Chapter 15.

"The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them."

― Ernest Hemingway

"Alright little man, let's see what going on inside you hmm?" Dib looked up at the overly perky red haired nurse. She took the meat thermometer out of his mouth with a quick swipe and looked at the little silver circle. Dib swung his legs back and forth on the blue leather chair, wondering when the police were going to come. Nurse Patsy gave a huge smile and threw the thermometer over her shoulder. The thermometer making a harsh clang as it landed on the tiled floor, "Well the good news is you're not dead so you're fine! Bad news is we're sending you home, Kay!" Her left eye started twitching exponentially. Dib hopped of the chair confused.

"Wait, aren't you going to keep me here? I mean the police are going to need a witness and-"

"POLICE! HA! OH SWEETIE, WE DON'T NEED TO GET THE AUTHORITIES INVOLVED IN THIS!" The nurse waved it away with a fling of her hand. Dib repeated that in his head to make sure he heard that right. We don't need to get the authorities involved in this. Why? Why not involve them? She quickly strode behind her desk in front of him and took out a pink sticky note and began scribbling on it with a pen from the top of her desk. "WE'RE FINE! WE'RE ALL FINE! You are fine, the girl is fine, the government's fine, the WORLD is fine, and that old man is fine…"

"That old man is dead." Dib stated plainly. The nurse paused from writing, pointing at him with her pen, "I said…he…is…fiiiine." Dib took a step back feeling even more confused and a little afraid of the smiling nurse. Why aren't the cops coming? It's their job to take care of dead bodies and random old men being set on fire wasn't it? There had to be an investigation. Didn't they want one? Dib put his finger to his chin thinking as the nurse continued scribbling and humming off key. The nurse handed him a yellow strip of paper and shoved him out the door, "Okay so, we can't reach your Daddy so a friend of your Daddy is going to pick you up outside, m'kay?"

"Okay but why-"

"Sorry!" the nurse screamed, shoving him out the door and closing it with a slam. Dib stood there for a moment staring at the yellow sheet of paper.

"Mentally disoriented? I am NOT!" he cried out indignantly. He whirled around, knocking furiously on the door, "Hey lady, wait a sec!"

"Sorry! Can't talk now! Busy doing…uh…nursing things!"

"Like what?"

"Can't hear you!" Dib sighed in defeat giving the door a quick kick with his boot before turning disappointedly down the hallway to the front doors. He was about walk away when he heard a scuff like sound behind him. He looked over his shoulder and froze as he caught sight of a small white piece of paper the size of his palm slide from under the door. Dib walked over and picked it up. In big red caps it said, Please stop digging for your own good. Dib looked from the door to the note and back yet instead of knocking, like he would have normally done, he slowly walked backwards never taking his eyes off the door till he rounded a corner and strode more purposefully through the halls. He shoved the note into his pocket. Why didn't the skool want this thing investigated? Dib tried to push the thought away but found himself unable to do so. Someone had just died for petes sake, it's not something you can just sweep under the rug and forget about. Why did the skool not want to the police to now about this? And that nurse lady… what was her deal? Why does she want me to stop asking questions? What does she know? That man…Who was that man? Why was he in the basement? How did he catch on fire? Was he set on fire? Why would the skool not want anybody to investigate? Were they hiding something? What? Dib shoved aside the heavy brown door stepping onto concrete steps. He looked around the yard with muddled indifference. It must have rained at some point because the whole yard was completely soaked and muddy, the concrete path from the school to the road was a deep gray. Dib sat down with a plop on the first step, waiting for a ride that he without a doubt knew would probably be late. He twisted his head around looking up at the dark purple letters above him spelling out SKOOL. He stared at them furiously.

What are you hiding? And why is it so important?

SCREEEESPLAAASSSHHHA!

