They had come for Zim, just as the boy said they would. But then again, he had no reason to disbelieve what the human had told him. For now, anyway.
Unfortunately, they came prepared for the ordeal; armed and protected. Zim was outnumbered, and he knew that if he were to try now to escape, they'd have him pegged in no time. No, brute force was not an option in this case. He'd have to find another means of escape.
For now, he would show the humans what a good little Irken looked like, and he rolled up his sleeve for them. The strangely hued blood flowed easily into their canister and they left almost as quickly as they had come, content for the moment.
A few more hours passed until Membrane came in with his son, who had his backpack thrown over his shoulder. He'd brought his homework with him. There had been two choices; either go home right after skool or come with Dad. His answer had been instant. Dib normally worked as his father's assistant during the weekends but, there was no way he was going to pass up a chance to observe the irken more.
"Alright, Dib why don't you do your studying? We have to do some analyzing of its blood and skin samples." Dib bit his lip and stared down the hallway in the direction of Zim.
"Hey, uh Dad? Could I do my studying in the cell room? It's the quietest place." Membrane thought for a few seconds before conceding.
"Fine son. I shall be back soon." With that the great professor swirled down the hallway and Dib turned the opposite direction, first walking and then breaking into a run. He typed in the code to the door and slid a piece of his hair through the DNA scanner. Slipping into the brightly lit room, the boy put his back pack down on a nearby table and walked towards the control panel.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the irken reacting to his presence. Dib forced himself to turn on the microphone before turning to get a full look at Zim. A bit rumbled in his uniform, although he was surprised they let him keep the uniform and not change into the lab clothes. Maybe they were waiting.
"Good evening." Dib said, his voice echoing in the large room. Under the harsh lights Zim looked paler, his eyes standing out dramatically.
Zim's antennae perked at the sound of the familiar voice and the small alien hopped off the bed.
"You again." He regarded the human, not necessarily in a bitter tone. "You seem rather excited." A bit too excited, for Zim's taste. It was bad enough being locked in here, and this human's gawking only rubbed Zim's nerves even more.
Then again, it was better than being poked and prodded. He rubbed his arm, still a bit sore.
"I see your superior let you off your leash for the time being."
Dib's head tilted to the side, curiously. "Yeah, sorry about that. Like I said being able to learn and observe from you, it's a great opportunity. I've always been interested in aliens. And he's not my superior…he's my father." The boy's gold eyes slipped to where the irken was rubbing his forearm. "They took the blood. They'll be a while as they analyze it. "
He wanted to walk closer to the cube but, instead picked up a holoclip board and began flipping through the charts, eyeing the xrays and noticing something peculiar; there seemed to be a pod attacked to Zim's back. And many wires were intertwined with his spine. It looked gruesome but, Zim seemed in no pain so it must be normal.
The term the human used was unfamiliar to Zim, but he had heard it many times in his short time on Earth. As far as Zim could tell, it meant that the smaller human lived with the larger one, and was trained by him throughout the years. It was a strange concept to the Irken, and seemed a little unproductive to him. But things on this planet rarely ever seemed to make sense.
"Well Zim hopes they don't take too long." He grumbled impatiently, tapping his foot against the tiled floor. "Zim wants to be off this infernal planet, already."
Zim watched the human with a limited amount of curiosity until he pulled out the holoclip. He craned his neck a bit to try and get a look at what seemed to pique the human's interest, his antennae sticking straight up in the air.
Dib explored the irken's anatomy for a moment , occasionally glancing back at the real one to compare. "Hm." His mind perked at his first comment about wanting to leave soon. A little wiggle of doubt and unease crept into his mind only to be silenced by another glance at Zim with his antenna sticking up in the air.
It had Dib pausing for a second, eyes wide and curious. He tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. What was the subject doing? Was this another way of expressing hostilities or was he just as curious as Dib was? It was…well, it reminded him of when a cat heard a sound that got it's attention and it's little ears perked.
"Zim... Um, I have a few questions…if you'll be so kind to answer them?" He had no idea why he was talking as if he was in the olden times but, it felt right to talk to Zim like he was higher up, like they were nobles or some other ridiculous thing.
Zim's shoulders slumped, his antennae returning to their relaxed position as he let out a small groan.
"More?" Zim complained as he straightened his back. "How many questions do you humans have?"
He ran a gloved hand over his face in frustration. Hadn't he told them everything? What was it with these creatures and their endless inquiries? Didn't they have better things to do with their time? Like defending themselves from an incoming invasion?
The thought made Zim smirk a bit, and he had to hide his mouth behind his hand before regaining his composure.
"Zim will answer your questions, of course." His tone was that of reluctance, but of course he didn't have much choice.
