--Chapter 8 (Last Days of Life)--
"D'ya have aaany twooos?"
"Eh... No, Gir, we're done playing go fish. This is crazy eights, you have to put down a seven or a dia--"
"TWOOOSS!" I grimaced, Gir leaping to his feet and twitching madly, scattering his cards about. "THE TWOS LOVE ME!"
"Gaah, fine!" I exclaimed, "Have my twos! You're impossible!" With that I tossed my entire hand of cards right at the small robot's face, after which he broke out in giggles of sheer joy. He caught a card and bit it in half, smiling like a child eating candy.
"Stupid robot..." I stood to my feet, frowning in frustration as I walked out of Zim's kitchen. Any second with Gir was pure chaos. However, Minimoose was sleeping, and I was bored out of my mind, so I had attempted to teach the dysfunctional thing a few simple card games. After that experience, I never bothered to try to get Gir to learn anything more complicated than what a goldfish with down syndrome could handle.
I wandered into the bathroom, sighing as I leaned on the sink, gazing at my reflection in the mirror. I looked horrible. In the few days that I had been at Zim's house, the skin-peeling had spread from my hands to my whole body, making my skin look like a diseased, molting snake's. The tracking collar still fixed around my neck caught my eye, its small red light blinking periodically. I wasn't allowed to leave Zim's house with that thing still on. Once the transformation had sped up with the lungs incident, the alien didn't want me anywhere too far away. He didn't want to miss any progress with "his creation". Five days had passed since I was taken to his house, each one accompanied with more deterioration of my human side, and more progression of the Irken side. I had enough blood spill out every orifice in my face to make the sink look like it was hit by a B-movie monster at times.
At that stage, everything itched. My skin felt the way it used to about a week after a bad sunburn- at that point, my body only wanted to get rid of the excess, so it felt as if I had chickenpox all over again. Frowning, I drew a sink of water, trying not to focus too much on wanting to scratch. I pulled off the silver pinky ring that I often wore, setting it next to the tap as I washed my face, trying to scrub off the last few patches of dead skin that were stuck to me. After about five minutes of raw scrubbing, my entire face and neck was as green as Zim's was, tinged slightly pink from being washed so vigorously. I bit at my lip, staring at my wet reflection, unsure of what I should make of it. After only a minute, I couldn't stand to look at the mirror anymore. I turned from it, still biting onto my lip as I slid my ring back on and grabbed for the towel.
I couldn't help but mentally curse out Zim as I dried my face. Even though I was living in his house, in his presence so often for medical tests and whatever else he needed to do to me to keep me alive, he never told me exactly why he was doing any of it. At that point, I figured I wouldn't get anything out of him until it was too late anyway. Frustrated as ever, I tossed the towel carelessly into the corner, making my retreat back out of the bathroom.
"Hello, Minimoose..." I mumbled as I passed the small creature, lying asleep on the floor in the hall. With a faint, groggy squeak, it opened its eyes and floated slowly to my side, looking slightly drunk. Minimoose followed as I wandered to the living room of the house, drifting by my head as I sat down. With a small grumble, I picked up the television remote, staring at it. Television was pointless. I gazed upward at the nearby window across the room, the sky painted violet and pink from the setting sun. With a sigh, I tossed the remote onto the floor and flopped over to lie on the couch, Minimoose settling by my feet. My eyes closed to the sound of Gir still scattering cards in the kitchen, squealing happily as I drifted asleep.
-
I woke up to the rather unpleasant sensation of something sucking on my lefthand. I sat up with a jolt, trying to fling off whatever was attached me, which turned out to be Gir.
"Gyahh! Gir, get off!" I yanked my drool-covered hand away, Gir instantly turning to run in the opposite direction and slam into the wall, screaming the whole time. "Ick..." I tried to shake the slobber off of me, wondering while doing so how a robot even produced drool. While looking over my dripping left hand, I noticed something. Two of my fingers were gone.
