NERV HQ, 4:15 PM:

"One more thing, Ikari," a holographic Monolith boomed as it towered over the NERV commander.

Jesus, Gendo thought from his slouching vantage, more like five or six more things. Can't theses people just be honest for once? Lies by ommission nonwithstanding, he added mentally.

"Ikari, can you hear us?" Keel Lorenz' aged voice echoed. Gendo nodded slightly, then, remembering he was as anonymous as the rest, shouted up, "Loud and clear, director."

"Good. This Satou boy, first name 'Zim'. Neither he, nor his family, have any permissable records. We ordinarily would have disposed of him, but- well, you are aware of the abnormalites. What have you done to allieviate concern?"

Gendo remained as static as a metal sculpture. If anyone could see him now, they would think his words projected into their head, for his hands totally covered his mouth, and his face betrayed no expression.

"We have been tailing the boy. As far as we can tell, he lives somewhere in the forested region five miles north of here, in the National Park."

"As far as you can tell?"

"I've told you before, he keeps dissapearing into wilderness, every night we've tracked him. This, coupled with the enormous blank spot that our sensors come across in that area, has led to understandible suspicion," said Gendo.

"We are well aware of that, Ikari," said another monolith, his voice icy, "What the Director asked is if you have any new developments to report."

"In that case, no sir," said the NERV commander, to exasperated sighs.

"So be it," Lorenz replied. "See of you can get someone to meet with the boy's legal guardians. If he doesn't have any, as you suspect- well it will be plantatively obvious, now won't it?"

"Yes, sir," said Gendo.

The holographic monoliths dissapeared. Gendo sat quietly at his desk, Membrane standing by.

"I run great risk by letting you listen in," the commander said. "I think one of then heard you cough."

"I didn't cough once," Membrane said, calmly.

"A likely story. What would you deem the best course of action?"

"Call an emergency parent-teacher night for the school. I will inspect the boy and his guardians in that setting. Though," Membrane added, as he moved towards the door, "I do think you should be worried more about my son's old teacher."

Zim's base, 9:34 PM:

"Sachiel, I have an assignment for you," Zim coldly announced as he entered the Nehindaei's holding pin.

Edaail scoffed. "A new name, is it?"

Zim bristled. "It appears I misheard it, the first time," he admitted.

"Is my brother dead?" Edaail ignored him.

"Shamshel?" Zim questioned. "I couldn't recover any remains. That Dibsister did a number on it."

The Nehindei said nothing.

Zim blinked, squinting at the bright light of his prisoner's tank. "Your mission, then," he said after a pause,"Is to act as a surrogatte 'parent' I hear these humans blabbing on about." He began pasing the circular room. "You will control a robotic interface, through subspace transmissions, from your current position."

"Why not get your minions to do this dirty work?" Edaail said, flatly.

"GIR was disigned solely for information retrieval. And is, you know, stupid and dumb. Computor is too busy masking our location for this task," Zim explained. "I don't know when we'll find an opening to send the tallest a greeting, with this NERV monitering everything like a paranoid Suluv of Sentriani V," the Irken sighed, wearily.

Edaail still said nothing.

"You will by shown several clips of human parental behaviour. If there are any slip-ups, escape attempts, or sabotage at the gathering, you know what will happen," the Invader said. "Or, who knows. You may end up like Shamshel."

"His name is Phun, youAAAAAAAAAAUGH."

"Save yourself the trouble, vermin."

Tokyo-3 middle school, cafeteria 5:43 PM:

"This is my Paternal Unit, uh... Yamato," Zim beamed up at miss Bitters.

"Fantastic," The old wrinkled bat replied, dryly. "May we speak in private conference?

The stiff robot under Sachiels' control blinked, then adjusted its ocular sensors. Painfully obvious. Zim wished he had thought to subdue the design more. Ah well, it had been on short notice, and he was ZIM, after all.

Bitters only stared, one finger tapping a morose rythym on her cup of artificial punch.

"The office is this way," she said, finally gesturing to the side.

"Good good," Sachiel said, absently.