"A lot. We're filled with curiosity." Dib flipped the hover mode on the holoclip and turned it to Zim, pointing at the spot on his xray where the pod was attached to his back. "What's that?"
Zim marched up to the glass, a claw to his lips in curiosity as his eyes scanned over the image. His antennae perked up in recognition, but he hesitated. How much was he willing to give out about his person? Who knows what these Humans could do with that sort of knowledge.
After a moment, he reluctantly turned his back to show the human the small metal pod that nestled against his upper back.
"Zim's PAK." He stated plainly. "It holds everything that is Zim. It's very important, naturally."
Dib licked his lips and stared at the PAK on the screen before glancing sideways at Zim.. It was shiny in the bright lighting with three pink dots. "So…" His brain went into over drive. "You're saying that...your 'PAK' is you?" That was even more confusing. And yet, horribly intriguing. "How do you mean?" Dib asked, meeting Zim's eyes.
"I mean exactly what I said; everything that is Zim is within this PAK. Memories, experiences, personality and most of all his greatness." He explained before he could stop himself. "Without it, Zim would die." His hands moved around the air as he talked, his ruby eyes wandering as he tried to express the importance of his PAK.
"T-That's…" Dib searched for the proper words. "Incredible." He put the holoclip down and walked up closer to the glass, gold eyes studying the irken. "It's your personality. Your brain? It's all in a little…pak." His eyebrows rose, as the human tried to comprehend that idea. "I'm assuming you're not born with it. They put it on you. How come?"
Unconsciously, he raised a hand to the glass as he leaned in, wanting to get a closer look at it.
Zim shifted a bit, feeling uncomfortable under the human's stare. Although it was something that he was beginning to get used to, unfortunately. He had been gawked at more in the time spent in this tiny prison than in his entire lifespan anywhere else.
"Well, it helps us live longer and be more efficient." He answered, his unease seeping into his voice. He wasn't sure how to explain it to the human in words exactly what a PAK does. It was something you'd have to experience, but the curious gaze the human was emitting was so demanding that Zim was almost compelled to answer.
Under any other circumstance, Dib might've not noticed how uncomfortable he was making his subject. And that did often happen. He studied everything and everyone. But, for some reason he could feel the ripple of unease that Zim sent off and it had his eyes flickering towards the alien's face and suddenly he was backing away from the cell.
"Sorry. I get…intense. At least that's what the counselors say." Dib smirked, trying to make the whole thing into a joke. Which also often didn't work and he was left with people giving him weird looks because he just found everything too interesting and he wanted to learn everything.
Clearing his throat, the boy grabbed his backpack and opened it up, dumping the contents onto the floor and staring at them with unease. Science and math were easy. History was okay. But, English was one of his worst subjects. And he had a whole essay to complete by morning.
With a sigh, he grabbed his English text book and opened it to the proper page, laying it on a nearby table and sitting in a chair. "My father won't be back for a while..."
Zim was relieved, if not surprised, that the human backed down a bit. Though he had to admit that the creature had something the other humans lacked, and that in itself was worth a second glance.
Zim rounded his shoulders before pacing the small perimeter of his glass cage, feeling restless.
"Still? How long is this going to take?" Zim asked impatiently. He huffed before stopping to look at the books Dib had dug out of his bag, recognizing some of them from his earlier research.
These humans really were starving for knowledge, weren't they?
Dib reluctantly began skimming through the essay questions, before glancing up at Zim. Then that glance turned into just another way for him to procrastinate. "What do you mean? What is 'this'? The blood or…" When they would let him go? Biting down on his bottom lip, he shoved the book away and rested his head on his left hand as he watched the irken.
"That," Zim began, throwing his arms up to motion the space he occupied. "And all of this. Zim has important business to attend to. Will you creatures ever be satisfied?" He motioned to the books that Dib had scattered around the floor. "You have knowledge in these books, and yet you are interrogating Zim." He mumbled.
He bent down to examine one of the texts closely, recognizing the words 'Social Studies' in their bold print.
"Aren't 'fathers' supposed to help their offspring with studies?" He asked, looking around to make sure the taller human wasn't around. Not that Zim was afraid of him, of course.
Dib was twirling his pencil until many of Zim's words hit home. "Uh. You talk a lot. It's hard to answer your questions when you throw them out before I can even get to them." He glanced down at the text book that the irken was looking at and scowled, pushing it away. "For starters…No. Not all fathers do that. Next. These books are old. And pathetic. For some reason they think that using the same outdated knowledge over and over again will help us get smarter. And lastly,"
The boy finally looked up at Zim, unsure. "I don't know when they'll let you go…or…"He hesitated, biting down on his bottom lip. Should he really say this? Well, why not? Zim wasn't doing any harm. He was just an information gatherer. Kind of like Dib.