Dib looked down from the malevolent letters across the lawn where a black ford pickup truck with a silver M inside a circle on the door was parked in front. His father's crest. Dib hopped off the step, splashed through the puddle soaked lawn and hurdled gratefully for the truck. No sooner had he opened the door when a familiar voice asked, "Need a lift?"

Dib looked up to see Dr. Tonja smiling down at him. He hauled himself up into the soft black seat, savoring the warmth from the heaters. He hadn't noticed how cold he had been. He rubbed his hands together warming them up before buckling his seat belt across his chest. The radio was playing Owl city by Fireflies. He looked at Dr. Tonja, noticing with a little start of surprise that she wasn't wearing her pinstripe suit. She wore red cargo pants, a black t-shirt and black flats. Dib decided he liked her better in her suit. Dr. Tonja away from the school and into traffic, "So, Dib, what happened at school today?"

Dib twiddled with his fingers, staring intentionally out the window at the gray world. Doctor Tonja was sworn to confidentiality, but could he really trust her-REALLY trust her. She did want to call his father in the beginning when he told her about Zim. All of a sudden Dib became all too aware of the note in his pocket. Most people either discouraged him or encouraged him but his note didn't really feel like either or. It felt like, she was almost warning him not to. Please stop digging for your own good. Dib looked from the window to Dr. Tonja, who was waiting patiently for an answer.

No. He wouldn't tell her.

"There was a fire at school." Dib reported, making sure to look at her. Dr. Tonja nodded, waiting for more info. Dib picked his brain for a better lie. He pushed up his glasses, "They think it was an arsonist."

"Oh my," Tonja said, her face suddenly very grave, "Nobody got hurt did they?"

Dib thought of the old man, rambling about torture and how he had collapsed dead and melting on the floor. "Nobody got hurt."

"Oh that's good then." Tonja said suddenly upbeat. She made a slow right turn onto another street. "How are you feeling about this?" Dib almost answered, just great but instead found himself saying, "Not too well."

Tonja pulled into their side driveway, the miniature Tesla coils sticking out of the ground linked together by electricity forming a literal electric fence around the membrane home buzzing loudly. Dib looked up at the membrane house, focusing on the second floor with three windows-his bedroom windows and wanted nothing more than to run out of the moving car, up the stairs, and thump down onto his bed and forget today ever happened. The doctor slowed to a stop and put the car in park. She turned to Dib, the top of her short cropped hair swaying slightly against her dirt brown skin. Her wild eyes were calm when she asked, "Do you feel comfortable talking about it?"

Dib undid his buckle and pushed the door open. He really didn't want to talk anymore about it and instead wanted to go to his room and investigate what the Swollen Eyeball Forum had on the history of the SKOOL. Thankfully Dr. Tonja didn't press him and instead turned off the ignition. Dib shifted the book bag over his shoulder as he walked up to the tall purple blue house, the sound of his footsteps mirroring his own. He walked inside the entry hall and thumped up the stairs directly in front of him. He made a sharp right down to the hall. Tonja, who had been silently following Dib through this stopped at the first door on top of the steps. She pointed to the white door with a golden knob in interest. "Whose room is this?"

Dib stopped and turned around at her. He walked closer until he was side by side with her and replied earnestly, "That's Gaz's room."

Tonja taken aback by Dib's serious reply, she raised an eyebrow in question. Dib sighed and explained, 'When Dad moved us here, we got to pick our own rooms. This was a really big deal since before that we were living in the same room together. I think that's why she's so territorial of it... DO NOT go in there or security to kill you!"

"Security?" Tonja asked, placing a hand on the door knob.

"Yeah," Dib said shaking his head furiously, "Security. Gaz has her own set of robot attack dolls to keep her safe in case of an emergency. But she just uses them to keep people out of her room." Tonja gave a small smile and released her grip on the knob. Dib breathed a small sigh of relief. He was afraid for a moment that his therapist would've been slaughtered. Dib continued walking alone down the hall, giving Dr. Tonja the grand tour. "The first door on the left is the bathroom, and the second door is the closest slash staircase, and-"

"Staircase? What's upstairs?" Tonja asked, putting a finger to her lip. Dib paused for a moment, looked at the door and said flatly, "Dad's room."

