Transmitting…transmitting…

Zim smashed his forehead onto the controls, which did nothing to help his oncoming headache. The screen flashed with that useless message over and over again, and it was starting to hurt his eyes. The Tallest should have gotten his transmission by now! It wasn't like Earth was that far away from the Armada.

"COMPUTER!" He yelled, head snapping up. A beep filled the whole house.

"Yes?" It sounded annoyed with him already. Zim missed the tone and fiddled with a control to see if it fixed anything.

"Why isn't the communication device working? Is it-" He climbed onto the control panel and stared at the giant screen. "Frozen?" A few calculating beeps.

"It seems to be malfunctioning."

"Yeah, I get that. How?" He looked in the general direction of the AI system.

"No clue." Zim groaned and jumped off the panel. Transmitting...

"Aren't you supposed to know how it works?" He asked, hands on his hips.

"Aren't you supposed to understand your technology? It seems broken."

"YES, I KNOW IT'S BROKEN!" He snapped, irritated.

"Then don't ask stupid questions, master." It sassed. Zim grumbled something incoherent under his breath. The AI seemed to ignore it. Not knowing what else to do, how else to fix the stupid blinking screen, the alien called a name that was so familiar to his voice.

"GIR!" A clunk came from behind him. The little alien turned expectantly. His useless robot companion was covered in what looked to be soot. Zim decided not to ask this time and cleared his throat. The robot looked up at him and smiled goofily.

"Mm-hmmmmm?" He drawled. Zim sighed. He knew he wouldn't get anything done with GIR present; the defective SIR unit was too much for him to handle right now.

"What's your primary objective?"

The robot tilted his head to the side.

"OH! I KNOW! Is a giiiaannt pizza!" He yelled, spreading his little stubby arms out, cyan eyes brightening. Zim sighed and continued.

"No, GIR. Your primary objective is to analyze these stupid humans and see if you can get information, though I hardly doubt that'll be easy for someone of your…intelligence level. I need time to figure this technology out." His words were as simple as he could make them.

"Okie-dokie!" The Irken watched his only company run into the wall, successfully breaking it. He pretended to bark like a dog (Zim was very sure that wasn't what dogs sounded like at all) and giggled happily. Zim would have to fix the hole in the wall later.

200 Earth minutes later, and he was still no closer to fixing his own technology from his own planet!

"Computer, do you-" A loud beep stopped his question.

"No, I can't fix it."

"Some help you are…" He mumbled. The screen beeped, beeped, beeped. Transmitting…transmitting…transmitting…transmitting…

"Do you not have a way to contact them?" He asked, staring intently at the message.

"If I could, I would. I despise your whining." Zim growled.

"You are Irken technology! I demand you find a way to contact my Tallest!" He looked away from the communication device for the first time in who-knows-how-long. The computer made a sound as if it were scoffing.

"Even if I did have a solution, you certainly aren't getting it now." He huffed and turned back to the purple screen.

Something snapped, perhaps his patience or his calm, but Zim slammed his hands down on the controls and yelled furiously.

"ANSWER!" His screen flashed with a bright white light. He squinted in pain, leaning his head against his hands.

Transmitting...

Salt water filled his eyes for some inexplicable reason. Surely...surely the Tallest would have gotten his message, his plea. All he had wanted to do was talk to them, reassure them that his invasion was going well. The small alien mashed the controls once more in a frenzy. The screen made a buzz and he looked up, grinning.

"My-" He stopped and blinked once, attempting to process the new message.

Transmission: Denied.

Denied? They wouldn't ignore him! Not after all he had done for the Irken empire! No, they couldn't be ignoring him. He was sure they were just busy. Exploding planets was rather important, after all. He stepped back, almost tripping over his own two feet, and wrapped his arms around himself before squeezing his eyes shut. His antennae pressed flat against his skin. The draft gusting in here was cold, wasn't it?

"Master-" His computer's voice wasn't completely sassing him for once, and Zim was sure it knew something - felt something - he didn't.

"Inform me when GIR gets back." It took an effort to raise his voice above a whisper. "Zim has work to do." He tried to walk straight to his kitchen, but his legs didn't cooperate. Laying there, on the floor, he curled up slowly. His Tallest wouldn't ignore him, they couldn't.

"..." Soft beeping, unlike the harsh, cold, declining beeping of his device. "Of course."

"Ugh, it's Zim. Should we pick up?" Purple asked, disgust in his eyes. His hand hovered over the Decline Call button, itching to press it once more. Red hummed from where he was chewing his donuts.

"Eh, I'm sure he'll be fine. He always bounces right back…unfortunately."