Warning! This story is going to be very long! If you cannot stand long stories then do not read. If you do not like stories about incompetent aliens that no one likes then do not read this. If you cannot stand reading about the imminent destruction of Earth and enemies having to unite to stop the greater threat then DO NOT READ!!!
Thank you, that is all…
Invader Zim- The End?
Chapter 22
Tak swiveled her eyes over the hallway. No one had come through to see where she was. She doubted if anyone really noticed that she was missing. After all, it wasn't uncommon for Irkens to go off without saying a word to an alien race. Since Kim and Dib were not Irken they were alien to her and, therefore, stood on a need to know basis. It didn't seem practical to just go up and tell them where she was going and why.
That would have been silly.
The orbs swiveled in their spot on the plaque. They watched as Tak paced up and down the hallways. It was pretty clear that she was completely wrapped in her thoughts.
She turned around again and raised a finger to speak.
Then she let it down again and shook her head.
She took notice of the strange markings that coated over the walls. They were like runic pictures, written directly into the metal and made so that it was impossible for them to be removed without a great amount of force and fire. Tak ran her finger along the outside of one that caught her purple eye. It was sort of circular with three lines stretching into the center where a square rested. She rubbed her chin as she traced one line into the square's boundaries.
There was a slight giggling that erupted from the speaker above her. Tak was startled and hurriedly whipped her hand back. She glared up at the speakers, upset that she had been surprised by something as trivial and human-like as a giggle.
"Sorry," came a boy's voice. He seemed to be having fun. "That's my tickle spot."
Her eyes went wide with amazement. Humor response. The machine was able to respond to reactions in heat and touch that crept along the metal of its hull or interior. It was simply a wondrous piece of machinery. Tak had never seen such an advanced form of ship. Amazing, she thought. What I wouldn't give to get some machines as advanced as this.
"I'm not a machine, but thank you for your kind notions."
She looked even more taken aback this time. But her surprise began to mold and shape to the form of confusion and anger. "How did you know what I was thinking?"
"I can read what you think depending on what signal your transistor gives out."
She felt her eye twitch. "I'd much prefer it if you didn't do that."
"Sorry, force of habit. I won't do it anymore."
"Now, could you please tell me your maker, machine? I'd like to get one of… you."
"I'm not a machine."
"Oh! Well in that case I am the queen of Earth," she tugged on the sides of her uniform, pulling them out to either side. Tak then did a mocking curtsey towards the optical sensors of the ship. "It is a great privilege to meet a ship as advanced in technology as you are. Oh! I apologize for the ship comment. Terribly sorry about that. How very unqueenly of me."
"You're mocking me, aren't you?"
"What was your first guess?"
Tak continued in her examination of the area. She constantly looked over some of the oxygen tanks that were in the corner, most likely for suits. She scanned over the symbols that had gathered on the walls of this specific area. She thought about how much of a coincidence it was for her to end up in this specific part of the ship. It didn't really seem very practical for her to end up there and not had intended to do so. Now she was actually talking with the ship. She swiveled her eyes back over to the optical sensors and raised an invisible brow. "I can tell that you've been reading my mind so just get on with what you want to say." It wasn't that she knew for sure, it was the fact that the walls actually seemed wet when she started thinking about how she got there without intending to.
Sweat?
"If I were to tell you that I had once been alive… would you believe me?" It wasn't what the 'ship' had really wanted to ask but it seemed like a good thing to ask at the moment. The 'ship' was aware that its air filters were making loud, gasping sounds, so they were quickly attended to. The wet substance on the walls sank back in, drying immediately.
Tak's response was quick and simple. "No."
"I didn't think so." There was a sighing sound that came out from the ventilation ducts.
Tak reached up and took hold of her transistor's side. She flicked a small section of it and then went back to her examination of the ship. No matter how many times a mind read was attempted it was never succeeded. She had turned off her radio and made her mind completely inaccessible. Only a psychic could have gotten in at that time.
Soon a long silence ensued within the halls. Tak made sure not to touch the ship's 'tickle' spot again.
The voice from the computer system directed to that specific spot spoke up. "What are you thinking about right now?"
"Why don't you just read my mind? You seem to be fairly good at that." She was very much aware that it was impossible for her mind to be read. It was detectable how angry Tak was. Not just because when she traced the sides of the metal her claws dug into the cracks fairly hard but also because the entire endeavor at thinking this through had taken its toll and had begun to show on her face. She traced her claws through the cracks of a triangular symbol with a cracked swirl spiraling out of it.
One of the optical sensors closed in response to that. Tak saw this and one this crossed through her head. She tried to shake it off but it was impossible. Pain? In a machine?
"I take it that you're not happy?" came the 'ship's' voice.
"Of course I'm not happy! You hacked into my PAK system via my transistor and looked into my emotions chip! Plus, after that, you decided that you would take pleasure in reading my thoughts! How stupid can you be? You never interfere with an Irken PAK! You shouldn't even be in their heads let alone their emotions and thoughts! Who knows what other functions you may have screwed up!"
