No one was talking.
Even Q seemed to be uncharacteristically silent as all eyes were on Vero. Zim was not sure he had heard correctly at first. He very much wanted to be wrong (and that was not something Zim ever liked to be). However, judging by the expressions of the other Irkens, he knew he was not mistaken. Things were becoming very serious.
"What do you mean you can't sense the Massive!? You're still Tallest, aren't you?" Voel was clearly trying to make sense of this situation.
"I am. But... I doubt I will be for much longer. I need to disconnect. Once Xia gets to Irk, the War Protocol will be enacted and I'll surely be dethroned." It was a little strange to see Vero with such a serious and severe expression. Zim couldn't help but think about how much he looked like Voel when he actually focused.
"We need to alert the High Council at once." Captain Rose spoke, her voice breaking through the uneasy silence.
"Of course." Even Therron seemed to be weighed down by the gravity of the situation. "Vero, do you have any idea how long it will take Xia to get to Irk?"
"No, my information is very limited, especially now. The fact that they didn't try to initiate a kill command on my PAK is solely because Xia wanted to see me publicly outed as a traitor. And now I think I'm too far away for it to work properly." Vero rubbed his forehead, looking deep in thought. "It's too risky for me to remain Tallest now. They found some way to circumvent my absence."
"We're lucky they didn't kill you." Voel sighed. "Action needs to be taken now. We can contact your High Council but we don't have time for them to vote on a war committee or whatever it is they'll want to do. When Xia reaches Irk a mandatory reassignment will turn every retail worker, accountant, and janitor into a deadly Elite controlled by no one's favorite Brains. We need to go to Irk."
"I can't control what the Syndicate will try to do." Captain Rose replied. "But I understand your urgency. I will let you know what happens. Lor, Carrius: seeing as how the Chairman is your mother I want you both with me."
"Yes Captain." Both the Romulan and the Kryptonian nodded in perfect unison with a Syndicate solute.
"Membranes," she turned her cool blue eyes to the human family, "I am going to need a rush on those detection systems I was promised."
"We can have them up and running as soon as possible. We'll move them to our top priority." Dib was sounding more and more like the Syndicate which would have been much more annoying for Zim if the Syndicate had not become supremely helpful (for non-Irkens, at least) during this time of crisis.
"That means we will have to delay the squid brain wave detectors." The Dib-human's father gave a heavy sigh. Zim could understand on some level that the human was disappointed. The thoughts of squids was a vast and untapped plane for pitiful human sciences.
"We'll finish it later." The red-haired bond-mate to Dib-smelly's father, put an arm on the shoulder of her bonded.
"Come, we have a lot to do. Irkens," the Captain addressed the group, standing tall, arms behind her back, "should anything come up, let us know immediately."
"Of course." Voel was still deep in thought, pacing in the yard. "Tak, go with the Captain."
"W-what?" Tak looked rather uncomfortable with being separated from her Irken peers. Zim had to admit he was a little surprised (though, he wasn't complaining because, honestly, fuck Tak). "But surely you want me here!"
"You are an Irken and Syndicate, I want you to represent us to the High Council. Since you are of decently high rank, they may be more inclined to listen." Voel instructed.
"Yes, My Tallest." She nodded, joining the Captain as she made her exit with her Syndicate underlings in tow. (Q seemed to follow her, surely the taste of fear fueled by Impending war was too delicious for him to ignore.) Voel went back inside and everyone quickly followed (with the exception of GIR who was eyeing a new squirrel that was in a tree).
"What are we going to do now...?" It was Tenn who finally spoke, breaking the silence that had fallen over them like a stifling and itchy blanket.
"We have to go to Irk." Zim answered. He wasn't sure if Tenn was talking to him or not, but he answered her anyway because this was his house.
"There is no way we'll beat Xia there." Voel shook his head.
"And there is no way we can defeat an Irken swarm here on Earth." Zim countered.
"So you think we have a better chance confronting a massive hive-minded planet filled with them?" Voel glared at him, he was still pacing, unable to sit still. "By the time we get to Irk it will be too late. She'll have activated the War Protocol."
"Yes, but even our fastest ships won't have gotten to the Syndicate yet. Capitol Planet is on the other side of this galaxy from Irk." Zim knew things about navigation! Sort of.
"That's true, but even if we get to Irk... then what?" It was Skoodge who spoke this time.