Was it his imagination or did Dr. Tonja look angry for millisecond? Well, whatever he saw was gone now and there was no way to recall it back no matter how hard he could've tried. She respectfully nodded her head, telling him she was ready to move on. Dib walked a little ways away and opened his door at the end of the hall and stepped inside.

Dib had always wondered why his house was so tall and long, and he had decided a long time ago that the architect was either a genius or plain strange. His room was deep magenta blue in color with a slightly lighter shade of magenta blue carpet. Since his room had four windows-three round along the front wall looking out onto the road and one large rectangular window on the right side of the room-he had had to buy blinds and curtains for most of his windows. His metal bed was pushed hotdog style against the wall in such a ways that if he wanted to look out the round window or climb up the drain pipe to go to the roof or even go over to his desk he could do so without having to walk around his long rectangular room. Dib dropped his backpack down by the door frame with a thump and patted over to his desk. Dr. Tonja gave a small whistle looking at one of the many posters and star charts scattered all over the walls. She pushed the door open a bit wider to allow her entry. Her pants made light swish noises as she stepped inside, gazing about, "Your room is dark, Dib."

"I know." Dib replied, lifting himself into his large swivel chair in front of his L shaped desk in the corner. He pressed the power button on all three monitors, each one giving a hum of greeting. Dr. Tonja walked over to Dib and put a hand on the back of his chair, looking over his scythe at the monitors. Dib could hear her interest when she asked him, pointing at the largest star chart behind the desk, "What's circle for?"

Dib looked up from the monitors at the star chart and beamed, the bright blue screen making his glasses turn to miniature mirrors. "That," he said, "Is RA 2h 31m 49s, otherwise known as Polaris AKA the star of ZIMS home planet." Dr. Tonja's thin black eyebrows perked up slightly in interest but her wild coyote eyes became unpredictable again. Doctor Tonja sat down on his bed behind him with a muffled mump. Dib had entered his password into the mainscreen with the black keyboard and begun to login to the Swollen Eyeball network when Dr. tonja asked him a question that momentarily froze his blood cold.

"Dib, what's the Swollen Eyeball?"

CRAP. He had gotten so used to Dr. Tonja, he had forgotten she didn't know about the Eye. Dibs mind reeled. Should he tell her? Would she understand? She seemed to understand about how serious his parascience was to him. She had sworn to confidentiality. Dib looked at the monitor where a pale reflection of Doctor Tonja sat smiling, patiently waiting on his bed, legs crossed. She seemed to be okay. He couldn't just EXPOSE the eyeball. Well, he had told his sister… and his Dad...and the live studio audience that was in the room with them. Dib leaned back in his swivel chair. Yeah, he was pretty sure it was kinda okay. Maybe? Dib went on, unsure, "A society. Of people. Like me."

Tonja nodded slowly. Dib continued,"People who are paranormal investigators or studying in the field of spooky stuff try out for the eye and, after they've been tested, are either accepted into the group or brainwashed into forgetting it ever existed."

"Sounds serious." Doctor Tonja said nodding. Dib nodded back, browsing the swollen eyeball network with his mouse. He typed into the search box at the top right corner of the screen, SKOOL underground classrooms conspiracies -lunch meat, -cafeteria. A blinking eyeball appeared on the all the screens while the data was loading. Dib stretched out his arms and yawned. Doctor Tonja leaned back, making herself as comfortable as possible on his bed. She asked him, "How did you find out about this "swollen eyeball" anyway? Do they have a website or a building or?"

"What? Oh no. You don't find them. They find you." Dib corrected, swiveling around to face her. Doctor Tonja moved forward, puzzled. She asked, "How did they find you exactly?" Dib took a deep breath and sighed. He rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "That's a long, long, story. I don't think we have time before Gaz gets back. She knows but she doesn't know, know what I mean?"

