Alright, I'm in Vancouver without my laptop, and somehow I managed to post the next chapter through my ipad. Guess it's a good thing I had already put the chapter here before hand XDXD. Anyway, this chapter will contain emotional stuff, mostly involving arguments. You'll see what I mean. Come on, the chapter na mesays it all, right?
Lost
Chapter 15- The Breaking Point
Once he was certain Ilk was fast asleep, Red silently climbed out of bed, tucking her in and headed out the door. He had two elites stationed outside the door at all times until he returned, just in case: he wouldn't take any chances.
The Massive has a dark history on her rear section, where the prisoner brig and interrogation rooms are located. Since her inauguration as flagship of the Irken Armada many unfortunate aliens of different species-rebels, prisoners of war or even fellow Irkens who somehow earned the Tallest's wrath-who were held there never saw the light of a star again.
Irkens have a knack for extracting information. The prisoner who held vital knowledge about something soon learned it. They naturally enjoy inflicting harm on inferior alien filth as a way to remind them of their place, so physical torture is the most common method. When that didn't work, they resorted to less favored but more effective methods, such as obtaining the information directly from the brain or 'truth' serum.
Sobrekt, however, are a peculiar case. They are trained to withstand torture of all kinds, so no amount of physical pain that would have a Vortian break and make a twenty-page confession could make them spill the soda. In the most extreme cases they could even go into a semi-vegetative state to avoid feeling the pain or even kill themselves before having the chance of being interrogated.
So when Red arrived at the plain, bare interrogation room where their 'guest' had been 'accomodated' he wasn't surprised to see him covered in his own blood with fresh wounds all over. But he didn't even seem to be in pain.
"He's like an armored torik, My Tallest, he won't talk," the guy in charge of the interrogatory said. His gloves were stained in the lizard's blood. "We tried everything, but he seems to have gone… unconscious or something."
"Did you try to shock him awake?"
"Everything you think of we have tried, My Tallest. It's like he's dead-alive."
"Where is Tallest Purple?"
"Overseeing the results of the brain information extraction with the science drones."
Right. He said he was going to get the information directly from the sobrekt's brain. He stared the alien's limp, battered body. "I'm going in."
The soldier snapped his head up. "My Tallest, I'm not sure it's wise! The prisoner might as well be faking it and will spring upon you once you step inside-"
"I can handle him. In case you forgot, I dealt with the other one in less than thirty seconds when he was in top form, I think I can deal with a dying one. Open the door."
Although reluctant, the soldier obeyed and stepped aside to allow his Tallest to step in. Red walked into the interrogation room, back straight, expression calm but stern. He was the Tallest, one of the Irken leaders; he must look like the epitome of strength and authority, both to his subjects and his enemies.
The sobrekt didn't move.
"I must say, your species' reputation precedes you," Red spoke in a cold manner, but those who work close to him know that tone. He wasn't happy. "Not everyone has the guts to send assassins into the flagship of the Irken Armada, after all, much less to send said assassins after the Tallest themselves. What I cannot understand is what business your… son had with my smeet." Red narrowed his eyes impatiently when he received no reaction from his prisoner. "Listen carefully: I'll make it easier for you. I'm only going to ask you a question. One simple question. If you answer me I'll consider giving you a quick death."
He leaned forward until his face was inches away from the downcast, almost lifeless gaze. "Why did you go after my smeet?"
For a few, brief seconds nothing happened. Then the kryvtor started opening his eyes and the thin lines he had as pupils stared into Red's own pupiless orbs. Red almost felt a shiver down his spine. Even though the alien was at their mercy his ocular orbs continued to show the strength of a fully-seasoned warrior.
"Your smeet?" he whispered. He started coughing. Red had the feeling it would have been a chuckle if this lizard's lungs hadn't been perforated non-fatally. "So she is directly related to you."
His blood relation to Ilk was usually kept a secret. Only the crew of the Massive, Purple and Red himself knew. This was for security reasons, as many would take advantage of the information. Even though the secret had somehow reached alien ears, it seemed the Sobrekt weren't included amongst that group. Good. He could make an exception this once, though, this one wouldn't leave the Massive alive. "Indeed, she is. And you should know that by threatening her you threaten me."