"We fight and we win, obviously." Zim replied with full confidence. It wasn't hard to do damage on their home planet. Zim had done so, many times, on complete accident. The idea of doing so while actually trying, seemed very simple.
"With what army?" Skoodge continued to be a pessimist.
"The one we have been expertly training, my fellow General?" How had Skoodge already forgotten? It seemed like something Zim might forget when his PAK did one of its weird little glitches, but not Skoodge.
"They're terrible, Zim, we've discussed this."
"Yes, and," Zim countered, rather quickly, "we have also discussed a solution, if you recall." Shockingly, Skoodge did not immediately relax and jump in celebration.
"I don't think we all agreed on the solution." Skoodge looked to Therron of all Irkens for confirmation. Had Skoodge forgotten that Therron was terrible AS WELL as the army? No. Wait. Skoodge had not forgotten the army, he was remarking about their ill-preparedness. That was right. Zim had to keep his thoughts as collected as possible. Now was not the time to get distracted.
"The Control Brains got us into this mess, turning to one to bail us out seems ill advised." Therron was more serious than usual and it made Zim uncomfortable. The idea of Therron demanding respect was weird now that he was no longer Tallest and Zim's PAK no longer forced his admiration.
"CB isn't a regular Control Brain! He's better because he was made by me. And I assure you that I have no idea how Control Brains are made back on Irk."
"I don't..." Therron trailed off, squinting at Zim, " how is that supposed to assure us of anything, exactly? Because I feel the exact opposite of assured right now."
"Obviously," Zim was annoyed at having to explain something that really should have been apparent, "that means my Control Brain is different and won't turn against us like the other ones."
"Zim, your inventions turn against us all the time." Therron was not seeing Zim's point at all. Clearly, he was even more stupid than Zim had initially thought.
"Zim," Skoodge put a hand on his shoulder, "you are an amazing inventor. You probably missed your calling in the Irken sciences, I will be honest."
"Yes, but Invader's blood consumes me like Tenn's love of weapons controls her life." Zim reminded him.
"It's true," Tenn sighed emptying her pockets of so many various weapons that even Zim was questioning how she actually fit them all in there. "I have a problem."
"I know it does," Skoodge spoke fondly, but his expression grew more serious, "it's not a question of your ability, Zim."
"For me it is." Therron interjected, but Skoodge seemed content to ignore him.
"CB has just demonstrated a lot of disobedience. He doesn't always listen, he acknowledges that he can, and does, ignore our direct orders, and you made him- in part- out of an AI that has been confirmed to be psychotic. It is just a little hard to put all of our trust in him."
"You're not putting it in CB; you're putting it in Zim." Zim had made CB, he knew what the AI could do, but he also knew what he wouldn't do.
"Personally, I don't see another way." Voel sighed. "If we don't use CB to recode the Irkens in our Resistance, we're basically taking on our entire planet alone."
"Even with them we're still drastically outnumbered." Therron retorted. "I just don't know of its worth the risk. Especially if we don't get Syndicate support."
"We have to do something though; you guys were never controlled like I was. " Tenn rarely talked about her time under the influence of the Control Brains. "There is literally a period of time that is just gone from my memory. The only reason all of the data in my PAK wasn't destroyed is because of CB and Zim. They weren't just controlling me; they were going to completely erase my personality. That's really fucked up. So, if we have to take some risks to stop these guys, let's do it. It's better than being their puppets."
"I was controlled once too, though very briefly." Vero rubbed his head. "It was awful. I was... still somewhat conscious for some reason... it was like watching everything from a monitor while being tied down. I couldn't move... I couldn't even speak. It's... literally the worst feeling." He rubbed his arms as if he were cold.
"But you're both okay with taking the chance that Zim's little abomination will do the same thing?" Therron looked highly skeptical.
"CB has been in my PAK since the beginning, pretty much. If he wanted to do something with me, he'd have done so." Tenn replied pointedly.
"I know it's not ideal, but without training, without the Collective... we're not going to stand a chance." Voel stressed the urgency of the situation once more. "We can't communicate nearly as efficiently while disconnected and we will be going up against a perfectly unified hive."
"I'm no fighter, but I do have basic military training. I am old enough that I served my military mandate. All this to say, pal, that even with the basics I can't fight an elite." Zeke didn't seem completely on board either.
