A/N: I'm so sorry for the long wait for this chapter, but I was away from my computer for a week, and then I got a serious case of writer's block just as I got back. But I've got the chapter now, and just in time for the two-year anniversary of me setting up my account on FFN. So, I suppose this doubles as an anniversary present to myself.
I also want to apologize that this chapter is shorter than some of the previous ones, but like I said, the muse wasn't quite with me on this one.
Anyway, why don't we just start with the chapter?
Disclaimer: I own Jana and the GESS. All other characters and concepts belong to Jhonen Vasquez.
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Zim's Base, A Few Hours Later
The first thing Zim noticed as he slowly regained consciousness was a pair of green eyes looking down at him. His head was still fuzzy, and his vision was still blurry, so he couldn't make out any other details of the person he was looking at, but that was okay because he rather liked the eyes. They were beautiful really, like a shining pair of emeralds. He became aware of someone talking to him, but he was still too groggy to make out what they were saying; anyway, couldn't they leave him alone? He just wanted to keep looking at these eyes…
Something heavy suddenly hit him in the chest, and his view of the eyes was blocked by something bright blue.
"HEY MASTAH! YOUZ UP YET?!"
GIR's screeching voice brought Zim fully back to awareness, and he blinked his vision clear to find his robot sitting on top of him with his face pressed against Zim's own. Confusion mixed with his usual anger over the violation of his personal space, and he batted GIR off of him with a swing of his arm.
"GIR! Get off of me!" he snapped, pushing himself up to a sitting position. Looking around, he found to his surprise that he was back in his base, in one of the examination rooms. He was lying on an examination table, with a series of cables from the computer hooked into his PAK. He attempted to remove them, but a black-gloved hand gently but firmly grabbed his wrist. Turning, Zim saw it belonged to Jana, who was standing next to the table with a concerned look in her eyes.
Her green eyes… Zim felt his face heat up as he remembered the thoughts he'd had in his half-conscious state. Shaking it off, he pulled his hand free and glared at his servant.
"What's going on?" he snapped, "How'd I get back here?"
"Your PAK activated an emergency beacon after you passed out," Jana said, her voice containing a hint of worry, "As soon as I received it, I made my way to the Skool as quickly as possible. Once I found you and saw that you weren't physically harmed, I brought you back to base and hooked you into the computer so that it could run a diagnostic on your PAK to find out if it or you sustained any damage. It should be done in a few minutes…"
She trailed off and looked away; her concern for her master was virtually overwhelming, and was starting to show in her voice.
'Best to stop talking now, before I say something stupid,' she thought with a sigh.
"Like what?"
Jana jumped at the sound of Zim's voice and turned to look at him. His antennae were cocked into a confused angle, and he was looking at her expectantly.
"Beg pardon?" she asked.
Zim's confusion grew as Jana responded and looked at him blankly. Then, he suddenly recalled his revelation at the Skool, and everything clicked. Smirking slightly, Zim adjusted himself on the table so that he was comfortable. He laced his fingers together and rested his chin on his hands, locking eyes with Jana. Her face flushed nervously under his intense gaze, and she felt ammonia-based beads of sweat begin to form around her eyes.
"I-Is something wrong, milord?" she stammered out.
"Don't speak for a few moments," Zim said slowly, "Just think of something. Anything."
Jana merely blinked and complied, one thought passing through her mind.
'What in the name of Irk is this supposed to prove?'
"That I can read your mind," Zim said with a grin, causing Jana to jump again. She could only stare at him in shock, her mouth opening and shutting as she tried to form words. Zim's grin widened at this; he'd only known Jana for a short time, but in that time he'd learned that she was nearly impossible to startle, so this was quite the accomplishment for him.
"…How?" was all the assassin was able to finally croak out.
Zim shrugged. "Excellent question, but I'm not sure how to answer it. I was at that stupid pig-smelly educational facility when my headache suddenly intensified to an unbearable amount, and the next thing I know I'm able to hear the thoughts of those around me."
"I think I might be able to explain that," the computer chimed in as it retracted the cables from Zim's PAK, "Having found that there was nothing wrong with your PAK itself, I used it to scan your body for any sign of any sort of problem. And I seem to have found the cause; while testing your blood, I detected trace amounts of the GESS genetic accelerant."
"What?!" Zim shouted, hopping off the table and walking over to the computer console.
Jana trailed behind him, still slightly in a state of shock, as an image of a sample of Zim's blood appeared on the screen. Droplets of a nearly translucent liquid surrounded the green blood cells, occasionally being absorbed, causing the cells to slightly expand and distort. Seeing this, Zim's hands clenched, drawing claw marks across the console.
"How did this happen?" Zim snarled.
"Gee, I dunno," the computer said sarcastically, "Think it could maybe have anything to do with what happened when Dib broke in here yesterday?"
Zim flinched as he remembered how Dib had smashed open one of the GESS tanks, causing his body to be pierced by the shattered remains… some of the accelerant must have leaked through his wounds into his bloodstream. This realization caused anger to well up in the Invader, and Jana backed away slightly as he began shaking in barely contained fury.
"That fragging big-headed monkey!" Zim cursed, slamming his fists into the console. As he did so, the chair next to him was suddenly ripped off of the floor it was bolted to, and sent flying into the wall so hard the wall dented. Both Irkens jumped as this happened, looking over at the chair in shock and confusion. However, after a few seconds Zim realized just what had happened, and his mouth went dry.
"Telekinesis," he breathed, barely able to believe it. Turning back towards the computer, Zim tried and failed to keep the panic he was feeling out of his voice as he asked, "Computer, what exactly is happening to me?"
