Everything glowed warm around him. Dib basked in the heat, hardly aware of where his body ended. His eyes were closed, his face was slack; total relaxation, total vulnerability, caught deep in the throes of animal comfort.
He was only half-awake. Partly the pale boy could recall icy cold and shivers that wracked his body, and pain that tore at his flesh, but that was gone now, submerged in mental white noise and lassitude.
The human bobbed lazily, head drooping. His limbs undulated slightly in the thin, warm fluid surrounding him. One of his arms twitched up, maybe to touch his face or rub his eyes. Spidery thin fingers gently bumped into a smooth, curving wall.
Dib snapped awake in record time.
Fluid rushed to press against his open eyes; it was a harsh orange color and it distorted everything in his field of vision. It was almost amniotic; his lungs pulled it in and expelled it with only a little more effort than it would take to breathe air. The warmth of it infused his lungs and spread to his body, nourishing him somehow. Wires stretched cobweb thin to his limbs and met needles that plugged black into his flesh.
Dib squirmed as much as he could, thrashing weakly in the pale strong shroud. His hands scrabbled ineffectively against the inorganic womb that held him close. The boy was hyperventilating, ignoring pain that blossomed in his chest and stomach. He kicked as much as he could, and moved only a little. The tube he was in curved close around him and kept his body from tipping horizontal... while also preventing him from much movement.
Eventually he stopped, exhausted. After months of inactivity even in cold sleep Dib's muscles had atrophied and couldn't support much exertion. The boy sucked the thin liquid deep and looked out, blinking often. The fluid was an uncomfortable, invasive push on his eyes that couldn't be gotten rid of. Dib could feel it pushing him back down too; back into a murky hole in his mind where he would lie totally unaware and unable to prevent attack. He fought the impulse, clawing his way back up from that sheer chasm.
The human shook his head jerkily, doing his best to focus. There was something funny with his eyes; they wouldn't make things go straight. There was mossy fuzz grown on everything he could see, computer cables and blinking lights churning messily together. Dib squinted until pain jabbed behind his eyes. His heart thumped painfully in his chest and he swore he could hear each panicked beat.
Thoom.
The noise rumbled through Dib's entire body. The human jerked with surprise. For a moment he almost thought he was hearing his own strained heart, and then he could feel vibration on his skin. The noise was all-encompassing and loud and it hurt.
Thoom.
Dib twitched again. Needles were suddenly withdrawing, leaving dimpled tracks down his pale arms. The flimsy tubes were pulling up and away, leaving him free-floating. The boy looked down and Zim was there, looking up. How did I miss him in the first place?
Thoom.
The alien tapped the glass again. When he saw that Dib was aware of him he grinned and gave the human a little wave, then scratched one claw down the tube. It made a high dog-whistle shrilling that reverberated in Dib's brain and jaw.
"Stop it!" Dib yelled, or tried to. The liquid morphed his words into thumping increments of sound. Zim cocked his head, perplexed, one eye quirking oddly. His mouth moved but Dib had no way to hear him.
One last tap and the tiny Invader turned away. Dib struggled again, scratching fruitlessly at the tube's wall, furious. Don't you DARE just leave me here, Zim! The boy kicked but there was no way to resist.
Slats opened in the bottom of the cylinder and the thin orange fluid began to drain. Dib sank gradually, and when his head cleared the liquid's sloppy surface he sucked air in clumsily, puking thin orange goo as his lungs and nose emptied themselves of the stuff. It dripped from his nose and Dib slumped down, leaning against the curved polymer wall. He could taste chemicals thick on his tongue.
Dib couldn't believe how weak he felt without the amniotic soup supporting his weight for him. It was an effort to get back into the habit of standing straight, and just as he was beginning to manage it the tube whooshed up into the ceiling. The boy fell clumsily, twitching with the sudden chill that bit him. Before he hit the floor something grabbed him, hands catching under his arms. Then he was lowered carefully. The human just tried to take it all in.
Zim's face was suddenly, uncomfortably close to his. Dib flinched back but his rival caught him by the ears and studied his face meticulously. His features were blurry and the human squinted, trying to bring him into focus.
Zim watched him for moment, taking in the difficulty Dib was facing when he tried to see. "Computer! There's something wrong with his eyes!" the alien snapped, letting Dib's head drop back to the metal.
"Well, duh," the machine groused back. "We knew that. He's farsighted and you're too close for him to see you clearly. Plus, um, some frost damage to his corneas and optic nerves. Remember?"
Zim paused for an instant. "Ah. Yes. Of COURSE Zim remembers!" Then his gaze shot back to the human. Dib pushed himself up on his elbows, taking in his surroundings and beginning to shake from a mix of shock and fear. This was definitely Irken technology he was surrounded by. He was naked, alone except for Zim, in the middle of hostile territory. With eye damage. It was a nightmare.