"It's not a fight." Zim insisted. "It's an Invasion. A full-scale Invasion of our home planet. We'll maybe not full-scale exactly... we don't have nearly enough Irkens for that... but we have enough to win."
"Do we?" Therron lifted an antenna giving Zim a severely doubtful look. "Do we really , Zim?" Zim blinked up at him.
"We have to." It was simple logic. "Because we have to win. There is no option for failure, and Zim never fails." Therron straight up snorted in response.
"It's just..." Skoodge still had a hand on Zim, "it's a lot of pressure on such a young Control Brain."
"CB can do this." Zim insisted.
"We might not have a choice, Therron." Voel was rubbing his eyes and Zim realized just how tired he looked. He had not seen Voel like this in a very long time.
"I still don't know." Skoodge shook his head. "I think we should at least give Irkens the option of saying no."
"Anyone without the new coding will only slow us down." Voel countered. "We can make it optional but those who refuse have to remain on Earth until this is all settled."
"That seems fair," Skoodge sighed. "I'm... still hesitant, but we probably don't have time to deal with all of my concerns."
"It's not ideal, I know. But, General Skoodge, this is the only plan we have at the moment. And Vero's intel suggests we don't have a lot of time." Voel sighed deeply.
" Is anyone planning to ask me how I am feeling about all of this ?"
"Honored, I should think." Therron retorted, dryly. "Though being a robot, you shouldn't have much feeling at all, about anything. Except me, even the Control Brains adored me."
"They did not." Voel quickly corrected.
" What if I do not want to recode your Irken rebels? "
"CB, you're a Control Brain, this sort of thing is the very reason you were made." Voel replied, looking to Zim to back him up. Zim had to admit, it was kind of nice being considered a source of information for once, rather than being needlessly tossed to the side.
" I do not wish to do it. " The hologram had materialized now. It was floating, taking its stance above Voel and looking down at him, the central light in the helmet was narrowed. Zim had come to learn that this was CB's equivalent to glaring at someone.
"CB, don't be cheeky. " Skoodge was content to glare back up at the image of CB's avatar.
"No, no he's not." Zim had created CB, he knew him better than any Irken could ever hope. This did not sound like CB was being difficult just to cause issues. The Control Brain prototype sounded uncharacteristically nervous.
" This is not up for negotiation. Goodbye. " The hologram blinked out of existence. All eyes were instantly on Zim. While it was nice to be the center of attention, Zim understood this was not good. He looked around him at the others.
"I can talk to him; I think he's just nervous." Zim wasn't entirely sure that was the case, but he knew CB. His creation wouldn't turn down their one hope unless there was a reason. Sure, CB had a little bit of an obstinate attitude (he had probably learned it from Dib) but he wasn't unreasonable. "Let Zim handle it. He's probably just in his room, respecting the boundaries of his grounding. "
"Zim, you don't even know where CB's supposed "room" actually is." Skoodge pointed out.
"Of course I do. This won't be long, everyone stay here." And with that, Zim set off.
Of course, Skoodge was absolutely correct. Zim had no idea where CB had decided to go. In a sense, he was in every room. But no matter how Zim called his name, he was unresponsive. Zim need to find the body. From there he could get CB to respond. But it was harder to find then one might think, given the sheer size of Zim's base and the fact that CB tended not to keep the body in the same location. Perhaps, Zim should have told the group waiting in the living room to get some snacks or something while they waited. Because, as Zim checked every room in the underground base, this was taking way longer than expected. He wasn't really anywhere he usually lingered. He wasn't even underneath the lab tables, and he loved to hide under there. Or maybe Zim was thinking of GIR...
Zim might have been thinking of GIR, actually.
Eventually, he did find the body, surprisingly actively in use. CB was deep below, in Zim's primary power room. A lot of old experiments and files were kept down here- mostly because this room used to also be part of the lab before Skoodge had moved in and Zim had expanded. And Zim had never gotten around to moving things to their new location.
" Hello father ."
"So this is your room, yes yes. It is exactly as I instructed." Zim wasn't sure if he had picked this as CB's room or not, but since the actual mainframe for CB was located down here, it made a degree of sense. Zim could also see his AI had managed to find the original file Zim had made when he first conceptualized CB. Zim looked down at the file then back to CB. "You don't need to see those, you know that, right?"
