Hello! If anyone is actually reading this, I want to make a few notes about this AU!
Firstly, this AU is REALLY OC heavy, so if that's not your cup of tea, feel free to exit the tab.
This AU also takes place ~12 years after the end of the series, so Dib and Zim are both older now (Dib is like 24 and who knows how old Zim is).
Additionally, one of the OCs, Bee, is essentially a recycled version of my invadersona because I was being lazy, so we have the same name. She is not, however, actually supposed to be a self-insert and she doesn't actually act like me very much, though we share a few superficial similarities.
And just to be clear, I do not necessarily agree with or condone the things characters, including Bee, say or do in this fic. There are times when I've purposely added some morally-iffy stuff because the Irken Empire seems to be a pretty morally-iffy space empire (insert shocked pikachu here).
Anyway, here's a quick height list of the characters:
Zee- 6 foot 1 inch
Bee- 5 foot 6 inches
Dib- 5 foot 10 inches
Zim- 4 foot 2 inches
Tallest Red and Purple- 6 foot
Other characters may also appear.
If you still want to read this, I hope you enjoy, I guess?
XXX
It was on Bee's first day as a researcher for the Irken Empire that the Tallest appeared before her.
Having just reached adulthood on her 20th birthday, Bee had finally been assigned her permanent role in the empire. Being quite a bit taller than the average Irken (five foot six), she knew that she would be given a good position by the Control Brains, though she had not known which exact path she would be directed onto.
Fortunately, Bee scored highly on the science sections of the examination she had been given, and as such, the Control Brains decided that she would best serve the empire by becoming a researcher in a lab.
The particular lab she was assigned to was an important one for the future of Irk: Lab 8056-91. Here, she was supposed to work on genetically engineering developing smeet embryos so that future generations of Irkens would become ever more superior.
But of course, on her first day, she had barely done more than tour the lab and fill out paperwork.
Of course, she was surprised and awed when the Tallest floated in through the door. It had been some time since her superiors had gone home for the day, leaving Bee to take care of some documents, and she was the only one still present in that particular section of the lab.
"You, scientist," spoke Tallest Red. "Come with us."
"Yes, my Tallest!" Bee replied immediately, saluting.
The Tallest swept out of the room and began leading Bee down a series of hallways. As she followed behind her leaders, she was struck by the thought that the Tallest probably didn't know that she had started only that day, but she didn't want to inconvenience her Tallest by making them wait for someone else to return. Plus, there was the thought that she might impress the Tallest somehow with whatever task they needed her for.
Eventually, they came to the series of small chambers that newborn smeets slept in.
After a short trip down one of the rows, Tallest Red stuck out a single finger, pointing it at one of the chambers.
"You need to euthanize this smeet."
"Yeah. Kill it!"
The words slammed into Bee like a speeding voot cruiser.
"I- what?" she sputtered.
"This smeet is defective, and we need you to kill it," Tallest Red reiterated, looking down at Bee as if she were still a smeet herself.
"Defective?" she questioned. "But- wouldn't the Control Brains have already deactivated its pak?"
Or, Bee thought, if such a young smeet was defective, wouldn't it have been terminated before even having its pak installed?
"There was an error with the machinery," Red said sharply.
"And I wouldn't question my Tallest if I were you," added Purple.
A twinge of fear pinched within her chest.
"I apologize, my Tallest! It's only my first day," Bee admitted. "I'll do it straight away!"
"Good. Get on with it, then," Red nodded, waving a dismissive hand at Bee before turning toward his co-ruler. "Let's go."
The pair of Tallest began making their way back the way they came, chattering to each other as if they hadn't just ordered someone to kill a smeet. They came and went with the casual air of people running a simple errand, something one would do on their way home from work, something that barely required any thought at all.
"We should go get some doughnuts!"
Bee, meanwhile, stood there in shock until the Tallest were out of sight and out of earshot. It was only her first day, and she was supposed to euthanize a smeet?
Looking at the door that separated her from the smeet, Bee tried to wrap her mind around the concept. Smeet researchers didn't usually have to get their hands dirty like this. If a smeet in their care was defective, the Control Brains would terminate it without the researchers even needing to decide if such a thing was necessary. It was the Brains' decision if an Irken was defective or not. Not even the Tallest could make such a decision in most cases.
So why were the Tallest ordering her to do this? They said that there was a problem with the machinery that prevented it from being terminated. Wouldn't an error like that have been reported to her superiors? What kind of error could cause that anyway? Surely, if something was wrong with the control brains and no one knew about it, the Tallest wouldn't casually mention it to a rookie researcher.
What made the smeet defective, anyway? Was it deformed? Sickly? Could it have already demonstrated an unacceptable level of disobedience?
Slowly reaching an uncertain hand out, Bee pressed the button that opened the smeet's compartment.
Inside the chamber, the newborn smeet lay sleeping. At a glance, nothing appeared to be wrong with it. It looked like a perfectly-healthy smeet. Maybe something was wrong on the inside?
Bee slowly inched her hands toward the smeet and gingerly lifted it, trying not to wake it from its slumber. Then, she cradled the smeet in her arms and started down the hall, making her way to one of the labs.
Once inside, Bee set the tiny smeet down on a table and opened up its pak, attaching a few wires to the inner mechanisms. Then, she started up a computer and began running diagnostic tests, trying to find out why this smeet was going to die.
.
She couldn't find a single thing.
.
