Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Invader Zim.
Chapter Seven: The Respective Plans
Red hovered into the transmission room with a bag of cookies in one hand and a ball and paddle in the other, ready to start a new day leading the mighty Irken Empire. His co-Tallest had already arrived, being the sort of person who was early for everything, lying contently on his throne. Red snickered as he took his own seat and began to stuff cookies in his mouth handfuls at a time. He leaned back and glanced over to Purple. "We should have Tah see us today," he commented, crumbs spewing as he spoke.
Purple nodded excitedly. "Yeah! We should do that!"
Red narrowed his eyes as he brought another handful of cookies up to his mouth. "- Would you like to know what for?" His voice was somewhat curt in tone, but there was still a hint of amusement lingering beneath.
Purple's cheeks flushed. "To - ah - to have her - report! That's it!" He grinned at himself as he began to eye Red's cookie bag.
Red noticed the action and held the bag close to his chest. No one but no one was stealing his breakfast cookies. He nodded at Purple's response. "Yes, to have her report." He rolled his eyes. "You do want to know what her plan is, don't you? Every day that passes is another where this dangerous guy roams free - in our ship!" He waved his bag of cookies around for emphasis, and Purple took this chance to grab them away from him. He hovered out of his chair and began to flee from Red as the angered Tallest chased him about the room. He giggled as he began to gleefully scarfed down the rest of the cookies.
"Those cookies are MINE!" yelled Red as he lunged at his friend, knocking them both on the floor. He wrestled the bag away only to find Purple had finished off its contents. He scowled at his companion, who proceeded to smile up at him smugly. "- I'm going to get you back," he warned before hefting himself up off from atop his friend. None of the workers had seemed to notice the squabble, as they were used to their Almighty leaders doing that sort of thing.
Once they were seated in their thrones once again, an evil grin spread across Red's face. He glanced toward Purple, who was busy cleaning cookie crumbs out of his teeth. "So," he asked in his most pervasive voice, "Tell me about last night. Did you ask her?"
Purple's eyes widened a bit, but otherwise showed no signs of tension. "What do you mean?"
Red pulled out his ball and paddle and began to play with it. He sat their, hitting the ball rhythmically for a while before he continued. "You know what I mean. Did you?" He then grinned over at Purple, watching his friend fidget. He glanced down at his empty cookie bag and thought how sweet revenge was. "If you did, I deserve to know."
Purple glanced away. "Noooo - I didn't ask her anything." He laughed nervously, "I don't know what you mean."
Red chuckled darkly to himself before leaping from his chair, once again pinning Purple to the ground. He laughed mercilessly as Purple screamed and shrieked. He began to playfully beat Purple over the head as he tried to sound frustrated through his laughter. "What do you mean you don't know? It's been so long, she's finally here, and she's almost through with her mission! Can't you get a hint?"
"Leggo of me! Leggo!" Red cackled at the requests of his friend until he heard someone clear his throat. He looked over his shoulder to see the orange-eyed Prime Admiral standing there, cold and stiff as ever. Red stood up, finally letting Purple catch his breath. The scholar stood up and gave his companion a customary glare before turning his attention to the Admiral.
"Tark. We haven't scheduled a meeting with you. Is something wrong?"
The Prime Admiral saluted sharply and rigidly placed his hands behind his back. "No, Sirs. I have a request!" His voice was gruff from years of having a position of military command.
"Well?" asked Purple, crossing his arms. "What is it?"
Tark glanced away, obviously uncomfortable asking for something non- military related. "I understand that Tah has boarded the ship." He spoke her name as if it were some obscenity. "I would - appreciate it - if I could arrange a meeting with her. My daughter -" he trailed off, clearing his throat, and the Tallest knew what he wanted.
"Certainly," said Red. "We'll have Tah sent over, and you can go fetch your daughter." He nodded as the Prime Admiral saluted once again and headed out the door. He then pointed at a random worker, "You! More cookies!"