Another cough-chuckle. "Who would have thought? The 'Almighty' Tallest actually cares about someone-" The kryvtor hissed in pain when a gloved hand (there was no way Red would have touched his bloody skin otherwise)pressed on one of his open wounds. Red found it interesting that the famous self-regeneration hadn't started to show yet
"Answer me. What do you want with my daughter?"
"You tell me, your Tallest. You're the one who stole from us. Not only that, but you wasted the sacred flower's power on a worthless drone like her-" This time Red's hand gripped the kryvtor's throat, threatening to choke him.
"Call her like that again and I'll cut off your tongue." Red hissed darkly, narrowing his eyes into a deep glare.
"You won't be able to protect her forever, Irken…" this time the kryvtor did manage to chuckle. "Someday you will make a mistake and you will lose her. You shall feel what I felt when you took my son. It's a pity I probably won't be there to see your face when it happens." The kryvtor somehow burst out into a mocking laughter even though his chest started to bleed.
The sight was too much for Red to bear. He didn't honor the kryvtor with any more words. Clenching his jaw he stomped out of the room, removing the blood-stained glove and tossing it aside without a care. He didn't even spare the guard outside a glance as he left.
"Kill him and toss his body out of the airlock."
Red stared at the scene in shock. His daughter, his little smeet, was being hugged by an alien. Not just any alien, a flirking Sobrekt. There was no sign of distress of her part, she didn't try to push him away or inflict any injury now that his guard was down.
It's just that my people see physical touch, especially close contact, as something... intimate. We reserve touching only for close people. A mild contact, such as grabbing a shoulder, is more or less acceptable, but other things such as… well, hugs…
Hug.
Intimate.
Ilk.
Blue was hugging Ilk.
Realization dawned unto him as he put two and two together. The kryvtor's different atittude, how he had been more 'friendly' with Ilk, his attempts at being as physically close to her as possible.
Naturally he reacted like any sensate person would under these circumstances
"GET YOUR FILTHY CLAWS OF MY DAUGHTER!" Before he could even process what was happening he had torn Blue away from Ilk with his bare hands, standing between them to keep him as far from her as possible.
"D-Dad…!"
Blue seemed to be in shock, but he was yet to speak or protest or say anything.
"D-Dad, we were just-!"
"I don't want to hear it, Ilk!"
"Let her talk, Irken." Blue said. He was oddly calm about this. How dare he be calm when Red was fuming?
"I should have known you were up to something, you damn overgrown lizard! Trying to seduce my daughter to make it easier to snatch her away from me once we escaped! That was your plan all along, wasn't it?!"
"That was not my intention at all."
"Get your damn scaly hide out of my sight or I'll kill you with my bare hands!" Argh, he still had that indifferent face! Red was itching to punch him and be done with it, but he refrained himself from it. Not in front of Ilk. He wouldn't give the lizard the pleasure of losing his temper in front of her.
Blue merely narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze never leaving that of the Irken's. He caught a glimpse of a terrified Ilk behind Red, silently pleading him not to start a fight with him. Blue understood why, especially at the sight of the bloodied bandages on Red's waist. Besides, it wasn't in a Sobrekt's nature to attack weakened opponents when they'd rather fight them at their best, it's considered dishonorable. With a brief, sad look at Ilk he turned on his talons and went into the cave with the sharktopus meat.
Now that he was taken care of for the time being, he could deal with Ilk. "Explanation. Now."
Ilk never imagined she'd ever be afraid of her own father, but Irken instinct dictated that one should always fear any other Irken who could loom over them, especially the Tallest. And the look he was giving her didn't help either. "He just asked for a hug and I couldn't refuse!"
"You certainly could have, you don't owe him anything!"
That struck a nerve, triggering Ilk's own short fuse. "What are you saying?! In case you forgot he saved your life, Lena's and mine! I owed him at least that much for saving us from becoming shark bait!"
"It was the indokuro who saved us, not him!"
"Fury acted on Blue's command!"
"Ilk, don't buy into that routine! You expect me to believe the guy who kidnapped you and put your life in danger is suddenly 'in love' with you out of thin air? He just wants to get your guard down!" Red glared down at her. "And you let him do it. I told you not to get attached to inferior species and yet I find you in his arms, allowing his filthy alien meat to touch you! How do you expect to become an Invader if you can't keep your distance from the natives?!"