"Nope. Either way, we have about," Doctor Tonja looked down at her wrist where a small watch gleamed proudly, "little more than twenty minutes before your sister gets home. I think we have enough time to have a little story session."' She looked up expectantly at Dib, her eyes flashing. Dib looked behind him at the monitors then at Doctor Tonja. He got up and hopped over onto the bed next to Tonja. He launched into the story, "It began when I was eight and started using the bus to go to the library-"

"To do research on aliens?"

"... Something like that. I was getting off the bus one day when another man bumped into me as he was getting on. I noticed that he dropped a book after the bus drove off. I took. I knew it wasn't right to just take something that didn't belong to you but the bus was already three blocks away by the time I looked back so I decided to take it home." Dib paused, got up, and went over to the wardrobe/closet on the other side of the room. He pushed aside the door, and dug around in the back. He emerged a while later holding a dirty brown book in his hands.

"I tried out a couple things from this book and-after a slight zombie mishap which my Dad has never let me live down- was contacted by the Swollen Eyeball. They said that they had been watching me for a while and that they dropped the book on purpose to test me. Of course they had no idea that I would be able to actually MAKE A ZOMBIE, but all in all, I'm kinda glad that it happened in the long run. I may not have actually gotten in if I hadn't."

Dib plopped the book down next to Doctor Tonja with a thump, the heavy book so massive that the frame actually shook. Doctor Tonja shifted sideways and ran her hand along the side. The ancient book was made of tanned animal hide of some kind bound with leather and sealed with a clasp paired with a deadly looking canine as a hook. Strange symbols looked like they had been burned into the hide to form words. He ran his finger over the cover, enjoying the feeling of the divots from the burns and prickly fur against his pale fingers. He grinned down at the mysterious book. The large blue eye on the cover stared back. He hopped on top of the bed, Doctor Tonja lifting her head from the book to Dib in concern. "Dib, you said 'a zombie mishap which my father has never let me live down'. What do you mean by that?"

Dib felt uncomfortable, and looked away at the covers where a small thread had come out of line. He played with it, wrapping it around his fingers, sliding it back and forth. "Well, I accidentally made a zombie and I-"

"No, Dib." Doctor Tonja interrupted. "I already know about the zombie fiasco. I'm talking about your dad. What did you mean by him never letting you live it down?" Dib shoved his large glasses up to the bridge of his nose. His Dad was a touchy, complicated subject that he didn't even fully understand. Dib waved his hand, explaining, "Well, he doesn't really-he's never, uh, Dad he and I, we're, uh ah-ha, it's a, it's it's complicated." Doctor Tonja nodded, giving a small smile. She seemed to do this alot when he was supposed to keep going. Maybe it was a shrink technique? Dib took a breath, "My Dad he never actually nags me on it but he will bring it up occasionally. And it's not because he's being mean, it's because he doesn't want it to ever happen again, or have me nearly destroy the world and stuff."

"Maybe he's trying to remind you to be cautious? Maybe as a way to keep you safe?"

"Well, maybe but if he's trying to keep me safe he's not very good at it." Dib looked up at Doctor Tonja. She was still smiling at him in her own emotionless way waiting for him to continue. Dib twiddled his fingers. "He let's me and Gaz run around at night. He doesn't really seem to remember I exist sometimes and that kinda hurts a little. I get why though."

"You do?" Doctor Tonja asked, sounding surprised. Why was she surprised? Wasn't it obvious? Dib nodded his face a mask of conviction, "Dad is busy. I get it. I don't really mind usually. It's usually a good thing that he's away. It gives me more time to focus on my studies and convince the world that I AM NOT INSANE!" He stood up on the floor. He pointed triumphantly at the star chart above his computer. "I was never insane, I am never going insane!" he looked at Doctor Tonja. "I'm not crazy right?"