########################################################################
The dining hall was unusually quiet. Instead of crowded tables and the constant buzz of conversation there were scattered Irkens talking mildly in hushed tones, unwilling to break the peacefulness of the morning. At one of the lonely tables sat three people, Tah, Clay, and Dak. Dak sat on Tah's lap, completely unashamed of the closeness of their relationship, while the marauder sat across from them. They were up so early in order to spend some time with the extremely short communications officer before he had to rush to work. He happily shared off Tah's plate, hardly making a dent in her mountain of food.
"How did you pick him up?" asked Clay groggily. She was not used to being up at this time of day.
Tah shook her head. "It wasn't his fault. He was nice enough to hand me something I dropped, and someone must have seen him do it because there was a death trap waiting at his house. He's lucky he survived, but I couldn't have left him to fend for himself in Food Courtia. I don't know what might have happened to him."
Clay sniffed in disgust as she bit into a sausage. "Him? Nice?" She rolled her bright pink eyes.
"Is he still in danger?" asked Dak, who was still relatively unfamiliar with Yempt's character.
Tah shook her head. "No, I don't think he's much of a target now. See, it was one of the subordinates that targeted him, and now he's off Food Courtia no one is interested. I mean, I'm sure the guy I'm looking for knows about him, but I'm willing to bet he'd rather leave Yempt alive for the moment. He doesn't like to kill people unless they're a real threat - he never knows if they'll become useful to him later on." Tah shrugged and shoved an entire biscuit in her mouth, slathered in a butter-like substance.
Dak shifted his weight on Tah's lap. "You must know this guy pretty well," he commented proudly. "You're very perceptive."
"Thank you, Huk'ra!" Tah gave Dak a little squeeze.
He took a small sip from his coffee. "Tell me a little about what you've been doing. You never spoke of what you really did while you were gone." He wiggled his tiny legs with the anticipation of an interesting story.
Tah thought for a moment. "Well, I actually dreamt about one of my cases last night... I'd seen something on the news about this string of bombings, and something about it sounded like it was the work of my guy, so I decided to investigate on it. The bombings were occurring on a planet called Phe'tra where a race of fair-haired, fair-skinned people lives. It was easy to identify the bomber, but not his motive. Seems he'd retired from the bombing business, but when he was needed he had no choice but to obey or his little girl would be injured. But still, he was an honest man and had full intentions of telling the authorities who was responsible after the mess was through. That was when he was framed for the hanging death of his daughter. I tried to prove him innocent, but Phe'tra justice comes very quickly. I just didn't have the time....." She blinked at the disgusted faces of Dak and Clay. "Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to tell something gruesome - it's just what came to mind. You know, because I'd dreamt about it.."
Dak frowned and patted Tah's leg with affection. "That must have been awful."
Tah shrugged. "Well, I'm looking forward to the day when I won't have to do things like that. If I had known I was going to do what I've done these past years, then I wouldn't have been half as excited as I was when I first began my investigation." She tried to sound cheerful.
Clay watched with half shut eyes, too lethargic to say much. She slid out of her seat, holding her cup in one hand. "I'm getting more to drink. Anyone need anything?"
"No dear," answered Dak. He looked up at Tah. "How about you?" Tah shook her head, so Clay headed off to refill her drink. Once she had gone a few feet Dak grinned at Tah and said to her with a slight twinkle in his lavender eye, "She's sweet, isn't she?"
Apparently Clay had heard him. "What did you say I was?" she called from across the cafeteria.
Dak jumped in Tah's lap. "Strong! I said you were strong!"
Clay nodded. "I thought so." She then turned back to her task of getting a drink and was on her way back to the table when a couple of Irkens addressed her, a retired Invader and a marauder - both females who hovered perhaps two inches over Clay's head in height.
"Looks like your shorty husband likes to hang out with tall women now, Clay?" This was said by the sneering marauder.
The marauder's Invader friend turned to her. "That's what you get when you give shorties the time of day - they get overconfident." Then they both turned toward Clay, making a point to look /down/ at her.
Clay gave them both a cocky grin as her eyes shone with anger. "I'm the only one who gets to call him short!" She lost no time in attacking the two females, first taking out the more dangerous marauder with one swift punch to the head and then lunging at the Invader, pinning her to the ground before kicking her across the polished floor. She flexed her muscles in the show of might before returning to the table, smiling and a little more awake.
