My Beloved, My Betrayed
Chapter 5
Invader Zim (c) Jhonen Vasquez. Insert your own witty comment here!
"Skeeb, I need you to write a formal letter to Frylord Sizz-Lor on Foodcourtia concerning our food arrangement for the Massive and the Armada. The contract will expire soon, and if he plans to keep our business, it needs to be re-negotiated."
"Right away, Elite General," Dib responded, grabbing the stack of papers containing information on the Armada's food imports from Foodcourtia.
"Skeeb, I've asked you before, call me Tak," the Elite General said as she shuffled through various holographic files that floated above her on the desk-computer. Dib suspected that they probably had something to do with the string of murders.
"Sorry, ma'am," Dib apologized and quickly began reading through the previous negotiations.
"Don't apologize, especially for something so simple. It makes you seem weak. In your position, and with your height, it's important that you seem strong. You have a bright future ahead of you, Skeeb. There have been some whispers going around that you might become the next Tallest if you grow a bit more. Even if you don't, you're destined for a high status in the military and in the empire." Tak went back to the files before her, and gave an annoyed sigh.
"More murders?" Dib asked.
"Unfortunately, yes." Tak replied, engrossed in the confidential files before her.
"If you don't mind my asking, why exactly are you involved in these? After the Tallest, you're second in command. Isn't this a job for the law enforcement officers?"
"It was, but they proved too incompetent. The slaughters only increased, and started striking higher and higher ranking military officials. It was only a matter of time before I had to become involved. Even the Tallest are rather worried; an enemy within our mothership that we cannot seem to find, despite our best efforts, and who keeps killing our officers without any signs of slowing."
"I see..." said Dib, furiously scribbling away at the food supply negotiation. "There! How is this?" he asked, handing the document to his superior.
Tak snatched the paper out of his hand and quickly read through it. "This needs to be changed, as does this... And this part is worded rather strangely. Fix it." she said, pointing to each thing that needed to be addressed. "Besides those errors, it's very good."
"Thank you, ma'a- I mean Tak." Dib took the papers back and began his corrections.
"So... how goes things with Zim...?" Tak asked with malice coating the Zim's name.
"Well, I've been making a conscious effort to trash my s quarters right before he comes in, Although, I'm beginning to think that he might believe that I'm doing that simply so he can stay longer. Zim seems to thrive on any sort of attention, so even when I try to be cruel to him, he seems to enjoy it."
Tak's eye twitched. "What about physical pain?"
"Well... uh... I haven't really tried that yet... I'm not going to BEAT him, if that's what you're implying..."
"No, outright beating him would be too obvious. I'm thinking more sneaky methods... leaving hazardous, painful materials out, maybe?"
"But I thought that Zim isn't allowed to be in contact with anything dangerous."
"True..." Tak rested her chin in her hand thoughtfully. "But there's no rule against him cleaning up toxic chemicals. I'll give you access to the labs."
Dib's eyes brightened. Finally! A way to easily obtain more water! "I'll get right on it, ma'am! Hopefully this will end his kinda creepy fixation on me..."
There was no answer from Tak. Dib turned his head in her direction trying to see what was wrong. Her face was contorted into a heavy scowl, eyes narrowed considerably. "Fixation... you say...?"
"Yeah... it's as if he just can't get enough of me."
"He hasn't produced any sex attractant pheromones, has he?" Dib examined her closely before realizing that she wasn't kidding.
"No... why would he? Our race don't breed."
Tak muttered something about how much easier it would be if they taught these sorts of things during the early stages of smeet-hood. "It's rare, but not unheard of, for some Irkens to be attracted to others and to want to engage in sexual activities with lekku. A common sign of this is the release of pheromones. Even the ones who don't feel this attraction have difficulty withstanding the allure of these pheromones. If I find that Zim has been manipulating you through pheromones..." That look on her face... was it... jealousy? Why would that be there?
"Don't worry, I've been exposed to worse things that just pheromones during my training on Devastis. Besides, I'm not even sure if Zim would be intelligent enough to even know how to produce pheromones. If he could, he'd probably would every time he walks in front of a mirror."
Tak chuckled before going back to her cruel demeanor. "That's probably true... If he shows any sign – any sign at all – of trying to seduce you, tell me. How I would love another reason to bash his skull in..."
Dib nodded, and sank into silence; a tense hush that lasted until the end of his scheduled time with the Elite General.
Dib raised his hands upwards as he leaned back, stretching his spine as he walked. At least the PAK didn't bother him as much as it did before; if he tried to stretch like that at the beginning of his infiltration of the Massive, it probably would have started bleeding.
Being with Tak always left him feeling drained and tired; he just wanted to get back to his quarters and sleep. It had been two days since he last took a rest. He wasn't as physically as tired as he should have been – the PAK was compensating for that – but there was no substitute for psychological fatigue.
