Pffffff, so this chapter is pretty short, sorry. I've been busy mountain hiking with my class.
I hope this chap answers a few of your questions.
Guest: Yes, I love the idea of Zim on four legs! Spoiler: That's definitely gonna happen... :)
Robert: Glad you like it :D No, Dib is the only one knowing about Zim ... Yet ... ;)
Grilled cheese: Thanks, and stay tuned!
Chapter three:
Year 2024, January 25th, Thursday, 03:00pm, Planet Irk, Aboard The Piggie
Okay, so sitting inside doing experiments wasn't usually what Dib preferred to do. He'd rather be outside and study his subjects in their natural habitat. Experiments and calculations wasn't his style. And it was usually boring.
But, Dib realized that since Earth's treatie with the Vortians gave him access to a lot of Vortian knowledge. Dib was putting his house arrest to use by reading through their files.
"Let's see ... Computer? Planet Vort is pretty close by, right?" He asked.
"Affirmative."
"So, then they know about Irk, right?" Dib leaned forward in his chair, staring intensely at the screen
"Affirmative."
"Cool! Do they have any records about Irk?"
"Affirmative."
"Can you download those records for me to read?"
"Downloading data ... "
Dib fell back in the soft chair with a thud. a little time-glass showed him that it would take a while to download. Well, it was probably a lot to data to take in. After just a minute, the teen was idly tapping the armrest.
"Why is it taking so long ... " he asked no one in particular. Nnnnngh, doing research was so boring, but it would be worth it if he found out more about Zim. Another three minutes passed and Dib threw his arms in the air.
"I'll just do something else while it downloads!" He exclaimed and stood up abruptly. The chair would've fallen back if it wasn't attached to the floor. Dib crossed the lab and sat down on another chair, looking at his experiments. They were tests on plants and food from Irk. Most of them worked just like the ones from Earth. Pretty unexciting. Dib sighed and left the Lab area. The corridors were just as unexciting as his experiments.
The teen knocked on the door to Zita's office. Maybe she was there.
"I don't care about your alien, Dib!" Zita's voice said through the door. How did she even know it was him?
"Come on! I just wanted to talk!" Dib groaned. Zita sighed and a click could be heard. The doors swooshed open. Dib walked into Zita's office. The room contained a desk and two chairs and some basic medical tools. Zita sat by the desk, with a bunch of paperwork in front of her.
"What are you doing?" Dib asked and sat down in front of Zita.
"I'm making a report of our diet for these past days", Zita explained. Dub huffed.
"Sounds pretty boring."
"Yup. But someone has to do it. And since I'm the nurse around here, it's my responsibility to make sure everyone gets all the nutrients they need", Zita said, her eyes shining with determination.
"Wow, that's cool. That you take your work so seriously, I mean", Dib said. Now he felt kind of stupid. He had tagged along just to see space and maybe some aliens, while Zita was here acting so grown up even though she wasn't any older than him. Dib drew a hand through his messy hair, suddenly very self-conscious.
"Thanks, I guess. We'll have to look harder for other kinds of food though, or the Crew will be at risk of illnesses caused by lack of important nutrients", Zita sighed.
"That sounds bad", Dib said. They couldn't risk getting ill," what kind of food do we need?"
"Everything we can find. Mushrooms, eggs, meat, nuts, beans, vegetables ... anything to get an as varied diet as possible," Zita answered him, biting the inside of her chin in thought.
"That doesn't sound too hard. I'm sure everything we need is out there! I could try to ask Zim about what's edible and what's not", Dib said, talking mostly to himself. Zita sighed loudly.
"I still don't think Zim exists", she said," but you're right; it should be easy to find everything we need for a balanced diet. I think we've looked at the wrong places."
"What do you mean?" Now Dib was curious. The same vegetation covered the entire planet; there weren't many places to search at.
"I think we have to look higher. This planet's only animals are birds and bugs, and both can fly-"
"Zim can't fly! But I do think he's some kind of bug, though." Dib interrupted.
"As I was saying, since all species here can fly, wouldn't it make sense that most of the food was above us? We've barely seen any birds on the ground. I've played with the thought that there's another echo system up in the tree tops", Zita said, making small hand movements as she spoke. Dib stared at her.
"You believe in that but not the possibility that there's an intelligent life form out there?!" He asked. Zita shrugged.
"I'm not the scientist here, you are. I just thought it was possible", she said casually. Dib shook his head.
"Zim has pretty sharp-looking teeth. My theory is that he's omnivorous and probably hunts the birds. We've parked in the middle of his territory; birds probably keep away from here because of him", Dib explained. Zita gave him a 'yeah that makes sense except Zim doesn't exist'-look.
"I guess it's possible that the birds stay away because we landed here. We probably scared them away", she reasoned. Dib sighed.
"My data's probably fully downloaded by now. If I find anything about Zim in the Vortian register, you'll have to believe me!" He said. Zita smiled teasingly and nodded.
"Yeah, sure", she said and rolled her brown eyes. Dib got up and left her to her reports.
Yup, the data had downloaded alright. And it was a lot. No wonder it took a long time; everything was here! There were reports on what's edible and what's not. It would've been really useful if it wasn't based on Vortian anatomy.
"Computer! Why did you download all of this? I don't need half of it!" Dib called out.