By that point Ilk had enough about that topic. She had vented off with Blue and Captain a while ago, and that helped her get the burning fire inside under control. But this? Taking advantage of this situation to rub it in her face, and worse, talking as if it had been her idea, overcame whatever feeling she had of not hurting dad's feelings. Ilk was so lost in her inner turmoil she didn't realize she had spoken until she caught the change in her father's face and demeanor. His frown had disappeared, instead his eyes were open wide, his mouth was gaping and he had gone stiff. "What?"
Despite the unconscious outburst, Ilk knew what she had said. "I don't want to be an Invader. I won't be one. I don't care about what the Control Brains said, I have no intention of stabbing anyone in the back, or to destroy their home and turn it into an Irk-knows-what."
Silence. A part of Ilk had been waiting for this moment, yet the other dreaded the reaction this would trigger.
Red just stood there, staring down at his smeet in utter shock. Did he just hear what he thought? It couldn't be. She couldn't do that to him, not after all he had done for her. All the effort, all the time he spent preparing her, teaching her, everything, she couldn't throw all that away just because she had stupid sympathy for inferior beings!
IF HER BEHAVIOR IS NOT CORRECTED SHE'LL HAVE TO BE… PUT DOWN.
His posture stiffened again as the anger returned tenfold, this time directed not only at Blue. "You don't get a say in it. It's already been decided." He said firmly.
"That's the point, you decided it, not me.! You didn't ask my opinion on the matter!"
"We're Irkens, Ilk. We don't get to choose, we're assigned to the job that fits us best according to our abilities. The Control Brains deemed you fit for it."
"They didn't, you-!"
"You have to put aside the sympathy for the inferior species, Ilk. They are not deserving of it. Think they would return the favor?"
"But-!"
"You cannot go against the Control Brains. You have no idea of what they can do if you even try. As you have seen, not even I can go against their rulings."
"Dad-!"
"You might not see it now, Ilk, but someday you will understand."
"Just listen!"
"I'm the Tallest. You listen to me!"
She could not believe this. It finally gets through his head and he still will not budge. "AGH! This is so unfair!" She shouted, even kicking a nearby log for emphasis.
Red scoffed. "'Unfair'?"
"You never support me if it's not what you what me to do!" Ilk argued. "You just tell me what to do, what not to do, trying to make me be like you…!" She was aware of his past as an Invader himself. That was the reason he wanted her to become one. "Well, I'm not like you*!"
He shook his head and crossed his arms. "You're acting like a smeet."
"Maybe I wouldn't if you didn't treat me like one!"
Red looked down at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You won't let me fight, and when I do you get mad! You confine me to the Massive without even telling me why! And I don't even want to start about Foodcourtia!"
"You were in danger, the Sobrekt-!" Red tried to defend himself, but was interrupted.
"That! That's another issue, dad! You never even told me about the whole issue with them! Were you even going to tell me at all or were you going to keep me in the dark for as long as you could?!"
Red contained the urge to gulp. He couldn't show any uncertainty. "I was protecting you."
"Stop using that excuse, would you?! Had I known they were after me I wouldn't have gone out in that runner in the first place! You didn't have to lie to me!"
"Well, look who's talking! Were you going to tell me that lizard was wooing you?!"
"That's not the point! You have no idea of how much I'm wish right now that you were not my father!"
Red swore the painful sensation those words send through him was comparable to having his squeedly-spooch torn out while still being alive. He reacted the only way he knew how. "I'm serious, Ilk. Do not talk to me like that or I won't be held acountable for my actions." he hissed.
She felt a shiver down her spine. He was talking as if she were a mere drone. "Or what? What will you do, My Tallest, banish me to some backwater planet with a fake mission like Zim?!" Ilk snapped, almost close to tears. What she heard next nearly caused them to flow down her cheeks.
"Perhaps I should, seeing that you turned out to be a disappointment just like him!"
"If I'm a disappointment, then you're a terrible father!"
SMACK!
Before she knew it she was on the ground, her cheek burning.
