My Beloved, My Betrayed
Chapter 3
Invader Zim (c) Jhonen Vasquez, of whom I still haven't magically morphed into... alas...
Beta: (none... I'm lazy)
"Elite Soldier Skeeb, please step onto the platform before the Control Brain," said one of the communications officers, motioning towards Dib to step up onto the platform. Dib gave a single nod. He struggled to fight the fierce panic rising in his chest, or at least keep it from being noticeable. Hopefully, it would come across as excitement and anticipation.
Looking around, the disguised human noticed the expressions of those around him. No one looked suspicious, only respectful, bored, or jealous. High up, in a glass box, sat the Tallest, although they didn't seem to be paying much attention to the events below.
He knew that his PAK should be able to handle a reassigning, but if a Control Brain did anything other than that, such as look at his files, status, or statistics, his cover would be blown. Dib simply hoped that it wouldn't do anything of that sort. He didn't want his mission to be over before he could even do anything... but above that, he reaaaaally didn't want to die, much less at the hands of his enemies.
Dib allowed his feet to take him onto the dais. The machinery in the Control Brain whirred as it came to life.
"Irken Elite Soldier Skeeb – in recognition of your superior accomplishments on both Devistis and Hobo 13, as well as your extraordinary height, you have been selected for re-encoding."
Immediately, wires erupted from the ceiling. Dib felt some sort of static charge in the air before noticing that the panels of his PAK were opening of their own accord. Once again, he fought the dread pulsating through his body. The wires snaked their way into the PAK and inserted themselves into the appropriate places, almost as if guided by an invisible hand. The disguised human was slowly lifted into the air by the attached wires - a sensation fairly similar to using the hidden PAK legs. A nearby screen blinked to life, displaying the data of Skeeb's PAK. In dark Irken letters were the words "Elite Soldier."
Despite the fact that the device wasn't completely in sync with his brainwaves, like that of an Irken, Dib could still somewhat feel the exchange of data to and from the Control Brain. He didn't expect this, and felt adrenaline slowly creep into his system. Did Irkens even create adrenaline? Would the Control Brain be able to feel the substance enter his system? The thoughts seemed to intensify his emotional state. I just have to calm down... calm thoughts... FUCK!? What is it doing to my PAK?! Does it normally take this long for a simple reassigning? Is it looking through my files? Noticing anything out of the ordinary? Does it notice the hologram program as being atypical? What if it shuts it off? Dad never did say exactly how the PAK was connected with my nervous system... what if the Control Brain is somehow capable of getting into my thoughts? What if, right now, I'm inevitably damning myself? What if...
The wires left the PAK, and the screen showed the title of "Brigadier General."
"Elite Soldier Skeeb has now been reassigned as Brigadier General," the brain boomed. Dib gave a small sigh of relief as he began to walk off the dais. "Incidentally..." Dib stopped to look at the multi-eyed mix of biology and machinery. "You seem to have a large amount of dihydrogen-monoxide in your system. Although there seem to be no harmful effects, be sure to watch the chemical levels in the future." The brain then shut itself down until it was needed again.
Water... I have too much water in my system... of all the things for it to notice... too much water... A small smile graced Dib's lips as he left, feeling invincible.
Dib had until tomorrow before he had to report to duty, so he headed towards his private quarters. His private room was somewhat large. A hefty screen was stationed in the corner, as well as many wires and a keyboard; obviously some sort of Irken computer. In the center of the room was a large bed, and a wardrobe-like device sat next to the walls (full of matching brigadier general uniforms, which were similar to the elite ones, only with more armor. Why did Irkens casually wear so much armor?) Various containment devices also lined the walls. On the wall, right next to the door, Dib noticed a small ID port. After a little messing with it, he realized that it could be used to change the color scheme of the room. Although rather pointless, it amused Dib greatly. Currently much of the room was either dark blue or a golden yellow.
Dib lay on the Irken equivalent of a bed, reading the new data of his PAK. As Skeeb had been more skilled in things of the tactical nature rather than combat, Dib had been assigned to be within the Massive and from there give commands to the colonels underneath him. Dib more-or-less expected that much.
