_Chapter 3: Points of Conflict
"ZIM!!!" Viy bellowed, slamming the bases' door shut behind her as she stormed in. "Ugh, when I get my hands on that little –!!"
"Hey, what's all the yelling about?" Zim frowned as he emerged from the kitchen, having been in his lab a few minutes previous when the computer had let off all sorts of warning alarms. Spotting Viy he relaxed and greeted her, seemingly oblivious to the fierce glare she shot at him. "Oh hey, it's you, I wondered if you might – AGH!! Get off! Get off!!"
Viy had sprung, and the two now rolled around the floor locked in combat. "Computer! Computer! Help Zim!!! Help your master!!" Zim yelled frantically, trying to free one of his antennae from Viy's grasp, and succeeding in pushing her off before she leapt back at him a second later.
"Oh but... I kinda want to see who wins this..." the computer admitted, dropping its tone slightly at the last bit.
"GIR!" Zim exclaimed hopefully as GIR sauntered past contentedly and now turned to look at them, Zim just succeeding at this point to keep Viy's hands from advancing on his throat, although both were tiring.
"Aww..." GIR responded, beaming at them. "You two look so cute playing together! Just like goooood friends."
"Wait –! Gir!!" Zim yelled as GIR continued on his way, cheerful that his master and the new girl were getting on so well. "Oh that does it! Computer!! If you don't obey me there will be dire consequences!!!"
"Pfft. Fine..." it conceded, and a second later several robotic arms snaked their way down from the ceiling and pulled the two apart, holding them at a safe distance from each other.
"Ugh... Hey! Let me go!" Viy protested, shooting a frown at the robotic arm that held her now.
"Are you insane?!" Zim yelled back, "You tried to kill me!! Just think what the Tallest will say when they hear about this!"
"Oh, they'd be happy," Viy shot back with a defiant pout.
"This is treason!" Zim exclaimed, a trace of panic still audible in his voice, although he masked it well under his anger. "You dare attack Zim in his own base!! Now you must suffer the consequences!"
"You attacked me first!" Viy shouted angrily, her cheeks flushing slightly.
"What?! No I didn't! You leapt on me! Computer!!!"
"...What?"
"She leapt on me first, didn't she?"
"Technically yes Zim... But..."
"But nothing," Zim frowned stubbornly, before weakening after a few moments. "But what?"
"Well she obviously wouldn't be this mad for nothing."
"Yes she would. She's crazy!" Zim exclaimed, pointing at Viy accusingly.
"Hey!!" Viy glared at him heatedly. "You're the crazy one! You're the one who almost killed me in P.E!!"
"And there you have your motive," the computer stated simply, although neither Zim or Viy was listening to it.
"Killed you?" Zim frowned defiantly. "I was helping you."
"By collapsing a wall on me?!"
"...That does seem pretty dumb Zim," the computer noted.
"No... You've got it all wrong," he replied, shaking his head and now looking rather amused instead. "You see, I figured the Dib-human was more likely to trust you if he thought that you and I were enemies of sorts. I had to pretend like I wanted to hurt you to make it believable!"
"Several tons of bricks is pretty believable when you're standing beneath it," Viy growled, her cheeks still flushed with pent up anger. "I was on the verge of using my PAK to escape – How would that have encouraged Dib to trust me more?!"
"Well that would have just been stupid," Zim exclaimed mockingly.
Viy's eye twitched before she glanced up at the ceiling and asked sweetly, "Computer? Would you please let me go so I can hurt him?!"
Zim instantly flinched away fearfully, but the computer droned back. "Aww now I'd like to but I think it would be best if we all just calmed down. Zim's nearly killed many things before – you should be privileged yours was in good intentions."
"I don't care if it was with good intentions!!" Viy screamed hysterically before shooting a hate-filled glare at Zim. "When the Tallest hear about this your dead!! Purple will kill you for this! If he thought you'd done anything to deliberately hurt his betr –" she cut herself off just in time, and took a deep breath. "Let's just say he wouldn't be happy..."
"The Tallest will understand perfectly once I explain to them the full situation," Zim responded calmly with a disregarding wave of his hand. "Honestly, you females can get so overemotional. It's just like Tenn, she gets a few malfunctioning SIR's and she cracks. Oh well. I guess you just can't handle the pressure like the rest of us..."
Viy was busy tightening her fingers slowly into the coils of the robotic arm now, trying her best not to lose her temper any further. Luckily the computer interceded, "Zim, I think it may be best if we put all this behind us. Which begins with you not talking about it. At all. EVER."
"Huh? Oh yeah. Well only if she promises not to attack me again without a proper reason," Zim responded, frowning at Viy disapprovingly.
"Without a proper reason?! I–!" Viy began, but a slight tightening of the computers coil brought her back to her senses. "Fine," she conceded grouchily.
"Well if that's all settled then I do have one or two rather important calls to make," Zim announced. "Maybe you should go to your base and think on your next plans for the Dib-worm. You'll have him eating out of your hand in no time. And he doesn't suspect a thing..." he paused to give a superior, gloating smile at the thought of his plan unfurling. "Then I'll know all his weaknesses! And nothing will stand in my way. I expect a full report on Friday by the way." And with the last cheery addition he hopped free from the robotic arm and marched triumphantly into the kitchen, leaving Viy still glowering somewhat.
"Uhm... Hmmm... He means well..." the computer began uncertainly, trying to appease Viy's still threatening temper. "I doubt he meant to hurt you, he just often gets ahead of himself without thinking of the consequences. Like this one time he was playing about with a time stasis field and it accidentally exploded. Well, he ended up with an explosion, but because of the time stasis it was exploding, just really... slow... You know?"
Viy gave a sigh and slumped forward slightly on the coils, the computers tones somehow soothing her temper now, even if it was making her feel more depressed about her situation instead.
