Chapter 5

Gin's POV

The small buzzing finally stopped and my antennae finally relaxed under my disguise.

"The Dib human is very paranoid," I said with a smirk to my fellow invader. I proceeded to remove my disguise as I had forgotten to do it before. I pressed a code into my watch and instantly it disappeared. There was some useful technology I had taken from the tallest.

"How do you know that?" Zim asked and I pointed upward.

"Well the fact that he has cameras in your house and was watching us just now is one reason…" I said calmly. Oh yes, I was very much aware of Dib's little spying game; I knew it ever since I walked into the house.

You see as Irken invaders we are trained to fine tune our sixth sense as you might call it. Zim might have not felt the surveillance because he always had trouble during the training. I however knew we were being watched and used my watch to run a scan on the house, as I spoke it returned the results to me and confirmed a human camera device that had been placed in the house. That and I could hear a subtle buzzing in the house that could have only been picked up with by Irken antennae. And the only person smart enough to do that would of course be Dib.

"He what?" Zim asked in shock and I smiled slightly.

"The Dib-human has planted surveillance devices in your house and was watching us just now. I ran a scan on your computer with my watch and it seems he has been spying on you for some time now," I explained and his face turned a shade of dark green.

"Oh, is that so?" He said darkly, his face laced with malice. Oh dear tallest, if I don't stop him he will probably hurt that human terribly. But then again the Dib should not have been spying in the first place, unless he wanted to get his squeedly spooch ripped out…wait do humans have squeedly spooches? I guess I will have to do some research later.

"Calm down. He simply cares about this filthy planet; it was obviously expected of him. Don't kill him over something small like this," I said and he rolled his eyes before nodding.

"Now, since the boy is no longer listening I can assist you in removing the cameras if you would like," I offered and Zim thought about it.

"Very well, how are you planning to do that?" he asked and I smiled.

"MIR!" I yelled and my dysfunctional robot reconstructed himself before reassembling GIR right after as well.

"MIR I would like you to locate the spying device hidden in the house, and once you find it, bring it to me, and don't break anything understand?" I said and he nodded. His eyes turned red and he saluted me before running away.

"Okay now that is over, what do you do around here in your spare time?" I asked Zim and he thought about it.

"You know to be honest I don't really do anyth-OH MY TALLEST!" he suddenly screamed causing me to jump and panic.

"What is it?" I asked him jumping up and his face paled and his breathing slowed. Suddenly his pale face turned blotchy and he started shaking, and his breathing sounded difficult and shortened. I finally knew what was going on…Zim was having a panic attack. Panic attacks for Irkens are practically unheard of. We do not show fear and our paks block it out for us. However from time to time a defect will come along that is so dysfunctional that even a pak can't help them. That was the case for me and Zim.

After a few minutes of Zim's body convulsing in my arms and me attempting to calm him down he passed out, probably from the intense amount of fear.

I quickly scooped him up and held him bridal style.

"Computer, your master has had a panic attack. Take me to the artificial resting quarters this instant, and while you are there, bring me two morphalemes, smelling crystals, and a heart rate controller," I told his computer with authority and instantly the circle of floor I was standing on, began to sink downwards.

I was brought into a room that looked like a simple human bedroom with a large and soft bed in the corner. I rushed Zim's limp body to the bed and laid him down. His pak is in the process of rebooting his system I suppose you could call it. However letting the pak reboot would take a few hours and I need to know what happened.

On a small table next to me were the items I requested for Zim. I grabbed the smelling crystals and held them up to his antennae. They were used to smell and hear and therefore the intense smell of the crystals would be enough to arouse his senses and wake him up.

Soon after I held up the crystals Zim's eyes slowly started opening.

"Thank goodness you're awake…" I said quietly and set the crystals down. I then picked up the heart-rate controller (a handy piece of Irken Technology) and held it up to his chest. Pressing the scanning button I felt his pulse and it slowed down back to a normal pace.

Finally I grabbed the morphalemes and handed him one. It was a special Irken drink, one we used to share as smeets. It felt familiar, something that was greatly appreciated at the moment and I smiled. Taking a sip I let the rich liquid slide down my throat-as you would call it.

Zim smiled gratefully and proceeded to drink his morphaleme.

"So you want to tell me what caused that little scene back there," I said softly hoping it wasn't too soon to talk about. However Zim nodded and set down his drink sighing. Just then GIR and MIR ran in with a large chunk of metal in their hands screaming about nothing in particular. I took the object from them and inspected it quickly. Yep this was the camera and a very impressive one too. It looked as if it was built to install itself into the computer and stay discreetly hidden while still being able to view most of the house. Well played hyuman, well played…

"It was about the camera," Zim said while watching me examine the machinery. I looked up startled and raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Why though…we were able to get it out of your base," I said and he started shaking again.

"Yes but if the Dib was truly watching us when you said he did then…he saw me cry," he whispered and my face paled. Now I know why he was so upset, and he has a very good reason to be.

In our culture, one of our most important rules and most enforced was: Never let the enemy see you cry.

It was a terrible crime, and that's why it is very difficult for Irkens to cry in the first place. Again our paks, help to prevent us from it. You could be put to death, for crying in front of others in the empire. Crying means weakness, and weakness usually means you're a defect, and defects are usually put to death. So Zim has a very good reason to have panicked because what he did could cost him his life. Oh and what a terrible death it was, being caught crying. Your pak ripped right out of you and you are left to die publically and humiliatingly. It was a warning usually when they showed such displays. If you do not fit in with us, then you are the enemy. Zim probably thinks he is a defect, which he is but…from what I can tell his ego is so big and bad that, he would never think so.

"He saw me cry…I could die Gin…and does the fact that I cried in the first place, mean I'm a defect?" he said and the tears started to fall once more. I caught one with my finger, it was thick and blue. Irken tears are not something you see often…and seeing them now coming from my best friend…well it hurt me.

"No you…you aren't a defect Zim. Your pak must be malfunctioning is all? I have known you since smeethood and I know, that the great invader Zim is not a defect," I said and he looked up at me.

"Honest?" he asked, and the look in his eyes made me regret lying to him. However telling him the truth of everything now would not be a wise choice. Not when he was this hurt.

"Y-yes, hones," I managed to choke out and he smiled at me. I attempted to smile back but it came off empty and fake. I am a terrible invader and friend…I just hope in don't come to regret coming here at all…