Dib wandered Zim's lab for an hour or so, looking at everything and even taking notes and pictures. He may as well use his time well, since he was stuck here for the night.
GIR squeaked occasionally in his sleep, startling Dib.
After examining the lab, Dib grew bold enough to venture to GIR. His curiosity got the best of him for, even though he often saw the robot in his dog disguise, he rarely saw him as what he was.
Dib looked over the robot carefully, fascinated. He found two small switches at the base of GIR's neck, close to his head. Both had tiny Irken inscriptions. Dib recognized one of the symbols. He thought hard as to where he had seen it before, then recalled the computer's off button. He checked to confirm his thought.
"Goodnight GIR," he breathed when he returned and pushed the button, holding it down for a few seconds. GIR's eyes opened and he flashed red, then the color slowly faded to black. Dib shook the robot a little, but he did not respond. Dib smiled.
He returned to Zim's room. The alien seemed to be resting peacefully. Dib sighed, wishing he had brought a book or something. 0f course, he hadn't been expecting to spend much time here.
He sat on the end of Zim's bed and looked around the room. It was small, the bed taking up about half of it, but it was somehow cozy. There were a few pictures taped up on the walls. Dib rose to look more closely at them.
0ne was of the Irken leaders, the Tallest. Another was of the Irken planet itself. Dib wondered exactly where in the universe it was.
Another picture was of something Dib didn't understand. It looked like a large room, with small round doors lining its walls. Each door had simple faces on them, most with eyes shut and mouths set in straight lines. A few were smiling though. In the center of it was what appeared to be a robotical arm. A simple thing, but the picture was placed in the middle of all the others, and with great care. Dib wondered what it meant.
He drew a little closer to the pictures and realized that they were not pictures at all, but incredible drawings. He looked around the room and spotted a small desk at the end of the bed. Going to it, he searched through the drawers until he found some rough paper and pencils. They were not made of wood, from what he could see, but some kind of clay and stone.
Shuffling through the paper, he found a partially-finished drawing. It was only a rough sketch, but he could clearly tell it was of himself. In the drawing, he was in class, pointing incriminatingly at Zim. The alien was at his own desk, turned away, and the rest of the class seemed to be laughing. Dib frowned, remembering such things so often.
Setting the paper and pencils back into the desk, he moved to another drawer. There were some books, all written in Irken, and more paper. Dib found a folder tucked away in the bottom. He pulled it out and opened it. Inside were more drawings, all of him. He sat on the end of Zim's bed again and shifted through them slowly.
There were images of him tripping Zim, pushing him, making fun of him. Laughing at him. Some were at skool, others walking home, and a few were even in Zim's home. Most of the images were memories, but some weren't.
Dib spread the pictures out on the desk and stared at them, confused. He glanced at Zim, the alien's personality changing in his mind. He had always seen Zim as an arrogant, ignorant fool. Now he seemed more… human.
Dib returned the pictures to the folder and closed the drawer. He opened another, there finding a few toys. There was a ship, like the one the Irkens used, a couple Irken soldiers, and some odd creature with a collar on. He wondered if it was an Irken's version of a dog or cat. The toys were old, cracked and broken in places.
The human replaced them carefully into the drawer and picked up a tattered book. 0pening it, he saw Zim's handwriting, all in Irken. Some of the pages were carefully written, while others were scribbled as if hurry or anger. There were small drawings, charts, and English-written information. The moon seemed to be of great interest, each page bearing a picture of it with different portions shaded in. They were all dated, from what Dib could tell.
Dib turned to the last page written on, the date being that of the day before. The moon was completely shaded, and there were a few other drawings of human weapons. Dib noticed one Irken word recurring through most of the pages within the last month. He couldn't understand it, but it seemed rather unhappily written.
His studies were interrupted as Zim shifted. Dib quickly tossed the book into the drawer and closed it. Turning to the alien, he began searching through his bag for the cloth and bottle again.
Zim's eyes were fluttering beneath their lids, and he was mumbling. Dib moved a little closer. The alien began to murmur in his native tongue. Dib listened, surprised by how fluid and crystal the language was.
After about a minute, Zim whispered the word 'Tallest' and was silent. Dib watched him until he settled again. He sighed, knowing he was in for a long night.