"Hello Dib," Zim said smoothly, goose-stepping closer to stand above the human. He swept a clinical look over Dib, from head to foot, and the human felt a slow tide of nausea rise from his stomach. He clenched his hands into fists so they wouldn't tremble, and pushed himself up to a sitting position. His skin was still limned with bright orange, but the fluid was drying now into a thin sheet, with pieces flaking off like residue from hideously bad sunburn.
"What's wrong with my eyes?" Dib asked sullenly. He hated it but for now Zim was his only source of information and he would have to trust that the alien wouldn't seriously hurt him. This dependency on his enemy sickened the human but it was a thing he knew he had to deal with, and as such he steeled himself as best he could against Zim's arrogance and cruelty.
"Oh, NOTHING that a stinkbeast like yourself needs to be concerned with," Zim said loftily. His expression was blithe. "Just a few SETBACKS caused by exterior circumstances. Nanites repair the damage as we speak." He pulled something from his pak and Dib stiffened, although he didn't know what he would do if it was a weapon. Red light flashed on glass and then Zim was settling Dib's glasses on his face, a peculiar mercy. The human jumped from his touch anyway.
The glasses were an old prescription and there was a crack webbed across one lens but they were better than nothing. Oddly Dib felt more secure even with only them. It was one layer of his shielding against the world back in place, and one layer was better than nothing.
With that the human felt more confident, enough to have a try at confronting the alien. Zim already seemed to have tuned him out; the Invader was humming and staring off into space with a smirk. His gloved hands were clasped neatly behind his back and he swayed a bit. When Dib shifted to a crouch he snapped out of it and looked inquiringly at the human, one antennae flexing.
"Why am I HERE, Zim?" Dib demanded, making his voice as firm as he could. It was hard when he wanted to hug himself and shiver in the cool filtered air. And where is HERE, anyway? Must be his floating base...
His rival gave him another funny look. "Forgetful DIB! Could your weak human BRAIN not STOMACH the stress of cold sleep?" The alien marched briskly around his rival, checking the human for further damage. A redundant act but Zim's bursting energy required some outlet. It would have worked better if Dib hadn't turned with him, eyes wary. "ZIM magnanimously RESCUED you from the RIGORS of your silly human WAR! I thought that perhaps my most capable enemy would deserve a better end than" –he waved a contemptuous hand- "a primitive human projectile weapon. Or something." He shot Dib an expectant look and a pleased grin. The human just stared at him blankly.
"...Give me some clothes, Zim." Dib said wearily. This was just too much to take in. He reached up to massage at his temples, already feeling the beginnings of a headache. "I want some clothes."
Zim gave him a slightly affronted look. "You make demands of ZIM?! ZIM, who has saved your unworthy LIFE?! You should be grateful!" His face snapped into a grin, pleased by his own brilliance. "Yes! Show gratitude to Zim!"
Oh, come on. Already the whole stupid situation was a mess. I just want to go home. "Look," Dib started, irritably, "thanks and all" –there was no way to avoid saying that, now that Zim had his heart set on hearing it- "but now let me back to earth. Give me clothes and let me back."
"NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" The alien glowered. "Zim deserves more than mere apathetic thanks! As PENANCE for your lack of ENTHUSIASM, you shall GROVEL before Zim! Yes! GROVEL!" He pointed an expectant finger at the floor in front of him.
This just gets better and better. "ZIM," Dib snapped, his voice strangled with irritation. He paused a moment to collect himself. "Look, Zim, I'd be happier if I wasn't helpless and naked! I just want to go home, okay?! Is that too much to ASK?!"
Zim dropped his hand, red eyes flaming. Dib had thrown a wrench in his carefully scripted conversation already. The alien started to say something, paused, closed his mouth, then chuckled, little and nasty. "Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you, Dib. We're months out from earth. You are at my MERCY!" He threw back his head and laughed fully, horribly. That would teach the human to make demands. Dib felt his stomach drop into his feet. "Now! If you knew what was good for you, you would present Zim with appreciation!"
"You jerk," Dib snarled, loathing his rival. "You took me from my planet and you stole my life and now you won't even give me my pants!" He needed something else. He needed to say something else or he would start screaming and never stop. "I hate you."
Zim snarled, mouth drawing back angrily. He grabbed Dib around the throat, dragged the resisting human to his feet, unfolding his spider legs as he did so. Dib let his own weight fight for him against the alien's grip. When the human was standing Zim released him for just a second, then slammed open palms against Dib's thin chest in a brutal shove. The pale boy staggered back, clumsy and weak. "Stupid human!" Shove. "Hideous filth-spawned child!" Shove. Dib scrabbled and swayed, trying not to fall. "Zim saves your ungrateful life and all you can do is mewl for clothing!" SHOVE. Dib's back met the cold metal wall; he was arched painfully over a computer console with Zim's claws around his throat. "THANK ZIM!" the alien screamed in his rival's face. "THANK him, and do it NOW!"