"Anyway, Zim ended up running all over town with this thing, dressed as a really fat floating woman with an afro," the computer continued, this line causing Viy to sit bolt upright and shoot a sceptical look upwards.
"A... fat floating woman with an afro...?" she repeated, wanting to make sure she'd heard it correctly.
"A really fat floating woman with an afro," the computer confirmed cheerfully. "But at the end of it all Zim couldn't get rid of the explosion, so he figured if he just sped it up it would explode and be gone. No problem. We all tried telling him it would explode and take out everything in a several mile radius, but he wouldn't listen..."
"What happened?" Viy asked.
"He exploded it and took out everything in a several mile radius," the computer responded flatly, "Including himself and the whole of the base."
"Figures," Viy muttered, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, the human construction people actually work really quickly. I was impressed how quickly they'd restored everything again," the computer continued contentedly. "But the point is, often Zim gets an idea and thinks it's a good one. It's often a very very bad one, but he thinks it's good, so at least the thought's there."
"You think I shouldn't be mad at him?" Viy asked uncertainly, frowning as she debated whether she had been a bit harsh on him.
"No, I think you should be mad at him. Very mad. But I think that if you expect him to think his plan was anything other than a good one, no matter how it's turned out, then you're wasting you time," the computer explained, uncoiling its robotic arm from around Viy and setting her down on the floor.
"I guess you're right," she sighed, dusting off her top, straightening her wig and checking herself over to ensure she was presentable. "I just wish he was less... frustrating... You know? That he'd actually listen."
"Mmmhmm," the computer responded half-heartedly, clearly never believing such a thing could be possible. "But what was that you were saying before?"
"Saying before? When?" Viy asked, glancing up curiously.
"When you were yelling at Zim," the computer continued. "You said Purple would kill him, and if he thought Zim had done anything to deliberately hurt his – and then you cut off."
"Oh that before..." Viy replied uneasily.
"Mmmhmm," the computer replied sceptically, not believing her innocent response for a moment. "Were you going to say, what I think you were going to say?"
"That would depend," Viy continued, clearly unsettled, and distractedly tapping her two index fingers together, "On what you thought I was going to say..."
When Zim next entered the upper levels of the house, he found Viy and the computer in an energetic discussion, interspersed with the occasional delighted giggle which quickly grated on his nerves. "What are you still doing here?" he demanded as he wandered up to where Viy was sat at the kitchen table, before turning and glancing up at the ceiling, "And why is my computer giggling?! What have you done to it...?"
He shot an accusing look at Viy who was innocently slurping on an Irken slush now. "I didn't do anything," she replied calmly, "We just got to talking is all. Anyway – I'm going now."
Zim narrowed one eye sceptically as Viy hopped down from the chair and strode cheerfully into the main room.
"I can't remember the last time we had one of those," the computer was saying now, a distinctly cheerful note in its normally flat tones. "I expect an invite by the way."
"Invite to what?" Zim demanded irritably as he followed Viy.
"Uhm – Cinema," Viy replied quickly before sipping on the slush again and continuing somewhat muffled, "Whe're going t' shee tis film aboht this raice horse... I think iht's cauled 'Shea Biscutt' or somethin'..."
Zim suppressed a shudder at both the thought of the film and at having to tolerate Viy's obscured speech. "My computer is not going to any... sin-e- maa's..." he stated irritably as Viy strode cheerfully through the door. "And neither are you until you've helped me defeat Dib!"
"Okhay, okhay. Sheesh..." Viy muttered through the straw as she regarded the face of the determined Irken and rolled her eyes. Knowing there was no point arguing she turned and wandered down the path, still muttering as she did. "Honestly, you almost kill me by collapsing a wall on me and then I'm not even allowed to go to the cinema when I want. You need to work on your interaction skills somewhat I'm thinking..."
Zim ignored this and slammed the door shut before frowning up at the ceiling where the coils shifted slightly and there was the sound of a cheerful electronic humming being stifled.
"Computer! I'm going back down to the lab. But there will be no cinema's, and no giggling. Do you understand?!" Zim demanded fiercely, squinting decidedly.
"Yes..." the computer replied, sounding rather regretful as it did. Zim glowered irritably before turning and striding back towards his lab. "Honestly, I'm amazed I manage to do such a wonderful job on this planet when I'm backed up with what I am," he remarked haughtily, and vanished down below, pretending he didn't hear the computers last random sounds of glee emanating from the front room as he did, and setting his mind instead on how gratifying it would be to finally have Dib out of the way, once and for all...
While Zim was plotting, and Viy was strolling home muttering absentmindedly to herself about Zim, Dib was busy flicking through just some of the evidence he had stored on his computers database. He paused now and ejected the disk from the CD drive and slipped it back into its case before giving an absentminded sigh and turning towards the window. The evidence was right there, clear as day. Anyone could see it. But that was the problem – no one did.
Dib hung his head thoughtfully as he considered this. He had tried so many times to convince people of Zim's true identity, and of the danger Earth was in, but no one had listened. The one ally he thought he'd found, Mr Dwicky, the school counsellor, had turned out to be humouring him – until, that was, he saw Zim and a couple of other aliens, and then left to travel outer space, leaving Dib alone once more. Despite his best efforts no one at school had noticed; how he didn't understand. But whenever he tried to convince them he just ended up being the brunt of the joke, yet again. He had thought Tak was interested in his studies, and she had hated Zim, so she had certainly seemed a potential ally – until it turned out she was also an Irken bent on destroying the planet... The Swollen Eyeball, who should have believed him, were getting impatient at his constant claims, and whenever he tried to back them up, so they'd take him seriously for once, something invariably went wrong. He was a standing joke at the FBI...