So weary, that he almost didn't notice the scratching noise coming from the mass of wires that weaved its way in the high upper limits, thick enough to block the ceiling from eyes below. Detecting the sound, Dib looked upwards, but saw nothing. He was about to dismiss it, until he felt something wet fall upon his forehead. If he were on Earth, he would have assumed it water and simply brushed it off, but with the realization that he was among a race with severe chemical reactions towards dihydrogen monoxide, he wiped it off with wariness and looked at his hand.
A rich green-blue. Recognition overtook him in a wave, coupled with one of nausea. The last time he had seen this color, it had been splattered all over the floor... and the walls... and on the high wires and tubes... Wait! The tubes! Dib looked upwards once more as he rubbed the Irken blood between his two fingers, noting a small driblet of blood that was currently on the tube above him; the sound getting fainter and fainter as whatever it was up there got farther and farther away.
"FUCK!" Dib cried as two and two came together in his mind. He raced off in the same direction that the ceiling-creature seemed to be scurrying, forgetting all thoughts of making it back to his quarters.
Unfortunately for him, it wasn't an empty hallway. "'Scuse me! Outta my way! Move!" Dib cried as he shoved various Irkens out of the way; each time getting farther and farther behind. Most moved out of his path anyway – a rather tall, fully armored Irken coming at you at full force was enough to make the most dodge. Soon, the hall cleared out into a much less crowded one, allowing Dib to gain some speed again.
Every-so-often, through small gaps in the wire-mass, tiny glimpses of the figure above Dib could be seen as he ran. Slivers of red, black and silver. His glances of the creature increased as he began to draw nearer, although never quite enough to make out anything. He was almost underneath it. Through the gaps it was getting easier to see more and more-
SMACK! Dib fell backwards as he was introduced to a wall, quickly realized that he probably should have been paying attention to whatever was going on in front of him, and not just above.
"General Skeeb! Are you alright?" Dib looked up into a pair of bright, overly eager eyes.
"I've died and gone to Skoodge-land..." Dib muttered.
"What?" Skoodge asked, confused.
"Nothing... Hey, Skoodge – is there an easy way that I can get up there among the tubes in the ceiling? Like, right now?" Dib asked with eagerness.
"Down that hall, they droop some. You might be able to use your PAK legs to get through them, but no one is allowed up there. Why would-?"
"Thanks!" Dib shouted, breaking into a run once more, calling out behind him. "It's for an... um... important general thing..."
He quickly turned a corner, noticing that, indeed, the wires sagged slightly. They were still much higher than he would have preferred – a good fifteen feet above his head – but hopefully the mechanical power of the robotic legs hidden within his PAK could propel his body upwards.
The gold-colored spots of the PAK, the same color as Skeeb's eyes, retreated into the dome-shaped mechanism, allowing for four mechanical legs to appear in their places.
"Ok... how do I do this again...?" Dib wondered aloud as the mechanized limbs started flailing around randomly when he tried to raise himself upon them. With a little focus, he managed to shakily lift himself from the ground. "Here goes nothing!" he said with a cry, as he bent the legs and sprung upwards. Arms stretched upwards, Dib kept his focus on the lowest-hanging wires. The tips of his fingers brushed against them before the air whizzing past his head switched directions, signaling his descent. He collided with the hard ground in a painful, awkward angle.
'K... Let's try that again... Dib quickly rose to his feet again, praying that whatever it was up in the rafters hadn't gone too far. Steadily, he pulled himself onto his PAK legs again, ready for round two of the battle of Dib vs. the Wires. Summoning all the might he could force onto the robotic appendages, Dib bent into a crouch and sprung upwards once more. Only a few inches higher this time, but enough to grasp the lowest of the wires with both hands. Dib hastily pulled himself up, and, balancing precariously, dug his way through the slack between them.
It was dark in the space between the wires and the ceiling, but the light coming from the hallway below gave some illumination, Allowing Dib to notice that there was enough room for him to fully stand. The 'ground' was too unstable and uneven for Dib to use his feet, so, against his better judgment, he kept the PAK legs out and decided to chase on those. Listening carefully, he managed to find the source of the noise and began pursuing its source with a clumsy, unbalanced gait atop the tendrils of machinery.
Eventually, a good distance away, Dib noticed a figure in the distance. The darkness made it almost indiscernible, but it was most definitely there. Unfortunately, it also noticed that he was there. The figure made a dash, as did Dib.
As he watched the silhouette, Dib had to notice that it seemed to move gracefully on thin appendages. PAK legs? But only Irkens had that sort of technology, unless there was something there with a stolen PAK... although, Dib knew from experience, it wasn't as simple as simply sticking on the back of another species. He had to go through all sorts of painful treatments simply to ensure that the PAK didn't reject his body.