The computer was silent for a moment, taken aback by the fear it had detected in its master's voice – normally, Zim had too much pride to show any hint of any "lesser" emotions, like fear. Then again, considering what he was going through, it was understandable. Bearing that in mind, the computer began explaining.
"Well, master, to put it simply, the accelerant is still doing its job. You see, it was designed to be infused into the GESS cells as they were first created, at which point it would mutate the various strands of animal DNA so that they would fit with each other – thus allowing the GESS to actually live and develop – and still maintain the various attributes of each species that you wanted to keep."
"I'm aware of all that," Zim snapped, as Jana dragged his damaged chair away from the wall and set it in place behind him, "I'm the one who created the accelerant in the first place, remember? What I want to know is how it is giving me these… abilities."
"I was getting to that," the computer replied testily as Zim sat down, "Since your DNA is already complete, the accelerant had to alter it in another way. In this case, it appears to be targeting and activating your junk DNA."
"His what?" Jana asked, her antennae cocking into a confused angle.
"Obscure scientific fact," Zim answered, "No species – not even us Irkens, who are more advanced than any other race – uses all of its genome. Only a certain percentage of genes are used; some have since been rendered obsolete by evolution, while others have not yet been activated and do not yet serve any purpose."
"And in your case, it appears to be the latter that the accelerant is targeting," the computer butted in, "It's entirely possible that some of the obsolete genes might get reactivated at some point, but for the time being master I think it's safe to say that your new abilities are solely a result of the non-evolved genes being activated by the accelerant."
GIR chose that moment to add to the conversation. "Yay! Mastah's turning into a superhero, just like on TV!"
Both Irkens turned to glare at the idiotic SIR unit, who wasn't even fazed by the harsh looks, then turned back to the computer.
"Why do I have the feeling that if you tried to read his mind all you'd hear is crickets?" Jana asked with a smirk.
"Because he's probably got crickets in that storage warehouse he calls a head," Zim answered, grinning back at Jana. She blushed slightly, and Zim felt his own face heat up. However, before either of them could say anything, the computer gave off a burst of static in its equivalent of a cough.
"Not to interrupt the witty banter, but I wasn't done yet," it said.
"Of course, computer, carry on," Zim said, quickly averting his gaze away from Jana and back towards the console. He really hoped that whatever the computer was about to say would help him figure out why he felt so weird around Jana lately…
The image on the console changed from the sample of Zim's blood to split screen 3-D images of an Irken brain. The one on the left was mostly shaded purple, with red highlights around the exterior and threaded throughout the interior; the image on the right had many more highlighted areas.
"The image on the left is a representation of an average Irken brain," the computer explained, "While the one on the right is your brain, master – it would appear that you are now exhibiting much more synaptic activity than the average Irken. This increase in brain cell function was probably what gave you these mental abilities of yours."
Zim tapped a finger against his chin in thought. "That would also explain the pain I experienced earlier…" he mused softly.
Jana had an expression on her face that implied she was only partially following the conversation, but that was understandable. After all, she had spent her life studying to be a soldier, not a scientist, so she only had the fundamental scientific training that was given at the Academy. Pushing that aside, she spoke up.
"So, are the telepathy and telekinesis the limits of Lord Zim's new abilities?" she asked.
"I doubt it," the computer said in a tone that implied a shrug, "They're probably just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. In any case, though, I also doubt that he'll show any more physical signs of any changes within him – his brain doesn't show any sign of any more synaptic increase. And speaking of the mental abilities, might I suggest that you practice at them?"
Zim glared at the console before him. "You dare tell me what to do computer?"
"I said suggest, master. Or would you rather pass out from overhearing too many thoughts again?"
The mutated Irken didn't respond. He merely grumbled under his breath, then stood up and stalked towards one of the secondary elevators. Jana moved to follow him, but he held up a hand to stop her.
"You head back down to the GESS lab," Zim said, "I think it's probably for the best if I'm alone for this training. Zim does not have the patience for things to get awkward if I overhear something in your head that I shouldn't."
Jana frowned slightly, but nodded. "As you wish, milord."
Zim grabbed GIR on his way to the elevator, but paused before getting in. Heaving a sigh, he looked back over his shoulder at Jana, an unusual look on his face.
"Um, by the way Jana…"
"Yes sir?"
"I just wanted to say… sorry. You know… about what I said before I left the base this morning."
A small smile formed on Jana's lips and a warm feeling rose up inside her, but she quickly quashed it before she could have any embarrassing thoughts near her newly telepathic master.
"That's alright, master. I know you didn't really mean it."
Zim smiled back at her, and looked like he was about to say something else when GIR – still in his grip – shouted out, "YAY! Youz two made up! Group hug!"
"No, GIR. There will be absolutely no hugging," Zim said with a glare as he stepped into the elevator.
GIR's whining "Awww" was the last thing Jana heard from either of them as the elevator doors slid shut.
Still smiling, Jana made her way towards the main elevator.
"Wow, he actually apologized to you," the computer commented, "He must really like you. If you catch my drift…"
"Shut up," Jana snapped, as she entered the elevator and made her way down to the GESS lab.
"Ah, young love," the computer said sarcastically, as it went back to its job of monitoring the base.
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A/N: So, there's that chapter done. I again apologize for the length. I'll try to make up for it with the next one. But I hope you all enjoy my explanation for Zim's powers. And like the computer said, this is only the beginning…
Next chapter: Some more action and fluff, and an important part of the plot as Probing Day arrives.
Until then, read and review!