Even his own dad thought he was crazy, or misguided, depending on the situation. In fact, the only other person who knew Zim was an alien was Gaz, and she didn't even care.
Dib shot an unhappy look at the piles of evidence. Why would no one believe him? Or if they did, why did they never do anything? This was a fact that was constantly bothering him, but it was all the more poignant tonight because he was worrying about one person in particular believing him.
"What if she just thinks I'm a joke too?" Dib slumped on the windowsill and gazed out at the starry sky, somewhere beyond where it melded into the twinkling lights of the city. "Everyone else does..."
He remained silent as he thought on this, his face half buried in his arms so only his eyes peered out over the folds of his jacket sleeves. "Someone has to believe me eventually," he mumbled, lowering his eyes slightly. "And... Viy doesn't seem like the others. Somehow..."
'But what if that's not enough?' a small voice in the back of his mind queried. 'You've only known her what – two days? Not even that. How do you know she's any different?'
Dib shook off the voice but had to glumly admit it was right. The chances were he was just going to end up being let down again. Maybe he should wait a little longer before he tried to gain Viy as an ally. Perhaps it would be better to just have her as a friend first? A friend would be nice after all...
He sat up and propped his head up with one hand, gazing once more at the stars with a heavy sigh. After today though surely Viy wouldn't be feeling too favourable towards Zim? That had to work in his favour. He figured Zim must have been fed up with having to help a human, although it was a pretty drastic way to ditch someone... Although, this was Zim they were talking about. But at lunchtime he had been quite defensive about being Viy's guide – if he had had a plan then, maybe he'd abandoned it for something else.
Dib's mind focused on this for a bit, and he considered going to Zim's house to see if he could learn anything new, but it was late, and somehow he just didn't feel up to it. He'd have to keep a close eye on him at school tomorrow though.
He pushed the chair away from the window now and rubbed one eye sleepily before removing his glasses and wandering over to his bed. He would wait, he decided. A couple of days at least anyway... He curled up beneath the covers determined to go to sleep and not think on it any more. He'd made his decision, now he was going to stick to it. Besides, he really rather liked Viy, and didn't want to scare her away.
'But if she liked you back she'd like you for who you really are,' the voice nagged again.
Once again he dismissed it. 'She does. She will ...In a couple of days...' he thought back determinedly, although his last thought before he drifted off to sleep was, 'I hope...'
Viy meanwhile was considering the implications this 'friendship' was going to have on her, although it was somewhat half-heartedly as she and GEM shared a bowl of popcorn and watched some movie on the television called 'Virus', which was giving Viy all sorts of weird and wonderful ideas for robotic scout bugs and the likes. She doubted whether she'd ever have need to use them, but they were intriguing none the less.
She knew however that it should be this mission of Zim's that was commanding her thoughts, even though she was still mad at him, and more against the idea than she had been at the start. She used those reasons to justify her robot plans now, although every so often niggling other thoughts surfaced and distracted her from the latest design.
'Dib saved you, you know,' her mind taunted. Viy frowned, very much aware of the fact and wanting to forget it, and wondering equally therefore why she kept recalling it. 'Twice' her mind continued. But it wasn't twice, she corrected herself. The one on the net wasn't really a save; if anything it was half a safe. 'He saved me one and a half times,' she thought contentedly, but somehow it didn't make her feel any better, so she returned to the popcorn and blanked her mind for the duration of the film.
When the film did end, and she retreated down to the lab wanting to doodle up some of the designs, she found her thoughts returned to haunt her once more.
'Admit it... He's not so bad...'
"He's irritating," she snapped, to no one in particular.
'But sweet.'
"He's crazy!"
'But right.'
Viy sighed and slumped down – she hated it when her thoughts contradicted. It was as if there were two versions of her squabbling it out. It didn't happen very often, and generally only when she was having to consider a really important decision. It had happened not too long ago as it had happened – Viy frowned. Not that she'd really had a choice in that one either...
"Stupid control brain," she muttered, kicking a loose bolt over the floor and sending it clinking into the shadows.
"Sorry - were you talking to me?" the computer's voice queried now over the speakers.
"No, just myself," Viy replied, glancing upwards. "Say – are you any good at solving problems?"
"Like mathematical stuff?"
"Not exactly –"
"Like Zim stuff? The Tallest called for you earlier today by the way."
"They did?" Viy hopped into her chair and swung round on it thoughtfully. "What did they want? And yeah I guess it could kind of be classified as Zim stuff..."
"Nothing much," the computer recollected, "I think they just wanted to check how you were. They mentioned something about a black hole though."
"Oh yeah," Viy winced as she remembered that – she should really have called Purple to check they were alright. But Purple had said they'd ring back, and besides, she didn't want to ring up because she may end up doing so at that crucial moment and end up inadvertently making the whole situation ten times worse. "They were okay though?"
"Seemed it. As for the Zim problem though, I probably wouldn't be much help there... What's he done this time?"
Viy shrugged and opened up a few windows on screen before beginning to type in design ratios. "He got some crazy idea earlier today that I could befriend his enemy – this kid named Dib? Anyway, he figured if I made friends with him I could find out his weakness, making him easier to defeat. And Dib seems blissfully unaware of this and only too happy to be my friend. But that doesn't really make this easier. Computer – would you believe I have this little bit of guilt at the fact I'm betraying him? I mean, he's a human, and he's annoying, so why should I care?! But the fact is earlier today we were doing this stupid thing in class – it was like invader training just for humans. Anyway – twice I got in trouble, well... one and a half times, and both... one and a half times... Dib saved me. If it hadn't been for him I could be in a great deal of pain right now. If not carted off to some human hospital where they'd have discovered I wasn't human after all," she made a random dismissive gesture with one hand and sighed. "See before I didn't want to do this thing because it was going to be annoying. And it is annoying. But now I actually feel bad about doing it. I shouldn't feel bad about doing it though, should I? I mean, this kid would probably betray me in an instant if he knew what I really was."