"Uh… none… I only looked at emotions and thoughts. "
She stopped. "And why, may I ask, did you do that?"
"Normal people would have been affected by what that other boy said. I felt that it would be good for you to react in the same way. Plus I…"
"No," she interrupted him. "Normal people. By that you are referring to humans. I, as you can plainly see," she spun around once to show her green skin and Invader's uniform, "am not a human. Our PAKs are meant to control our emotions you piece of junk!"
"Not a piece of junk."
"Right, right, right, whatever." Tak leaned against the metal and sighed. She rubbed her temple in thought as she looked down at the floor. Right now she was standing opposite to the optical sensors. "That still doesn't explain how you had the intelligence to hack right into my chips. After all, if you're human, as you so claim, you should have a brain much like other humans. Pathetic and tiresome. They are such a bore. None of what you have told me gives me access to knowledge that leads me to how you're so much more intelligent than the other humans I have seen!"
Two plates of metal seemed to emerge from the metal then and there. They came out directly above the optical sensors. One rose up higher than the other, which pointed down to a screw that protruded from the metallic wall. "Anyways, taking that away from now, what are you doing on my shi… uh… me? What are you doing in me?"
"I haven't stolen you if that's what you think."
"I don't think that. I can detect Kim in the cockpit, Idu in the cafeteria and a boy with her. His name is Dib right?" Tak nodded. "Ok, I've got that then. Do I have permission, oh great and masterful Irken," his tone of voice mocked her, "to ask you your name?"
"Tak."
"Just Tak?"
"That's all you need to know, machine."
"I'm not a machine."
"Sure…" Tak leaned against the wall and sighed. She rubbed her temple. Contemplating this entire situation was beginning to have an effect on how she felt about the 'ship'. It didn't seem like a downloaded personality at all, which supported the theory of it not being a ship after all. But that seemed simply preposterous. The aspect was a ridiculous notion and she didn't feel that she was entitled to believing something that stupid. The thought of smashing the optical sensors in so that the system would be scrambled crossed her mind. She tried to shoo it out quickly, aware that the machine probably had her transistor on account, checking it every once and a while. If that were to happen the resounding reaction wouldn't exactly bode well for her. The last thing that she needed was a computer personality to get angry with her and throw her out the airlock in a fit of anger.
"Are you just going to stand there?" The optical sensors seemed to move around more so in there spots. "Wouldn't you like to sit instead? It's much more comfortable from what I've been told."
The metal behind her back began to twitch and mold. Tak fell backwards onto a, rather comfortable, seating. A cushion has come out from the wall but seemed to still be made of metal, regardless of how comfortable and bouncy it was. She looked down at it, seeing that it was the same metallic color of the walls and had the same pattern on it. There were even some screws that had melted in with the metal.
Tak rubbed it with awe in her voice when she spoke. "Amazing… Metal that can mold and melt to any shape. Controlled by a hive mind of cells that work together to change in their molecular density."
"Well, actually it's only one mind. I can move my metal as I wish. But not into any shape mind you."
"What can't you take the shape of?"
"Oh… anything that looks normal. A dog. A cat. A… person…"
" I see… Why would you want to be a person? You're a ship. You can travel through space and do as you please. It doesn't really seem practical for you to obey a tiny human such as Kim, let alone her parents. Why would you obey her like you do? Why not just leave? I'm sure that you could."
"Oh, yeah. I can."
"So why don't you?"
"I don't want to."
"I see…" Tak leaned against the metal and sighed. "You've developed a liking to humans over the years, Being with Kim so long has taken its toll on you. You've been affected by emotions. You do realize that they've only been implanted into your computer system. You can't feel."
The optical sensor pads went large.
"You can't have emotions."
The sensors closed slightly at the base.
"You can't be 'normal'."
Drooping sides met the tops of the sensors so that it looked like a sad face was starring at the ground.
"And you can't love."
That hit with such force that it was amazing of the affect. The sensors went wide with anger and then narrowed, staring at the purple-eyed Irken. The metal of the ship began to quake, shaking with… anger?
---
Kim sighed and fiddled with a few buttons on the control panel. She flicked at a switch to check the monitor's stats. The holographic panel came up before her, clear as day, so that she could read the layouts of the ship and check for any abnormalities.
She sighed when nothing had gone on after the past twenty minutes. It was boring, flying through space like that. She was hopeful that action would be just around the next galaxy, waiting to let her use a weapon of some sort. It would have been so good. It would have felt so good.
She let her head drop onto the dashboard.
That was when she felt it.
The tremor seemed quiet and still for a moment. Then it picked up again. She felt it increase so rapidly. It was shaking the cockpit so furiously that she fell out of her seat. Metal shaped around her, walls melted and formed into the most horrifying shape that she had ever seen. She watched as the symbols carved into the metal melted before her and started up in their horrible chatter.