" They were the start of my very existence ." CB looked at the little notebook. Zim did a lot of his work digitally, but when he had first started to create his concept for CB, he had just been disconnected from the Collective. His mind was everywhere. So, to organize his thoughts, he had been writing in a traditional human method. He had seen Dib scribbling things down many times, it had seemed like the only thing to do.
"Sure, they were the start; but you have come very far since I first made you." Zim didn't really remember what was in the notebook. He had been in a very dark place. A lot had changed since then. "So it shouldn't matter how you began."
" But I began with parts of a psychopath. "
"My ship isn't a psychopath..." Zim trailed off looking up to see that central light had narrowed in his direction. "Oh... you mean that human AI... CB... he was defective. The humans made him that way." Humans were stupid like that.
" What if I am like him? "
"You're not."
" What if I am though? What if everyone is right about me? What if you give me the power to unify your PAKs and I turn against you? "
"Is that something you plan to do?" Zim tilted his head to the side, quizzically.
" Negative. But I doubt it was something the Control Brains planned from the beginning either. It was not something... he had initially planned to do either. "
"Huh? He? Who is this he? Do not play the pronoun game CB. It does not translate well into Irken." Zim wasn't the best with things the PAK did not directly translate. Vague sentences were a waste on him.
" The AI you constructed me from. "
"Ah yes. The original AI. That is the mysterious ' he '." Zim nodded knowingly. "CB, you know you are not the same as that AI, and you're not a Control Brain either- well.. okay no you ARE a Control Brain technically because I made you to be one- but you aren't the same." Zim sighed. The human TV shows were right, parenthood was hard. He needed to find one about how to handle your spawn reaching the level of self-awareness where they question their nature in regard to those used to create them. Maybe DOOCSISVULNME7 had an episode about it.
" Everyone treats me like I am bad. What if they are right? "
"CB..." so this was the root of CB's refusal. It was true that the AI was a little... spontaneous... but that was the point. "How can they be more right about you than the Irken who made you?"
" You made me from a monster. "
"I made you from a lot of things. And yes, you are an asshole, but you get that from hanging around Dib. He teaches you bad habits." Zim crossed his arms over his chest. "You were made to learn; it was bound to happen that you would pick up on some annoying habits."
The AI gave a little laugh at Zim's response. " I feel like Dib will say that behavior comes from you. "
"And Dib is stupid and wrong. We were both aware of this. It's not new information." Zim sighed. "The point is, CB, that you're not any more evil-AI than you are ship, or cheap toaster oven I bought from the internet."
" You used a toaster oven to make me? "
"I used a lot of things. Brilliance cannot be confined by the restraints of logic." Zim tapped the side of his own head in a knowing little gesture. "The thing is, when I made you, I had a purpose." Zim brushed aside some unfinished projects and took a seat on the table across from the robotic body. "When Tallest Miyuki died in tragic, unavoidable circumstances," Zim was still not sure how much he was to blame for the fate of the former Tallest. Zeke had suggested that Zim might have been framed and Zim was inclined to believe it- if not just to clear his own conscience. "Zim could tell something was amiss."
" But that was a very long time ago. What does it have to do with me? "
"I am getting to that." Zim glared a bit at the AI's body as it leaned against the wall across from him. "My ideas take time, CB. Miyuki's death was just one event that acted as my inspiration. You see, I was suspicious but I was still a part of the Collective, and the Collective insisted that I was wrong. So, I moved on."
" You just forgot about a highly suspect murder that you were blamed for? "
"I was busy ." When did his robotic smeet get so sassy? No more hanging around Dib. CB was getting too much of an attitude. "Now stop interrupting so that I can explain how you came to be." Zim took a deep breath. "When Zim was cut off from the Collective, it was like all the wool had been pulled out of my brain."
" Wool ?"
"Brain wool. Yes. It was like Zim's thoughts were all tangled and smothered in deceptively fluffy thread. But when I was disconnected all if the wool disentangled from my thoughts and fell out of my ears."
" You do not have ears. "
"But if I DID have ears it is where the wool would have come out if it were real wool and not metaphorical wool and CB what did Zim say about interrupting!?" Zim spoke in one, long sentence, never pausing for breath.
" Yes father, my apologies. "
"Right," Zim relaxed back, casting his gaze upward for a moment as he tried to gather his thoughts, before looking back to CB, who was still holding the folder. "Now, where was I?"