The computer had retained a thoughtful silence though Viy's explanation and only now responded. "...Uhm. Well it's certainly not normal for an Irken to show feelings of guilt – if they do it's usually in relation to a life partner, but very rarely otherwise. Would you like me to run a scan on your PAK for any defaults?"
"No, it'll be fine," Viy replied dismissively as she considered the situation.
"But if you're experiencing these emotions there may be an error developing. Surely it's best to repair that error now before it develops into something worse?" the computer persisted.
"Mmmhmm," Viy nodded, "And in any other circumstance I'd agree with you. But there is no error – I should know, I ran a scan on my PAK earlier this evening..."
"...Oh," the computer replied before falling into a thoughtful silence once more. Viy had pushed the chair away from the desk slightly and headed over to another computer console where she inserted a disk and began typing in various codes.
"I don't know what it is," she admitted.
"It could just be you. I mean while it's unusual it isn't unknown for some Irken's to develop emotions beyond those they're programmed with. It wouldn't necessarily mean you're defective or anything."
"I wasn't thinking I was," Viy replied, glancing up with a slight frown at the suggestion, "And I have very good grounds to believe that I'm not, but that's not really important now... What is important is that these emotions, for whatever reason they've decided to develop, need to be controlled somehow. They'll be okay for now as they seem balanced with my other emotions, but if they were to increase they could override the emotion drive in my PAK and then I may just be on suitable grounds to be classed as defective." She ejected the disk and headed over to a small platform surrounded by various tools. "This disk however should prevent that from happening, but I'll need to plug it into the emotion drive in my PAK first. Computer? Start a countdown for five minutes would you?"
"Five? But you can last ten without your PAK."
"Yes, but after five my mental capabilities will be beginning to deteriorate and while I'd probably still be able to complete the transaction it's better not to take any risks."
"But reattaching your PAK with it half inserted –" the computer began.
Viy nodded in agreement as he spoke before cutting in, "If you inform me after five minutes then I can make a decision whether I can safely complete the transaction in time or whether I need to abort it. Either way it gives me a little leeway before I'll have to reattach the PAK."
"That's... good thinking," the computer admitted after considering it briefly. "When do you want the countdown to begin?"
Viy placed the disk on the table and drew out a few of the tools she would be requiring before reaching back and resting either hand on the two lower compartments of her PAK and pressing them inwards. "Now."
Six minutes, forty-three seconds later Viy checked her PAK was secure once more. She'd inserted the disk without too much difficulty, although now she needed to ascertain whether it was working. She still felt guilt, but the disk hadn't been put there to block it completely, just keep it at a safe level. Either way, without a fluctuation in her guilt levels she'd be unable to monitor whether or not the disk was working as it should.
"Computer? Take a reading off my PAK and check the disk is active would you?" she wandered into the middle of the room and straightened slightly as a cable snaked its way down from the ceiling before inserting itself into the main panel on her PAK.
There was a quick flicker of information on the main video screen before the computer confirmed, "The disk is active and functioning normally as far as I can ascertain. Although a field test will probably be the only way you can test it properly. Initialising scan..."
Viy watched as more data flitted quickly over the computer screens with occasional blips, before a diagram came up on screen of her PAK, and a quick zoom took the focus to the emotion drive. "Hmm... Well I can confirm your earlier scan – there don't seem to be any errors present, or any recorded before the drive was inserted. However, this 'guilt' seems to only activate with certain individuals. It may be that you can develop it for someone a bit like human affection can develop. The positive note with that is that it can be lost also. However, currently it seems to only activate on noticeable levels with two individuals. My suggestion is that if you find it activating with anyone else then we may need to examine it more seriously."
Viy nodded in agreement, "Sounds like a plan. I doubt it will though. Or rather I hope it doesn't..." She frowned thoughtfully, "Maybe Earth just affects you like that? I was scanning Gem's readings from Gir's observations and there are possible signs that Zim feels guilt too. Although it was only once or twice and barely noticeable..."
"I'd be more tempted to say it's because Zim's a defective," the computer responded, "But we can't rule it out. Should I run a scan to see if your PAK readings altered at all since your arrival?"
Viy considered it for a moment before shaking her head, "No don't bother. It'll probably be gone in a couple of days anyway."
"Okay. Oh – hang on..."
"What?" Viy glanced upwards anxiously.
"I'm detecting some other unauthorised emotions in your emotion drive. I'll bring them up on screen –"
Viy turned to the screen as a list of around seven or eight emotions scrolled into view, including the recent addition of 'Guilt'. She sensed a hint of concern in the computers thoughts through its link and quickly cut off the monitor. "The others are authorised," she stated flatly as the computer detached the cable.
"Are... you sure? They could be where this 'guilt' stemmed from. I don't think it's a good idea to leave them active –" the computer protested.
Viy felt her cheeks flush slightly, wondering just how much else the computer had read through the link. "I have authorisation for them, let's leave it at that. I didn't really want them but I was required too. You can check with Irk's main control brain if you don't believe me," she added sulkily, although a hint of defiance was audible in her tone.
"I've been programmed to accept whatever you claim to be true," the computer replied, almost apologetically. "I was simply concerned for your sake."
"If you want to be concerned about me, be concerned about how I'm going to survive the rest of this week with Zim thinking that Dib will like me more if he shows we're enemies by trying to annihilate me," Viy responded miserably, before glancing back up at the blank monitor. Even though it was off it was as if she could still see the words burnt into the screen, and in particular the third one down.
She shook her head defiantly. The computer was misreading the signals from her emotion drive; true some of them did apply but that one, she thought stubbornly, did not. She strode out of the room looking as dignified as she could muster, with the decision she would leave her robotic designs until later.