"You did not request any particular data, sir", Computer droned. Dib groaned. Ok, he'd just have to search for the information he needed.
"Computer, are there any reports of Zim?"
"No, sir", Computer said. Oh yeah, there probably weren't any about Zim in particular.
"Uh, any reports about intelligent life forms?" he tried.
"Affirmative."
"Show them to me!" Dib exclaimed. A long text showed up on his holographic screen.
Irkens
Irkens are a primitive species living on Planet Irk. From what we know, they are the only intelligent life on the planet, and one of the most violent beings we have ever encountered. Therefore, not much is known about them.
Huh. Yeah, sure, Zim had seemed pretty dangerous in the beginning, but Dib doubted the alien would actually kill him.
... But then again, how big of a threat did Dib pose?
Irkens have a light green skin color, which blends in with the vegetation on Irk very effectively. The same goes for their eyes, which are usually pink or red. Very few cases of purple eyed Irkens have also been documented. The average length of an Irken varies between 8 - 16 guebs.
"Computer! Translate 8 Vortian guebs to Human inches!" Dib said.
"8 guebs would make around 4 inches, Sir", Computer said. Zim had seemed shorter than that, but he could either still be young, or these reports weren't correct.
Underneath was a picture of Zim, or something looking a lot like Zim, except naked.
We have yet to know how Irkens breed, as their genitalia seems well hidden and we have never had a proper chance to study this specie.
Although, we've concluded that an Irken's gender can easily be decided by looking at their antennae. A male's antennae have 90 degree turn at the end, while the female's one curl into a spiral shape. Females also tend to have long eyelashes.
Dib leaned backwards. Zim had straight antennae, right? So it was a male. The teen felt a bit more comfortable to know Zim's gender. Under the text was a zoomed-in picture of both a male's and a female's antennae. This whole report seemed like it was filled with pictures. Well, that was awesome!
Judging from what we know, most Irkens live by their own or in smaller groups. A group consists of two or more Irkens, where one is the leader. Gender does not seem like the important thing in the leader of a group, but rather the length. Any tall Irken could be the leader.
Overall, only taller Irkens create groups. Shorter Irkens seem to have a harder life. There has been many reports of cannibalism where a group of Irkens will kill and eat a shorter one.
Dib blinked slowly. He read the last part again. Cannibalism...? That was ... gross and also sort of creepy. Zim was short. Was he in any danger right now? Well, he had seemed pretty capable, but what if he actually got freaking eaten by his own kind!?
... He was probably fine. The little alien had probably survived for a long time before The Piggie landed here.
Dib continued reading, getting more interested the more he got to know. These Irkens sure were complex beings! It was impossible not to get fascinated, and this wasn't even everything there was to know! Multiple times, the author would make educated guesses, or discuss different theories of how the Irkens survived. Apparently, it was early impossible to get close to the aggressive specie. Dib thought about this, and wondered why Zim had been so unafraid for him. Well, unafraid was the wrong word. More like, why wasn't Dib dead yet?
Suddenly, the doors swished open, making Dib jump out of his reading.
"Food time, Dib", Gaz muttered. Dib blinked. Already? He'd completely lost track of time.
"Coming, and you will never guess what I found!" Dib said and stood up, stretching away the stiffness from sitting.
"Was it proof that Zim existed?" Gaz said, not really caring.
"Exactly! Some Vortians have studied Zim's species, called Irkens by the way, but had to stop since it was too dangerous! It's really interesting, did you know that Zim can see perfectly fine in the dark? And even if he couldn't, he can get still sorta see his surroundings using his antennae! Well, that's not scientifically proved, since nobody has ever managed to dissect one, but it sounds amazing doesn't it?" Dib ranted. Gaz blocked his voice out, an art she had mastered when she was nine.
The food consisted of something that looked like reddish pink potatoes and a sauce. Actually, the sauce was pretty good!
"Hey, what's in this?" Dib asked with his mouth full.
"A vegetable we found today, It grows on smaller trees on the other side of the lake", the letter M said. Din's heart dropped when he realized they had started to explore the other side of the lake without him. Damned house arrest.
"Well, it's good", Dib muttered. The letter M smiled.
"It works really well as a spice! We're going to dry some and use for seasoning", he said. Dib nodded awkwardly, trying to look interested. M was so passionate about food, and Dib really didn't have a reason to get on his bad side.
The rest of the meal was quiet, and as soon as Dib had finished, he hurried back to his lab to finish reading.
Three hours later, all lights in The Piggie were out, except for Dib's holographic screen. Everyone were supposed to sleep. Dib's eyes were starting to twitch annoyingly, but the teen still had his eyes glued on the texts.
"Sir?" Computer asked calmly.
"What is it?" Dib asked and looked up at the roof.
"I suggest you get some sleep. You can put a bookmark where you are in your report", it said. Dib took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.
"I guess you're right. I lost track of time again", he yawned," put a bookmark where I am and turn off the lights."
"Yes, Sir."
Suddenly, everything was pitch dark. Dib blinked and groaned.
"Turn on the lights again so I can find my way to my room."
"Yes, Sir."
The lights turned on again. Dib got up and dragged himself to bed. He fell into his bed, asleep within minutes.
TBC
Not much happens here. I hope to put more action in next chapter, though!
I don't have much else to say, so 'til next time, fellow humans!
/Saga