She couldn't find a single thing wrong with the smeet. It was in perfect health, had high enough predicted scores in intelligence, physical ability, and behavior. Yes, the smeet was too young to have any actual scores, but there was nothing to indicate that the smeet was defective. On the contrary, this particular smeet seemed rather promising. It's genes even indicated that it was likely to grow pretty tall, perhaps even taller than the Tallest-
Oh.
.
Oh.
.
Was that it? The current Tallest were still in their primes and would be for a while. But if another Irken managed to grow taller than their impressive six feet, they would be replaced. And the signs pointed to this smeet having that potential. It wasn't guaranteed, but was even the threat of being overtaken enough to drive the Tallest to ordering murder behind the back of the Control Brains?
Was she being used as a weapon to kill and a shield from consequences?
Bee felt nauseous, her squiddly-spooch squeezing and twisting into anxious knots.
What exactly had she been dragged into?
"Hello."
Jumping, Bee whirled around from where she had been looking at the computer screen to see that the smeet had woken up. It was staring at her with wide, innocent eyes, one of which was a very pale blue and the other of which was a similarly pale pink. It had no idea what she was supposed to do.
"... Hello."
The smeet's stare held her in place.
"Am I sick?"
Her shoulders felt heavy.
"... Why would you think that you're sick?"
"You looked like you saw something bad on the screen," the smeet said simply.
Bee sighed deeply.
"No… You're not sick…," she replied.
"Oh. That's good," it said. "I don't want to be sick."
How was she supposed to kill this smeet? Why did she have to be the only one left in the lab? Had it only been someone else who was there, she wouldn't be faced with this dilemma.
"Are you sick?" asked the smeet.
"... No, I'm not sick either…," Bee told it.
The smeet was staring at her, the gaze feeling like an accusation even though it didn't know anything and the expression did not indicate otherwise.
"Why are we here, then?"
.
She couldn't do this.
.
"... Just... a check-up…," Bee responded. "Just to make sure you're healthy."
"Oh, okay."
"... Let's bring you back to your chamber now."
Bee stepped over to the table, removed the wires from its pak, and scooped the smeet back into her arms. This time, since it was awake, its arms snaked around her neck and held on.
The walk back to the smeet chambers was silent, and by the time Bee returned the smeet to its own compartment, it had fallen back to sleep. She had to gently remove its tiny arms from around her neck so she could put it back inside. After a long look at its young face, Bee closed the door.
That night, Bee couldn't stop thinking about the smeet and about the fact that she had disobeyed orders. The Tallest told her to kill it, but the smeet remained alive. Surely, the Tallest would find out that she had disobeyed and get someone else to kill the smeet. The smeet would still end up dead. So, would it be better for her to kill the smeet after all? Was there a point in disobeying the Tallest when the outcome would be the same either way? Why should she get in trouble on top of it?
But still, she couldn't get the image of the smeet's innocent face out of her mind. She could have killed that smeet right away, and it would not have been able to do anything to stop her.
It would have been so easy to stain her hands.
Bee agonized over her tumultuous thoughts for hours, trying to decide whether she should go back to the lab to kill the smeet before her superiors returned.
.
Eventually, she made her decision.
.
She readied herself and returned to the lab with grim determination forcing her forward. Going back down the hallways, it wasn't too hard to relocate the smeet's chamber. This time, when the door slid open, the smeet was already awake. As its wide eyes met her own, she felt her resolve cement itself.
.
There was no going back now.
.
"Hello again," greeted the smeet.
"Hello."
Bee took the smeet into her arms again and began walking, her steps quick.
"Where are we going?"
"Just another quick check-up."
"Are you sure I'm not sick?"
Bee didn't answer. Instead, she hastened her pace.
The smeet didn't ask any further questions as they went down the halls of the lab. Instead, it was looking around, seemingly trying to figure out where they were going.
.
Before long, they came to the lab's back exit.
.
Stepping outside, Bee looked around to make sure no one else was around. Luckily, it would still be a little while before this area went into daytime mode, so they were alone. Without wasting any more time, Bee carried the smeet over to her voot cruiser and opened the hatch. Setting the smeet down inside, she did another quick glance around before climbing in herself.
The smeet looked around the vehicle's interior curiously as she started up the engine. This was likely its first time seeing the world outside the lab. She could still remember her own first glimpse of the outside and how awe-inspiring it could be, but given the circumstances, she had to cut its observation short.
Bee remained silent as the voot started its ascent, climbing higher into the air and eventually blasting off into space.
"Where are we going?" the smeet asked again, a hint of confusion tinging its tone this time.
"... Somewhere else," she answered vaguely. "... Have the Control Brains assigned you your name yet?"
"No."
"Okay. I'll have to come up with something to call you," said Bee.
She turned around briefly to get one last look at Irk before setting her gaze on the universe beyond.
XXX
"My Tallest, a small spacecraft carrying a smeet appears to be leaving Irken space."
"Blah, blah, blah, you're so annoying," Tallest Purple mocked.
"But, my Tallest, smeets aren't supposed to-"
"BORING!"
Purple began munching on a doughnut, ignoring the navigator that was trying to notify them of Bee's ship. Red, who had been napping, snorted awake for a second before going back to sleep.
XXX
And that's the end of the prologue! Starting next chapter, it'll be about 17 years in the future. Timeline-wise, this chapter takes place a few years before the Great Assigning for Impending Doom II.
And yes, the Tallest have pretty much forgotten about telling Bee to kill the smeet at this point. But Bee doesn't know that.
Anyway, see you next chapter maybe.