Tah watched her friend return with an expression of fearful apprehension while Dak contained nothing but a look of total admiration. She set her drink back at her place before walking around the table to Tah and Dak's side. She reached over and kissed Dak deeply and wrapped her antennae around his with possessive ferocity so everybody might see. Tah just sat there in surprise, Dak still sitting on her lap.
The scene ended when something slammed into Tah's head. She winced and picked up a round, metal ball repeating the words, "Message for Tah! Message for Tah!" She glared down at the round, black object.
Clay finally broke her kiss and grinned up at her friend. "I know what you're thinking," she said with a slight air of superiority.
Tah blinked at her. "What?"
"Why do those message balls ALWAYS have to hit you in the head?!"
Tah rolled her eyes and activated the ball. Its message came in a metallic, automated voice. "Immediate presence required in the main transmission room!" Once the message had been delivered the ball hovered back into the air and sped away. Tah blinked as Dak jumped off her lap. She shrugged and stood up.
"Well, I guess I'd better get going. Dak, Clay, I'll see you guys soon." She smiled at the two of them before she headed off to see what her Tallest wanted from her. Upon arriving the first person she noticed was the overbearing Prime Admiral who she'd helped throne into the containment center. She stiffened a little, remembering the incident, and approached him. "I see you've been restored to your former glory, admiral," she said, hoping the harsh man wouldn't be too angry at her.
On the contrary, he seemed somewhat congenial. "The Tallest had no reason to deny me after my innocence was proven. That's all thanks to you, Hive drone."
Tah started at the name he'd called her. She vaguely wondered if Tark had just managed to tell a joke. Before she could think too far into the matter, however, a lovely woman appeared at the admiral's side. She did not stand at her full height and glanced around shyly. She finally directed her gaze at Tah and smiled. "You must be Tark's daughter."
The woman nodded, but Tah was confused. This woman was wearing the uniform of a historian. "I thought you were a pilot -"
"She was, and a damn good one!" answered Tark with fatherly pride. "But you know how war is - she needed a quieter job." The woman inched closer to her father, affectionately holding his stiff arm as if she might fly away without some support. "She wanted to meet you - you proved my innocence, allowing me to take back my proper place." He puffed up, showing off his military regalia.
Tah scratched her head nervously. "Well, I was the one who sent you to prison in the first place..."
Tark waved a hand, as if that point wasn't important. "Doing you job! Can't blame you for doing your job! Because of you -" he glanced down at the woman hanging off of him, "She was transferred to the Massive's medical center after you left - all because of what happened."
Tah nodded at the once intimidating admiral. "Well, I'm glad she won't be used as a source of bribery again."
The woman smiled at Tah in thanks. At that moment a door slid opened and the two Tallest hovered in. Red took one glance at the scene and leaned toward Purple, nudging him. "Isn't that cute!"
########################################################################
Yempt listened to the sound of his footsteps as he participated in his new pastime, wandering about aimlessly through the Massive. For some reason he was more depressed then usual, but he blamed this on the fact he'd been stripped from his job and forced into a new environment. He was bored without an assignment, and he'd never bothered to develop any interests while he was not working - claiming they were a useless waste of time.
The sound of many claws clicking against keyboards sounded in the distance, and Yempt unconsciously followed that sound and found himself staring into the open door of a round room. Within was a round table where numerous people all dressed in black worked on their monitors. Yempt blinked. Black uniforms? He searched around and saw Twaine bent over one of the work stations, silently typing something. It was surprising to see Twaine without some goofy expression - he looked almost serious. Yempt began to back away, but he was too late to escape notice. The researcher glanced up and saw him, letting his friendly mouth stretch into a wide grin. Yempt grunted to himself, upset to realize that the smile was forced. He backed away and began to head down the hall. A shadow came beside him and he shuddered with frustration.
