Zim's eyes snapped open and he found the room dark, silent, and empty. He arched his neck, finding himself in the same bound position.
Freedom is an illusion, he thought bitterly, glaring down at his binds. A nightmare...
A nightmare that spoke the truth.
He closed his eyes, urging sleep to come again. Conciousness was a nuisence. Luck had fled with his fury, for sleep eluded him.
He finally opened his ruby eyes to find faint light had broken the blackness surrounding him. He narrowed his eyes and turned his head to look at the door. It had been cracked open. A small shadow stood in the lower light, one hand hooked around the door as cyan eyes gazed in tentatively.
"G...Gir?" Zim whispered, bewildered.
"Master!" Gir exclaimed quietly and slid into the room, running to the table. "Oh master, I couldn't find you! They're strong, but they're humans. Why did a human have Irken technology, master?"
Same old Gir, Zim thought painfully. Every since the upgrade had been forced, Gir had been so much more mature, but when in certain times he reverted to a semi-mature child, curiosity and fear being his main emotions.
"Shh, Gir," he snapped gently and Gir fell silent. "You need to get me out," Zim prompted and Gir nodded violently, his large cyan eyes flashing red as he salute. Good Gir...
The robot reached a hand out to grasp the shackles around his wrists before he stopped rigidly. The cyan eyes stared at the shackles as the robot was silent, as though thinking.
"...Gir?" Zim asked hesitantly.
"Don't give up, master," Gir said quietly, hardly a whisper. Later, Zim couldn't be sure if Gir actually spoke or if he was forcing himself to think so. The cyan eyes darkened to black before he toppled onto his side. A sythe protruded from his back, the edges dripping with melted metal. "Gir!"
Mir stood behind his robot, sliding its sythe out of the robot carefully before retracting its sythe. "Sir," Mir said solemnly.
"He gave us a run," the boy said sullenly as he walked in, his arms crossed as he looked down at the fallen Gir.
"You sick--"
"Cram it, Zim," the boy snapped and the alien fell silent. Not because of the boys order, but because he had never intended to finish the sentance. He didn't even know what he was going to say. "Mir, put him in a cell."
"Sir." Mir salute, his navy eyes flashing red again before he grasped one of Girs legs emotionlessly and dragged him from the room, the shut-down robot showing no signs of awakening anytime soon.
"The acid probably fried some wires," the boy said with a wave of his hand. "Mir will fix it."
"I'll kill you," Zim hissed quietly, his ruby eyes narrowing in newfound fury at the sadistic child in front of him.
"Aha," he said, grinning cruelly. "So it was the robot that we needed to refuel your rage, after all. Caring for such an incompotent piece of technology. Too easily destroyed."
"I don't care for Gir," Zim snapped furiously, glaring more openly at his captor now that he showed no signs of torturing him. "He is my slave, nothing more you stink-beast!" The boy only chuckled, turning his back on the alien.
"Well Zim, another day or so of dreamland and you'll be able to wake up to something other than getting stiff muscles." Zim felt some of his anger wash out of him and his muscles relaxed considerably as his body reminded him of it's lack of nutrients and energy. "I'll come see how you're doing tomorrow, alright my friend?"
"You're not my friend," Zim said quietly, without any feeling.
"No, but soon enough I will be better," he boy said before starting out the door. "Kael."
The robot walked into the room and stood over Zim, it's red eyes staring down at him.
"Earth-scum stink-beast!" Zim shouted at the boy, glaring hatefully.
"Goodnight, Zim." The door slid shut and left him in darnkess except for the glowing red eyes that appeared to distance themselves, like in a tunnel, before getting blurry and unfocusing, then completely disappearing...