"ZIM!!!" Viy bellowed, slamming the bases' door shut behind her as she stormed in. "Ugh, when I get my hands on that little –!!"
"Hey, what's all the yelling about?" Zim frowned as he emerged from the kitchen, having been in his lab a few minutes previous when the computer had let off all sorts of warning alarms. Spotting Viy he relaxed and greeted her, seemingly oblivious to the fierce glare she shot at him. "Oh hey, it's you, I wondered if you might – AGH!! Get off! Get off!!"
Viy had sprung, and the two now rolled around the floor locked in combat. "Computer! Computer! Help Zim!!! Help your master!!" Zim yelled frantically, trying to free one of his antennae from Viy's grasp, and succeeding in pushing her off before she leapt back at him a second later.
"Oh but... I kinda want to see who wins this..." the computer admitted, dropping its tone slightly at the last bit.
"GIR!" Zim exclaimed hopefully as GIR sauntered past contentedly and now turned to look at them, Zim just succeeding at this point to keep Viy's hands from advancing on his throat, although both were tiring.
"Aww..." GIR responded, beaming at them. "You two look so cute playing together! Just like goooood friends."
"Wait –! Gir!!" Zim yelled as GIR continued on his way, cheerful that his master and the new girl were getting on so well. "Oh that does it! Computer!! If you don't obey me there will be dire consequences!!!"
"Pfft. Fine..." it conceded, and a second later several robotic arms snaked their way down from the ceiling and pulled the two apart, holding them at a safe distance from each other.
"Ugh... Hey! Let me go!" Viy protested, shooting a frown at the robotic arm that held her now.
"Are you insane?!" Zim yelled back, "You tried to kill me!! Just think what the Tallest will say when they hear about this!"
"Oh, they'd be happy," Viy shot back with a defiant pout.
"This is treason!" Zim exclaimed, a trace of panic still audible in his voice, although he masked it well under his anger. "You dare attack Zim in his own base!! Now you must suffer the consequences!"
"You attacked me first!" Viy shouted angrily, her cheeks flushing slightly.
"What?! No I didn't! You leapt on me! Computer!!!"
"...What?"
"She leapt on me first, didn't she?"
"Technically yes Zim... But..."
"But nothing," Zim frowned stubbornly, before weakening after a few moments. "But what?"
"Well she obviously wouldn't be this mad for nothing."
"Yes she would. She's crazy!" Zim exclaimed, pointing at Viy accusingly.
"Hey!!" Viy glared at him heatedly. "You're the crazy one! You're the one who almost killed me in P.E!!"
"And there you have your motive," the computer stated simply, although neither Zim or Viy was listening to it.
"Killed you?" Zim frowned defiantly. "I was helping you."
"By collapsing a wall on me?!"
"...That does seem pretty dumb Zim," the computer noted.
"No... You've got it all wrong," he replied, shaking his head and now looking rather amused instead. "You see, I figured the Dib-human was more likely to trust you if he thought that you and I were enemies of sorts. I had to pretend like I wanted to hurt you to make it believable!"
"Several tons of bricks is pretty believable when you're standing beneath it," Viy growled, her cheeks still flushed with pent up anger. "I was on the verge of using my PAK to escape – How would that have encouraged Dib to trust me more?!"
"Well that would have just been stupid," Zim exclaimed mockingly.
Viy's eye twitched before she glanced up at the ceiling and asked sweetly, "Computer? Would you please let me go so I can hurt him?!"
Zim instantly flinched away fearfully, but the computer droned back. "Aww now I'd like to but I think it would be best if we all just calmed down. Zim's nearly killed many things before – you should be privileged yours was in good intentions."
"I don't care if it was with good intentions!!" Viy screamed hysterically before shooting a hate-filled glare at Zim. "When the Tallest hear about this your dead!! Purple will kill you for this! If he thought you'd done anything to deliberately hurt his betr –" she cut herself off just in time, and took a deep breath. "Let's just say he wouldn't be happy..."
"The Tallest will understand perfectly once I explain to them the full situation," Zim responded calmly with a disregarding wave of his hand. "Honestly, you females can get so overemotional. It's just like Tenn, she gets a few malfunctioning SIR's and she cracks. Oh well. I guess you just can't handle the pressure like the rest of us..."
Viy was busy tightening her fingers slowly into the coils of the robotic arm now, trying her best not to lose her temper any further. Luckily the computer interceded, "Zim, I think it may be best if we put all this behind us. Which begins with you not talking about it. At all. EVER."
"Huh? Oh yeah. Well only if she promises not to attack me again without a proper reason," Zim responded, frowning at Viy disapprovingly.
"Without a proper reason?! I–!" Viy began, but a slight tightening of the computers coil brought her back to her senses. "Fine," she conceded grouchily.
"Well if that's all settled then I do have one or two rather important calls to make," Zim announced. "Maybe you should go to your base and think on your next plans for the Dib-worm. You'll have him eating out of your hand in no time. And he doesn't suspect a thing..." he paused to give a superior, gloating smile at the thought of his plan unfurling. "Then I'll know all his weaknesses! And nothing will stand in my way. I expect a full report on Friday by the way." And with the last cheery addition he hopped free from the robotic arm and marched triumphantly into the kitchen, leaving Viy still glowering somewhat.
"Uhm... Hmmm... He means well..." the computer began uncertainly, trying to appease Viy's still threatening temper. "I doubt he meant to hurt you, he just often gets ahead of himself without thinking of the consequences. Like this one time he was playing about with a time stasis field and it accidentally exploded. Well, he ended up with an explosion, but because of the time stasis it was exploding, just really... slow... You know?"
Viy gave a sigh and slumped forward slightly on the coils, the computers tones somehow soothing her temper now, even if it was making her feel more depressed about her situation instead.