" The wool ."
"AH YES! The loathsome wool that was clouding my thoughts. At first, Zim didn't know what to do. Here I was, isolated from my people- abandoned for reasons I did not know. I handled it, of course, with grace and dignity." CB was too young to be able to contradict that statement and Dib was not around to correct it. "Still, without the Collective assuring me that everything was fine, I realized that something about Irk seemed... very suspicious ..." Zim narrowed his eyes to emphasize his point. "I didn't know at the time that the Control Brains were up to something; but I knew that something was up, if you get my drift."
" You anticipated this? " CB sounded genuinely curious. " Is that why I was created? "
"I anticipated something ; call it Irken instinct. Once I was looking at everything as a complete outcast, I realized something was going on that maybe even the Almighty Tallests themselves did not predict! I didn't know what was coming but I knew I was the only one with the brilliance and perspective to fix it. But, since I didn't know exactly what was on the horizon: I needed to make something adaptable... something strong enough to protect me and any other Irkens that needed it. I couldn't make just a plain old Control Brain."
" You know how to create a Control Brain? "
"No. Not even a little. Which is why I just said I couldn't make one. Try to pay attention CB." Zim shook his head. "So, I made something better. I made you. You are my smeet and I made you specifically for this."
" You made me specifically for a situation you just admitted you could not fully predict? "
"Yes. Exactly. Very good, I'm glad you understand."
" I really do not think that I do? "
"The point is , that no matter what Dib, or Voel, or even Skoodge- or ESPECIALLY Therron, because fuck Therron- have to say; no one knows you like I do. I made you. Not them. And because I am so brilliant, I made you for this exact purpose. Yes, you are a Control Brain, but you are also an Irken- and sort of a human, but you can overcome that glaring flaw."
" I do not... know if this speech is working- "
"Let father finish!" Zim help a clawed finger up to CB's mouth to silence him. "You aren't a Control Brain, CB, but you aren't a human AI either. You're my creation and you are your own, brilliant and unique robot. So don't get hung up on what others think you are going to do because in the end, only three people know what you will do: yourself, Mothra above, and me- because my brilliance gave you life and therefore, I know all about your future."
" I do not think that is how that works- "
"And I know you will succeed, because I built you to do so." Zim looked directly at his creation, grinning with confidence. CB looked at a loss for words, which might have been a first.
" I..." there was a quiver of great emotion in his voice, the lights on the helmet were shimmering in the dim lighting. For a moment, the power in the house surged, before quieting down. " T h... thank you father. "
"But if it makes you feel better, CB, you can read that file and see all the brilliance that was poured into your creation." Zim nodded to the AI who came over, sitting beside Zim as he held the notebook so that they both could look. CB opened the pages where there was some Irken writing and a little drawing.
" Th... this just says: Build a kickass AI that will make the Tallests super jealous... "
"That isn't all though. I have that diagram!" Zim replied pointedly.
" Your diagram is a drawing of you with a medal that says: best Invad-entor ever. "
"Half Invader, half Inventor: all threat." As Zim explained the completely reasonable position he had fabricated in his diagram, CB was thumbing through the rest of the notebook.
" That is all it says. That one sentence. "
"Yeah," Zim nudged the robot with his shoulder, still grinning. "And I did exactly that. Haven't gotten my medal yet, but it's a work-in-progress." He was a General now, so that was close, if not better than Invad-entor. "So, what do you say you help your beloved father and be our Control Brain? One we can trust?"
" I... " Zim could see the AI was still hesitant, but he could also tell he had at least made some headway with him. " I suppose I can do that. For my father. But I have lost to IX before... "
"We'll get to that." Zim patted the body on the arm. "Bloaty's didn't perfect all forty-seven pizza flavors all at once, did they?"
" Research indicates that they only have fifteen pizza options. "
"Exactly."
" What? "
"Now what do you say we get you back upstairs? You have a big job ahead of you." Zim patted the helmet. "And I will be there helping you do it." He leaned in closer to CB's ear (weird that CB actually had ears when Zim did not, but the AI had always chosen a more ugly, human personification) and whispered: "and make the ex-Tallests super jealous." CB actually laughed, the lights in the house brightened momentarily.
" Yes father. I would enjoy that ."