"Fffuh... What...?" I blinked in a stupor, gazing at my hand. They were definitely gone, that was for sure. In place of the two missing were only two fingers left, plus a thumb, each one as green as my face and coming to a claw-like point. Instantly, I lifted up my right hand and stared at it as well. It was the same, both of them totally void of any scraps of human skin. The only difference on my right... Was the fact that my silver pinky ring was fused half-way in to the finger furthest from my thumb. My eye twitched as I gazed at, after which I let out a scream shrill enough to wake Minimoose and cause him to join in.
I stumbled to my feet, still screaming as I ran into the bathroom. Gir followed behind me, arms flailing as he screeched, Minimoose following behind him as he too continued to shriek. I stopped shouting momentarily to stare at myself blankly in the mirror, eyes wide.
My nose was gone.
Immediately Gir, Minimoose, and I picked up the mindless screaming. After a few moments without inhaling, I gasped in a breath of air, grabbing roughly onto the edge of the sink to regain my balance. I shook my head to try and clear my thoughts as Minimoose and Gir kept screaming, both of them looking oblivious as to why they even were.
"O-okay! Okay, calm down!" I called out, still staring at my nose-less face in the mirror. Minimoose stopped his shrieking, looking around the bathroom as if he was lost. Gir, however, sat on the floor, rocking back and forth as he screamed at the top of his lungs. "Gir! Shut up!" I knocked him over with a light kick, which finally caused him to stop yelling. He stared up at the ceiling for a few seconds, but soon after broke out giggling, rolling around on the tiles on the bathroom floor.
I winced at the small robot's incessant madness, looking back to my reflection. I ran one of my green fingers over where my nose once was, grimacing at the touch. The area was tender, but there was no real sign that it had fallen off, or been in any way removed. It was simply gone, as if it had melted into my face. With a small whimper, I looked down to my right hand, gently plucking at the ring that was stuck in it. It seemed as if it was completely fused into my bone, refusing to budge no matter which way I tugged at it. All I was accomplishing was making my finger hurt really badly.
With another whimper, I turned quickly to pace out of the bathroom, pulling up my sweatshirt's sleeves while doing so. Like I was dreading, several flakes of human skin fell from them as I did so, my arms completely smooth and green. I didn't doubt that the rest of my skin was in that state. Without another thought, I turned to Gir.
"Gir! There... There's a purple ice cream bunny somewhere in the house. You better find it before it melts, then eat it. Go on!" Gir instantly leapt to attention and ran off down the hall, his arms flailing. With a faint sigh of relief, I turned to Minimoose. "Minimoose, I... I need you to do possibly the biggest favor you could do for me right now."
"Squeak," he answered innocently, smiling without reason.
"I need you to deactivate this for... For an hour." I gestured to the tracking collar that was still fixed around my neck. "Please, Minimoose, I promise I'll come back here. I just need to talk to someone. I promise." I looked to the purple-tinged creature with pleading eyes, as he looked back with a troubled expression. Finally, he drifted over to me and bumped several times into the collar, which resulted in a faint beep, then nothing.
"That... That was it?" I asked, tugging on the collar lightly.
"Squeak," Minimoose replied, drifting to settle on the couch, his cock-eyed little face looking dejected.
"Thank you, I... I promise I'll be back later. Don't tell Zim that I'm gone, please..." Without another word, I turned from Minimoose and raced to the door, opening it as quietly as I could. I exited into the night, without a clue as to what time it was. Nevertheless, it didn't matter- I had to go get some help.
-
clink... clink...
I frowned in anxiety as I tossed another pebble up to the window of Dib's room, hoping desperately that he would hear the clatter and wake up. I chucked the fifth tiny stone against his glass, with more force than the last few. Finally, I sighed in relief, Dib's bed-headed form walking up to the window to slide it open.
"...Rem?" He asked groggily, rubbing at his eyes under his glasses.
"Dib!" I hissed, trying to keep quiet. "Get down here, I need to talk to you!"
"Jeez, where have you been? I thought Zim had--" Looking worried and without finishing his sentence, Dib turned from the window and raced out of view, leaving me in silence in the chilly night air. After about a minute, the front door to Dib's house opened quietly, Dib stepping from behind it. He raced up to me, tugging on his black trench coat while approaching.
