Life support is down there at the bottom level. And we're right here." He finished, pointing to the center chamber.
"Zim?" Min asked, turning her head. Zim was no more than a few inches away. "Can I ask you something?" She blinked her long green eyelashes.
"Hmmm?" Zim said, sounding bored. Her question was interrupted by a flashing red light on the console.
"INTRUDER. INTRUDER." The speakers droned.
"Hang on." Zim said quickly, pressing the flashing button. The computer screen changed, showing Dib standing at the front door. Zim didn't seem surprised. He reached for a microphone that was sitting conveniently within reach. "Come on in, Dib." He spoke into the microphone. The pale teenager at the door looked around, opened it, and stepped in.
"What are you doing?" Min asked, confused and alarmed. "Isn't that one of the Earthanoid creatures? What if he finds his way down here? What if he sees us!?"
Zim stifled a laugh. "I don't think we need to worry too much."
"Hey, Zim! Are you down here?" Min looked up in near-panic at the voice in the elevator shaft, which was quickly whirring to life and carrying the Earthanoid down.
"Yeah, down here! Zim took off down the hallway that led to the elevator shaft. Min could hear their echoing voices over the machinations of the elevator. "I thought you had work to do for skool."
"Yeah, but I finished early. I didn't have any math homework."
"Eh, is that ketchup on your sleeve? You didn't use the refrigerator to get in again, did you?"
"I told you, I'm NOT flushing myself down the toilet!"
"Oh, right." Zim laughed. He rounded the corner into Min's view, a taller bespectacled human quick behind him. Dib froze when he saw the female Irken, staring terrified at him.
"Wha-- Who's that?" Dib pointed at her.
"Uhh, Dib, this is Min. She just... dropped in. Min, this is Dib, a friend of mine."
"A friend??" Min said, exasperated. "It's an Erthanoid!"
"Earth-LING!" Dib corrected. He looked at Zim. "Where did she come from?" Dib pressed, trying to ignore her. Min looked insulted.
"Well, I noticed her on the way home from Skool. I kept having the feeling someone was watching me. That someone turned out to be her. She gave a pretty good chase, too..."
Dib glared at Min, who was staring defiantly at him. "What's she dong here? Did you ever think to ask?"
"I HAPPEN to be stranded here, earthLING! And I'd rather not be bothered with your petty inquiries!" Min replied sharply, cutting Zim's explanation short.
"I even talking to you..." Dib said coldly. Min glared at him, almost growling under her breath.
"Dib, can I talk to you for a second?" Zim grabbed Dib's sleeve and dragged him away from the seething female in the computer room. Dragging him into the tunnel to the elevator, he spun around and clutched the human's shoulders, eyes staring straight into his. "What are you doing?" He said quietly.
"What do you mean, 'What am I doing'? Zim, look at what YOU'RE doing!" Dib wriggled out of Zim's grasp and stepped back. "You met her only a few hours ago, and already she's down here, looking the place over? Doesn't that seem dangerous to you?"
"Nonsense! She doesn't even have a decent disguise! She's perfectly harmless, I'm sure of that!"
"That's exactly what I thought about Tak..." Dib replied, his voice wavering ever so slightly. "...Remember? C'mon, Zim! She tried to run when you saw her, for God's sake! Doesn't that seem shady to you at ALL?"
"...Of course not! She's... only being careful. I'd do the same thing, if I were--" Zim stopped, and sighed in recognition. "If I were in her situation..." He WAS in her situation, he realized. He identified with her, because they were both stranded here. That's why he brought her into his base to begin with. That's why he couldn't just kick her out.
Dib stood there, reading him like a picture book. "Well, your pity for her may cost us. All of us... What if she's lying to you? What if she's--" Zim cut him off with a glare. Don't dare finish that sentence, he seemed to say. Dib swollowed and steeled himself. "I see how it is. Well, enjoy your newfound companionship, Zim. I'm not going to stick around. You'd better keep an eye on her, 'cuz if she pulls anything funny, then she'll have ME to deal with..." Zim's scowl deepened. Dib turned and walked towards the elevator, and Zim watched him all the way up. His expression was like granite. He didin't expect to lose his only friend over this, but he knew better than to think Dib was going to waver. Stupid human. Angrily, he sulked back into the computer room.
"Where's the earth creature?" Min asked irritably, leaning against the computer console, arms crossed.
"He left." Zim said quickly. "So, what did you want to ask me?"
Min stood up, trying to compose herself. "Uh, well, I'm not too used to this place, and I don't know how long I'm going to have to stay here. So... if you don't mind... may I use your base? I just want to look through your computer files and find out exactly what I'm up against." She looked wistfully at the blank computer screen.
"Heh, why not?" Zim replied without really thinking. "It's obvious you're just trying to survive down here, so I suppose you can use the Earth data files in the computer."
Min heaved a deep sigh of relief. "Thank you, Zim. You don't know what this means to me."
"Yes, I know." Zim replied, pleased with himself. "You can get rid of your, uh, disguise thing. You don't need it here." He said, pushing the door shut. He pulled off his wig and shook out his antennae, then grabbed his bookbag and took off down the hallway, leaving her standing there.
