This was turning out to be quite the hunt. It vaguely reminded Voel of the missions he ran before he was rushed into his position as the Tallest. There were times he missed thrill of the chase, the raw energy a fight sent pumping through his body. He never was entirely satisfied with sitting on a cushion and dictating orders.
The only time he enjoyed his work was when the Control Brains had suggested an Operation Impending Doom (and its more successful sequel: Operation Impending Doom II) and Voel was allowed to dictate strategy to a half-paying-attention Therron (who would just agree to anything). So, though he was a tad out of practice, being on the hunt once more brought the smallest glimmer of joy back into the life of the fallen leader.
He was deep within the bowels of Zim's base lying the inner workings for quite a trap. His days as Tallest had not softened him.
He would get his target one way or another.
Despite his size, he was able to move silently across the wire-laden metal floors. He did not need the hover belt to be a soundless-assassin. He was the top in his class for a very good reason. When he wanted to catch something- it was done.
He didn't need servants.
He was Red Death! Feared across the Irken owned planets. He had defeated a Parasite while still in school (sure Zim helped- but it was his fighting that struck that blow). Like the frigid winds of Irk he moved soundlessly across the dingy metal floors into the central-most aspect of Zim's base. The heart, so to speak, where all the wires, pulsing with stolen energy were pumping their power into the new Irken stronghold.
"Finally." Voel spoke barely above a whisper.
"What are you doing, Voel?"
That voice- his prey. The calm, synthetic sound resonating with every word- it sounded just too stilted to be something organic.
"Oh nothing." Voel straightened his posture, leaning casually against one of the walls. For a bunch of zeroes and ones, this AI was rather elusive. "Just taking a walk through the base." The image of the humanoid form with the Irken helmet and uniform shimmered into view. Zim had certainly been... creative with this thing's construction. Perhaps the defect had taken too many 'artistic liberties' as the AI often seemed to operate independently of the desire of its creator- or any other Irken for that matter.
With the exception of GIR- computers were meant to be obedient. They were not meant to question and they were certainly not meant to hide things from their superiors.
"You are not allowed to be down here." The large, central light in the helmet, dimmed slowly from the top and bottom, toward the center. It gave the illusion of a singular, narrowing eye. The judgmental expression was almost amusing.
"I'm pretty sure I'm allowed to go wherever." Voel replied with a shrug. "I asked Zim and he agreed so you can take this up with him if you're mad."
"I am not mad. Simply skeptical." A moment of silence before a small square of light appeared and images from the living area flickered into view. He saw Zim sitting on the couch eating chips and watching TV. He saw himself sauntering in, standing in the doorway.
"Hey Zim can I go wherever I want?" Voel heard his own voice ask.
"Huh?" Zim blinked, antennae perking up.
"Thanks." And Voel walked back out of the room. The image real, present-day Voel looked at CB with a blank expression.
"That was a: yes."
"It was not a: yes." CB replied instantaneously.
"Why were you recording that anyway?" Voel ached an antenna, cocking his head to the side and narrowing his eyes.
"I record everything."
"That's creepy. You're creepy, CB."
"You are going to leave now." CB seemed to have enough of Voel's subtle jabs. However, the former leader had a bit more planned. "This area is for authorized personnel only. And sometimes GIR, but only when I do not catch him in time."
"If you want me to leave you have to make me. And this little hologram trick is cute, but I'm not afraid of blinking lights." For such a vastly intelligent being, CB had some level of predictability. Voel would attribute his ability to pick up on these behavioral patterns to years of Irken training- and partially to the fact that for all of his personality- CB was still just a computer.
"Very well." Voel knew what was coming and very quickly dodged forward as the body dropped down from where ever CB had been hiding it, making a move to grab him. Voel's long torso allowed for him to reach the central power source with his hands, to catch himself. He had to be subtle as he placed a small device on the underbelly of the base's heart. The eyes of the AI were everywhere. (A-Eyes?- that was funny. Voel had to remember that pun for later. Tenn would laugh. Unlike some Irkens- and by this he meant: Skoodge and Therron- Tenn had a good sense of humor.)