"My Love has come to see me?" asked Twaine in his most melodramatic tone. Yempt didn't respond, so he continued, though not quite as enthusiastically as when they had first met. "I'm happy. It was getting boring in there, listening to myself type away. I can't believe I'm so boring!"
"You're not happy or boring."
A surprised look, a real expression of surprise as opposed to an artificial one, spread across Twaine's features. He watched Yempt carefully as they walked down the corridor, but the former waiter merely looked strait ahead. "Why don't you think I'm not happy?" he finally asked in a small voice.
Yempt shook his head. "I can tell. Here I thought I had found one person who could be content with life, and then it turns out he's plagued with the same depression as the rest of us."
Twaine let his shoulder's slump. "I'm not happy," he mumbled before changing his tone again. "But," he said with his optimistic, perky voice, "I used to be, and I will be again! The problem is that I just don't know what Tzen is -" He suddenly stopped himself and glanced around with sudden terror. His back muscles tightened with fear as he began to quicken his pace. Yempt had to jog to keep up.
"Will you slow down? It's like you don't know you're walking with anybody!" yelled the short, green-eyed Irken angrily. "Now, what was it you were going to say? You aren't going to back out on me now!" He grabbed Twaine's sleeve and spun him around. "What were you going to say about Tzen?"
Twaine glanced away, his brilliant red eyes faltering. "I can't tell you."
"You are going to tell me. What's wrong with you? You followed me out here, and now you won't talk to me. I don't understand you at all! You're such a weirdo - a loser. You've followed me around like a lost puppy ever since you met me in the Entertainment Center, and now you're avoiding me like I have brain worms! What happened to you?"
Twaine was now backed completely to the wall, squirming apprehensively as Yempt ranted. He swallowed hard once before shakily looking around. There was no one else in the passage, so he slowly turned his gaze toward his disgruntled friend. "It - it's nothing. Nothing that seems - important. It's just - just that Tzen's been asking me to do some strange things - follow people - check on things. I don't know why he's making me do these things - they seem harmless enough, but I just don't know." He lowered his head, shaking it a bit. His next words came out as a whisper. "I can't tell you more, but tonight - tonight I'm going to find out.
Chapter Seven: The Respective Plans
Red hovered into the transmission room with a bag of cookies in one hand and a ball and paddle in the other, ready to start a new day leading the mighty Irken Empire. His co-Tallest had already arrived, being the sort of person who was early for everything, lying contently on his throne. Red snickered as he took his own seat and began to stuff cookies in his mouth handfuls at a time. He leaned back and glanced over to Purple. "We should have Tah see us today," he commented, crumbs spewing as he spoke.
Purple nodded excitedly. "Yeah! We should do that!"
Red narrowed his eyes as he brought another handful of cookies up to his mouth. "- Would you like to know what for?" His voice was somewhat curt in tone, but there was still a hint of amusement lingering beneath.
Purple's cheeks flushed. "To - ah - to have her - report! That's it!" He grinned at himself as he began to eye Red's cookie bag.
Red noticed the action and held the bag close to his chest. No one but no one was stealing his breakfast cookies. He nodded at Purple's response. "Yes, to have her report." He rolled his eyes. "You do want to know what her plan is, don't you? Every day that passes is another where this dangerous guy roams free - in our ship!" He waved his bag of cookies around for emphasis, and Purple took this chance to grab them away from him. He hovered out of his chair and began to flee from Red as the angered Tallest chased him about the room. He giggled as he began to gleefully scarfed down the rest of the cookies.
"Those cookies are MINE!" yelled Red as he lunged at his friend, knocking them both on the floor. He wrestled the bag away only to find Purple had finished off its contents. He scowled at his companion, who proceeded to smile up at him smugly. "- I'm going to get you back," he warned before hefting himself up off from atop his friend. None of the workers had seemed to notice the squabble, as they were used to their Almighty leaders doing that sort of thing.
Once they were seated in their thrones once again, an evil grin spread across Red's face. He glanced toward Purple, who was busy cleaning cookie crumbs out of his teeth. "So," he asked in his most pervasive voice, "Tell me about last night. Did you ask her?"
Purple's eyes widened a bit, but otherwise showed no signs of tension. "What do you mean?"
