Greetings, everyone! I'm back with yet another chapter! You might notice how I wasn't too thrilled about editing this time, nnngh. I hope there aren't too many typos missed in my half-hearted attempt at editing.
Guest: Me too! And yes, who could possibly know what'll happen? ( I do. I know EVERYTHING!)
Guest: aww, thanks! It's good to see people accept my choice to not include any major ships.
Guest: I'm happy that you consider this part of your favorite fanfics!
Chocolate 334: I sure will! Writing is fun, and I work on this as often as I can :D
Guest: BELIEVE ME, I SCREAM EVERY TIME I SEE A REVIEW AS WELL! Glad you liked :)
NoName: Zim's antics is the funniest thing to write as well, believe me ;)
Chapter 17:
The very next day, Lard Nar had halfheartedly given Zim a pile of junk to play around with. Dib almost started a fight because of his coworker's lack of effort, but Zim had grinned and said: "neat!" before sitting down by the heap of garbage. Still, Dib huffed and glared at Lard Nar before getting to work.
Working in the lab was intense, to say the least. They worked from early in the morning until lunch time, when a servant would come with a cart filled with food. Everyone would eat in silence and start working again as soon as they were finished. Then there were no breaks until they all stopped working and went home, which was around dinnertime anyway.
Dib overall didn't mind the hard work. He'd been a hard worker ever since he was a kid, always tinkering with his dad's technology and building his own inventions. The only complaints he had with the tight schedule were the ones his bladder made.
Anyway, they had all just started on the second work session when they were interrupted by a hum and a noise. Dib looked up and his eyes fell on Zim, who was grinning excitedly about something.
"What- oh", he said, prepared that Zim might have caused troubled for himself, but calming down when he saw the source of the noise. He'd found a disassembled alarm clock and somehow assembled it again. "Hey, good work, Zim." He instead complimented, half-smiling. Maybe the pile of trash was just what Zim needed.
… That was a strange thought.
"The time machine has been put together", Zim cheered.
"Um. It's a clock, not a time machine", Dib explained.
"A machine that shows time!" Zim said, looking stubbornly confused. Only Zim could manage that look.
"Yeah, it's called a clock, you know that", the teen said.
"He fixed the broken clock?" Dib looked up at Lard Nar's voice. He found that both Vortians were looking at them perplexedly as if they had never seen something like this. Dib couldn't help but grin smugly. They had given Zim all this scrap, thinking he wouldn't know what to do with it and possibly snickered behind their backs. But Zim had shown them. He'd actually seen the potential in the junk and used it. And in the end, who had taught Zim all about this stuff? Dib had!
"That's right. He sure did", Dib said, his smile morphing into something more resembling to a proud father.
"How...? He's not intelligent enough to know how to do that! Have you trained him?" Lard Nar asked.
"Hey! I am right here!" Zim exclaimed. A growl had started in his throat at Lard Nar's words and now he was looking righteously pissed off. The look mimicked Dib's feelings at what had been said. He took a deep breath to not be rude when he next opened his mouth.
"As I said before, Zim and Irkens in general are way more intelligent than they're given credit for. Maybe by accepting this fact, you wouldn't be so shocked every time he does or says something smart", it still sounded stern. Take your dumb prejudice and shove it up your ignorant ass, Dib thought.
"It is utmost fascinating indeed", Sev En said carefully, perhaps sensing the stern aura around Dib. "You have opened doors to new theories all across the universe! Keep in mind that news this big will take time to settle to some people."
Dib wanted to glare, but remembered how he'd needed some time himself to realize Zim's intelligence, six months ago when they'd first met. Man, it felt like a lifetime ago! And then everyone else had also taken their sweet time to accept him. Maybe Sev En was right, it was just a matter of, well, time.
"I'm still here!" Zim then decided to cut in, still obviously unhappy about being ignored. "Your praise is all nice and good, but Zim would like it if it was directed to me directly instead of through the Dib." It would have been sorta funny if Dib hadn't known he was being completely serious. At least it silenced both Vortians.
"Yes, excuse us, Zim. You're right", Sev En said, smiling sternly. Lard Nar also mumbled some kind of apology and turned away. Dib relaxed, already regretting his anger.
"Good work on the clock, Zim. You got it to show the right time as well?" Dib asked and looked closer at the clock.
"Um. Yes! Off course I did! It would be stupid if I hadn't!" Zim said and laughed nervously. In reality, he didn't even know what time it was. Dib, off course, noticed that the time was totally off, and smiled.
"I'll show you how to do it. It's really easy", he said, taking the clock from Zim. Said little alien then leaned over curiously as the knowledge-hungry being he was. Dib could feel the other inhabitants of the rooms looking at them as well, but he ignored it. They could do whatever they wanted to do. He changed the time so it fit with the clock on his computer. Off course, once Zim reclaimed his clock he changed it again, playing around with it even more. Dib looked how Zim's eyes widened in fascination and remembered that this was a thing they had done on a daily basis back on Irk. And dang, he already missed it.