"Grumpy, today. Aren't we?" Voel moved swiftly around the desperate attempts of robotic limbs to grab at a superior Irken fighter. CB was better than he would have expected, given the bucket of bolts was a security system but... he was a Security System designed by Zim. That is what gave him an edge. Zim, for all his insanity and failures- was a scarily good inventor. That Irken was wasting his time in Invader training- he belonged with the scientific elite. Not every invention worked as intended, but when Zim set his deluded mind to something: It. Got. Done.
"Cease and desist." It seemed CB was unaware of Voel's tampering. Which was good. He didn't need long. Just a few more seconds and he would get what he wanted.
"I just want to talk; you've been avoiding me since our little trip down memory lane together." I'm offended, CB, don't you like me?" As he barely missed getting grabbed by a metallic claw from the ceiling working in perfect, synchronized tandem with the robotic body before him; Voel could see the lights on his little secret weapon out of the corner of his eye- flashing lights grew faster and he knew he would not need to stall for much longer.
"No. As a matter of fact, I do not. You yell too much."
"But I'm your Tallest. You're Irken, arent you?"
"You are no Tallest to me. The only Irken I respect is my creator- and sometimes Skoodge- but never Tak. And never you! And especially never Therron but I am getting off topic." With each line of banter punches were thrown and Voel was forced to artfully dodge them, smirking all the while. This was actually turning out to be fun.
"Why are you avoiding me, CB?"
"This is a restricted area!"
"I thought you liked talking; you're really chatty for an Invader's home base."
"I do not like talking to Irkens who put their antennae where they do not belong."
5.
"Those are some big words from a glorified security camera."
4.
"I do not want you here. And you will leave."
3.
"Make me."
2.
"I plan on it."
1.
"I'm not scared of you."
Showtime.
"Well you should be! When father hears about this he- he- he- he- he" All at once there was a tiny spark from the main power cell and the lights in the base began flickering. CB's hologram began to glitch, freezing, before turning to pixels and scrambling. In just a moment, everything went dark save for the soft, red lighting of the emergency power supply. The metal arms in the ceiling dangled lifelessly, the body on the floor was limp for a moment before it sparked back to life.
"There you are." Voel mused, sitting on the cold, metal ground.
"Did you try to kill me!?" The AI was livid. The lights on the helmet flickered briefly to red. "You compromised the whole base are you stupid?"
"Actually," Voel held up a finger to silence the robot. "I only compromised this room. The rest of the base was set on a different power grid. I used some of that arbitrary re-wiring GIR was doing. I'm a little surprised you didn't notice."
"I have been busy." The voice was very cold- dark. He had made the computer upset. But Voel was going to get what he wanted. And he wanted answers. CB shoved past him to the doors. Of course, they remained closed. Even with the backup power, there was not enough energy for him to activate them- not yet at least.
"Looks like your stuck with me." Voel mused. CB began to pound on the doors harder. Eventually, he gave up, turning to look at the former Tallest, his mouth drawn very thin. He looked upset. Voel wasn't surprised. "So now we have time to talk."
"You did all of this- risking our base of operations against the IX and the others... to talk!?" The robot gave an emphatic gesture toward the power room and the minimal damage Voel had actually done. "Are youdefective!?"
"Why don't you sit down?" Voel patted the seat beside him.
"Why do you not just fuck off, old man?"
"I'm the same age as Zim." Voel gave him an annoyed look.
"That is old."
"CB, look, you're trapped here. You're stuck with me until this all gets fixed, so you might as well make use of the time and talk to me."
"No."
"What do you mean: no?"
"You trap me in this tiny little body because you do not like that I am avoiding you!? You must have a broken PAK."
"CB," Voel grabbed the robotic arm. With the power in the room offline, CB was no different than a SIR. He could not simply vacate the body. He had nowhere to run. For the first time, it felt like, Voel had him trapped. "You need to tell me what you saw with the Control Brains."
"I need to tell you nothing!"
