A few days went by before Dib saw Zim again. He'd been investigating, something he found he liked to do; he watched the people, taking down the security guard's schedules. A few days and the boy knew when everyone came and went. He'd also discovered that the switch off between the night and day shifts was a longer one.
In fact, for about ten minutes the building was unguarded and vulnerable. He smirked and closed his notebook, hopping down from the tree he was sitting in outside the building and making his way inside. No one bothered him because of his labcoat and they all knew who he was; Membrane's son, the future of the Empire.
Dib tried not to make as face as they all nodded at him, as if he was someone to respect. Guh. He made his way down the hallway and typed in the code to the room they kept Zim in. There were at least ten other scientists in there, doing the same thing they did every day; asking questions, writing things and mumbling.
It wasn't hard for Zim to prattle on about whatever the humans asked him. He could find a way to talk about even the smallest things for hours, and how to make even the most useless of details sound awe inspiring. But a few days of this and Zim was beginning to grow weary.
He had covered everything from his leaders to service drones, and even the Control Brains. He decided to leave out a few important details, for good reason; they were going to be at war with this planet soon, and even if Earth was pathetic, it was never wise to let your enemies in on all your secrets. Although, to be fair, it wasn't really going to be much of a war at all.
Zim blinked wearily, the bleak white of the lab and the scientist's matching coats were starting to become too much of a strain for his poor eyes. And suddenly, a bit of color came into the world as Dib came into the room; those smoldering eyes setting everything ablaze. A sight for sore eyes, surely.
Even if the boy was a bit of a strange one, and a bit annoying at that, he was still a breath of fresh air compared to the other humans.
His antennae perked up and he followed the human's strides with his eyes. He gave the human a knowing look, wondering—hoping that they were going to be out of here soon.
Dib shoved the notebook in his bag, taking a second to adjust to the bright room before glancing over at Zim. Their eyes met; the irken's were knowing, imploring and they always seemed to shock him with their extreme color. Oh what he wouldn't give to get a close look at them…
He nodded, hoping the point came across. They had a time. They just had to make sure the alarms were down and the voot cruiser close by. Dib walked over next to his father who was marking down notes in his short hand. "Um, dad..?"
"Oh. Hello, son! How are you this fine afternoon?" Membrane asked, cheerfully, not even looking up from his notes.
"Uh. Fine. I'm fine. Look, dad, I was uh, wondering how things are coming with Zim…?" The scientist finally glanced up at the boy and flicked off the microphone and by extension the recorders. Membrane stepped away from the control panel and patted his son on the shoulder.
"Just great. It's been very co-operative. We should be able to perform the final examination tomorrow." He said cheerfully. Dib froze, unsure if he'd heard right.
"T-Tomorrow? But...there's still so much to learn." This couldn't be right. No. No. No. His dad sighed and ruffled Dib's hair.
"I know, Dib. You're disappointed. I am too. The big guys want it done. But, I'll tell you what. During the autopsy, you can help! Your first one ever." Dib could only imagine the wide grin that hid behind his high collar. His father was just trying to help but, the very idea made Dib sick.
"I-I..uh, Dad…I-"
"Sorry, son. I have to go. They need me in the chemical wing. Stay here and be good, will you?" With that he whooshed away, leaving Dib standing in the center, feeling green. Then the panic began to set in. Oh no. This threw a big kink into their plans…
He took a deep breath. Calm. Be calm. There has to be something you can do. Stall them or come up with a distraction…Anything to buy them more time. Shakily, he glanced over at Zim and frowned at the giant clear cube. They would've put him in a normal cell. Why did they have him in there anyway? It was air tight. And any time he'd seen anyone handle a sample from Zim it was with a fully body hazmat suit.
Were they afraid that Zim had some sort of space disease? Dib knew this was most likely ridiculous. Zim had been living on earth for…quite some time. And no one had died from anything mysterious. Dib bit his bottom lip which was quickly becoming a habit.
They just…needed time. He had the schedule of the guards down pat but, it would take a bit of time to figure out what needed to be done to avoid setting off the alarms. He continued the lip biting, a idea wiggling its way slowly through his mind.
It was stupid. But, stupid enough to work.
Zim antennae were standing straight up on his scalp as he watched the two, trying to read their body language. It was clear that Dib was uneasy about something, and Zim could take a guess as to what that was. Was their plan falling apart? What had the Membrane-thing said to him? He'd give anything just to be able to hear them. He craned his neck and tilted his head, trying to get a better look at their faces. Until, finally, the professor was off and Dib was left standing alone. What was going on? Zim hated being kept in the dark like this. He growled in frustration and waved his hands, trying to let the human know that he wanted to be let in on what was happening.
Zim still wasn't entirely sure what the human had planned in ways of escape, but he had no choice but to trust him, which agitated the Irken even further.
The other scientists seemed to become disinterested once the professor left, turning to their own notes and business. That is, if they hadn't blatantly left the area altogether. He tapped on the glass, though he was sure it was too thick for the sound to reach Dib, in an attempt to get the human's attention.