The female nodded after him, and pulled off the sweatshirt. Underneath, she wore a form-fitting jumpsuit that was dull yellow in color, and had red patch pockets on her thighs and chest. Red gloves covered her arms up to her elbows, and matching boots were on her legs.
"Listen, um, Min, was it?" Zim called from the hallway.
"That's right."
"Listen, Min, I just want to say that I meant no harm to you back there in that alley. I was just trying to keep you from making a very stupid mistake." He returned into the living room without his disguise, ruby eyes reflecting the light from the windows.
Her gracefully curling antennae twitched as she looked at him. She was about two inches taller than he was; still very small, according to Irken standards. Despite her lack of height, however, she had the kind of bearing that made people listen to her. "Oh, really?" She responded.
"Yes. To be out there without a real disguise, and to even think about using your spiderlegs during the day-- You were just begging to be hacked apart by one of those human scientist sporemonkeys!" He pointed up at her to emphasize his point.
Min's eyes narrowed. "I'll have you know that I was doing FINE, up until you saw--" She stopped herself in mid-sentence. "Well, suffice it to say that I had no previous trouble. Besides, the creatures here are too stupid to notice anyway, I've found." She mentioned with a wave of her red claw-like hand.
Zim huffed an amused laugh. "You can say that again!"
"The creatures here are too stupid to--"
Zim's amused snicker formed into a laugh. "No, no! That's just an expression here on Earth! One I've picked up! You don't have to repeat yourself." He said, shaking his head, smiling slightly. Min looked at him, eyes narrowing through the confusion spread thickly across her face. In her distraction, she didn't hear a small shadow creep up behind her with a quiet squeaking sound.
"HI!! Wanna play with my moose?" GIR cried happily, jumping in front of her from out of nowhere and shoving his toy moose in her face with a *squeak!*.
Min yelped and recoiled from the rubber animal, and looked down with confusion at the little robot that was holding it. "...Uh, no..."
"...OK!" Gir yelled. He lowered the pig to his side, and stood there, staring at her blankly for a second. "...I want a freezie!" With that, he took off towards the kitchen. "Freezie! Freezie! Freezie..."
"Put on your disguise, GIR, before you leave!" Zim yelled after him.
"You... have... a SIR unit?" Min said, nervously watching GIR disappear beyond the doorway. Zim looked at her, and shrugged. "That's GIR. He's not your normal SIR unit."
Gir poked his head in through the doorway, half into his dog suit. "I'm advanced!!" He walked past them again, mumbling to himself and zipping up. He stopped to look up at Min. He glanced at Zim, then back at Min again. "Master! She looks like you, and she's pretty!! Are you gonna kiss her??" Gir yelled, pointing up at her.
"GIR!!" Zim barked in surprise. Before he had a chance to say anything else, the demented robot ran out through the front door, giggling madly and pulling up his hood on the way out.
"What a strange little robot." Min commented.
"Wait until the sugar from the brainfreezie hits his circuits. You think he acts strange NOW..." Zim added, watching the door.
"Um, what does 'kiss' mean?"
"Huh?" He said, blinking uneasily. "Oh, it's nothing. A disgusting squishy thing that humans do." Zim waved away the topic, trying to dismiss a sudden feeling of awkwardness that he had no idea where came from. "Uhh, eh, so what exactly are you doing here, anyway? Why this planet?"
Min sat down on the couch, eyes straying to the carpet. "I... I kind of got left behind after my team moved out. I was gathering data for an imperial research project, and something went wrong. I 'm not too sure what. Suddenly, everyone was just gone, and I was stuck here." Zim sat down next to her on the couch. She looked over at him with a blink of her long green eyelashes. "That was... only a few weeks ago, but it felt like an eternity. When you're alone, it always does."
Zim stared back at her. "I know what you mean..." Blinking again under his stare, Min stood up and began pacing. "So, what kind of research were you doing?" Zim pressed, watching her pace.
"...I've been, uh, monitoring signals from the Control Brain. With enough data, I may be able to plot the exact edges of the empire." She stopped and stared into space for a second. "Very important work, y'know?" She added uneasily.
Zim nodded slowly, eyes narrowing in thought. The edge of the Control Brain signals were supposed to the THE edge of the empire. Wandering into the void beyond the threshold of the Control Brain's emanations was considered a fate worse than death. Zim had heard more than his share of horror stories about unfortunate bastards who strayed too far from Devastis, trying to find new territories to conquer, only to literally fall apart on the planet's surface, or implode, or worse. Such stories were always whispered when told, and he actually found himself glad that Min didn't go into any more detail, but he soon regretted her new choice of subject:
"So, what're YOU doing here?" She asked, glancing over at Zim, who fidgeted at the question.
"Uhh, It's a... long story..." Zim stammered. Shouldn't she know about him already? Would she find out? Perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea to tell her HIS side of the story. He jumped off the couch, and grabbed Min's claw, leading her towards the kitchen. "You're going to find out eventually anyway, so I may as well show you..."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Min stood in the control room of Zim's base. "Wow! This place is enormous!" She started to press buttons on the main computer console. "How many chambers does this place actually have?"