Red pulled out his ball and paddle and began to play with it. He sat their, hitting the ball rhythmically for a while before he continued. "You know what I mean. Did you?" He then grinned over at Purple, watching his friend fidget. He glanced down at his empty cookie bag and thought how sweet revenge was. "If you did, I deserve to know."
Purple glanced away. "Noooo - I didn't ask her anything." He laughed nervously, "I don't know what you mean."
Red chuckled darkly to himself before leaping from his chair, once again pinning Purple to the ground. He laughed mercilessly as Purple screamed and shrieked. He began to playfully beat Purple over the head as he tried to sound frustrated through his laughter. "What do you mean you don't know? It's been so long, she's finally here, and she's almost through with her mission! Can't you get a hint?"
"Leggo of me! Leggo!" Red cackled at the requests of his friend until he heard someone clear his throat. He looked over his shoulder to see the orange-eyed Prime Admiral standing there, cold and stiff as ever. Red stood up, finally letting Purple catch his breath. The scholar stood up and gave his companion a customary glare before turning his attention to the Admiral.
"Tark. We haven't scheduled a meeting with you. Is something wrong?"
The Prime Admiral saluted sharply and rigidly placed his hands behind his back. "No, Sirs. I have a request!" His voice was gruff from years of having a position of military command.
"Well?" asked Purple, crossing his arms. "What is it?"
Tark glanced away, obviously uncomfortable asking for something non- military related. "I understand that Tah has boarded the ship." He spoke her name as if it were some obscenity. "I would - appreciate it - if I could arrange a meeting with her. My daughter -" he trailed off, clearing his throat, and the Tallest knew what he wanted.
"Certainly," said Red. "We'll have Tah sent over, and you can go fetch your daughter." He nodded as the Prime Admiral saluted once again and headed out the door. He then pointed at a random worker, "You! More cookies!"
########################################################################
The dining hall was unusually quiet. Instead of crowded tables and the constant buzz of conversation there were scattered Irkens talking mildly in hushed tones, unwilling to break the peacefulness of the morning. At one of the lonely tables sat three people, Tah, Clay, and Dak. Dak sat on Tah's lap, completely unashamed of the closeness of their relationship, while the marauder sat across from them. They were up so early in order to spend some time with the extremely short communications officer before he had to rush to work. He happily shared off Tah's plate, hardly making a dent in her mountain of food.
"How did you pick him up?" asked Clay groggily. She was not used to being up at this time of day.
Tah shook her head. "It wasn't his fault. He was nice enough to hand me something I dropped, and someone must have seen him do it because there was a death trap waiting at his house. He's lucky he survived, but I couldn't have left him to fend for himself in Food Courtia. I don't know what might have happened to him."
Clay sniffed in disgust as she bit into a sausage. "Him? Nice?" She rolled her bright pink eyes.
"Is he still in danger?" asked Dak, who was still relatively unfamiliar with Yempt's character.
Tah shook her head. "No, I don't think he's much of a target now. See, it was one of the subordinates that targeted him, and now he's off Food Courtia no one is interested. I mean, I'm sure the guy I'm looking for knows about him, but I'm willing to bet he'd rather leave Yempt alive for the moment. He doesn't like to kill people unless they're a real threat - he never knows if they'll become useful to him later on." Tah shrugged and shoved an entire biscuit in her mouth, slathered in a butter-like substance.
Dak shifted his weight on Tah's lap. "You must know this guy pretty well," he commented proudly. "You're very perceptive."
"Thank you, Huk'ra!" Tah gave Dak a little squeeze.
He took a small sip from his coffee. "Tell me a little about what you've been doing. You never spoke of what you really did while you were gone." He wiggled his tiny legs with the anticipation of an interesting story.
Tah thought for a moment. "Well, I actually dreamt about one of my cases last night... I'd seen something on the news about this string of bombings, and something about it sounded like it was the work of my guy, so I decided to investigate on it. The bombings were occurring on a planet called Phe'tra where a race of fair-haired, fair-skinned people lives. It was easy to identify the bomber, but not his motive. Seems he'd retired from the bombing business, but when he was needed he had no choice but to obey or his little girl would be injured. But still, he was an honest man and had full intentions of telling the authorities who was responsible after the mess was through. That was when he was framed for the hanging death of his daughter. I tried to prove him innocent, but Phe'tra justice comes very quickly. I just didn't have the time....." She blinked at the disgusted faces of Dak and Clay. "Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to tell something gruesome - it's just what came to mind. You know, because I'd dreamt about it.."
Dak frowned and patted Tah's leg with affection. "That must have been awful."
Tah shrugged. "Well, I'm looking forward to the day when I won't have to do things like that. If I had known I was going to do what I've done these past years, then I wouldn't have been half as excited as I was when I first began my investigation." She tried to sound cheerful.
Clay watched with half shut eyes, too lethargic to say much. She slid out of her seat, holding her cup in one hand. "I'm getting more to drink. Anyone need anything?"
"No dear," answered Dak. He looked up at Tah. "How about you?" Tah shook her head, so Clay headed off to refill her drink. Once she had gone a few feet Dak grinned at Tah and said to her with a slight twinkle in his lavender eye, "She's sweet, isn't she?"
Apparently Clay had heard him. "What did you say I was?" she called from across the cafeteria.
Dak jumped in Tah's lap. "Strong! I said you were strong!"
Clay nodded. "I thought so." She then turned back to her task of getting a drink and was on her way back to the table when a couple of Irkens addressed her, a retired Invader and a marauder - both females who hovered perhaps two inches over Clay's head in height.
"Looks like your shorty husband likes to hang out with tall women now, Clay?" This was said by the sneering marauder.
The marauder's Invader friend turned to her. "That's what you get when you give shorties the time of day - they get overconfident." Then they both turned toward Clay, making a point to look /down/ at her.
Clay gave them both a cocky grin as her eyes shone with anger. "I'm the only one who gets to call him short!" She lost no time in attacking the two females, first taking out the more dangerous marauder with one swift punch to the head and then lunging at the Invader, pinning her to the ground before kicking her across the polished floor. She flexed her muscles in the show of might before returning to the table, smiling and a little more awake.
Tah watched her friend return with an expression of fearful apprehension while Dak contained nothing but a look of total admiration. She set her drink back at her place before walking around the table to Tah and Dak's side. She reached over and kissed Dak deeply and wrapped her antennae around his with possessive ferocity so everybody might see. Tah just sat there in surprise, Dak still sitting on her lap.
The scene ended when something slammed into Tah's head. She winced and picked up a round, metal ball repeating the words, "Message for Tah! Message for Tah!" She glared down at the round, black object.
Clay finally broke her kiss and grinned up at her friend. "I know what you're thinking," she said with a slight air of superiority.
Tah blinked at her. "What?"
"Why do those message balls ALWAYS have to hit you in the head?!"
Tah rolled her eyes and activated the ball. Its message came in a metallic, automated voice. "Immediate presence required in the main transmission room!" Once the message had been delivered the ball hovered back into the air and sped away. Tah blinked as Dak jumped off her lap. She shrugged and stood up.
"Well, I guess I'd better get going. Dak, Clay, I'll see you guys soon." She smiled at the two of them before she headed off to see what her Tallest wanted from her. Upon arriving the first person she noticed was the overbearing Prime Admiral who she'd helped throne into the containment center. She stiffened a little, remembering the incident, and approached him. "I see you've been restored to your former glory, admiral," she said, hoping the harsh man wouldn't be too angry at her.
On the contrary, he seemed somewhat congenial. "The Tallest had no reason to deny me after my innocence was proven. That's all thanks to you, Hive drone."
Tah started at the name he'd called her. She vaguely wondered if Tark had just managed to tell a joke. Before she could think too far into the matter, however, a lovely woman appeared at the admiral's side. She did not stand at her full height and glanced around shyly. She finally directed her gaze at Tah and smiled. "You must be Tark's daughter."
The woman nodded, but Tah was confused. This woman was wearing the uniform of a historian. "I thought you were a pilot -"
"She was, and a damn good one!" answered Tark with fatherly pride. "But you know how war is - she needed a quieter job." The woman inched closer to her father, affectionately holding his stiff arm as if she might fly away without some support. "She wanted to meet you - you proved my innocence, allowing me to take back my proper place." He puffed up, showing off his military regalia.
Tah scratched her head nervously. "Well, I was the one who sent you to prison in the first place..."
Tark waved a hand, as if that point wasn't important. "Doing you job! Can't blame you for doing your job! Because of you -" he glanced down at the woman hanging off of him, "She was transferred to the Massive's medical center after you left - all because of what happened."
Tah nodded at the once intimidating admiral. "Well, I'm glad she won't be used as a source of bribery again."
The woman smiled at Tah in thanks. At that moment a door slid opened and the two Tallest hovered in. Red took one glance at the scene and leaned toward Purple, nudging him. "Isn't that cute!"
########################################################################
Yempt listened to the sound of his footsteps as he participated in his new pastime, wandering about aimlessly through the Massive. For some reason he was more depressed then usual, but he blamed this on the fact he'd been stripped from his job and forced into a new environment. He was bored without an assignment, and he'd never bothered to develop any interests while he was not working - claiming they were a useless waste of time.
The sound of many claws clicking against keyboards sounded in the distance, and Yempt unconsciously followed that sound and found himself staring into the open door of a round room. Within was a round table where numerous people all dressed in black worked on their monitors. Yempt blinked. Black uniforms? He searched around and saw Twaine bent over one of the work stations, silently typing something. It was surprising to see Twaine without some goofy expression - he looked almost serious. Yempt began to back away, but he was too late to escape notice. The researcher glanced up and saw him, letting his friendly mouth stretch into a wide grin. Yempt grunted to himself, upset to realize that the smile was forced. He backed away and began to head down the hall. A shadow came beside him and he shuddered with frustration.
"My Love has come to see me?" asked Twaine in his most melodramatic tone. Yempt didn't respond, so he continued, though not quite as enthusiastically as when they had first met. "I'm happy. It was getting boring in there, listening to myself type away. I can't believe I'm so boring!"
"You're not happy or boring."
A surprised look, a real expression of surprise as opposed to an artificial one, spread across Twaine's features. He watched Yempt carefully as they walked down the corridor, but the former waiter merely looked strait ahead. "Why don't you think I'm not happy?" he finally asked in a small voice.
Yempt shook his head. "I can tell. Here I thought I had found one person who could be content with life, and then it turns out he's plagued with the same depression as the rest of us."
Twaine let his shoulder's slump. "I'm not happy," he mumbled before changing his tone again. "But," he said with his optimistic, perky voice, "I used to be, and I will be again! The problem is that I just don't know what Tzen is -" He suddenly stopped himself and glanced around with sudden terror. His back muscles tightened with fear as he began to quicken his pace. Yempt had to jog to keep up.
"Will you slow down? It's like you don't know you're walking with anybody!" yelled the short, green-eyed Irken angrily. "Now, what was it you were going to say? You aren't going to back out on me now!" He grabbed Twaine's sleeve and spun him around. "What were you going to say about Tzen?"
Twaine glanced away, his brilliant red eyes faltering. "I can't tell you."
"You are going to tell me. What's wrong with you? You followed me out here, and now you won't talk to me. I don't understand you at all! You're such a weirdo - a loser. You've followed me around like a lost puppy ever since you met me in the Entertainment Center, and now you're avoiding me like I have brain worms! What happened to you?"
Twaine was now backed completely to the wall, squirming apprehensively as Yempt ranted. He swallowed hard once before shakily looking around. There was no one else in the passage, so he slowly turned his gaze toward his disgruntled friend. "It - it's nothing. Nothing that seems - important. It's just - just that Tzen's been asking me to do some strange things - follow people - check on things. I don't know why he's making me do these things - they seem harmless enough, but I just don't know." He lowered his head, shaking it a bit. His next words came out as a whisper. "I can't tell you more, but tonight - tonight I'm going to find out.