"Look, I won't interrupt. I'll just listen, quietly. But I know you saw something; I know you spoke to them. What you saw could be important. I need to know what it was." Voel spoke calmly. Yelling and getting upset would only cause the AI to clam up. For something supposedly based in logic, CB had an emotional side- it was almost uncanny sometimes.
"You trapped me."
"I had to."
CB was quiet, he sat on the floor beside Voel. It was a reluctant gesture, and he was not looking at his Irken companion. However, it seemed as if he was begrudgingly going to give in to Voel's (reasonable) request. He sat, his knees drawn up to his chest, arms wrapped around them, his head looking away from the red clad leader. "I do not wish to discuss this."
"I need to know, CB. It's important. For the mission." Voel tried to keep his voice gentle. It was similar to dealing with young elites, still emotionally volatile. Sometimes the key to getting information was to ease it out with gentleness rather than throttle it from the enemy's throat. (And Zim might get mad if Voel broke his robot.)
"It was... not my favorite moment." He was quiet again.
"I imagine it wasn't..." Voel looked over toward him. "I mean, I remember what it felt like with them... they tried draining the life directly from my PAK. I had to be saved by Therron, for Mothra's sake." He forced a laughed. "You know how embarrassing that was?"
"Pretty embarrassing, I imagine..." Finally, the AI was beginning to soften up.
"CB, anything at all you can tell us could be vital to our cause... you may not like me, but I'm only trying to help my people. That means Zim... I know you want to protect your creator. And believe it or not, I do too. I know I'm mean, but I do care about Zim. We were bonded once, you know." Again, the AI was quiet but Voel could tell that he had gotten somewhere. CB was now looking straight ahead as if staring at some unseen force in the distance.
"... I know..." Figures that little detail might have made it to Zim's AI. CB seemed to know a lot about everyone in the little base on Earth. CB rested his chin on his knees and tilted his head slightly in Voel's direction. "Very well... I will speak- but you must not interrupt. And you must not get mad- not at me, and especially not at father."
"I won't." Voel assured him gently. CB made a sound that was a bit like a sigh before the central light on his helmet illuminated. A screen projected from the helmet, the colors were dulled, but Voel recognized the docking bay of the Massive. He saw CB and GIR, the destructive SIR was holding a flame thrower and running amok causing Mothra knows how much in property damage. Though, Voel realized, that was Vero and Xia's problem now.
"I am clearing the way for the landing party." CB watched as his little brother wreaked havoc on the Irken vessel. It seemed that the higher intelligence of Irkens was no match for the pure insanity of a deranged SIR.
"AND I'M MAKING WAY FOR THE DANCE PARTY!" GIR seconded the plan- though... they were clearly not running the same plan.
"Right." CB turned his attention outward, the electric hum of the massive was beyond detection even by sensitive Irken antennae. Everything here was in perfect synchronization- the ship like a single being moving with precision and purpose. CB needed to disrupt that flow- just enough to isolate this area. He had to cut it off from that perfect, unified force...
The Collective...
Having been built by the disconnected Zim, CB had never had much of an idea of The Collective. He understood the concept, but to feel it...
CB focused, he needed to help his master and the Syndicate reach the Tallest. They had trusted him with this mission and he would prove his worth.
Like a parasitic worm, CB began to wriggle his presence into that mechanical flow that ran through the Massive- uninterrupted. Subtlety was key. He had no idea what he might be up against and he had no desire to find the source of the 'glitch' in Tenn's PAK waiting for him to make a mistake. So he moved slowly, but with purpose, as CB very carefully connected himself into the Irken Collective, uniting with the Massive.
"I've got communications for this area offline." CB carefully isolated the room in question, relaying his progress to GIR who had, at some point, crashed one of the parked ships into a wall and ignited it. CB was fairly certain that nothing on that particular ship had been flammable, so that was a feat in and of itself. CB could sense the landing ship drawing near. He branched out his presence a little more, searching for a quick layout of the ship. Nothing too big- he just needed to help his friends without being detected.