Red didn't know what came over him. His vision momentarily went red, his reason was overcome with the hurt that last proclamation provoked plus the anger he had been bottling up since the previous day. When he came back to his senses he found Ilk on the ground and her hand was on top of the left side of her face. He heard Lena, Blue and Zim cry out, standing a few feet away with looks of utter shock. He spotted GIR and Fury wordlessly staring.
What nearly did it was the look of hurt, betrayal and fear his smeet was giving him. Realization of what he had just done dawned upon him. No, he didn't…! The painful feeling from before intensified. He tried to say something, anything, but no words would come out. "I-Ilk, I… I didn't..."
He hadn't even finished when she ran off into the woods in a heap of sobs.
Zim was the first to go after her. "Ilk-smeet, wait! Ilk-smeet!" GIR followed suit. They were joined by Fury. The three disappeared into the darkness.
Once Red snapped out of his shock he glared daggers at Blue, who seemed to be one second away from going with them. "You!" This time he didn't hold back as he stomped his way towards the cause of this. "This is all your fault!"
"Mine?!" Blue hissed with bare teeth, indignant. "How is this my fault when you struck her! Assume your responsibility for once in your life!"
"Don't talk to me about responsibility, you damn lizard! Ever since you appeared you led my smeet astray! If you hadn't brought us here this wouldn't have happened!"
"That's the most pathetic excuse you've come up with, Irken. You struck her because you simply can't swallow the fact there's someone who will not blindly bend to your will like the rest of your race."
Red pointed a finger at Blue's snout with a scowl. "You take that back!"
"Red, calm down!"
The raging fire switched targets. "You stay out of this, Lena! This is not your concern!"
"Anything that happens to Ilk is my concern! If you hadn't put so much pressure on her-!"
"Pressure? I was doing what was best for her!"
"Red, she doesn't want to be an Invader. She doesn't feel she's made for that kind of job, you cannot force her!"
"I can and if I have no other choice then I will!"
"But Red-"
"MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!" Lena stepped back when the bomb finally exploded. "Stop acting as if you were her mother! You're not and you will never be! She's my daughter and how I raise her it's NOT your problem! Don't forget your place, medical drone!"
The snowflakes would have made a long echo when they touched the ground following the long silence that followed. Forgetting about Red, Blue instantly checked on Lena. With one glance it was evident she'd break down at any moment. Blue glared at Red again as he led Lena inside, whispering some comforting words. Red merely sighed in irritation and brought a hand up to his face.
He hoped Purple was having it worse than him.
Purple was bored. Very, very bored.
While the others were busy with adapting the Hothian metal (name pending) and the electromagnetic-proof substance (name also pending) under supervision and one could even some aid from the Hothians themselves, he chose to stay behind at the Ibris's lounge to look after the indokuro egg. It was actually an excuse so he wouldn't have to do any unnecessary effort, of course. He was a Tallest. He didn't stain his hands with such a thing unless his very survival was at stake.
"You do realize that your survival does depend on leaving this place, don't you?" the Dib, who stayed behind as well, pointed out matter-of-factly.
"Shut up and go make me some donuts." Purple retorted without bothering to open his eyes.
"I'm going only because I want something to eat to, not because you tell me." Dib took a brief glance at his recharged camera as he disappeared through the door, muttering something about a lazy lizard. Probably Foxtrot.
Purple glanced at the incubator balancing on the couch. "Guess it's just you and me." He whispered. There was no reply. Sigh. He missed Red. It was boring not to have anyone he could talk to about snacks, throwing prople out of the airlock just for fun, plots to get rid of Zim, etcétera. Besides, he was worried about Ilk.
Purple yawned from the boredom. Surely it wouldn't hurt if he rest his eyes for a moment, right? Trying to find a comfortable position to lay down was tiring, after all. Purple closed his eyes again and took deep breaths to relax. The only sound was the dib-hyooman trying to make the foodinator work-oops, maybe he should have reminded him to switch the language settings-and the incubator's annoying beep followed by a loud thump. The only thing missing to make this an officially-relaxing experience was his doughnuts, an antenna and foot massage and a cool soda.
Wait a minute. Was it really a 'thump'?
Purple opened his eyes again and found the incubator was gone from where he had put it. Reluctantly he sat up in the couch, releasing a groggy yawn as he stretched up a bit. Okay, where did the incubator go? It certainly didn't fall on his legs or he would have felt it, which meant it probably fell backwards, so he took a peek to confirm his suspicions.