"Somewhere around 50 or 60. I never bothered to count." Zim answered, walking up behind her, staring at the computer screen. She was checking out the schematic files of the base. Zim leaned in close to her and pointed at a cluster of chambers. "Those are the labs. That's the containment area. That's all storage, up there. Life support is down there at the bottom level. And we're right here." He finished, pointing to the center chamber.
"Zim?" Min asked, turning her head. Zim was no more than a few inches away. "Can I ask you something?" She blinked her long green eyelashes.
"Hmmm?" Zim said, sounding bored. Her question was interrupted by a flashing red light on the console.
"INTRUDER. INTRUDER." The speakers droned.
"Hang on." Zim said quickly, pressing the flashing button. The computer screen changed, showing Dib standing at the front door. Zim didn't seem surprised. He reached for a microphone that was sitting conveniently within reach. "Come on in, Dib." He spoke into the microphone. The pale teenager at the door looked around, opened it, and stepped in.
"What are you doing?" Min asked, confused and alarmed. "Isn't that one of the Earthanoid creatures? What if he finds his way down here? What if he sees us!?"
Zim stifled a laugh. "I don't think we need to worry too much."
"Hey, Zim! Are you down here?" Min looked up in near-panic at the voice in the elevator shaft, which was quickly whirring to life and carrying the Earthanoid down.
"Yeah, down here! Zim took off down the hallway that led to the elevator shaft. Min could hear their echoing voices over the machinations of the elevator. "I thought you had work to do for skool."
"Yeah, but I finished early. I didn't have any math homework."
"Eh, is that ketchup on your sleeve? You didn't use the refrigerator to get in again, did you?"
"I told you, I'm NOT flushing myself down the toilet!"
"Oh, right." Zim laughed. He rounded the corner into Min's view, a taller bespectacled human quick behind him. Dib froze when he saw the female Irken, staring terrified at him.
"Wha-- Who's that?" Dib pointed at her.
"Uhh, Dib, this is Min. She just... dropped in. Min, this is Dib, a friend of mine."
"A friend??" Min said, exasperated. "It's an Erthanoid!"
"Earth-LING!" Dib corrected. He looked at Zim. "Where did she come from?" Dib pressed, trying to ignore her. Min looked insulted.
"Well, I noticed her on the way home from Skool. I kept having the feeling someone was watching me. That someone turned out to be her. She gave a pretty good chase, too..."
Dib glared at Min, who was staring defiantly at him. "What's she dong here? Did you ever think to ask?"
"I HAPPEN to be stranded here, earthLING! And I'd rather not be bothered with your petty inquiries!" Min replied sharply, cutting Zim's explanation short.
"I even talking to you..." Dib said coldly. Min glared at him, almost growling under her breath.
"Dib, can I talk to you for a second?" Zim grabbed Dib's sleeve and dragged him away from the seething female in the computer room. Dragging him into the tunnel to the elevator, he spun around and clutched the human's shoulders, eyes staring straight into his. "What are you doing?" He said quietly.
"What do you mean, 'What am I doing'? Zim, look at what YOU'RE doing!" Dib wriggled out of Zim's grasp and stepped back. "You met her only a few hours ago, and already she's down here, looking the place over? Doesn't that seem dangerous to you?"
"Nonsense! She doesn't even have a decent disguise! She's perfectly harmless, I'm sure of that!"
"That's exactly what I thought about Tak..." Dib replied, his voice wavering ever so slightly. "...Remember? C'mon, Zim! She tried to run when you saw her, for God's sake! Doesn't that seem shady to you at ALL?"
"...Of course not! She's... only being careful. I'd do the same thing, if I were--" Zim stopped, and sighed in recognition. "If I were in her situation..." He WAS in her situation, he realized. He identified with her, because they were both stranded here. That's why he brought her into his base to begin with. That's why he couldn't just kick her out.
Dib stood there, reading him like a picture book. "Well, your pity for her may cost us. All of us... What if she's lying to you? What if she's--" Zim cut him off with a glare. Don't dare finish that sentence, he seemed to say. Dib swollowed and steeled himself. "I see how it is. Well, enjoy your newfound companionship, Zim. I'm not going to stick around. You'd better keep an eye on her, 'cuz if she pulls anything funny, then she'll have ME to deal with..." Zim's scowl deepened. Dib turned and walked towards the elevator, and Zim watched him all the way up. His expression was like granite. He didin't expect to lose his only friend over this, but he knew better than to think Dib was going to waver. Stupid human. Angrily, he sulked back into the computer room.
"Where's the earth creature?" Min asked irritably, leaning against the computer console, arms crossed.
"He left." Zim said quickly. "So, what did you want to ask me?"
Min stood up, trying to compose herself. "Uh, well, I'm not too used to this place, and I don't know how long I'm going to have to stay here. So... if you don't mind... may I use your base? I just want to look through your computer files and find out exactly what I'm up against." She looked wistfully at the blank computer screen.
"Heh, why not?" Zim replied without really thinking. "It's obvious you're just trying to survive down here, so I suppose you can use the Earth data files in the computer."
Min heaved a deep sigh of relief. "Thank you, Zim. You don't know what this means to me."