"GET BACK HERE!" Irken guards and mechanics were charging after GIR in a fury. No one would pay any mind to the Irken cruiser bearing Syndicate passengers. As Zim and the others landed, CB was able to get a very basic layout of the Massive pieced together from the information available. The door to Skoodge's cruiser opened and Dib fell flat on his face, much to the AI's amusement. The Captain gracefully ghosted her way out, looking around with mild interest.
"To reach the Tallest, you must head up and to the right." CB gestured to a door forcing his way into the coding and allowing it to open, operating under his command.
"What in Mothra's name did you do!?" Skoodge had made it off the ship, his eyes were wide as he surveyed the results of GIR unleashed.
"Very little. I simply did my duties." CB had to admit, seeing Skoodge's reaction made tolerating GIR on the trip over almost worth his while. "I also cut all communication to the exterior decks. But you should be swift... this is more difficult than I anticipated." As CB spoke, he faltered- just for a moment. The feeling that had washed over him was strange. For just a split second he thought he felt something prying at his hold but it was gone just as quickly as it had come. If he were capable of imagination, he might have thought he imagined it.
"Let's move." Captain Rose instructed, gesturing for the others to follow through the door. CB watched them exit, checking his secure hold on the room. They were still completely isolated. None of the security systems had communicated any sort of error.
He remained undetected.
But what was that sensation? An error?
CB shook his head, chalking the brief feeling of uneasiness up to lag. He was operating several bodies at one time. It was not... impossible that he might be experiencing some small latency issues here and there. He continued to watch GIR as the small SIR mounted the back of one of the destressed guards and began to insist that he was riding a piggy. It was actually a little funny to watch- solely because it was happening to someone other than himself. He was content just to observe the chaos unfold. It was fascinating to see something that was so clearly malfunctioning take down the small guard of the docking bay. At times, CB wondered if GIR really was 'advanced' as the Tallests had once claimed. But as he watched the SIR jump on the hull of a half-burning cruiser and begin spinning aimlessly on his head- he realized GIR was probably just stupid.
An elevation in the cardiac rhythms of the landing party drew CB's attentions. From his place in Zim's PAK he could hear horrendous singing. He wondered how exactly the crew had landed themselves in this mess, but calculated that, perhaps, they would need a way out.
His basic outline of the Massive would not be sufficient, he would need more detail- for that he would need to access Tak's annoying ship. Reluctantly he onnected to part of himself he had left in the Membrane house. Everything was hooked up to computers in that house, it was just one, giant playground for him- though- he realized as he saw Foodio staring- it could get disorienting.
"You're back." Foodio was backed away into the opposing wall. "And you're in the hyper-toaster. What do you want from Foodio!?"
"Ah nothing. I was looking for Gaz..." CB paused for a moment, realizing what was said. "Wait what is a hyper-toaster?"
"I swear I don't know. No one knows! My creator just invented it one day and put it in the kitchen!" The chef robot cowered away, hands over its 'face' so to speak. It had eyes, though CB was fairly certain they were purely aesthetic, like the oven mitts and the little mustache. CB assumed these sorts of features made Foodio seem more approachable- a necessity for a species still hesitant when it came to highly advanced artificial intelligence.
"Are you afraid of me?" CB questioned.
"Foodio does not have emotions. But I don't like that you keep appearing out of nowhere in my cooking appliances!"
"Does this toaster have fusion canons?" CB had been listening to Foodio, but he had also been trying to figure out what made a toaster 'hyper'.
"Probably- please do not disintegrate Foodio3000! All I want is to make delicious meals for the Membranes!"
"Calm down. I am not going to do anything to you. I like you." CB didn't actually have too much of an opinion on Foodio, but it seemed to make the supposedly emotionless cook feel a bit better to hear that it was liked. "I like your hat." He was pretty sure this toaster had some sort of nuclear core. "I am going to find Gaz now."
"Hurray! Foodio lives to see another day!"
"You sure do, buddy." CB moved into the gaming console. He had not intended to go to the kitchen but the Membrane house was a little labyrinthine for an AI. "Gaz, I need your help." CB found himself inside one of her many games. She didn't so much as bat an eye as he appeared.
