"'The new age will begin with Mitosis. Where there was one, there will be two. Where there is two, there will be many.'" Red read from a holographic screen at a huge desk. The tasteful biomechanic archetecture of the tallest's private library was surpassed only by the sight just outside the gigantic picture window: A breathtaking view of the planet Irk and it's three moons. He and Purple would usually be sitting in the control room, viewing through the viewscreen, and munching on something tasty, but instead, and for the past three months they had been staring at computer screens, sans snacks, trying to find out all they could about what the Control Brain had told them that night. His claw was poised above the input plate, twitching ever so slightly as the heat-sensitive input device read his motions as commands. Purple stood behind him, holding his chin in thought. "'The seed will be sown on the day of Mitosis, and the Tallest will carry It. The Tallest will go to the new stead with It, and It will grow there. It will grow from ashes and metal, and the highest of mind. And many will flock to it, and it will protect them. A new age will begin, and a new sphere will be opened.'" Red turned around in his chair and blinked at Purple. "...It's kinda creepy when you see yourself mentioned in scripture..."
"I remember when I first heard that passage." Purple sighed. "I was just a smeet. I thought it was too vague, that it didn't mean anything..." He paused and pointed at the screen. "'The new stead'? That's gotta mean Earth." Purple started to pace behind Red's chair. "Imagine. Earth, the center of a new reach of the Irken empire! Who would've thought? With a second Control Brain stationed there, it'll give us half the galaxy for the taking!" He said happily. He stopped, and looked down at Red again. "You know, I still don't know why you want to keep this a secret. If the empire knew the day of Mitosis was upon us, It'd--"
"It'd be frozen in fear, Pur." Red interrupted. "This is scary stuff we're talking about. This... manuscript talks about more than just the beginning of a new age." Red said dryly. He pointed at one of the paragraphs on the screen. "Look at this. It talks about fighting, possibly a war somewhere." He scrolled down through the text. "A return to some kind of creepy 'hedonistic past', and," He read aloud. "'Betrayal of the highest order.' I don't know what it all means, but it doesn't sound NICE. This is not the kind of thing I'm going to just blurt out to anyone. Not until the Control Brain summons us, and tells us it's ready."
Purple sighed in frustration, kneading the ridges above his eyes. He just didin't get why Red was being so paranoid. He always was better at dealing with people, though, and his argument kind of made sense. "You AT LEAST sent the orders to have an Invader stationed on Earth, right?" He pushed.
"Oh, yeah. She should already be there by now." Red motioned with a wave of his claw. "I did it as quietly as possible, and she knows her mission's top secret. No one else in the galaxy knows where she is except you and me."
Purple blinked. "What about Zim?"
"What about him?"
"He might be a threat."
Red laughed. "Oh, c'mon, Pur! Zim is so clueless that he won't even notice anything's wrong until the Armada drops in on top of him. He probably doesn't even know she's there!"
"Remember what the Conrol Brain said..." Purple mumbled. Red turned and looked up at him irratably. That had become his favorite catch-phrase over the past few months. Purple's arms were crossed, his eyes narrow in thought. "I still want full progress reports every hundred hours. If anything happens, I want us to be the first to know, secrecy or no. This is too important to screw up, Red." With that, he hovered away and out of the library. Red watched him leave, and turned and stared at the text on the screen. Scrolling up and down through the pages, he tried to absentmindedly figure out what was bugging him. His and Purple's "executive disagreements" had gotten more frequent, and he really couldn't blame his co-tallest for all of it. The whole thing--the division of the control brain into two entities, the prose, the scripture, the hype--was getting to him, for some reason. He should have been happy, like Purple, but he had an uncomfortable feeling there was something that he should know that he didn't. It was like there was a missing piece to a puzzle that he just couldn't find, and no one else noticed was gone. And he HATED feeling like that. In irritation, he slapped the input plate and stood up, ready to leave. Maybe some nachos or something would make him feel better, he thought. A musical tone from the screen stopped him, however, and he tuned back. When he hit the plate, he'd accidentally opened an old biology treatise from some fogotten database. Blinking in irritation, he started to close it down, but then read the title: "The Control Brain and It's Contributions to Irken Development."
"Hmm? Control Brain? What's this...?"
"I remember when I first heard that passage." Purple sighed. "I was just a smeet. I thought it was too vague, that it didn't mean anything..." He paused and pointed at the screen. "'The new stead'? That's gotta mean Earth." Purple started to pace behind Red's chair. "Imagine. Earth, the center of a new reach of the Irken empire! Who would've thought? With a second Control Brain stationed there, it'll give us half the galaxy for the taking!" He said happily. He stopped, and looked down at Red again. "You know, I still don't know why you want to keep this a secret. If the empire knew the day of Mitosis was upon us, It'd--"
"It'd be frozen in fear, Pur." Red interrupted. "This is scary stuff we're talking about. This... manuscript talks about more than just the beginning of a new age." Red said dryly. He pointed at one of the paragraphs on the screen. "Look at this. It talks about fighting, possibly a war somewhere." He scrolled down through the text. "A return to some kind of creepy 'hedonistic past', and," He read aloud. "'Betrayal of the highest order.' I don't know what it all means, but it doesn't sound NICE. This is not the kind of thing I'm going to just blurt out to anyone. Not until the Control Brain summons us, and tells us it's ready."
Purple sighed in frustration, kneading the ridges above his eyes. He just didin't get why Red was being so paranoid. He always was better at dealing with people, though, and his argument kind of made sense. "You AT LEAST sent the orders to have an Invader stationed on Earth, right?" He pushed.
"Oh, yeah. She should already be there by now." Red motioned with a wave of his claw. "I did it as quietly as possible, and she knows her mission's top secret. No one else in the galaxy knows where she is except you and me."
Purple blinked. "What about Zim?"
"What about him?"
"He might be a threat."
Red laughed. "Oh, c'mon, Pur! Zim is so clueless that he won't even notice anything's wrong until the Armada drops in on top of him. He probably doesn't even know she's there!"
"Remember what the Conrol Brain said..." Purple mumbled. Red turned and looked up at him irratably. That had become his favorite catch-phrase over the past few months. Purple's arms were crossed, his eyes narrow in thought. "I still want full progress reports every hundred hours. If anything happens, I want us to be the first to know, secrecy or no. This is too important to screw up, Red." With that, he hovered away and out of the library. Red watched him leave, and turned and stared at the text on the screen. Scrolling up and down through the pages, he tried to absentmindedly figure out what was bugging him. His and Purple's "executive disagreements" had gotten more frequent, and he really couldn't blame his co-tallest for all of it. The whole thing--the division of the control brain into two entities, the prose, the scripture, the hype--was getting to him, for some reason. He should have been happy, like Purple, but he had an uncomfortable feeling there was something that he should know that he didn't. It was like there was a missing piece to a puzzle that he just couldn't find, and no one else noticed was gone. And he HATED feeling like that. In irritation, he slapped the input plate and stood up, ready to leave. Maybe some nachos or something would make him feel better, he thought. A musical tone from the screen stopped him, however, and he tuned back. When he hit the plate, he'd accidentally opened an old biology treatise from some fogotten database. Blinking in irritation, he started to close it down, but then read the title: "The Control Brain and It's Contributions to Irken Development."
"Hmm? Control Brain? What's this...?"