A sudden flash of that /thing/ under the sheets, replaced with green skin and mystery blood on the floor. The scientists laughing about something and Dib watching from afar. He shook his head to clear it. "Or if they'll let you go, Zim. I don't think they have any plans on it." The human looked anywhere but at him. "I've been watching my dad do experiments my whole life. They find subjects, learn everything they can from them and then…open them up to see what else they can learn from the inside."He felt sick and threw his pencil, not that it would do much. He just couldn't stand being so nonchalant anymore. "Zim, I don't think it'll ever be done."
Zim's gut turned violently, his eyes wide as he stared at the human. Why was he so surprised? Why did he expect anything less, in all honesty? He mentally slapped himself for thinking things would be so easy for him. His mind reeled; he may need to speed up the whole escape process if he had any hope of getting off this wretched planet. He growled and slid against the glass onto the floor, his brow furrowed as he thought.
"No, that's not acceptable. Zim needs to get back to Irk." He looked back up at the human, a determined look on his face.
But why was he telling him this? Wouldn't it be better for the human to keep it quiet? What did he have to gain?
Dib scowled heavily down at his textbook, staring at the stupid outdated words and disgusted with how none of it made sense, and thing on Earth were like that…all reused and stagnant. He shoved himself to his feet and began to pace, kicking his pencil case out of his way. Twitchily he scratched the back of his neck before whirling on Zim.
"You won't be able to escape. They have it all worked out. That cell is locked tight. It would be air tight if it wasn't for the fact that they pump air into there. And the alarms are everywhere. It's pressure released. Cameras in every corner. And guards on duty every single hour of the day…" He shook his head. "You'd need outside help. You'd need to time it perfectly and know the place from the inside out…"
A plan. Dib bit down on his bottom lip, hands behind his back as he stared off behind Zim's shoulder. "It usually takes them a few days at the most to learn everything they need to about their subject. It would take us a week at most to get the schedule of everyone in place, observe when people come and go…and what about transportation?"
Now Dib was thinking, running a hand through his messy black hair before he looked up at Zim. "Do you still have your ship around here or did they take that too?"
Zim blinked a couple times before shooting up to his feet. This was unexpected. Welcome, but unexpected.
"Wait—you're going to help Zim?" His eyes narrowed a bit as he looked the human over, trying to spot a flaw in his expression that might give him away. The human did seem a bit uncertain, but something behind those lenses flickered sincerity.
Zim grinned inwardly. This was going to be easier than he thought, after cleared his throat. "Zim left it hidden outside, it's doubtful that they found it." He followed the human behind the glass as he paced, watching him as thoughts formed in that big noggin' of his.
"You'll really help me?" He asked, his voice full of hope and his antennae sticking up expectantly.
Dib paced a few more time, his mind racing. He turned around to answer the irken's question, 'of course I will'. Only to stop in his tracks because there was those antenna sticking up again but, more than that it was Zim's expression that stopped him. The boy cleared his throat and nodded slightly. "Yes. But… Zim, you have to…promise me something first."
Zim groaned and his shoulders slumped again, his antennae folding back down. What more could this creature want from Zim? He had already asked questions, and even gave blood for his petty knowledge.
"Yes, yes." He agreed, dismissively, waving a hand in the air. "I'll answer all the questions your feeble human mind starves for." He promised with an annoyed tone in his voice.
"No. What I want is…" Dib faltered, realizing he was rubbing his neck again and stood up straighter, hand flopping to his side. 'You have to be confident. When faced with such important things, Dib, you have to be confident.' "I know you said that you're only here for information gathering. But, I need you to promise me that no harm will ever come to Earth or its people…" A calm demeanor over took him, determination flooding him. If there was one thing that Dib was truly sure about at this moment, it was this.
Zim cringed a bit at the Earthling's sudden air of confidence. Those eyes had strength behind them, and it was evident that it burned deep within the human. And even though he was sure that the Dib-creature was harmless, he had to admit that he might still need to be careful with this one.
Dib became more and more interesting to the Irken, as well as more useful. He might just exceed all his expectations.
Zim blinked a few times and tried to force as much sincerity into them as possible as he looked the human straight on.
"Dib-thing, you have my word your planet is and will stay safe."
The human relaxed, believing Zim without too much trouble. He'd never wanted to consider the alien was lying. "Good. Thank you…" Dib dug into his backpack and pulled out a notepad to begin taking down everything they'd need. "To begin with…we have to keep them preoccupied. I know you already answered a lot of questions, but if they ask you more…draw them out. If they still want to learn from you, they won't need to cut you open."
Dib tapped his pen against his bottom lip before scribbling down the things he'd need to do. This wasn't going to be easy but, it felt…right. Like he was finally doing something good. He was helping an innocent life form to escape from certain death. He smiled and kept writing.