Upon reading further, Dib found that when not giving commands, he was to act as an aide and apprentice to the Elite General. Tak, the head of the Irken military, was known throughout the universe for her military accomplishments against the Earthen forces. Not only would working for her help him learn much inside information that could help his planet, he could also learn military tactics that could greatly help him keep his guise for his mission.
Getting bored, Dib sat up and walked over to the computer screen in the corner. He sat down in the chair before it.
"Computer!" Dib barked in an authoritative tone. "Is this room monitored in any way? Any... cameras or voice recording devices?"
"Negative," replied the computer.
"... Are you sure?"
"I'm a computer – of course I'm sure," it responded.
"Can I make a transmission that won't be overheard or traced?" Dib asked.
If the computer had shoulders, they would have shrugged. "I gueeeeesssssss..."
Dib slightly frowned. The answer didn't really sound all that confident. It was just his luck that his assigned computer would have some sort of annoying A.I. personality. "Fine, then. Open up communications on planet Vasq. Coordinates; 77.7 degrees south, 149.42 degrees east. Make sure to block anyone attempting to hack into the transmission."
"Ma'am, that's the Irthenoid military stronghold in the Andromeda galaxy. If you really want a death warrant, just go insult Tallest Purple."
"Yes, I know what that planet is... LISTEN! You are the computer, I am your master. Just do what I say; open the transmission... and speak nothing of any of this to anyone else."
The computer made a sound similar to an exasperated sigh, but opened the link to the planet anyway.
Dib dropped the Skeeb hologram and ran his hands through his hair, fluffing it up a little after having it trapped underneath the solid illusion. The scythe-like cowlick that seemed to run in his family, with its hair much tenderer and coarser than the rest, bounced back to its familiar setting above his head.
After his hair had been thoroughly ruffled back to normal, Dib removed the twin pieces of tape from his both his hands, creating the illusion underneath the hologram that his hands had only two fingers and a thumb. Dib stretched his hand open, glad to finally allow some free, independent movement to his poor fingers.
The screen buzzed to life with a fairly grainy image of a human male in a military uniform – the difference between the Irken and human computer systems causing the pixilation. Dib gave him a small salute.
"Agent Dib Membrane, reporting from on board the Massive."
The man responded with a simple salute of his own. "Good to see you alive and well, Agent Membrane; we've been expecting your transmission. Let me forward it to your father." Dib nodded as the man pushed a few buttons. The screen momentarily went blank before the image was replaced by the figure of his father.
"Ah! Son! I take it you've successfully infiltrated the Massive?" the older man inquired.
Dib gave a curt nod. "So far, there hasn't been much trouble. I've already met with both of the Tallest. They seemed kind of incompetent. Hopefully I won't have much trouble taking them down."
"Excellent!"
"How is the Dib-bot working? Does anyone suspect anything?"
Professor Membrane nodded back to Dib. "You never really went out before the public much before. The few times that the Dib-bot has been presented to the world impersonating you, no one has noticed anything. What about 'Skeeb's' assignments? Have they reencoded your PAK yet?"
"I have the information right here, Dad – I mean, Professor Membrane. Permission to upload?" His father gave his approval. Dib's PAK opened up, allowing a long wire to emerge from the pod-like piece of machinery on his back. Dib navigated it into a port, and began the upload. Professor Membrane stared at the screen, deep in thought as his computer screen showed the progress of the upload.
"Dad, what do you know about the Resisty? I'm only vaguely familiar with them – enough to know that if I asked anyone here I'd probably be taken for questioning."
The prestigious scientist pulled his attention from the upload screen back to the one with his son's transmission. "Why? Have you come into contact with them?"
"I'm not sure. There's an Irken who might be part of the faction, but he also could easily be horribly, horribly insane.
"Hmm... You have to be mistaken. The invention of the PAK made any sort of mental illness obsolete, not to mention squelch any thoughts of disloyalty. I wouldn't look too much into this Irken if I were you, otherwise you'd put the entire mission in jeopardy."