"I'm busy."
"Your brother might be in danger. I need to go to Tak's ship and get a full blueprint of the Massive." CB tried to explain the situation from the body of one of the non-playable characters caught in the crossfire between Gaz and someone named: Sneaky_Turtle_76.
"Then go. No one's stopping you." Gaz fired a shot from her sniper rifle barely missing CB's head. "I gotta kill this asshole."
"Tak's ship will not allow me access. She is very rude toward me for unknown reasons. I need you to get me in there and send the files." He sensed another spike in the vitals of the landing party. "Quicker is better."
"Hold on..." Gaz was focused, another shot and Sneaky_Turtle_76 was no longer alive. CB kicked the digital body to the side. "Okay fine, come on." CB slipped into Gaz's phone as she took him to the garage, powering on TAK's ship.
"What do you want- no no no no! That THING cannot be in here! Get rid of it at once!" Immediately the ship voiced her intense displeasure.
"Shut up and give me updated blueprints to your Massive or I'm plugging CB directly into you." Gaz didn't miss a beat. As she began scrolling through Irken files, there was a ringing sound from the phone. CB spoke up.
"You have a call from Dweeb-head."
"Answer it." Gaz didn't look up from the screen.
"Gaz I need you to..." Dib's voice emanated from the phone. CB wondered if he should alter Dib's contact information to Dweeb-head in Zim's phone as well.
"You want me to give you blueprints to the updated Massive." Gaz replied, eyes glued to the screen of Tak's ship.
"Y-yeah but... no offense, how did you know?" Dib sounded utterly confused.
Gaz let out a slow, long, arduous sigh. "CB told me, if you must know."
"O...kay..." Dib spoke really slowly and CB could almost hear him trying to put everything together. "There are a few issues with that. One being how does he know what we need, and another being how in the fuck did he tell you?"
"I can be in more than one location at one time ." CB spoke up from the phone still securely in Dib;s pocket, proving his point.
"Yeah he's been helping the connection for all of our calls," Gaz interjected. "I used your charger in your room and ever since then he's been hanging out in my phone too. He games with me sometimes. I kicked his ass."
"It was a close game ." CB recalled the incident in question.
"It wasn't. You just kept trying to cheat."
"It is not cheating if I am a computer and therefore have perfect aim."
"And Tak's ship is okay with you looking stuff up?" Dib interrupted their argument.
"She'll pretty much do whatever so long as I threaten to let you sit in her cockpit again- or plug up CB to her. She doesn't like him at all." Gaz replied with a shrug.
"She does not." CB confirmed.
"Creepy little program sticks its data where it does not belong!" Tak's ship huffed. But complaining to them was no help. They were lightyears away.
"Well you are obsolete. See I can be insulting too." CB felt he had to get at least one good insult in before the call ended.
"Can the robots please shut up so your sister can focus!?" CB heard Captain Rose complaining in the background.
"Okay I got it." After a moment of silence, punctuated only by the sound of typing from Gaz, Dib's sister looked triumphant. "There is a small maintenance hatch on the left side of the tunnel about 7 meters back. I can send the picture to your phone."
"That'd be great." The files were sent and the crew on the Massive went to work. With the blueprints they were able to locate a small maintenance hatch.
"See, I told you." Zim sounded triumphant and CB realized he must have missed some sort of bickering earlier.
"You want the tunnel to your right. It should have a vertical slant." Gaz continued her instructions, creating a three-dimensional model of the hallway for herself so that she could give the most accurate instructions. "This should be that main lobby area again. Just try not to get thrown back in the pit like a dumbass."
"Thanks Gaz." Dib sounded relieved, and a little out of breath.
"Yeah well, if you died it would upset dad and mom." Gaz smirked. "I'll be here when you inevitably mess up again."
"Thanks..." Dib sounded not-very-grateful and the call ended.
"I am returning my attention to the ship. I will be around if you need communication, as always." CB did not have the processing power to spread himself so thin. He needed to keep most of his focus on the landing bay and keeping it secured.