Zim had half a mind to shock the bastard Nehindei when he noticed Shinji, resembling something shifty and nervous as a poultry-fox. He stood next to Gaz, who looked like she was trying hard to ignore the conversation between a floating screen with her fathers' face on it and a male teacher.

Zim left his prisoner's talk with the instructor in favor of an audience with the Ikari brat.

"Shinji, good friendhuman," Zim grin-grimaced, "You have been evacive today. Why is that, I wonder?"

Shinji jumped what seemed to be about 7 inches off the ground. The invader chuckled mentally. How he loved the manipulation of underlings. "Oh my Z-zim!" Shinji wavered, "How-"

"Cut the crap, you mad ape child," Zim leered.

"So it wasn't a dream?" Shinji dropped his cup.

"You'll wish it was."

"No, you will," said Ikari, after a second of noislessness. He looked somewhat regretful at his choice of words.

"Heh?" Zim questioned, taken-aback.

"I'm going pilot that EVA. NERV wil need all the help it can get dealing with the likes of you."

The room of Ms. Bitters, 5:56 PM:

"I must say, I never quite thought that the Irken would be clever enough to come up with an agreement like the one he has with you."

Edaail tore his attention from the window. "He has much more of a capacity for some things than we give him credit for, underneath all that boorish nonsense."

"Yes," Bitters said scratching her half-formed she-mustache. "I do believe that once he can contact his superiors, your endevour will get a whole lot more complicated."

"It will be less complicated for you if you free me."

"No."

Edaail twitched his robotic interface like a child depraved of its sole want. Back in the lab, his core glowed in agitation. It didn't notice GIR laughing, or licking the tank.

After a minute (two? Four?) of akwardly sealed lips, the Nehindei's mechanical body said, "I never expected to find a member of the First Ancestral Race here, much less a creator of the Usurper."

"Yes, well, one must keep an eye on their offspring," Bitters took off her glasses, whiping them on her shadowy, para-fluid coat. A true human's hair would have stood on end if they had seen the teacher's empty eye-sockets. "Been here- around fifteen thousand years, give or take. I came to visit my dear daughter, and, well, she was sleeping. Not wanting to disturb, or make the effort of leaving, I thought that this planet was adequate for a vacation spot anyway. Recently Lilith woke up. She only contacted me a month ago. We've been talking in person some nights. The security personell in NERV are a joke."

"Why do you call her by the human-language name?"

"Lillith? It's easier on the tongue." When Edaail snorted, the F.A.R. being sighed. "I know, I'm going native."

"What will it take for you to bring me to her?"

Bitters returned the glasses to the stoic bridge of her nose. "Nothing. That is to say, everything. I created Lilith, and directed her to this planet. I don't know how a Black Moon Nehindei, your Father, that Adam fellow, came here, but I can be sure it was a mistake. Dispite my visage, I am a caring lady."

Edaail snorted. Bitters glared. The Nehindei shut his stiff, metal jaw.

"I will not allow you to destroy my daughter. She has already populated this planet with the children of the White Moon. Your kind will-"

"You don't understand," Edaail said. He was really starting to panic now. This F.A.R. being was proving rather hard to negotiate with. "We will all die if we cannot spread Father's seed," he added.

Bitters was completely impassive. "And entire planet full of life, for sixteen individuals?"

"We don't have to destroy White Moon's descendents," the Nehindei half-truthed.

"I don't care. I just can't have you killing my little girl. Kill the Lillim, for all I care. They can't garner any sympathy."

"Just don't harm Her."

"Correct."

Edaail inexpertley gulped in his poorly-constructed throat. "It won't be easy. My brothers, my Father, will-"

"Convince them, or watch them die."

The Nehindei stood up. Never taking his artificial eyes off the monster of a woman, he backed out of the door.

Membrane's Lab, 6:05:

Membrane Maltenson kept his goggled vision on a live feed of the Conference. As Zim and his guardian exited, he finished his recording of the vision. Reaching for a cell phone, the proffessor dialed his colleague.

"Gendo? The boy's guardian is a construct. Yes, details later. We will be sure to abduct him."