"Anyway, Zim ended up running all over town with this thing, dressed as a really fat floating woman with an afro," the computer continued, this line causing Viy to sit bolt upright and shoot a sceptical look upwards.
"A... fat floating woman with an afro...?" she repeated, wanting to make sure she'd heard it correctly.
"A really fat floating woman with an afro," the computer confirmed cheerfully. "But at the end of it all Zim couldn't get rid of the explosion, so he figured if he just sped it up it would explode and be gone. No problem. We all tried telling him it would explode and take out everything in a several mile radius, but he wouldn't listen..."
"What happened?" Viy asked.
"He exploded it and took out everything in a several mile radius," the computer responded flatly, "Including himself and the whole of the base."
"Figures," Viy muttered, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, the human construction people actually work really quickly. I was impressed how quickly they'd restored everything again," the computer continued contentedly. "But the point is, often Zim gets an idea and thinks it's a good one. It's often a very very bad one, but he thinks it's good, so at least the thought's there."
"You think I shouldn't be mad at him?" Viy asked uncertainly, frowning as she debated whether she had been a bit harsh on him.
"No, I think you should be mad at him. Very mad. But I think that if you expect him to think his plan was anything other than a good one, no matter how it's turned out, then you're wasting you time," the computer explained, uncoiling its robotic arm from around Viy and setting her down on the floor.
"I guess you're right," she sighed, dusting off her top, straightening her wig and checking herself over to ensure she was presentable. "I just wish he was less... frustrating... You know? That he'd actually listen."
"Mmmhmm," the computer responded half-heartedly, clearly never believing such a thing could be possible. "But what was that you were saying before?"
"Saying before? When?" Viy asked, glancing up curiously.
"When you were yelling at Zim," the computer continued. "You said Purple would kill him, and if he thought Zim had done anything to deliberately hurt his – and then you cut off."
"Oh that before..." Viy replied uneasily.
"Mmmhmm," the computer replied sceptically, not believing her innocent response for a moment. "Were you going to say, what I think you were going to say?"
"That would depend," Viy continued, clearly unsettled, and distractedly tapping her two index fingers together, "On what you thought I was going to say..."
When Zim next entered the upper levels of the house, he found Viy and the computer in an energetic discussion, interspersed with the occasional delighted giggle which quickly grated on his nerves. "What are you still doing here?" he demanded as he wandered up to where Viy was sat at the kitchen table, before turning and glancing up at the ceiling, "And why is my computer giggling?! What have you done to it...?"
He shot an accusing look at Viy who was innocently slurping on an Irken slush now. "I didn't do anything," she replied calmly, "We just got to talking is all. Anyway – I'm going now."
Zim narrowed one eye sceptically as Viy hopped down from the chair and strode cheerfully into the main room.
"I can't remember the last time we had one of those," the computer was saying now, a distinctly cheerful note in its normally flat tones. "I expect an invite by the way."
"Invite to what?" Zim demanded irritably as he followed Viy.
"Uhm – Cinema," Viy replied quickly before sipping on the slush again and continuing somewhat muffled, "Whe're going t' shee tis film aboht this raice horse... I think iht's cauled 'Shea Biscutt' or somethin'..."
Zim suppressed a shudder at both the thought of the film and at having to tolerate Viy's obscured speech. "My computer is not going to any... sin-e- maa's..." he stated irritably as Viy strode cheerfully through the door. "And neither are you until you've helped me defeat Dib!"
"Okhay, okhay. Sheesh..." Viy muttered through the straw as she regarded the face of the determined Irken and rolled her eyes. Knowing there was no point arguing she turned and wandered down the path, still muttering as she did. "Honestly, you almost kill me by collapsing a wall on me and then I'm not even allowed to go to the cinema when I want. You need to work on your interaction skills somewhat I'm thinking..."
Zim ignored this and slammed the door shut before frowning up at the ceiling where the coils shifted slightly and there was the sound of a cheerful electronic humming being stifled.
"Computer! I'm going back down to the lab. But there will be no cinema's, and no giggling. Do you understand?!" Zim demanded fiercely, squinting decidedly.
"Yes..." the computer replied, sounding rather regretful as it did. Zim glowered irritably before turning and striding back towards his lab. "Honestly, I'm amazed I manage to do such a wonderful job on this planet when I'm backed up with what I am," he remarked haughtily, and vanished down below, pretending he didn't hear the computers last random sounds of glee emanating from the front room as he did, and setting his mind instead on how gratifying it would be to finally have Dib out of the way, once and for all...
While Zim was plotting, and Viy was strolling home muttering absentmindedly to herself about Zim, Dib was busy flicking through just some of the evidence he had stored on his computers database. He paused now and ejected the disk from the CD drive and slipped it back into its case before giving an absentminded sigh and turning towards the window. The evidence was right there, clear as day. Anyone could see it. But that was the problem – no one did.
Dib hung his head thoughtfully as he considered this. He had tried so many times to convince people of Zim's true identity, and of the danger Earth was in, but no one had listened. The one ally he thought he'd found, Mr Dwicky, the school counsellor, had turned out to be humouring him – until, that was, he saw Zim and a couple of other aliens, and then left to travel outer space, leaving Dib alone once more. Despite his best efforts no one at school had noticed; how he didn't understand. But whenever he tried to convince them he just ended up being the brunt of the joke, yet again. He had thought Tak was interested in his studies, and she had hated Zim, so she had certainly seemed a potential ally – until it turned out she was also an Irken bent on destroying the planet... The Swollen Eyeball, who should have believed him, were getting impatient at his constant claims, and whenever he tried to back them up, so they'd take him seriously for once, something invariably went wrong. He was a standing joke at the FBI...
Even his own dad thought he was crazy, or misguided, depending on the situation. In fact, the only other person who knew Zim was an alien was Gaz, and she didn't even care.
