A/N: Ah, Chapter 6 1/2. What a very good chapter to be at.
...
"So you live here with Zar?" Vix questioned as Mool opened the door.
"Yeah. She's like my sister. We're really close. We've been best friends for as long as I can remember," he said, ushering Vix inside and shouting the door behind her.
"Oh. So you're not like..." she trailed off.
Mool made a face. "No. That's gross. We're friends. Just friends," he said. Clearing his throat, he threw out his arms. "Welcome to our home."
The walls in the living room were a light purple shade, and the floor was white carpet. Two black chairs faced their flatscreen television. The kitchen had white tiles and cream walls, and all the appliances were white. They had a separate elevator room over to the side and no bathroom.
"It's...nice," Vix said.
"Thanks. You wanna come see Zar? She could give you some medicine for your burns." Mool beckoned to the elevator. Vix followed, stepping into the narrow shaft with him.
They were quiet as the elevator descended. "If you don't mind me asking, why were you banished?" Vix ventured carefully.
"I got in a fight with an Elite. He survived, but I still got banished," Mool said simply.
"Oh."
Vix watched him shift from foot to foot. He was nervous, but Vix couldn't figure out why. The elevator finally opened, and Mool seemed to breath a sigh of relief.
"Mool? Is that you? Did you find Farr?" Zar called from where she was working on a giant computer.
"Yeah. We kinda got caught in the rain. You got any medicine?" he called.
She looked up and gasped. "Farr! Oh my Irk! Are you okay?" Zar scurried over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. Vix winced, and Zar drew back.
"Yeah. I'm just a little smoky," Vix said as a tendril of smoke whisked around her. She waved it away.
"She was trapped in that rain for a good ten minutes before I found her," Mool said.
"Oh my Irk! Why didn't you find her earlier, Mool! You idiot! I'll get the medicine," Zar said, lightly smacking Mool on the shoulder before she ran away into another room.
"Sit here," Mool said, pulling up a chair. Vix obliged.
"I found it!" Zar called as she reemerged a second later. As she applied the ointment to Vix's burns, she came across the scars on her neck. "What...what happened?" Zar breathed. Mool came and looked too. He sucked in his breath.
Vix grimaced. "It was my punishment. For terrorizing all those people for monies and food. It was a laser gun," she said.
"Oh my Irk! That's terrible! I'm afraid I can't do anything about them, though," Zar said.
"It's fine. You've done enough already," Vix said.
Zar finished patching up her burns. Thankfully, Vix didn't have to explain the laser gun wounds on her shoulder, back, or leg.
Zar went back to her computer as soon as she was done with Vix and began typing furiously, her antennae lowered in concentration.
"What are you doing?" Vix asked, peering over her shoulder. Strange words were all over the screen, but her PAK quickly translated it into Irken from some language called 'English.'
"Research," was the short reply.
"About what?"
Mool sighed. "The natives here, hyoomans."
"Humans!" Zar corrected.
"Sorry, the humans are apparently treated unfairly, according to Zar here," Mool said.
"They are! They have terrible living conditions, barely ever have enough food, and are shunned by the King! He never helps them at all! It's sickening," Zar said, turning to look fiercely at Vix before turning back to her work.
"King? We have a king?" Vix said. Who knows what kind of power he possessed? Maybe he could help her get back home.
"Zim. He's the King of Defect Planet. He rules here. He was the one who conquered this rock," Mool said.
"King of the defects, then," Vix said.
"Pretty much. His SIR Unit, GIR, rules that tiny little moon," Mool said, chuckling a little.
"I'm working on trying to get the humans on Earth conditions like of those on the moon," Zar pipped up.
"Hyoomans live on the moon too?" Vix asked.
"Humans!" Zar snapped.
"Some Irkens do too, but not much," Mool explained.
"Huh. And you do this stuff everyday, Zar?" Vix said.
"Research? Yes. Actually doing something? No," she said fiercely. "I've been trying to contact Zim, but I can't find him. He has all these firewalls around any subject that involves him. It's so frustrating!"
"Here, let me try," Vix said. They both stared at her with a surprised look.
"You work with computers, Farr?" Mool asked.
"I was one of the top researchers in the Empire before I was fired. I designed all kinds of weapons and machinery. But then one day I was kicked off for no reason, and here I am," she said. The two Irkens both gaped at her.
Part of that was true. She did use to design weapons, but she wasn't exactly fired with no notice. A superweapon she was working on got out of control, killing two Irkens and a Vortian. When she was fired, she realized how great it was to take a life, and turned to a life of crime.
"There," Vix said, stepping back. Zar looked at her with an astonished look.
"It took me six months just to figure out how to break all those firewalls, and you did it in just a few minutes. You're amazing," Zar said.
"Thanks. It says here he lives...just about two hours from here. Look, it even gives you coordinates," Vix said, an unusual feeling welling up inside her. No one had complemented her on anything since she was fired. It felt...good.
She pushed the emotions away as Zar scribbled down the coordinates onto some paper. If she had learned anything from her time as a murder, emotions were weaknesses.
Vix mentally memorized the coordinates. She would pay this Zim a visit. Maybe she could get hired as a personal assassin for the King. She had to make monies somehow.
"Y'know, I was actually banished for starting a protest. It was for better rights for the poor people the Empire has enslaved. It quickly turned into a riot, though, and I was arrested for being the leader," Zar said. "Mool here fought with one of the Elite as they tried to arrest me. We both ended up in the same ship on the way to Earth."
"Farr, it's stopped raining. Do you want me to walk you home?" Mool said, suddenly, as if talking about himself made him very nervous.
"No, it's fine. Thanks for letting me stay here. Bye," Vix said, as she climbed into the elevator. She nodded at Mool and Zar as they waved her goodbye. She really didn't want her new "friends" to see her home and be scared away.
She stepped out of their home and looked warily out at the sky before darting down the street on her spiderlegs, which were covered in dry blood.
She was almost home when a shrill cry sounded from across the street. "Her PAK legs are covered in blood!" a female Irken shouted.
Vix looked around. No one else was outside. Quickly, she crossed the steer and stabbed the Irken in the chest. The girl looked eerily familiar, but Vix couldn't place where she'd seen her face. As the light faded from her pale yellow eyes, Vix realized she looked just like the Irken girl she had killed on the night she was arrested.
Vix backed away on her spiderlegs, a little shocked, and let the carcass slide from the leg before continuing her scurry down the street and into her own home.
She slammed the door behind her and withdrew her PAK legs. She was a little shaken by the girl, and fresh guilt washed over her.
"Computer! M-make me a straight jacket. Now!" she screamed as she ripped off her disguise and ran into the padded cell, slamming the door behind her.
A crisp white straight jacket lowered itself from the celling, and metal cables fastened it around her as she held out her arms, shaking slightly, her eyes wide.
As soon as the cables were gone, Vix opened her mouth and screamed as loud as she could. She screamed and screamed, and after a while, she began ramming herself into the padded walls as hard as she could.
This went on for a good three to four hours, until she finally collapsed from exhaustion. She barely had the strength to command Computer to carry her to her room and remove the straight jacket.
She fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow. She didn't dream.
...
A/N: Hm. Well, like I said before, 6 1/2 is a very good chapter to be at.
The computer jargon was totally made up. I had no idea what I was talking about.
Yep...
Oh, and ShySilentWriter, they meet next chapter! BUT I'M NOT GOING TO UPDATE UNTIL TOMORROW! YOU'LL BE FORCED TO WAIT IN SUSPENSE.
And on that note, goodbye!