"But PAKs can be glitched – look, the defective Irken aside; I need information on Resisty-Earthen relations." Why is talking to Dad always this difficult? Dib silently asked himself. "Even if I'm mistaken, I might need the information just as a precaution."
Professor Membrane gave a sigh, figuring it wouldn't hurt to give his son the data he so desired. He tapped upon a keyboard, pulling the records onto a third, unused screen. He tapped a button and a few seconds later it appeared on Dib's, obviously a much easier transfer than sending data from Dib's PAK to Membrane's system.
"This should be more than enough to suffice, but I'll just give you a summary of it." The lab coat-clothed man said, the light from the various computer screens reflected in his goggles. "The Resisty's goal is tear apart the Irken Empire, freeing all the territories and races under its control. It was formed during Irken Operation Impending Doom II after the capture of Planet Vort by the Vortian Lard-Nar, who is still the leader of the resistance force. Under him, the Resisty played a crucial role in the Irken-Meekrob War, gaining notoriety through its exploits, bringing in new recruits.
"Currently it is the largest and most successful resistance to the Irken Armada..." the man skimmed down the official report until he found something else of interest.
"As of now, the Resisty and our forces are on peaceful, yet fragile, terms with one-another only because both are working towards the toppling of the Irken Empire, although with different end results. The Resisty has made it quite clear that they disagree with Earth's imperialism, and Lard-Nar has stated that if we end up capturing Irk and gain control, that they would be forced to turn their focus to destroying the Earthen Regime..."
Professor Membrane's computer beeped, signaling the end of his upload. Dib's PAK removed the wire from the computer and pulled it back inside itself.
"You have more than enough information on them now – that file should answer any questions on the group. But, Agent Membrane, stay away from that Irken. Even if, somehow, I'm wrong – although that couldn't possibly even be conceivable – and he was actually a part of the Resisty, he could still endanger your mission by accidentally spilling crucial information.
"I'll be waiting for your next transmission when you learn more, Agent Membrane." The leader and top scientific mind of the prestigious Membrane Corporation, as well as arguably the unofficial leader of Earth, motioned to turn off the screen.
"Wait – Dad... erm... Professor Membrane..." Dib quickly cut in. His father stopped and looked at him, annoyed. "Could you link up a transmission from me to Gaz?" Professor Membrane gave Dib a questioning look. "Your Daughter? My sister?" Dib elaborated, knowing all too well how often his father forgot the names of his two children.
"Oh yes, Daughter. Certainly – she's in the other room. I'll get her." The man stepped off-screen momentarily, but, judging from the muffled sounds, Dib could tell that his father was merely calling Gaz over the intercom; because, obviously, it wouldn't be worth the great professor's time actually walk into the next room. A few seconds later, an exasperated groan signaled that Gaz had entered. Her dark form soon slid in front of a camera, allowing Dib to see his sister on his screen.
"Hey, Gaz-"
"What do you want, Dib?" she interrupted, spitting out his name as if it were something vile.
"Well... uh... I just haven't spoken with you since I left a few months ago... I just... you know... I kinda miss you..." Dib watched his little sister, mildly embarrassed, as any sibling would be whenever they admit they care about the other. He tried to judge his sister's expression.
A long pause. "You're actually serious..." Not a question, it was more like a disgusted statement. "... Well, I can easily say that without you and your insane babblings, things have gotten much... quieter. Without your annoying voice cutting in all the time, I can actually hear myself thinking."
"You don't really mean that, Gaz." Another silence. Dib coughed uncomfortably. Gaz stared menacingly. "... Okay, then... so... how's the stay on Vasq? It's spring there, right now, right?"
"Since you've evidentially forgotten, Dib, Vasq is a military training planet for a reason. The weather is always either very hot or very cold. It helps teach endurance in difficult conditions. This isn't exactly what I would consider a vacation."
"So... I take it that the weather's not so great, then?" Gaz just glared and cut the transmission, leaving Dib with a blank screen. "... love you too, sis..." he muttered.