Indeed, there it was on the ground… with a big crack on both the case and the egg. Given his current, half-asleep state it took Purple a few more seconds to fully process it. With a panicked yelp he leaned forward a bit too much, causing the couch to fall backwards. Purple gave another yell-this time of pain as his body came into contact with the floor-and quickly pulled the incubator into his lap. It was starting to fill up with the liquid leaking out of the egg. Shitshitshitshit! The kryvtors would have his head if they found their precious egg in this state! What to do, what to do…?!
"DIB-HYOOMAN, BRING NAPKINS!"
"What?"
"NAPKINS! HURRY!"
But it took Dib about two minutes to return back to the lounge, and when he did he dropped the tray of doughnuts and his sandwich with a loud clang. "What happened?!"
"SHUT UP AND BRING ME THE NAPKINS, OR TOWEL, OR WHATEVER!" Purple opened the incubator to take out the egg and wrap it in the towel Dib brought seconds later, especially over the crack. He shivered in slight disgust from the sensation of the fluid. "What do we do?!"
"This thing must have an emergency manual or something!" Dib examined the lid of the incubator. There was an orange button amongst the green and blue ones. Surely it was that one, right? Emergency buttons always stood out from the rest.
The holographic head of a female kryvtor with big goggles, much like Masouri but without the feather crest, appeared. Thanks for using the Egg-cubator 5.0. If you have any doubts regarding the proper use, press 1...
Dib smacked his head. "You have to be kidding me."
"Isn't there a forward button or something?!" Purple snapped, almost hysterical.
If you do not wish to hear all the options right now because you're having an emergency, press nailtag.
"Nailtag?" Purple groaned at the Dib-hyooman's ignorance and pressed the corresponding button with the nailtag symbol.
If your indokuro egg has cracked for some reason, the first thing to do is to keep calm. He was perfectly calm, stupid holographic image! You must keep as much of the fluid inside the shell as possible. To do this, grab a thick piece of cloth of any kind, hold the cracked side upwards and press the cloth very gently on top of it. Purple did as told; it felt almost like holding a smeet. A heavy, round, leaking smeet. Be sure to hold it like that until you can contact the I-KCADCOM. Thank you, have a good day!
"What on Irk?!" Purple shouted as the image faded. "What I'm supposed to do, hold this thing like this until we get home?!" His eye twitched as he noticed Dib was holding his camera. "Are you flirking kidding me?!"
"Hey, it's not everyday you get to record the birth of an alien creature!" Dib argued back.
Purple thought he felt something stirring inside the shell, causing the crack to grow bigger and more fluid to pour out. He nearly dropped the egg when a long, sharp claw broke through the crack, breaking off a piece. Purple heard a tiny growl-cry sound coming from within as the slimy, dark gray limb stretched out.
Ignoring Dib's commentaries as he filmed his 'evidence', Purple took a peek inside the dark space. The sound was becoming more frantic. Should he help it break out? Was it even fully-developed? If this creature was similar to smeets in a way, perhaps it thought it was time to come out when it realized the shell had broken. But if it was time and it couldn't break out by itself, it could suffocate or something. And if he ended up killing it, it would be his neck.
CRACK!
"BY SATURN!"
The first thing he remembered was being stuck inside somewhere. It was nice and dark and warm and wet. There were whispers and voices outside. Was there somebody there? Most of his time would be spent sleeping and shifting inside the 'somewhere' trying to find a comfortable position to sleep more.
Then suddenly his world shook violently and the wet-thing started to diminish. There was a bit of an earthquake afterwards. The voice he heard became loud and frightened. What was going on? He noticed there was a small, glowing line on the surface of his world. Something in the back of his consciousness told him what to do next.
He stretched out a limb, his left 'hand', and broke through the surface. He had to close his eyes shut when the whiteness intensified. A current of cold air invaded his space and went right into his chest. It was a nice sensation. He liked it. The wetness wasn't completely gone, however, and some of it was sucked in alongside the air. A cry of distress, the first sound he ever made, escaped his throat.