"So where were you, were you at Zim's house? Was he not letting you leave? He hasn't been at school either so I figured he had you, what was he doing? Did you change anymore? Is... Is your nose gone? What do you think your progression rate is? Do you--"
"Dib, jeez, calm down. I'm..." I glanced to the side, trying to word my sentence correctly to keep Dib from getting any more excited than he already was. "I was at Zim's, yeah, but he didn't really do too much more testing on me. I mean, nothing that changed... progression from the way it already is. He was just pretty much keeping me hostage so he could watch. I'm still... transforming, but it's all going too fast. Zim's obviously thrilled about that, but... Damnit, Dib, you have to help me. Look at my hands." At that, I thrust out my hands for Dib to see, holding out my fused, clawed fingers and wiggling them slightly. In surprise, Dib touched my right hand, lightly rubbing a finger across the ring that was merged to where my pinky should have been.
"I had to sneak out of Zim's house to see you. Minimoose deactivated the tracking collar for me for a while, but I really don't know how long I have until Zim notices," I said.
"Man, Minimoose helping you? That's... Alright, we don't have much time. I need to get you back to the lab, Zim might have even seen you leave through those lawn gnomes he has set up."
"...Crap." My eyes grew wide at the thought, a surge of dread settling into my stomach. "I didn't think of that."
"Then come on already!" Dib called over his shoulder to me, already racing off to Professor Membrane's lab, which lay several blocks away.
I followed on command, wishing desperately that some hope remained where Dib was taking me. The two of us raced down the faintly lit streets, our rapid footsteps echoing in the silence. After a short while we approached the massive exterior to Professor Membrane's lab, both of us panting as we slowed to a hurried walk. Veering to the left, we turned the corner around the edge of the main building, walking up to what looked like a high-tech garage. It was the same section of the lab Dib had taken me to only several days before. Like I had seen him do previously, Dib placed his palm flat on a panel next to the front door of the lab, which scanned across it with a thin, white light. After a single beep, a slot above the hand panel opened, a small device extending from within.Dib liftedhis glasses and held his right eye open, the mechanism scanning over his iris with a projected red light. Reassuringly, a click resounded somewhere inside the door we stood in front of. Dib finally slid a key into the door's keyhole and opened it. The two of us walked inside, the halls of the storage laboratory lighting up automatically as we entered.
"Does it always take that long to get into this lab? Jeez, someone could have died while just trying to unlock the stupid door," I said, somewhat frustrated.
"You should see the entrance to the main lab," Dib replied. "You don't want to KNOW what you have to go through to get into there. Oh, here it is." Dib waked over to a nearby counter and picked up the DNA analyzer he had used on me previously. Without waiting to be asked, I held out my hand for Dib to place inside the machine, another quick stab meeting my palm. I pulled away, licking lightly at the drop of blood that had formed in the small puncture.
Frowningto himself,Dib stepped over to one of the gigantic computers that lined that lab like walls and plugged in the machine. Like I had feared, the display that was revealed on the screen showed a rather depressing picture. The DNA in my cells were no longer twitching in combat against Zim's mutationisers- Instead, whatever remained of my DNA lay defeated and nearly lifeless, masses of blurry green Irken DNA taking their place as if they had won the war. With a groan, I slid down to lean against the control panel in front of the massive computer, staring up at the monitor.
"You don't really need me to explain this, do you?..." Dib all but whispered, pausing in the hurried typing he had been doing on the computer's vast keyboard. He looked at me with a troubled expression, which only caused me to feel all the worse. If even Dib was discouraged, how could I expect to have any hope at all?
"No... But how much longer do I have?..." I asked, speaking even more quietly than Dib had.
"Maybe... Several days..." He replied, his gaze breaking from mine and snapping back to the computer screen. He continued to type, his brow furrowed.
Several days... I repeated in thought to myself, my vision shifting to focus on nothing at all. And that's a maybe... Suddenly I felt dizzy, my vision fading out completely for a brief second. I regained control with a partial slip off the control panel I was leaning on, gripping onto it to keep from passing out completely.
"So, there... There's nothing you can really do?" I asked feebly to Dib, trying to keep from looking at the computer screen.
"Rem, I've been trying to create some kind of antidote the last few days, but... Nothing. It's just too hard to isolate..." Dib shook his head as he spoke to me without making eye contact, eyes fixed to the screen as he typed in command after command.