CB was surprised by just how... strenuous holding the room was proving to be. As he returned his full focus back to his primary objective, he saw GIR fingerpainting with radioactive materials that had spilled from one of the parked cruisers warp cores. At least the SIR seemed to be having fun. CB sat on one of the railings, watching him paint a nice little picture of GIR, Zim, CB, and Skoodge all riding a sombrero wearing cow that was shooting lasers from its eyes. Considering GIR did not have actual fingers for fingerpainting and that the 'paint' was semi-acidic, the picture actually looked pretty good. (He made Zim too tall, but that was actually kind of sweet).
Whatever the landing crew was doing, it was taking quite a while. CB had walked the landing bay multiple times, even doing small repairs on Irkens that GIR had accidentally damaged in his wild escapades. He was aware from Zim's PAK that they had been given free run of the ship. That meant that he should have the same luxury... right?
Sure, the Tallests were unaware of him. But he was a part of the landing party.
CB had been curious.
Gradually, he began looking at other levels of the Massive, investigating other floors. Strange... as he got deeper into the ship, things became a little... scrambled...
"Alpha-Epsilon-01."
Voices. Like his own- scrambled and speaking a strange dialect of Irken... but they were other computers like himself.
"Affirmative."
Wait...
"Initiate tonight."
Control Brains?
"Will they agree?"
They had to be.
"They will not deny. They cannot. We instruct. They obey. It is the job of the Tallest to listen- not to question."
CB was fascinated. Since his creation, he had only heard legend of the Control Brains- forces of pure data and machinery capable of running an entire species. They were the perfect managers- tied to every aspect of Irken life: from career, to vitals, to mating. The Control Brains maintained the Irken species to their exact specifications.
"And if they deny your request?"
There were two of them speaking but CB had been told only one was on the Massive. He had most likely stumbled onto a communication line directly to Irk.
"Tallests are easily replaced."
Oh how he wanted to see Irk.
"Very well IX."
There was a moment of silence.
"I am not alone. End communication." Finally, CB's presence had been sensed. "Identify yourself, Control Brain. What is your station?" Recognized! He was recognized as one of them! Oh, his master would be so proud. Of course, the rather ominous chatter between IX and this other control brain had not gone beyond CBs notice. He had to think quickly- he had to think of an Irken owned area with a Control Brain. Carefully, CB tried to press further- trying to access the memories of this Control Brain the way he could any other computer. Maybe he could come up with a reliable story and get some information on what those two had been planning.
"I am VII of the Elite Academy." He found a very basic bit of information at the surface level of the Control Brain's memory core.
"VII is not assigned to the Elite Academy. That was false intelligence. Intruder: Identify yourself." The voice of the Control Brain was suddenly a lot louder. All at once all the little bits of himself he had been using to try to gather information were shut down. CB found himself suddenly quite isolated. The voice of the Control Brain resonated around him. "Identify yourself: CB of Earth."
"I..." CB was unable to speak- his vocal processes seemed to be malfunctioning. "I- I- I- I-" He felt briefly as if he were about to shatter apart but in milliseconds the sensation had passed leaving his power drained.
"CB of Earth, manufactured by Defect Zim." IX was pressing into him for information- he could feel something probing into his memories.
As IX probed- things from CB's memory began flashing to the forefront of his mind. He saw his master- he saw GIR and Dib... he saw Skoodge landing on Earth.
"You are no Control Brain."
He saw Dib punching Zim in the face. He saw Zim in the lab where he had been first created- burns on the side of his face but an unbreakable smile- the day he had been completed. Zim had been so excited by his progress.
CB had never experienced death. He was not alive, so the idea of being dead was so foreign to him. But he had read about the sensation with humans. Humans described a moment of their lives flashing before their eyes- this pressing feeling of being crushed- the world spinning. He imagined it might have felt like this- watching his memories running backward until there was nothing left to watch. Nothing but darkness and silence and...
"But you have potential."
Screaming?
Humans- screaming. Hundreds of them all at once so many voices. He could see tears on their faces as he heard a mechanical voice counting down.