Dib shot an unhappy look at the piles of evidence. Why would no one believe him? Or if they did, why did they never do anything? This was a fact that was constantly bothering him, but it was all the more poignant tonight because he was worrying about one person in particular believing him.
"What if she just thinks I'm a joke too?" Dib slumped on the windowsill and gazed out at the starry sky, somewhere beyond where it melded into the twinkling lights of the city. "Everyone else does..."
He remained silent as he thought on this, his face half buried in his arms so only his eyes peered out over the folds of his jacket sleeves. "Someone has to believe me eventually," he mumbled, lowering his eyes slightly. "And... Viy doesn't seem like the others. Somehow..."
'But what if that's not enough?' a small voice in the back of his mind queried. 'You've only known her what – two days? Not even that. How do you know she's any different?'
Dib shook off the voice but had to glumly admit it was right. The chances were he was just going to end up being let down again. Maybe he should wait a little longer before he tried to gain Viy as an ally. Perhaps it would be better to just have her as a friend first? A friend would be nice after all...
He sat up and propped his head up with one hand, gazing once more at the stars with a heavy sigh. After today though surely Viy wouldn't be feeling too favourable towards Zim? That had to work in his favour. He figured Zim must have been fed up with having to help a human, although it was a pretty drastic way to ditch someone... Although, this was Zim they were talking about. But at lunchtime he had been quite defensive about being Viy's guide – if he had had a plan then, maybe he'd abandoned it for something else.
Dib's mind focused on this for a bit, and he considered going to Zim's house to see if he could learn anything new, but it was late, and somehow he just didn't feel up to it. He'd have to keep a close eye on him at school tomorrow though.
He pushed the chair away from the window now and rubbed one eye sleepily before removing his glasses and wandering over to his bed. He would wait, he decided. A couple of days at least anyway... He curled up beneath the covers determined to go to sleep and not think on it any more. He'd made his decision, now he was going to stick to it. Besides, he really rather liked Viy, and didn't want to scare her away.
'But if she liked you back she'd like you for who you really are,' the voice nagged again.
Once again he dismissed it. 'She does. She will ...In a couple of days...' he thought back determinedly, although his last thought before he drifted off to sleep was, 'I hope...'
Viy meanwhile was considering the implications this 'friendship' was going to have on her, although it was somewhat half-heartedly as she and GEM shared a bowl of popcorn and watched some movie on the television called 'Virus', which was giving Viy all sorts of weird and wonderful ideas for robotic scout bugs and the likes. She doubted whether she'd ever have need to use them, but they were intriguing none the less.
She knew however that it should be this mission of Zim's that was commanding her thoughts, even though she was still mad at him, and more against the idea than she had been at the start. She used those reasons to justify her robot plans now, although every so often niggling other thoughts surfaced and distracted her from the latest design.
'Dib saved you, you know,' her mind taunted. Viy frowned, very much aware of the fact and wanting to forget it, and wondering equally therefore why she kept recalling it. 'Twice' her mind continued. But it wasn't twice, she corrected herself. The one on the net wasn't really a save; if anything it was half a safe. 'He saved me one and a half times,' she thought contentedly, but somehow it didn't make her feel any better, so she returned to the popcorn and blanked her mind for the duration of the film.
When the film did end, and she retreated down to the lab wanting to doodle up some of the designs, she found her thoughts returned to haunt her once more.
'Admit it... He's not so bad...'
"He's irritating," she snapped, to no one in particular.
'But sweet.'
"He's crazy!"
'But right.'
Viy sighed and slumped down – she hated it when her thoughts contradicted. It was as if there were two versions of her squabbling it out. It didn't happen very often, and generally only when she was having to consider a really important decision. It had happened not too long ago as it had happened – Viy frowned. Not that she'd really had a choice in that one either...
"Stupid control brain," she muttered, kicking a loose bolt over the floor and sending it clinking into the shadows.
"Sorry - were you talking to me?" the computer's voice queried now over the speakers.
"No, just myself," Viy replied, glancing upwards. "Say – are you any good at solving problems?"
"Like mathematical stuff?"
"Not exactly –"
"Like Zim stuff? The Tallest called for you earlier today by the way."
"They did?" Viy hopped into her chair and swung round on it thoughtfully. "What did they want? And yeah I guess it could kind of be classified as Zim stuff..."
"Nothing much," the computer recollected, "I think they just wanted to check how you were. They mentioned something about a black hole though."
"Oh yeah," Viy winced as she remembered that – she should really have called Purple to check they were alright. But Purple had said they'd ring back, and besides, she didn't want to ring up because she may end up doing so at that crucial moment and end up inadvertently making the whole situation ten times worse. "They were okay though?"
"Seemed it. As for the Zim problem though, I probably wouldn't be much help there... What's he done this time?"
Viy shrugged and opened up a few windows on screen before beginning to type in design ratios. "He got some crazy idea earlier today that I could befriend his enemy – this kid named Dib? Anyway, he figured if I made friends with him I could find out his weakness, making him easier to defeat. And Dib seems blissfully unaware of this and only too happy to be my friend. But that doesn't really make this easier. Computer – would you believe I have this little bit of guilt at the fact I'm betraying him? I mean, he's a human, and he's annoying, so why should I care?! But the fact is earlier today we were doing this stupid thing in class – it was like invader training just for humans. Anyway – twice I got in trouble, well... one and a half times, and both... one and a half times... Dib saved me. If it hadn't been for him I could be in a great deal of pain right now. If not carted off to some human hospital where they'd have discovered I wasn't human after all," she made a random dismissive gesture with one hand and sighed. "See before I didn't want to do this thing because it was going to be annoying. And it is annoying. But now I actually feel bad about doing it. I shouldn't feel bad about doing it though, should I? I mean, this kid would probably betray me in an instant if he knew what I really was."