Yes, the symbols spoke.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of voice erupted around the ship. All saying the same thing. "I… am… not… a… machine…"
Kim's eyes went wide.
She rushed to the console, trying to keep her balance as best as she could. The girl fell onto the panel of controls and gripped the speaker tight in her hand. She flicked on the switch and screamed into the console. "Idu! Find where the signal is coming from! Find out where he's acting out! Find Tak!"
On the walls, written in red metal, was Tak's name. Blood began to seep from the walls. Kim panicked. He'll die if he keeps this up! Calm down you idiot!
---
"I am not a machine!"
Tak fell to the ground, her eyes never leaving from what was in front of her.
The beast was quite large. It took up a great amount of space in the small hall. The optical sensors were its eyes; the screw that had been between them was its nose. The creature didn't seem to have a mouth but instead several symbols that melted and crossed over its body. Two thrashing claws sat on muscular arms, gnashing out to try and get at her. Each time they came she had to back away. The creature had no base and came out from the wall instead. It used the entire ship as a supporter as it moved about. Whenever it wished to catch her by surprise it would duck back into the metal and come up from below, behind or above her. Its entire form was a mess of crinkling metal and blood. Any other day Tak would have said that it was impossible for a machine to bleed but in this case she would believe anything.
"I am not a machine!" That was all that it said.
Tak was too surprised to give and answer to that. She ducked out of the way as a claw came towards her. The second one came and pinned her against the metal as she tried to get away. The beast held her there, dripping the crimson fluid from where its mouth should have been.
"I am not a machine!" It probably would have spit in her face had it had a mouth.
"OK! OK! You're not a machine! I don't know what you are, but you're not a machine!"
"Kai!!" Both Tak's head and the head of the beats swiveled to look at the tiny robot in the hallway. Idu stood there, here weapons out and her eyes glowing bright red. She had her hands ready to fight and a rocket waiting to be launched. "You know that I don't want to do this Kai. But I will if you force me to. I don't want to hurt you but you're hurting yourself far more right now. Look at all of that blood. Your symbols are melting from all the anger in your system. Look at yourself. You'll die from your stupid short temper!"
As if coming back to life the beast looked down at itself. It stared at the blood, optical sensors widening in fear. The claws reached up to the face, dropping Tak in the process, and they were heavily examined. The air filters heaved in heavily and the metal monster began to perspire so heavily it soaked the floor. The beats backed up, slowly sinking into the wall in the process. The symbols, though destroyed and torn, attempted to return to how they had been before.
Tak fell onto a canister of oxygen, hitting the back of her head hard. She sat up, rubbing the sore spot, and noticed something small on the wall that had been hidden behind the oxygen tanks. It didn't look like it fit with the rest of the machine. So she picked it up, finding it hard to get off the metal (kind of like picking tick off of your skin, not a pleasant feeling).
The beast cried out one last time before sinking into the wall and disappearing. The last things left of it were the optical sensors, the pad and the screw that sat between the two orbs of blue.
Idu sighed and sat down, her knees up and her elbows resting on them. (Yes, she has elbows and knees, they're noticeable too.) Idu looked up at Tak and smiled slightly. "I guess we owe you an explanation, huh?"
"Yeah." Tak looked at the small device in her fingers.
"What's that?"
"I don't know," she held it out to Idu for her to see. "I found it when he dropped me. It didn't look like it fit on the ship."
Idu took it and rolled it around in the palm of her hand. "That's because… This is a Bludgeon control unit…"
---
Brooke: (Gasp!) A new twist! Who is this Kai person exactly and why the hell is he in Kim's ship system? How does metal bleed? How can he mold the ship? How the hell did a Bludgeon device get on Kai?! Anyways! Reviews! I reached 30 now! Whoo! Jack! First review please!
Jack: I have the review and a question. The first review is from The Illustrious Crackpot and the question is what's the matter with you?
Brooke: My liking of books has peaked again. And to you TIC, heh, heh, I love you for loving the song! I just thought it up off of the top of my head. Made you want to retch? I'm… uh… well I'm not really sorry to hear that. It was meant to have a very gruesome, blechy affect on the readers. Tak's OCness was explained here but if you don't get it Kai was using his abilities to hack into her emotions chip and have her emotions come out full fold. Sort of like a sappy love story. Haha! Funny!
Zim: Next review is from… buggy500!!
Brooke: … wha…? Oh! Right! End of another ficfic I put you in! Yes! If your sister would say that then she's very much like my sister, annoying, little, unfanfictiony girl she is. That's Morgan for you. Haha! You like when I update fast? Whoa… then what do I do? Fast or slow? Man my head hurts now… (Blah…)
Fiendmon: Reviewers get candy!
Batty: And cola to go with it!
Impmon: Happy New Year.
Jack: Enjoy the night!
Zim: Prepare yourself for the Invasion human-filthies!
Gir: Salted Nuts!
Brooke: Enjoy the holidays and drown yourself in alcohol you hideous fools… Hahaha!