Dib glared back, hate glittering with pained tears in his eyes. He made himself smirk at Zim; knew it would get under the Invader's skin. "I hate you," he whispered, low and personal. "Hate you."
Zim glared savagely. He freed one hand, brought it down in a nasty slap across Dib's face. His claws left thin lines of red. "THANK ME!"
"I hate you!"
SMACK. "THANK ME!"
"I hate you!"
SMACK. Dib's nose was bleeding now; the boy stuck out his tongue a little to lick the slick red juice off his upper lip. Zim wasn't shouting anymore; he was hitting Dib just because he liked it, liked knowing he could tear the human to pieces. Liked hating him back.
Dib whipped an arm around Zim's head, pulled their faces closer. Zim didn't care except it gave him less room to swing his arm and get in good slaps. "I'll always hate you," Dib breathed, almost into Zim's mouth. Then he curled long fingers around Zim's rubbery, sensitive antennae and wrenched.
It got the screaming Invader off him. Zim howled, eyes mere slits of bloody red. Dib lurched away from the wall, panting. His body jittered with pointless adrenaline. There was nowhere to run and nothing to fight with.
Zim tackled him and the human fell backwards. His head met floor with a dull clang, stars going nova in his head. The spider legs whipped close around them; Dib could feel the slender, deadly point of one settle against his jugular, wobbling with his hammer pulse. Zim's knees were grinding into his stomach and the human couldn't breathe. "I'm turning you over to scientists," Zim hissed. "They'll torture you. Kill you slowly. I'll probably get to watch."
"That's all you'll ever get," the boy snarled back. "You pathetic excuse for a conqueror. You couldn't even beat one human in seven years."
Zim grabbed two hanks of black hair, shoving Dib's head down hard. The alien opened his hands, slid his thumbs carefully under the lenses of Dib's glasses, knocking the vision-crutches further down the boy's nose. Pushed his claws against the human's thin eyelids. "What's happened here, then?" he whispered. "You think you have a VICTORY with this, DIB-STINK?! HUH?!" He put pressure on his thumbs, just a little. Only letting Dib know that if Zim felt like it, the human's sight would be GONE in a second. Not just damaged. Bright red drops popped up around the fine tips of his claws- that was far enough.
Zim moved his hands away, point made. Rage clogged his throat. Dib's eyes slid back open, but the alien could tell that he had gone somewhere else; that his mind was free, drifting far far away.
The tiny Invader pushed himself up, stepped back to toe Dib in the side a little with his boot. "You wanna fight still, HUMAN?" he said. "Maybe lose to Zim AGAIN?" There was no response from the boy. Zim knew Dib's body language and could see he was awake- his rival was simply IGNORING him. It wouldn't be a win until the Dib acknowledged it as one.
Zim kicked him again. "Are you GIVING UP? After all that SHOW?"
And there was still no response. Dib just flopped there breathing, not paying any ATTENTION to his enemy. Zim ground his teeth furiously. "HEY! You will LOOK at Zim when he is TALKING to you!"
No response. The alien clenched his hands furiously, opened them again, clenched them, opened them. He searched for something to say, something really good to throw Dib down, rub his defeat in his face. There was nothing there. ...wasn't supposed to happen this way... stupid human, you should THANK Zim for his effort given on your behalf...
Instead he had to get out of here. Zim knew he had to remove the human before Dib provoked him further and made his rival kill him. The earth boy was needed, after all. Zim had to present the scientists with a healthy specimen for analysis and the Dib was damaged already from cold sleep... If he killed the human now it would be an infringement on the procedure established after breaking down a planet.
"Computer!" Zim barked, decision made. "Take the Dib-human and restrain him in the medical labs! Fix his eyes and make him healthy for presentation to the Tallest."
Thick cables whipped and wormed their ways down from the ceiling. One of them hooked the Dib around his back and under his arms then dragged him up to droop down. Others constricted snugly around the human's body, not hurting him but not taking any measures to insure comfort either.
Zim looked disgustedly at his now docile captive. Somehow I expected more from you, Dib... But then, the other was only a smeet after all. A human smeet at that. Contempt mingled with pity welled up in the alien again but he suppressed it with a snarl. "I'll leave you to contemplate your hideous fate, Dib," he snapped. "We will speak more on this later." He sought Dib's eyes, wanting one last look at the boy's soul. This isn't over, human. I rule here and this is not over until my decree.
There was still no response. Dib's gaze went over his enemy's shoulder, terminating in some distant point that was only accessible to him.
A teleport beam washed over the human and he flickered away. Zim stood still for a long time, glaring at nothing.
END OF CHAPTER 5
Criticism is appreciated. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Unrealistic: Dib doesn't have amnesia- what he was suffering from was more like an amplified form of the disorientation that people sometimes experience when waking from a deep sleep. You know, "where am I, what's going on," and the like.
School is starting for me so expect production to slow majorly. My apologies...
September 6, 2004.