Wazzup, peepz? I'm here with a brand new chapter that I had to rewrite completely because I didn't like it! (Seriously, when I'm done with this story, I'm gonna post all the deleted scenes and chapters I've made because there's just that much) For some reason I had a lot of fun EDITING this chapter :O Maybe that's because I'm too tired to think rationally lmao xD
Anyways, please enjoy!
Chapter 15
"They talked too much", was Zim's opinion when Dib asked him after their first day on Vort. Dib sort of agreed. They had been talking for hours, discussing pros and cons about different designs, what weapons were the most effective, what subject they'd be using and so on and so forth. Zim had dozed off in Dib's lap.
"I know, but we'll start working for real tomorrow," Dib promised. They were in a guest room in the castle. It was nice, with two big beds in the main room (Which also held a gigantic TV that took up an entire wall), a simple kitchen and a big bathroom. Just as in the halls, the walls and floor were covered in soft fabrics, but blue instead of green. But the best part was the surround system attached to the TV, where Dib had already found a channel that played music non stop.
Zim didn't really like the distracting noise, but he was far too tired to care. All these new impressions were making his head heavy and his earlier nap had only made him even more sluggish. The only thing that kept him from falling asleep in his soft, warm bed, was the gnawing hunger.
"I need food", he mumbled, stretching out and closing his eyes.
"Me too", Dib said. Man, he was starving! He got up from his own bed and entered the kitchen. There were several cabinets that all looked the same and Dib had some minor trouble finding the fridge. Once he did though, he could only stare in amazement. It was filled with food. Real, human food from earth! Everything he had missed during his six month stay on Irk was there, cramped into the space of this refrigerator.
"Dear lord..." he breathed, touching the plastic packages as if they were the most valuable beings in the universe. He grabbed package of bacon (oh, sweet bacon!) and looked at it with the hugest of smiles on his face.
"Zim, I'm gonna introduce you to one of the best things ever!" Dib called, but Zim had already dozed off, despite his hunger.
–
Fifteen minutes later Dib sat in the main room with a plate of egg and bacon, looking over the blueprints once more. The prototype was gonna be completely redesigned, but the basic idea would still be used. The main piece would be a computer, an AI, attached to the subject's spine to act as an 'extra brain' with the purpose to store and handle information, improve the subject's reflexes and make the subject able to move extra mechanical limbs. The next piece was some really neat occular implants. His dad had made an entire episode about them on the 'Professor Membrane's SCIENCE show for ALL AGES' and since then Dib had always found them extra fascinating. They were also attached to the AI and the brain and gave the subject an increased sight under circumstances when no one else would be able to see. They also worked as flashlights if it would ever be needed. Finally there were plenty of minuscule computers to work from inside the bloodstream to improve the immune system.
Every time the word SUBJECT appeared on the blueprints, a big question mark would follow, reminding Dib that they didn't have a subject yet. Sev En wanted to test it on the flower-hugging mouse people (a race closely related to the slaughtering rat people) but Lard Nar argued that they weren't intelligent enough and that it would end in a disaster. Sev En countered that no intelligent specie would willingly become a test subject.
Dib was a little more optimistic about that. He thought there ought to be many loyal members of the empire who wanted to serve their queen. Though when he mentioned this, Sev En shook his head doubtfully. Dib shrugged. He guessed only time could tell.
He left the empty plate on the table and undressed, crawling into his luxurious bed. He glanced at Zim, who had fallen asleep without even pulling the covers over himself. Dib noticed with a grimace how desperately Zim needed better clothes. Zita's old, worn out t-shirt just wasn't proper enough for anyone to run around with in the same building as the ruler of Vort. Would he get enough spare time to take Zim on a shopping trip in the city?
He reached for the console and turned off the lights. This was the most comfortable he'd been in over a year, and a few moments later he was asleep.
–
Zim woke up in the morning, still hungry and still on top of his covers. He heard human snoring from the other bed. It sounded like pebbles being crushed between Skoodge's teeth. Zim frowned and would have put an end to it if he hadn't been so hungry. He got up and smelled his way to the fridge. With a growing feeling of annoyance he noted that the handle was too far up. What a terrible mistake by the fridge builders! Oh well, it was easy to fix. He took one of those strangely floating chairs and pushed it to the fridge.
Once he opened it he found it stuffed with strange … stuff. Packed in see-through containers. Was all of it edible? Should he wake Dib and make him explain this? He stuck his tongue out and found a bowl with stuff that smelled acceptable. It was on the very bottom so he jumped off the chair and lifted the bowl over his head, carrying it to his sleeping spot. It was big enough for him to wobble and growl at the lack of handles. But he got it there, only dropping one round food thing. He poured everything onto the bed where he could see them. He picked one of those round things that he'd dropped. It was green and red and felt waxy when he rubbed it.
Be took a bite and grimaced. It tasted terrible! It was stinging and a bit sour. The inside wasn't as soft as the fruit on Irk and made it all crunchy and strange. He threw it on the floor and grabbed something else. This one looked like a smiling mouth and was yellow with tiny brown spots. He bit on it so the outer layer gave away and punctured, causing soft, sweet goo to seep through. Now that was good! He squished the food thing until more goo seeped through the holes his teeth had created. Then he licked it, enjoying the foreign taste and softness.