The computer had retained a thoughtful silence though Viy's explanation and only now responded. "...Uhm. Well it's certainly not normal for an Irken to show feelings of guilt – if they do it's usually in relation to a life partner, but very rarely otherwise. Would you like me to run a scan on your PAK for any defaults?"
"No, it'll be fine," Viy replied dismissively as she considered the situation.
"But if you're experiencing these emotions there may be an error developing. Surely it's best to repair that error now before it develops into something worse?" the computer persisted.
"Mmmhmm," Viy nodded, "And in any other circumstance I'd agree with you. But there is no error – I should know, I ran a scan on my PAK earlier this evening..."
"...Oh," the computer replied before falling into a thoughtful silence once more. Viy had pushed the chair away from the desk slightly and headed over to another computer console where she inserted a disk and began typing in various codes.
"I don't know what it is," she admitted.
"It could just be you. I mean while it's unusual it isn't unknown for some Irken's to develop emotions beyond those they're programmed with. It wouldn't necessarily mean you're defective or anything."
"I wasn't thinking I was," Viy replied, glancing up with a slight frown at the suggestion, "And I have very good grounds to believe that I'm not, but that's not really important now... What is important is that these emotions, for whatever reason they've decided to develop, need to be controlled somehow. They'll be okay for now as they seem balanced with my other emotions, but if they were to increase they could override the emotion drive in my PAK and then I may just be on suitable grounds to be classed as defective." She ejected the disk and headed over to a small platform surrounded by various tools. "This disk however should prevent that from happening, but I'll need to plug it into the emotion drive in my PAK first. Computer? Start a countdown for five minutes would you?"
"Five? But you can last ten without your PAK."
"Yes, but after five my mental capabilities will be beginning to deteriorate and while I'd probably still be able to complete the transaction it's better not to take any risks."
"But reattaching your PAK with it half inserted –" the computer began.
Viy nodded in agreement as he spoke before cutting in, "If you inform me after five minutes then I can make a decision whether I can safely complete the transaction in time or whether I need to abort it. Either way it gives me a little leeway before I'll have to reattach the PAK."
"That's... good thinking," the computer admitted after considering it briefly. "When do you want the countdown to begin?"
Viy placed the disk on the table and drew out a few of the tools she would be requiring before reaching back and resting either hand on the two lower compartments of her PAK and pressing them inwards. "Now."
Six minutes, forty-three seconds later Viy checked her PAK was secure once more. She'd inserted the disk without too much difficulty, although now she needed to ascertain whether it was working. She still felt guilt, but the disk hadn't been put there to block it completely, just keep it at a safe level. Either way, without a fluctuation in her guilt levels she'd be unable to monitor whether or not the disk was working as it should.
"Computer? Take a reading off my PAK and check the disk is active would you?" she wandered into the middle of the room and straightened slightly as a cable snaked its way down from the ceiling before inserting itself into the main panel on her PAK.
There was a quick flicker of information on the main video screen before the computer confirmed, "The disk is active and functioning normally as far as I can ascertain. Although a field test will probably be the only way you can test it properly. Initialising scan..."
Viy watched as more data flitted quickly over the computer screens with occasional blips, before a diagram came up on screen of her PAK, and a quick zoom took the focus to the emotion drive. "Hmm... Well I can confirm your earlier scan – there don't seem to be any errors present, or any recorded before the drive was inserted. However, this 'guilt' seems to only activate with certain individuals. It may be that you can develop it for someone a bit like human affection can develop. The positive note with that is that it can be lost also. However, currently it seems to only activate on noticeable levels with two individuals. My suggestion is that if you find it activating with anyone else then we may need to examine it more seriously."
Viy nodded in agreement, "Sounds like a plan. I doubt it will though. Or rather I hope it doesn't..." She frowned thoughtfully, "Maybe Earth just affects you like that? I was scanning Gem's readings from Gir's observations and there are possible signs that Zim feels guilt too. Although it was only once or twice and barely noticeable..."
"I'd be more tempted to say it's because Zim's a defective," the computer responded, "But we can't rule it out. Should I run a scan to see if your PAK readings altered at all since your arrival?"
Viy considered it for a moment before shaking her head, "No don't bother. It'll probably be gone in a couple of days anyway."
"Okay. Oh – hang on..."
"What?" Viy glanced upwards anxiously.
"I'm detecting some other unauthorised emotions in your emotion drive. I'll bring them up on screen –"
Viy turned to the screen as a list of around seven or eight emotions scrolled into view, including the recent addition of 'Guilt'. She sensed a hint of concern in the computers thoughts through its link and quickly cut off the monitor. "The others are authorised," she stated flatly as the computer detached the cable.
"Are... you sure? They could be where this 'guilt' stemmed from. I don't think it's a good idea to leave them active –" the computer protested.
Viy felt her cheeks flush slightly, wondering just how much else the computer had read through the link. "I have authorisation for them, let's leave it at that. I didn't really want them but I was required too. You can check with Irk's main control brain if you don't believe me," she added sulkily, although a hint of defiance was audible in her tone.
"I've been programmed to accept whatever you claim to be true," the computer replied, almost apologetically. "I was simply concerned for your sake."
"If you want to be concerned about me, be concerned about how I'm going to survive the rest of this week with Zim thinking that Dib will like me more if he shows we're enemies by trying to annihilate me," Viy responded miserably, before glancing back up at the blank monitor. Even though it was off it was as if she could still see the words burnt into the screen, and in particular the third one down.
She shook her head defiantly. The computer was misreading the signals from her emotion drive; true some of them did apply but that one, she thought stubbornly, did not. She strode out of the room looking as dignified as she could muster, with the decision she would leave her robotic designs until later.