Whatever it was, it was far more skilled than Dib when it came to balancing on the appendages from its back, and quickly outran the disguised human, despite Dib's best efforts to catch up. It turned a corner and had disappeared by the time Dib reached the intersection. With no way to follow the figure, Dib turned back and carefully climbed down the limp wires. He still fell painfully on his face.
"General Skeeb... Are you alright?"
"Skoodge... What are you still doing here?"
"... I'm not sure..." Skoodge replied, scratching his head.
"Look – make yourself useful. Go find the law enforcement. I need to let them know something really important."
Dib watched the short, overweight Irken run on squat, stumpy legs. He went in a direction of his own, feeling that he would be faster to find someone of any authority that would be willing to listen.
The human flopped onto his bed, not even bothering to disengage his holographic disguise. He just hoped that he would be uninterrupted for a few hours.
When Dib finally found an Irken in law enforcement, he realized that it was merely a drone, too low of rank to even know about the murder situation, so he had to wait until the small Irken called one of his superiors over. By the time the second Irken had arrived, whatever was hiding in the rafters was long gone. A search was performed, and Dib underwent rigorous questioning of the event, but neither produced any sort of substantial results. ("For the last time, no! I have no idea what it was doing with PAK legs. Stop asking that question! It's been seven times!") The only piece of information that seemed to come from the investigation was the discovery of many paths consisting of small pot-marks in the wires and tubes. They seemed to trail everywhere, giving no leads as to where they could have originated. The depth and shape indicated that Dib hadn't just created them himself, proving that there was something that was, at one point, up there.
Needless to say, Dib wanted – no, needed – some rest. Alas, it was not to be.
The mechanical door whizzed open, revealing a small Irken and his SIR unit as they entered the room. It quickly shut again.
"What do you want, Zim?" asked Dib, turning over from lying on his stomach in order to face the janitor. Immediately, something seemed off. He had to give a double-take; the dark gaze Zim's face was a look he'd never seen there before. Malice. Anger. Discontentment. Sheer Motivation. Expressions he'd seen so many times of other faces, yet on Zim's normally idiotic one they looked so foreign.
"GIR! Duty Mode! Secure the door!" Zim barked, his gaze not leaving Dib.
"Awwww... But I dun' wanna..." moped GIR, his single antenna drooping.
Zim tilted his head towards GIR's direction, his voice taking a softer, although still stern, tone. "GIIIIIR... if you stare at the door long enough and make sure no one comes in, it'll turn into one of those..." Zim rotated his wrist a few times, trying to think of the term. "...Earth-pig creatures that you're so fond of..."
GIR let out a shrill squeak as he immediately perked up. His eyes changed to a glowing red as he began to intently stare at the door.
"Well, now that that's taken care of," said Zim, with a smirk. His zippered smile that Dib had again and again appeared, although, this time, it just looked wrong in comparison with the ones that replayed themselves in his mind. Each square denticle mockingly sneered at him.
Dib pulled himself off of the bed and instinctively took a step backwards as the small form came towards him. "What are you doing here, Zim?"
That demented smile widened even further as Zim's PAK opened, revealing four metallic legs. Zim lifted himself on the legs, allowing him to tower over Dib and giving him the look of a giant spider. Dib backed up again, finding himself pressed against the wall. "You see, 'Skeeeeeeb,' I've been observing you since you arrived here. Zim has a question, and it would be in your best interests to answer honestly." To further emphasize his point, Zim stabbed one of the PAK legs through Dib's bed. The sharpened point cut through the pillows and mattress with ease.
"Zim... what are you talking ab- ... wait... It's you, isn't it? You're the one who's-"
Zim cut Dib off by maneuvering himself close to the human, forcing Dib to be pressed against the wall. The man felt his heart switch gears into panic mode as Zim pulled Dib's head up, forcing it to stare directly into the Irken one. One of Zim's robotic appendages lingered dangerously close to Dib's neck. "You're not the one in charge here, 'Skeeb.' Zim is the one asking the questions. Now, what exactly are you?"
Whoo-hoo! New chapter in record time! It's a sign... Although, I'm not quite sure of what... Probably just something like a zombie invasion... I don't know about you, but I've certainly got my zombie invasion shelter ready, as well as all my zombie shelter supplies (Pencil - check. Paper - check. Pen - check. Comic books - check. Food... eh... doesn't look like I have enough room for that...)
I hate how this chapter is so much shorter than the others, I really do, but I also reaaaaaaaaaaally wanted to end the chapter here. Call me evil – it's completely true.
Thanks to the reviewers for the last chapter! Reigning Fyre, Hashmir, lordofnightmares, RandomShadow, SharpiesInAGayRainbow, Ice Dragon3, Insert Generic Fan Name Here, BarkingPup, Rainbow-Man, ffnetlover, DTGC, Zira Thirteen, Desdemona Kakalose, and Kikomio.
Every time you review, I shall hire a pair of midgets to read your comment out loud while reenacting Shakespeare's "The Tempest."