Dib looked up, because out of the corner of his eye he was the frantically flailing irken. He wondered if Zim knew what had just happened or if it was all just a guess. He glanced at the other scientists who were slowly leaving the area. He waited until the last one let the door close behind him before, sliding over to the Control Panel and flipping on the microphones and off the recorders before getting to work. The boy grabbed a scalpel that sat on the one of the counters and used it pry open the control panel.
Over his working, he yelled to Zim. "They want to do the autopsy tomorrow."
"What! But I stalled as much as possible!" Zim groaned. He watched Dib with a growing panic. "Well, do you have a plan?" He asked, rather expectantly. Though what he was really asking was what the plan was, seeing as how it was obvious the human had one. At this point Zim didn't care what it was as long as it got him out of this wretched box. He fidgeted around as he watched the human, looking around the room to make sure nobody was coming.
Dib grumbled and cut a few wires, attached some other ones and yanked out a box that fit into his hand. "Yes. I do. A um, a kind of stupid one. It's just..if we let you out now, all the alarms go off and if the voot is a far as you say we'll need all the time we can get. The day shift of security guards come nearly ten minutes after the night crew leaves. But, I still need time to figure out the safest and quickest way to get you out without disturbing the alarms which are freaking everywhere so…"
He held up the box weakly. "This will let me get out of the box without disturbing those alarms at least. And when everyone one goes home at night I can study the outer and inner alarms…I think I found some good blue prints on the database…"
Shoving the little box into his pocket, Dib walked back over to the control panel.
"Wait," Zim followed the human as he walked, keeping his hands pressed against the glass as he did so. "You're coming in here?" The Irken was mildly surprised; all the other scientists were obviously afraid of spreading disease from the alien and vise versa, this much they had made apparent. But Dib was willing to throw caution to the wind to buy them some time.
Then again, he shouldn't have been as surprised as he was; Dib did seem to be lacking some sense of the common variety. Though, it was that daring attitude that was getting Zim out of the box and away from an autopsy table, so he figured he shouldn't gripe about it too much.
"Is that a good idea?" He asked, skeptically. He hadn't been in much contact with humans one-on-one, and all this careful containment had only deepened his fears about the germs they carried.
Dib scowled. " Unless you have some sort of crazy alien disease, I think we're okay. But if you'd rather get sliced open... Which I'd really hope you not because my dad wants me to help him." Shuddering, he took a deep breath, finger over the open trigger on his make shift key to the box. Once he did this it would set off all the alarms. He'd have a minute or so to get inside before they all came running in.
Zim's eyes narrowed at the thought. "Zim is not disease ridden; it is YOUR germs I'm worried about."
He huffed, but figured they didn't have much choice, which was becoming increasingly common for Zim, frustratingly enough. He was tired of being backed into a corner. He was going to enjoy destroying this planet and all its habitants. "Alright, well just hurry. Who knows when someone might show up!" The Irken pressed, becoming increasingly fidgety.'
"Me?! I don't hav—" Dib cut himself off, grumbling. He didn't have any deadly germs. This was the chance for second thoughts, you can let the irken get dissected and walk away scott free. Except for the death on your conscious. Which is would be and that was it was out of the question. He pressed the switch and the cube slid open. The alarms went off instantly, ear piercingly loud.
He winced and jumped up into the cube, quickly flicking the switch again to make the door close before shoving it back into his coat. Two seconds later they all came running in; several guards had guns and wore hazmat suits. Membrane ran in next, wearing his own and immediately stopped in his tracks when he saw Dib.
They could hear it all because he'd left the microphones on. Dib silently cursed under his breath. Smart. Membrane's voice was muffled as he shouted over the alarms.
"Son! What are you doing in there? This is dangerous and now you're contaminated."
He held his breath and swallowed, realizing he hadn't thought of what to tell his dad. Why was he in here? Best to tell the truth, Dib supposed. "I-I don't want you to kill him, dad."
Membrane was silent for only half a second, as if trying to figure out if his son was serious and who was 'him'. "Cease this foolish insanity now, Son. It's part of a necessary process."
"Well, you still have to get me out. I'm contaminated. You could come in with your hazmats but, then what about me? You have to find a way to completely clean me." He nodded, determined. "Until then, let's hope I don't die."
A small scientist whispered something to Membrane who nodded. "Fine, Son. We'll stall the final experiment. This is a very foolish thing you've done. I am ashamed of you." With that they flicked off the microphones and left them in silence. It was eerie actually. You could see everything that happened but could only hear your own breathing and thoughts.
Dib was panting though he had no idea why. Only now the thought finally hit him that he was locked in a box with an alien…He dared not look though he wanted to, instead the human focused on breathing, getting the anxiety under control. A clear head was necessary.
And although Zim had known it was going to happen, still hearing the words out of Membrane's mouth made Zim's gut turn. They really had planned on spilling his guts out on a table. He tensed up a bit during their exchange, feeling out of place (on an alien planet, go figure) and rather awkward.
And suddenly it was silent. A silence that Zim had grown accustomed to in his stay in Membrane's lab. Only now Zim's breathing was accompanied by another's.
He glanced up at the human, who seemed a bit taller than Zim could recall upon seeing him in person. He could make out all the small details in Dib's skin; small scars and blemished—though there were few. It made Zim a bit uneasy at just how REAL the human seemed at this moment.