"Dib?..."
"Hm?"
"Have... Have you or 15 heard anything from my... My mom?" My eyes focused on Dib's hands as he typed, using them to keep from looking at his eyes or the computer screen. As soon as I sated the question, however, he stopped.
"...Oh. Well, she... She's fine."
I bit onto my lower lip, glaring at Dib's immobile hands. "She forgot about me, didn't she?"
Immediately, Dib turned his gaze to me, looking shaken. "How did-- How did you know?"
"She never was the brightest Pop-Tart in the box," I replied, showing the faintest smile. I knew my expression must have been dripping with cynicism.
"Oh..." Dib frowned as he spoke, scratching at one of the keys awkwardly for a moment. He didn't seem to know what to say, and after a moment he simply resumed typing. "She seems fine though, y'know...I mean, not really upset.I was at your house a few days ago, looking for you, and... Well, she was clueless. She had some goldfish, though, and had it named Remliss. Thought I wanted to talk to it. Do you think she's in denial?..."
"No," I stated simply, shaking my head. "I believe it, as sad as that sounds." Dib glanced at me briefly at this, then resumed typing. His usual, determined stance seemed to be drooping somewhat.
"Dib, I... If there's nothing else we can do, I should probably go..."
Dib froze for a moment, seeming to think over what I had said. Finally, he typed in several short commands and the computer shut down, the unpromising view of my dying DNA finally gone. Dib turned to me, nodding once as he glanced into my eyes. He then turned to the DNA analyzer, picking it up to carry back over to the counter he had gotten it from.
"I wish I had the time to myself, but... Could you tell 15 something for me?" I asked quietly to Dib, tugging on the bottom hem of my sweatshirt.
"What?"
"Tell him... To go on without me. I had asked him before to hang through this thing with me, but I don't even want him to have to live through this. Tell him I'll be fine, what... Whatever happens."
Dib nodded at me with troubled eyes, choosing not to say anything.
"Oh," I added, the faint smile back on my lips. "And tell him to take care of the windowsill for me."
---
The walk back fromthe labwas a long one. I was alone.Even though I knew I should have been running, I simply couldn't get myself to do anything too fast- it seemed my brain was the only thing that was moving a mile a minute. Thoughts and ideas were racing through my mind with every trudging step- Most of them merely about what I should do, relating to everything. I knew if I truly wanted to, I could just run. Take off that very second, go as far as I could, and just hope that somehow I could get the tracking collar off and prevent Zim from finding me. Sadly, I knew I had better chances of getting caught in a pizza thunderstorm than that happening. It seemed the only choice I really had was to simply walk back to Zim's house and ride things out. I hated how that sounded, giving up completely, but what could I do? I had no ways to fight back. There was nobody I could go to. Even the one person who knew this enemy the most, Dib, was no help at all. Doing nothing was basically my only option.
I strode down the street like a robot at that point, my feet independently seeming to take me back to the last place I wanted to be. In the distance, I could already see the glowing silhouette of Zim's teal house, which seemed to glare at me as I approached. I squinted my eyes as I shifted my glance down to the street below me, feeling as if the house itself was waiting to pass judgment on me as soon as I entered.
As I stepped onto the path leading to the door, no alarms sounded. The garden gnomes' eyes seemed to watch me with mild interest, but not a single one moved to attack me. I stepped so quietly, the only sound around me came from the crickets hiding among the plants. I held my breath as I stepped onto the front step, gingerly grabbing onto the doorknob.
The living room was dark when I entered it. My eyes scanned the area, but I couldn't see anyone nearby. The couch lay empty, leaving me to wonder where Minimoose was. I only hoped he was somehow trying to keep Zim from finding I was gone. As I closed the door I breathed a sigh of relief, at least glad that nothing had tackled and killed me on the way in. I strode towards the kitchen, still looking for any sign of Zim.