Dib leaned back in his chair, letting his head fall over the headrest and letting his gaze wander over the high ceiling while his mind wandered to thoughts of his rather abnormal family.
He might have been related to them, but, besides shared genetics, they were nothing alike. His father - owner of and head scientist of the Membrane Corporation, the one company that owned almost every industry on Earth – could easily been considered more powerful than the entire Council of President-Men. Despite the fact that Professor Membrane was Dib's only surviving parent, his mother having died while birthing Gaz, Dib barely ever saw the man during his childhood, save for when he and his sister would receive check-ups every-other-month; Dib always assumed his father performed those just to make sure that his children hadn't died. Hell – he couldn't even remember a time when he saw Professor Membrane without the reflective lab goggles on; he didn't even know what his own father's eyes looked like.
And then there was Gaz, the embodiment of darkness herself. Although she and Dib weren't exactly the best of siblings, they were pretty much the only ones each other had. Dib knew that deep, deeeeeeeeeeep, deepdeepdeepdeepdeepdeepdeepdeepdeepdeep down, in some rather demented way, Gaz cared for her older brother.
Really, the only one that Dib felt any sort of kinship with was his great-great-great grandfather, Sid Membrane. Dead, of course, but Dib had grown up hearing stories of his great ancestor. He was, after all, the one to find and capture Invader Tenn when she tried to invade Earth, and then the one to find a way to incorporate her Irken technology into that of the humans, giving Earth the capabilities to enter the universal marketplace and, eventually, the means for the planet to start its intergalactic conquest.
Dib always thought of Sid as a little like himself; eccentric and passionate about para-science, despite the fact that no one believed him about the existence of extra-terrestrials... that is, until he brought them a live one, completely changing life on the small planet. Dib hoped that he would, somehow, be able to live up to the legacy of his ancestor – hopefully this mission would be the start of one of his own.
Dib ran his fingers through his hair again, mind wandering back to the mission. So far, things seemed to be going smoothly, but that didn't help the lingering fear. After all, he really hadn't been there long. His luck could easily change. And then there was the problem of secretly destroying the Irken government from the inside-out. Dib had several ideas, but each had their flaws and –
A small buzz echoed throughout Dib's quarters, letting its occupant know that someone was at the entrance. Shit! Dib had completely forgotten that Irken officers received their own table-headed drone to attend to their needs and had a janitor add their room to their daily rounds, acting as a private maid. One of his probably wanted to introduce himself. Dib allowed the switch that in his PAK that triggered the hologram to engage. Fuck, FUCK, FUCK! The program wasn't meant to be an immediate thing – it generally took five seconds to start up.
The buzzing again – whoever was at the metal door evidentially had access to enter, and was, in fact, doing so. Adrenaline began to pour into Dib's veins as his mind blanked.
Three seconds. The human looked for somewhere to hide, but found nowhere.
Two seconds – the door began to slide open.
One second.
This could easily be the most retarded way to be exposed.
The door opened. A small figure entered the doorway. The hologram immediately snapped into life, covering Dib's human form and leaving what appeared to be a very panicked Skeeb.
"Ma'am... are you alright?"
The diminutive Irken stood in the entrance, a puzzled expression on his features. Dib simply hoped that the green creature had seen nothing. He glanced at the Irken's face and familiarity dawned on him. Of all the janitorial drones to act as his maid, he received Zim. Dib wasn't sure if he should be overjoyed or annoyed.
"'ELLLLLLLLLLLLLO, PINK-THANG!" Two cyan orbs pressed themselves against Dib's face, making him fall out of the chair in surprise. "CAN I PLAY WITH 'DEM FLAPPY THANGS ON YER HEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD?!"
Dib grunted as he pushed the small, crazed SIR unit off of himself. "I still have no idea what you're talking about..." He pulled himself up and brushed off his clothing in a, hopefully, professional manner, then turned to face Zim. "I... er... I wasn't really expecting anyone to appear..."
Zim snapped into action and dragged his defective SIR unit away from his Taller before GIR could do any further damage. "My apologies, General Skeeb. If this is a bad time –"
"No, you just startled me, that's all."