A knock from the door made him look up from his meal.
"Dib? You awake yet?" Sev En called. After all the talking yesterday, Zim had memorized that voice perfectly. Dib mumbled something and turned around in his sleep.
"He's sleeping", Zim said wearily. He had a feeling that Sev En didn't fully trust him and thus Zim had decided to not trust Sev En and the other one as well.
"Oh, well", Sev En stuttered," w-we're about to begin I a few moments. Could you please wake him up and ask him to get ready?" Zim pondered. He could do that, but did he want to? Was it worth the effort to get up and climb unto Dib to wake him up or should the just sit here, with his food thing and his peace and quiet?
"Zim? Did you understand my request?" How dare he! Zim understood perfectly what he wanted! The vortian had made it perfectly clear what he wanted, after all.
"I'm on it!" Zim snapped, his pride hurt by those cruel words.
"Oh", there was a pause," G-good. Thanks." He heard steps as Sev En tipped away. Grumbling, Zim got up and jumped up to Dib's bed.
Dib woke up to someone squishing his cheeks together. He opened his eyes, seeing Zim's blurry face above him.
"The hell, Zim?" He grumbled. His cheeks stretched out.
"Sev En knocked and rudely told me to wake you up and get ready", Zim said and let go. Dib propped himself on his elbow and reached for his glasses. Zim jumped off his chest and left his vision.
The first thing he saw when he put on the glasses was that Zim's bed was full of fruit. Zim was eating a banana in the wrongest way possible and was getting banana goo everywhere.
Dib groaned and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"You're making a mess," he mumbled, standing up and reaching for his clothes.
"You are a mess", Zim replied, banana falling from his mouth as he spoke.
"No. You are a mess, and you've gotta swallow before you speak", Dib said and reached into the bathroom. He grabbed a soft towel and went to Zim, cleaning his face and cloth as one would a baby. But Zim was fully able to keep himself clean and it just made the entire situation really annoying.
"Liar!" Zim frowned, leaning away from the touch.
"Whatever. I've gotta get some breakfast and then we'll go to the labs." He got up and entered the kitchen. Zim had left the fridge open. The annoyance grew.
After a scolding and a big breakfast, Dib felt better. The taste of toast and ham made his mood way better. He let Zim walk ahead on their way to the labs, not caring how the irken ranted about Sev En's rudeness. Better if he let it all out now instead of snapping in front of Sev En.
"Finally!" Lard Nar said when they arrived. They still wore lasers by their hips, but at least the guard was gone. Dib decided that was a good sign. "Both of you put on your lab coats and we'll get started." He pointed to the hangar where two lab coats hung neatly Dib grabbed them and gave Zim the smaller one. His fit perfectly, but he wasn't sure he liked it. It reached all the way to the floor and the collar was high in the neck and low on the front, covering his ears but showing his cheeks and chin. He felt more like an evil sidekick than a real scientist.
"It's too big", Zim grumbled, holing out his hands to show how the coat was several sizes too big. No one acknowledged his complain.
"Let's get started", Sev En said and gestured to a table," This is your work place. Everything should be in the drawers."
"Thanks", Dib said, sitting down. Zim growled and rolled up the sleeves, stumbling on the fabric when he walked up to the other chair.
Sev En sat down by another table, not even looking at Zim. Dib looked over the instructions glowing from his computer screen and started going through the drawers to get what he needed.
The first hour was silent and the air was thick. The vortians worked quietly and more effectively than they had in years, refusing to chat like they usually did. Dib was nervous about his new work and tried to keep as quiet as possible. Even Zim felt like he shouldn't interrupt the silence.
Finally, Dib decided to break the ice. He sensed how Zim was becoming restless and started talking to him, explaining what he was doing. Zim, who was always the most eager to learn, immediately listened.
"You remember those tables we built on Irk? This is the same thing. We've got an instruction and we're gonna built a thing", Dib said. "Were you listening to what we're building?"
"Yes, yes", Zim waved a hand," we're giving someone extra powers. Like in Gaz's game" He said. Dib shrugged at Zim's simplified view of their project, thinking that at least he wasn't wrong.
"That's right, I guess. We want to make an army of people with … extra powers so that we can defend ourselves against other empires. The universe is so big that we never know when an unfriendly specie might show up." Zim thought about this for a while as Dib kept working.
"But how will we do if it turns out that the strong ones we made turns out to be the unfriendly ones?" He asked. Dib paused. Sev en and Lard Nar paused as well. Maybe they were startled by how the irken, the savage from Irk, had asked such a question. Or maybe it was the way he said 'we', as if he was really part of this and was sticking with them even if their deepest fears came true and they were creating their own doom.
" … I don't know. But we'll do everything to prevent that, right?" Dib chuckled. Zim nodded thoughtfully. The vortian duo went back to their work, looking seriously at each other. It was obvious that they were both affected by the recent question. Not because the hadn't thought about it, but because Zim was the one who had asked.
It was the first true sign that Zim was more than they had thought he was.
TBC
Not my best chapter, I know, BUT THE PLOT IS BUILDING UP I'M SO PUMPED! 8D (there'sstillalongwayuntilI'mdonethoughhhhahahaha)
Seeya all next time!
/Saga