The kitchen, too, was empty, much to my relief. I took a seat by the table, leaning on my elbows and finally breathing normally. It seemed I was safe. I blinked my tired eyes slowly, wondering what time it was. I was too tired, both physically and mentally, to find a clock, so I simply let my eyes fall closed for a moment. I'm stuck... I thought, biting again at the skin on my bottom lip. Stuck in this situation... Suck as whatever it is I'll turn out to be, if I even survive all these changes... I drifted to sleep leaning on the table with miserable thoughts running through my head, feeling more alone than I ever had.
---
15 stood alone under the street lamp, holding his black jacket tightly around him as he glanced down the sidewalk. In the distance, he caught sight of Dib walking quickly towards him, not a minute late. With hurried words, he sped over to meet Dib half way, whispering.
"Dib! What did you hear from Rem? I haven't seen her in nearly a week, is she..."
"She's still changing," Dib said, not showingany of his previous fear that 15 was somehow a vampire."Quickly, too quickly, she's more than half Irken at this point, but... I really called you out here to tell you something from her. She asked me to say that she... Wanted you to go on with your own life, really... Man, 15, I'm sorry, but... It's just what she said. She said that it was too much for anyone to handle, that she didn't want anyone else to have to go through it with her..."
"She... She said that?" 15 asked, eyes pleading for an alternative.
"She did..." Dib nodded softly, glancing down to the sidewalk. "Still, we have to do something, 15! We can't just let Zim have her! I want you to... tohelp me kidnap her back."
"Wait, kidnap her? Are you crazy? Damnit, Dib, I've listened to you ramble, believe it or not. You've said that alien has machinery that could wipe out the whole planet, if he thought up a good enough plan. We're just two people, he could do anything to us! What the hell could we do, anyway?"
"Stealth," replied Dib, frowning in determination. "I don't have enough time to make any weapons, not even to get back to my Dad's lab. If we do anything, we do it now, while it's still night. You don't have to come, but I could sure use the help." Dib turned his head up to 15, meeting his gaze as if to try to convince him using his eyes.
"I... Yes. Yeah, I'll help. I don't have a damn clue on what I could do, but... I'll try."
A few moments of brief planning, and the two boys raced down the street together, heading for the house where Rem was trapped. Breathless, the two paused behind the wooden fence that surrounded the yard, readying themselves for the feeble plan Dib had prepared minutes before. With a nod from Dib, the boys hopped the fence, landing warily on Zim's soft lawn.
The ambush was quick, faster than the two could have ever expected. Like metallic lightning, two robotic spider legs knocked the boys down and pinned them both to the grass, the menacing form of Zim rising before them. In the faint illumination his own house produced, his eyes seemed to glow with their own fire, his grinning face looming far above the petrified humans.
"Hello there, Dib. 15. I expected you two to come." With faint metallic clicks, the mechanical spider legs carried Zim closer to his captives, as he crossed his arms in triumph. "Yes, I knew Rem was gone. I knew she would leave at one point. Minimoose simply favors her too much. But oh, I also knew she would come back, leading both of you right to me. Unfortunate creatures, trying so hard to control things that you have no right to be concerned with... No matter." Without warning, Zim descended several feet, the spider legs angling him to lean inches from Dib's face. He whispered threateningly to him, smiling all the while. "Dib-beast. You have no idea what pleasure I'd get from simply impaling you right this moment. But no, I've got far better plans for your demise. Something long and slow. Thanks to your little friend Rem... I'll see to it that the entire armada will witness your destruction. For now, Dib... I'm letting you live with that little bit of information. Relish in the fact that you are living your last stretch of existence, which I control with my very hands. But now..." Zim rose back to the spider legs' full height, releasing the two simultaneously. "Go. Both of you. I've got far more... Earth-changing topics to attend to. Besides..." He grinned wider, his eyes glinting. "If you really wanted to know, it's already too late to save your little friend Rem. The task is complete, pathetic things. Now run your little meat-legs back to your puny homes. Try to get to Rem again, and I'll forget about saying I'd spare your lives for the time being." Suddenly glowering, Zim turned and clattered his spider legs across the cement path back to his front door, opening it and swiftly entering without another word.
The door shut loudly behind him, instantly causing the gnomes guarding Zim's lawn to awaken, all turning to face the two boys with glowing eyes. Without hesitating, the two turned and ran, not waiting to see if Zim would uphold his promise to let them live.