"You? Crazy? Noo. Crazy is doing the same thing over and over again thinking something different will happen." Dib thought back to all the fights he had with Zim. Aw crap. He sat down on the bed again in disappointment. Tonja, oblivious to his sudden sadness, went on "Everyone has weird quirks. You mother was an artist so you naturally got the creative eccentricity. Your father is an egotistical jerk face yeller whose charisma comes straight out of his-"

"Wait. You know my mother?" Dib asked alarmed. He knew he had a mother somewhere but never actually fully taken in the thought of him having a mom. Doctor Tonja looked a bit taken aback. She asked, "Hasn't your father talked to you about her?"

"Nope." Dib shook his head no. Tonja bit her lip and looked away. "What's my mom like?"

"Mom?"

Dib and Tonja both looked away to the door. Gazette stood silhouetted in the doorway, her black back pack slung across one shoulder. She walked into the room until the was a few feet away from them. She eyed the duo warily, "What about… mom?"

"I was about to tell Dib about your mommy. Do you wanna know about your mommy too?" Tonja said with a smile. Oh boy. Wrong way to go with Gaz. Dib thought to himself. He expected his little sister to blow up in Tonjas face or something but she simply scowled and nodded, taking a few steps closer. Tonja folded her hands across her lap. "Well, your mother is an artist and is pretty much the smartest woman I've ever met to this day. She used to be an illustrator for a childrens publishing company-you know one of those people who decides what goes on a book cover and such?-but her true passion is art and she loves the movies and the Arts in general. Doesn't help that she's good at them too. She's now a full fledged artist and I think there is actually going to be a gallery of her paintings shown downtown in a few weeks. She's nice and compassionate and eccentric and can be antisocial sometimes but she's the life of the party when she tries. Poor chick."

"She sounds weird." Gaz stated bluntly from somewhere out of the quarter of his eye. Dib turned to Gaz, cross legged on the carpet, her hands cupping her cheeks. "How did Dad even meet this woman?"

"She signed up." Tonja replied undeterred by Gazs hostility. Dib turned back to Tonja intrigued. "Your father handpicked her to your mother. At first it was just awkward friendship but then came respect then love."

"I hate her." Gaz spat. Dib looked down at Gaz surprised. It seemed a little judgemental, even for Gaz, to hate someone she'd never met. Gaz tore out a fuzz from the carpet and tore at it in her hands, "She walked out on Dad, didn't she? Hate her."

"Gaz your mother was sick. She had too much going on at that point in her life, she couldn't take care of you properly." Tonja snapped. Gaz looked up annoyed. She threw the fuzz down on the ground. She snapped back,"What kind of sickness could she have possibly had?"

"A really bad kind.", Tonja looked at the fingernails on her hand for a moment then stood up from the bed. "Dib I think we can count this as a session okay."

"Uh yeah sure." Dib watched as she walked out of the room. She paused by the doorway and looked back. "I have another place to Dib. Will you be alright if I leave?"

"Yeah, I'll be good."

"Good." Tonja looked relieved. She looked at Gaz for a moment then pointed at her and said, "Look after your brother for me aight." She walked out of the room. Gaz looked at her brother. "What the heck was that all about?"

"Dunno." There was a beeping noise from the computer. Dib hopped off the bed and into his swivel chair. He read the words, NO RESULTS FOUND on the screen. "What!? No. That's just... impossible." Dib pushed himself away from the desk looking critically at the screen. "How can something exist without actually existing?"

"The same way your sanity works." Gaz replied, getting up from the floor. "it doesn't."

"This doesn't make any sense." Dib looked at screen some more. "I have to check it out."

"Friendship- my definition- is built on two things. Respect and trust. Both elements have to be there. And it has to be mutual. You can have respect for someone, but if you don't have trust, the friendship will crumble."

― Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo