Chapter 1
The Trigger
The door slammed open. I ran upstairs, metallic object in hand, towards my dark room. This was too perfect. My moment of triumph. Finally I had GIR's memory disk, finally Zim would be exposed to the world... And my dream of being the world's foremost paranormal investigator was looking a lot more real. I just had to tell someone. All I remember is my mind was in such a rush I was jumping around like a little child. This time would be it. As I uploaded GIR's files to my computer I wondered why I had never thought of simply asking the childish, malfunctioning android for his memory disk.
"Come on... Come on... 8%... 23%... 37%..."
As the download marker reached 50%, a shred of doubt clouded my mind. Inevitable pessimism. Reason to quell my overexcited self. Chances are, this wouldn't work out. Even at a time like this it's hard for me to stay optimistic- especially since I've been saving the world for 4 years already and nobody seems to notice... I didn't know. Nothing was for certain in this messed up life of mine. A curt voice pierced my conflicting thoughts.
"What are you doing now, Dib?"
I spun around. It was Gaz... My gothic, 14-year old little sister. Without her Game Slave VIII. At the time I was too ecstatic to care, but despite wearing her trademark skull necklace, black dress and striped tights, I remember she looked distinctly different that day. Looking back I know her face at that time is one I'll never forget- one of hopeful curiosity, rather than her usual hateful neglect for me.
"Gaz! I've FINALLY got evidence to incriminate Zim! With this memory disk I'll be able to see EVERY hour of footage that Zim's android has seen since his existence!"
Gaz raised an eyebrow. "Uh... Cool. Hey, listen, could you go with me to the mall? I'm going to---"
"Sorry, Gaz. I've got some work to do. The Swollen Eyeball will be expecting me to send them the data in a few hours."
"Fine," came the discreet reply.
With that Gaz walked away, her head hung low. I didn't hear her teeth grinding. Strange that she should be so nice to me- it was a miracle she hadn't pounded me into the floor yet today. It confirmed my suspicion that lately she was treating me differently. It'd been quite a while since she last beat me up with a baseball bat, and to be honest I kind of missed it. Even though I scream for her to stop hitting me, deep inside I think I'm masochistic. It comes with loneliness- sometimes the pain quells the doubts sprouting from my insecurities...
Could she *really* be treating me like this because she changed? Because she cared? Wishful thinking like that had only broken my heart in the past. Feelings aside, the detective in me had to know why she wasn't being herself anymore.
At the time I had half a heart to chase after her and tell her I'd accompany her to the mall... For the sake of, for once, maybe being able to bond with my sibling who has been so distant with me our whole lives. Right now I'd give anything to have gone with her. But maybe if I did things wouldn't have turned out the way they are now. I'll never know for certain.
Besides, I really wanted to see what was in that memory disk.
The next two hours I spent were reviewing a few of the tapes. It was amazing- seeing the Irken armada, and Zim's two leaders offering him GIR as an "advanced" unit. Based on the videos presented, though, I was seriously beginning to doubt his leaders' knowledge of electronics. Entire days were spent where GIR would do nothing but make waffles, eat octopi, watch alien B-movies and sing to himself about monkeys and leprechauns. I hastily skipped through those.
I'm not exactly sure, but I think that the SIR unit they offered the invader called "Skoodge" looked just as decent, if not better. Perhaps GIR has a switch that changes him into "advanced" mode. Who knows. I should make a mental note to check that out.
I guess it was fate that I only remembered that there was something wrong with my network connection with the Swollen Eyeball after I had spent hours in hopeful anticipation compiling the data in the disks. I plopped my worn- out self down on my bed. A minor setback, I told myself. It could be fixed in a couple hours, and I felt I needed a break anyway.
I still don't know what compelled me to leave my room at the time. I thought that I was in the mood to be alone, as usual. But the darkness of my shell seemed to remind me of things I'd rather forget. Creaking my door open, I snuck into the hall and hobbled down the staircase.
She was sitting there as usual, back slightly hunched and squinted eyes glued to the television screen. It's funny how I wasn't surprised when I realized that she was watching a chick flick. The kind of tragic love story that made melodramatic girls cry in the end. A definitely big departure from her heavy metal concert DVDs. My hand tightened on the railing at the bottom of the stairs when I saw her eyes. They seemed to sparkle with youthful beauty, and yet they looked so sad, as if she was ready to cry a torrent of tears from them. It was so out of character for her it was spooky.
"Gaz?"
Startled, my sister hit the Power button on the remote, turned her head to me and nodded it low, allowing her plum-colored bangs to hide her sorrowful eyes.
"Yeah, what?" She was trying her best to sound angry.
"Are you... okay?"
I tried to be as sincere as I could, approaching my sibling on the couch and sitting down beside her. I couldn't help but notice how torn she was- should she tell her brother what was bothering her, or keep it to herself? I hoped to God that she would tell me. I wanted to know so badly... Besides, guilt had been piling on me to spend more time with her. Being concerned about my sister gave me a secondary reason to live, behind bringing down the Irken invader.
"Yeah, I guess..." Gaz said, hiding her face from me by picking up her Poop Cola can and taking a sip from it. She sounded a little more like her usual self. Maybe it was better she didn't open up. Things were fine the way they were... I guess.
I smiled, hoping that my presence brought her a little comfort, no matter what that was. Little things like this make me happy to exist. I'm pathetic, I know. It's just nice to know that you matter sometimes. I blurted out the next words before I even knew they were coming.
"Tell you what. Let's hit the mall. Bloaty's for dinner. My treat."
Gaz smiled. I can't remember the last time I saw her smile- she only smiled when I was too busy getting beaten up or mutilated by either her robotic assassins... or Zim. I knew I had to make up for abandoning her earlier for my para-science. This was going to be a night to remember.