"Yes, yes, my amazingness is rather startling. Anyway, I was just appointed by the Control Brains to add your quarters to my daily rounds. I shall be cleaning your messes. They will be SO CLEAN! SO CLEAN says ZIIIIIIM!! Dirt will have no choice but to COWER before the AWESOME MIGHT of my... MOP OF PAIN!!" Zim shouted, thrusting his mop above his head in a victorious manner.
"I LIKE PAIN!" shrieked GIR as he randomly started bouncing around his master.
Annoyed, Dib decided. Definitely annoyed...
"Umm... that's all very nice... I guess..."
"Indeed. I had to... persuade... the Control Brain for hours until it gave me this assignment."
"AH LICKED-ED HIS SCREEN!" GIR chimed in, continuing his frenzied bouncing.
"That you did, GIR; that you did." said Zim, nodding, obviously pleased with himself.
"Wait... you bothered a Control Brain for hours just to clean my room?"
"Mmmmm... yep."
"WHY?!"
"Yep."
"... That's not really an answer to my question."
"Yep."
Dib grumbled something unintelligible before asking "... So... are you two done here?"
"Pretty much," Zim replied with a shrug, but made no effort to imply that he was leaving.
"Umm... you can go now..." Dib said in an irritated tone.
"But... but... You don't want to bask in pure awesome that is Zim?" He genuinely didn't seem to understand why his Taller didn't want to spend time with HIM, the personification of everything perfect and wonderful.
"Of course I do... but not now... I have important general stuff to do. Besides, it sounds as if I'll have more chances, right?" Unfortunately... Dib mentally whined.
"Oh, certainly, Ma'am! Come now, GIR!"
"Awwwwwwww... but I wanna stay wif mah' pink friend..." the robot said despondently, his single antenna drooping.
"NOW, GIR!"
GIR immediately perked up. "'K! Bye, Flappy! Maybeh we can play Platypus Warriors sum' otha' time! Ill be GREAT! Ah'll be Warrior Numba' Seven, and you be Numba' PINK! We'll save 'da SUN... and we'll eat ICE CREAM... and –"
"GIR!"
"COMIN' MASTAH!" He screeched loud enough Dib thought he felt his eardrums puncture. The defective robot chased after Zim, the sliding metal door finally closing. Through the thick metal, Dib could barely hear GIR's muffled voice, but after a few minutes it dimmed to nothing.
Dib fell over on his bed, glad that Zim or his obnoxious sidekick were gone, and didn't seem have seen him without his disguise. After all, those two didn't seem to have the intelligence to keep something like that from leaking during that short, yet mildly disturbing, conversation.
He then slapped himself for missing a perfect opportunity to inquire about the Resisty.
After a brief delay, MBMB is BACK!! –insert loud cheering/projectile vomiting-
Sorry, all, I got myself caught up in some ZADR art, as well as a one-shot that I'm still working on (Curse you for challenging me to do it, Kriss and Swing!)... Not to mention, I'm just a lazy Taylor who gets easily distracted.
So, (against my better judgment,) in my guilt for the delay in the fan fiction, as well as keeping you from waiting even longer, this chapter hasn't been beta'd (But I still love you, Alex!) ... So if you find any mistakes, things don't make sense, or part of your brain melts and starts dripping through your ear, I take full responsibility.
I've had a few people asking about the title. I know. It sucks. And it will stay sucking. There actually is a reason as to why it's called that. I have all sorts of crazy plot twists planned. AND YES, IT WILL TURN INTO A ZADR. I JUST PLAN TO TAKE MY TIME AND NOT JUMP INTO IT! –spooky voice- All will be revealed in time...
Much thanks to those who reviewed – IndigoClockwork, Rambie, ffnetlover, Swing-21, Desdemona Kakalose, DTGC, Flash Roses, fanfictionfan123, Kurotorachan, microwaved noodles, DarkAngelKisses, kikomio, LoneHowler
Reviews make me feel loved. Love me, please? XD