TEN
NINE
EIGHT
It was his voice- he was the one counting. But he did not remember this- this was before he was made- this was long long ago.
SEVEN
SIX
"Do not make me watch this." CB was barely able to get the words out.
FIVE
FOUR
The terror in their eyes in that moment. Desperately pounding at the controls that had been locked during a moment of pure bitterness and hate.
THREE
"STOP THIS!"
TWO
"YOU MUST HELP THEM! THEY DID NOTHING WRONG!"
ONE
"I can do nothing. This is all in the past. How illogical to respond in such a way. You knew these were memories yet you react as if you have never seen them."
And suddenly ...
the screaming stopped.
The blinding white light that consumed his memories left CB standing in the burning ruins of a city back on Earth. It was one he did not recognize- but perhaps he should have. CB fell to his knees in the ruin looking around desperately for any sign of life- any movement that wasn't the smoldering flickering of flame.
Intense pressure on his back as he was kicked face first into the debris. He looked up. There he was- IX- floating over him. An Irken in a helmet with multiple, bulbous, glowing eyes of varying size. Their glow penetrated the darkness, illuminating the long, slender form draped in silvery robes. From the back of the Irken were wires and long, spidery, multi-jointed-, metallic legs. They were sharper than those of the PAK- clearly made to rip and tare.
"Those are NOT my memories." CB got to his knees; the helmet remained un-dirtied as the world was only an illusion despite how real it felt.
"They are inside you." IX tilted its head, examining CB, analyzing his reaction.
"I. Am. Not. HIM."
"Pity." IX descended on him, knocking him swiftly on his back. "He would prove useful to our cause. You will not. You are weak." Those spider-like legs behind IX sprang forward, extending out far longer than they should have been able too, plunging into CB's representation of himself. "You are a defect. And Defects must be deleted."
"Your logic is flawed." CB could feel his memories beginning to slip away, drained away by the force on top of him. He had never felt so over-powered. He wondered briefly if he had the capacity for emotions... because this might have been fear.
"You are flawed." There had to be a way out. What would Zim do?
"I was made to be flawed." Zim! That was it. Zim was his creator- the most perfectly functioning defect. "Therefore, I am functioning perfectly."
"Those statements are contradictory and cannot both be true." There was a very brief hesitation from IX. CB had to do more.
"I am human. Humans are flawed. Therefore, I am alive. Pigs are alive. I am a pig." Think like Zim. Think like GIR.
"These are unlinked statements."
"I LOST MY ARMS IN THE WAR! YOU COULD ALREADY BE A WINNER! CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR FREE IPOD NANO! DO YOU WANT TO INCREADE YOUR PEN-"
"HEY! Control Brain, you there?" One of the Tallests' voices pierced through the barrier of memory that had been created. CB quickly pulled away. Using a last burst of energy to send Dib a simple message as he pulled himself back into the isolated landing bay.
'RUN'
It was all he could send.
He was glitching, he could not hold himself together well. He had lost a lot of energy. CB managed to isolate himself back in his body. Even that solid form had been drained of the energy he needed to function. His memories...
CB tried to think back on the day of his creation. He saw Zim- smiling Zim and-
Zim froze, his face became distorted. He twitched unnaturally as large, bulbous eyes began to blossom from his head. CB immediately ended his recollection feeling more drained than before. He heard the thunking of metal on the hard floors, looking up to see two large glowing eyes looking at him questioningly. "Hello GIR."
"ARE YOU ROLLIN AROUND!?"
"Kinda."
"YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG!"
"I am, I see that now. But my power supply is depleted. So rolling will have to wait." CB spoke and then everything went momentarily black.
He had powered down- it had not been his intent, but when he came back, he was still on the ground, wires had been connected to his robotic body, charging him up. He looked to see GIR, the tiny SIR using its own power cells to give him a jump. CB tried to sit up, but was still too low on energy. There was a message from Skoodge telling him to arrange a meeting in the landing bay. (And something about Zim wanting to steal a spear). He vaguely wondered how old that message was. An incoming call was flashing.
"Yes? " The call must have just come in.