The door slammed open. I ran upstairs, metallic object in hand, towards my dark room. This was too perfect. My moment of triumph. Finally I had GIR's memory disk, finally Zim would be exposed to the world... And my dream of being the world's foremost paranormal investigator was looking a lot more real. I just had to tell someone. All I remember is my mind was in such a rush I was jumping around like a little child. This time would be it. As I uploaded GIR's files to my computer I wondered why I had never thought of simply asking the childish, malfunctioning android for his memory disk.
"Come on... Come on... 8%... 23%... 37%..."
As the download marker reached 50%, a shred of doubt clouded my mind. Inevitable pessimism. Reason to quell my overexcited self. Chances are, this wouldn't work out. Even at a time like this it's hard for me to stay optimistic- especially since I've been saving the world for 4 years already and nobody seems to notice... I didn't know. Nothing was for certain in this messed up life of mine. A curt voice pierced my conflicting thoughts.
"What are you doing now, Dib?"
I spun around. It was Gaz... My gothic, 14-year old little sister. Without her Game Slave VIII. At the time I was too ecstatic to care, but despite wearing her trademark skull necklace, black dress and striped tights, I remember she looked distinctly different that day. Looking back I know her face at that time is one I'll never forget- one of hopeful curiosity, rather than her usual hateful neglect for me.
"Gaz! I've FINALLY got evidence to incriminate Zim! With this memory disk I'll be able to see EVERY hour of footage that Zim's android has seen since his existence!"
Gaz raised an eyebrow. "Uh... Cool. Hey, listen, could you go with me to the mall? I'm going to---"
"Sorry, Gaz. I've got some work to do. The Swollen Eyeball will be expecting me to send them the data in a few hours."
"Fine," came the discreet reply.
With that Gaz walked away, her head hung low. I didn't hear her teeth grinding. Strange that she should be so nice to me- it was a miracle she hadn't pounded me into the floor yet today. It confirmed my suspicion that lately she was treating me differently. It'd been quite a while since she last beat me up with a baseball bat, and to be honest I kind of missed it. Even though I scream for her to stop hitting me, deep inside I think I'm masochistic. It comes with loneliness- sometimes the pain quells the doubts sprouting from my insecurities...
Could she *really* be treating me like this because she changed? Because she cared? Wishful thinking like that had only broken my heart in the past. Feelings aside, the detective in me had to know why she wasn't being herself anymore.
At the time I had half a heart to chase after her and tell her I'd accompany her to the mall... For the sake of, for once, maybe being able to bond with my sibling who has been so distant with me our whole lives. Right now I'd give anything to have gone with her. But maybe if I did things wouldn't have turned out the way they are now. I'll never know for certain.
Besides, I really wanted to see what was in that memory disk.
The next two hours I spent were reviewing a few of the tapes. It was amazing- seeing the Irken armada, and Zim's two leaders offering him GIR as an "advanced" unit. Based on the videos presented, though, I was seriously beginning to doubt his leaders' knowledge of electronics. Entire days were spent where GIR would do nothing but make waffles, eat octopi, watch alien B-movies and sing to himself about monkeys and leprechauns. I hastily skipped through those.
I'm not exactly sure, but I think that the SIR unit they offered the invader called "Skoodge" looked just as decent, if not better. Perhaps GIR has a switch that changes him into "advanced" mode. Who knows. I should make a mental note to check that out.
I guess it was fate that I only remembered that there was something wrong with my network connection with the Swollen Eyeball after I had spent hours in hopeful anticipation compiling the data in the disks. I plopped my worn- out self down on my bed. A minor setback, I told myself. It could be fixed in a couple hours, and I felt I needed a break anyway.
I still don't know what compelled me to leave my room at the time. I thought that I was in the mood to be alone, as usual. But the darkness of my shell seemed to remind me of things I'd rather forget. Creaking my door open, I snuck into the hall and hobbled down the staircase.
She was sitting there as usual, back slightly hunched and squinted eyes glued to the television screen. It's funny how I wasn't surprised when I realized that she was watching a chick flick. The kind of tragic love story that made melodramatic girls cry in the end. A definitely big departure from her heavy metal concert DVDs. My hand tightened on the railing at the bottom of the stairs when I saw her eyes. They seemed to sparkle with youthful beauty, and yet they looked so sad, as if she was ready to cry a torrent of tears from them. It was so out of character for her it was spooky.
"Gaz?"
Startled, my sister hit the Power button on the remote, turned her head to me and nodded it low, allowing her plum-colored bangs to hide her sorrowful eyes.
"Yeah, what?" She was trying her best to sound angry.
"Are you... okay?"
I tried to be as sincere as I could, approaching my sibling on the couch and sitting down beside her. I couldn't help but notice how torn she was- should she tell her brother what was bothering her, or keep it to herself? I hoped to God that she would tell me. I wanted to know so badly... Besides, guilt had been piling on me to spend more time with her. Being concerned about my sister gave me a secondary reason to live, behind bringing down the Irken invader.
"Yeah, I guess..." Gaz said, hiding her face from me by picking up her Poop Cola can and taking a sip from it. She sounded a little more like her usual self. Maybe it was better she didn't open up. Things were fine the way they were... I guess.
I smiled, hoping that my presence brought her a little comfort, no matter what that was. Little things like this make me happy to exist. I'm pathetic, I know. It's just nice to know that you matter sometimes. I blurted out the next words before I even knew they were coming.
"Tell you what. Let's hit the mall. Bloaty's for dinner. My treat."
Gaz smiled. I can't remember the last time I saw her smile- she only smiled when I was too busy getting beaten up or mutilated by either her robotic assassins... or Zim. I knew I had to make up for abandoning her earlier for my para-science. This was going to be a night to remember.