Then, out of nowhere, his dark, tiny world was torn open. Brrrr! It was cold! He felt his back coming into contact with something. Another cry of distress, though he had no idea of who he was calling. A loud voice shouted loudly. This called for another frightened call.
"Holy Irk!"
Wait. That voice...He knew it. He had heard it before when he was inside in his world. This prompted him to open his eyes. Everything was so bright that it hurt his pupils. Soon enough, they got used to all this brightness. He found himself staring up at something very big. It was looking down at him with big, round eyes of a color he didn't know. They were pretty, though. Why did it stop talking? Keep talking, big one!
Purple stared down at the creature as it gave tiny chirps and croons, looking up at him with large yellow eyes and oval shaped pupils. It was like a baby version of Fury with dark gray scales instead of black and lacking the yellow stripe. In its place there was a faint trace of silver. "Uhhh…. Hello…." He jumped to his feet when the indokuro hatchling tried to clumsily lunge at his chest, causing it to fall to the ground with a painful cry.
Ouch! The hatchling didn't like this new sensation on his back at all. Thankfully it only lasted a few seconds. He looked around. Wow, this world was really big, even more than his original dark, damp one. The large one was even larger than he thought. Hey, where is he going? Come back!
Purple started panicking when the baby indokuro clumsily got to his feet and moved towards him. He stepped back, but wherever he moved, it would follow. It took him a few seconds to recall this was an infant and couldn't really kill him, so he came to a halt to see what it intended to do. It's head bumped against his leg. The hatchling looked up at him for a few seconds, then started rubbing his head against him, purring.
"Are you seeing this, gentlemen? This is a newly-hatched indoraptor! I gotta say, he's cute."
"Hey, Dib-hyooman, do you know what's going on?" Purple was uncertain of this particular behavior. He went to sit towards the couch on the opposite side because the other one was all dirty with the egg's fluid and scattered shell pieces to sit down. The hatchling, whose movements became less and less clumsy, followed suit and tried to climb next to him, but it was just too small for that. Hey, it's funny, at least it was until the hatchling started to whimper, prompting Purple to help him up so he'd shut up.
Dib had to say, this indoraptor reminded him of a lapdog puppy, especially when it went to curl up in Purple's lap. "Well, have you heard of imprinting? Kinda like that, sort of. You were the first creature it saw, so it probably thinks you're its mom."
"Okay…"
The hatchling didn't understand what they were saying. He didn't really care. Breaking out of his dark world and then running after the big one had tired him out. His tummy felt empty. He wanted it filled. He opened his mouth and started making sounds, demanding big one to give him food.
"Um, alien-scum?"
"What is it, hyooman?"
"I think it's hungry."
Wonderful. What was he supposed to feed it? Purple casually noted the forgotten snacks on the floor. What a waste of donuts. "Hey, hyooman, would you mind passing me those?" He snatched the bag as Dib handed it over, took one of the doughnuts and held it over the hatchling's head. "Here, mini-Fury." He better think of a better name.
It only stared up at the doughnut, not sure of what to do with it. "Come on, little one, it's food." Okay, that didn't work. Ugh, he'd have to show him it was edible. He had Dib bring him yet another bag of clean donuts (moment the hyooman seized to get himself another sandwich) and started munching on one. "See? You can eat it."
The hatchling stared at the small piece of... something. What was it? Then the big one started eating one. Food, then. Big one held up another piece. This time the hatchling didn't hesitate and snatched it up in his jaws. It's tasty! He wanted more! There was a bag with more of these on the soft surface. The infant indokuro lunged at it and devoured its contents.
What do do now? What was he going to tell the kryvtors when they returned? Speak of the devil, he could hear their voices coming down the elevator, apparently arguing with Larb or somebody else about something. "Hey, Dib-hyooman, is your camera still working?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I want to make sure there's evidence and a witness in case I get murdered.*"
*The famous 'I'll never be like you' scene from Brave made it into this part, I admit. I felt the situation is technically the same, Red is trying to impose on Ilk what he wants her to be and she finally snaps, neither is willing to listen to othe other, etcetera.
*Reference to the Drake and Josh episode in which Drake accidentally marries a foreign frend of Josh. Later in the episode, Josh makes a similar statement when their parents find out.
Next Chapter: Red must face his demons and fears in order to save Ilk's life.