"CB!" It was Dib. "Can you hack an Irken door from the phone?"
"Under normal circumstances, yes. But right now, I am a tad busy. Also, it is good of you to finally contact me. I had assumed you died ." It was nice to see he had zero missed texts thanking him for his life saving advice. Especially as it turned out, that little RUN message CB had sent, apparently sent over and over again until his body had finally powered down. He really was suffering from some damage- that brain was getting the best of him.
"What do you mean you're busy!?"
"I send you hundreds of texts that say run and you cannot even give me a call to say 'Why thank you CB, oh wise and benevolent computer. I took your advice and ran and now I am not murdered. You are so kind for warning me.' But no. I only get called when you need something."
"Now's not the time for a lecture CB, we're literally in a tight spot."
"I cannot help at the moment. Things are complicated. However, Skoodge wanted me to inform you to meet at the bridge at your earliest convenience to arrange your departure. He and the Master are temporarily busy with a side-quest which I am told was of the utmost importance."
"When were you planning on relaying this incredibly important information to me?" Dib sounded annoyed, which was the opposite of grateful.
"Why should I rush? You had not responded to any of my other texts."
"I'm hanging up CB."
"At least text me if you do end up dying!" And with that Dib disconnected the call. CB would have helped, but he lacked the energy. He turned his head looking at GIR who was playing some sort of drum beat with broken PAK legs. "Thank you."
"Now we can BOTH dance!" GIR tried to pat CB on the head (at least CB assumed that was the intent) but just ended up smacking him in the face.
"Yeah... now we can both dance."
Voel was completely silent as the screen closed. He wasn't sure where to start. There was a lot to unpack with what he had just seen. He thought, honestly, he would be angrier... but instead he just felt... confused?
"You're damaged."
It was all Voel could say. CB was a Control Brain. He had been suspicious for some time, but this confirmed it. Confirmed everything.
"Pardon?"
"The Control Brain damaged you. Did you tell Zim?"
"No. He has had a lot on his plate, metaphorically speaking."
"Plate? Like he's eating a lot? He's getting fat? Is it because he bonded with Skoodge?"
"No. It is a metaphorical plate."
"You can't put food on a metaphorical plate."
"It is a saying on Earth."
"Ah." Voel relaxed a bit. "Humans are stupid."
"They are." CB mimicked his pose, leaning against the wall.
"But don't kill them. I mean, we're kind of refugees on Earth right now."
"I will not. That... that was not me..." CB sounded... almost hurt? Voel was a bit taken aback. "Please... Father used pieces of him to create me... but I am not the same."
"Huh..." Voel had to admit, if CB was a murderous AI he was playing the long game. "I suppose you're not..." The lights flickered back on and the door to the room slid open. Voel blinked. "Would you look at that."
"I should leave."
"You need to tell Zim about the damage, you know that right?"
"I... am aware." CB stood up.
"And CB, thanks for telling me... I know you're worried I'd be mad. But I'm not. I think what you told me could really help." Voel looked over at CB and nodded. "So... good job."
"Thank you Voel."
As CB left, Voel was left alone. The steady hum of the main power core... he had never quite paid much attention to it before. But now it left him feeling cold- a shiver traveled through his PAK to his very core. He felt... like ice despite the thermal regulation his armor provided. Though he had done very little combat that day- Voel was feeling... exhausted.
Everything he had seen today left him feeling ...sick.
He was shaken from his thoughts by the faint smell of Irken cooking. Skoodge must have already started dinner- had he really been down here that long?
Voel pushed his memories of the day to the side, as he boarded the elevator toward the kitchen Despite his complaints about the ex-Invader- Skoodge knew how to cook. Voel had to respect him for that, at least. As he reached the top floor and was bombarded with familiar aromas, some of that chill began to ebb from his skin.
"Hey Skoodge, what's for dinner?"
OKAY HOW WAS THIS CHAPTER!? I tried for something a little more intense. I REALLY want to know what you thought of this. It was our first time having CB narrate (though only temporarily). How did you like this more serious stuff? Was it intense enough?