His time on Vort hadn't turned out as awesome as he'd hoped.
But, he thought, It'll get better. Soon, at least Sev En will have accepted Zim and then … Dib didn't know exactly what would happen then. But it would definitely be better than now. They were getting there.
He turned back to his work, but didn't feel like continuing. Which was weird, because he had always loved working on projects. Though today had not been that great, and he didn't want to be on bad ends with Lard Nar (not that he would excuse his behavior either) and he really needed to pee.
Meanwhile, Zim had already found something new to occupy himself with. For any civilized person, trash is rarely seen as valuable, but Zim was not civilized. This particular thing was extra intriguing, because it looked like a person-thing. It had a head, a body and arms and legs. Also, it was just slightly smaller than him. Zim had never owned a doll, and never even heard of the concept, but if he had, he would have thought of this as a doll.
"Hey, what's this thing do?" Zim asked, a question directed at Dib, but instead It was Lard Nar who reacted.
"Hey! What was that doing in the trash? Sev!"
"I thought you scrapped that one?" Sev En said, shrugging. Lard Nar glared.
"Hey, Zim. That thing's not for you, hand it over", The gray Vortian said, reaching for the thing in Zim's hand. Zim's eyes narrowed, and Dib, seeing how this could get a bit problematic, hurried to get in between.
"What is it, anyway?" He asked quickly and stopped Lard Nar's move. Said alien shrugged.
"An old version of this project, from before we decided to take up your father's work."
"What did we call it... the SIR unit? It didn't go according to plan though", Sev En added.
"Yeah. It went bonkers, and the idea was thrown away", Lard Nar looked away, looking somewhat ashamed, as if he'd had high hopes for the thing once. "It destroyed a lot though, so your Irken shouldn't have it!" The Vortian then said angrily. He once again tried to grab it.
"No! It's mine! It belongs to Zim!" Zim snapped, stretching his arms away from Lard Nar's grasping hands.
"Just give it to me! If you start it, it'll wreck our entire lab! Again!" By now, Lard Nar had grabbed Zim, almost shoving the lighter alien off his chair. But if there was one thing you shouldn't underestimate, it was Zim's strength. When Lard Nar then grabbed the lifeless robot, Zim shoved him away forcefully, and instead it was Lard Nar who fell backwards.
"What the heck?! Stop it, both of you!" Dib exclaimed.
"He'll give me that robot!" Lard Nar said, charging again.
"No!" Zim hissed and lashed out.
Everything seemed to stop. Lard Nar's hand went up to his face, where three red lines could be seen. Zim was the only one who didn't look chocked. He was panting, glaring daggers at the person in front of him. Finally, Lard Nar broke the silence.
"Fine, keep the dumb thing!" Then he stood up, leaving the room while grumbling. Dib breathed out loudly.
"Wow, Zim. You totally screwed up", the teen said, not sounding angry or anything. More like some sort of autopilot had taken over and was steering him into scolding Zim.
"Did not! He started it! And deserved it", Zim snapped, obviously still angry and obsessing with a stupid piece of junk.
"Did too. And no, he didn't deserve anything! Sure, he was being a jerk, but that doesn't mean you can do any- wait, you know what. He totally deserved it", Dib said and by now had snapped back to reality. "but you still screwed up."
"Fine! I'll go and unscrew up!" Zim said and stood, running after Lard Nar. Dib immediately saw how that was a bad idea and stood up to follow.
"Let them be", Sev En said. Dib stopped and stared at him. "You said before that Zim doesn't attack people randomly. And I believe you. I think if they're left alone for a while, everything will work out between them." Dib looked at the door for a while before sitting down. He didn't doubt that Zim wouldn't hurt anyone, but there were other things to worry about. The castle could be in ruins any moment now.
"I hope so. I wish none of this had happened. Sorry, man. I could probably have stopped that if I'd tried", Dib said. Sev En shook his head.
"No, it's fine. It was our fault too. But tell me", he looked at Dib with some curiosity,"when you arrived here, you didn't seem this tense. What has happened?" Dib sighed and sunk into his chair. A picture of the Queen flashed before him, and how she was the first one to really be nice to both of them.
"I met the Queen yesterday, and she was really nice. She didn't freak out or anything and she showed me that it was possible to people to actually be at ease around Zim. And I realized how badly we were all treating him, I guess?" Dib shrugged. He knew he'd gone on a bit of a rant, but hey, he couldn't help it!
"Ah, yes. The Queen", Sev En said, with some resignation. He went back to work and Dib wondered if it was okay to keep talking, but Sev En spoke up before he could try his luck.
"She always want to help people. She wants everyone to be happy. Everything she stands for, is to make us all united, regardless of race. That's what this is all about."
"… You don't seem to thrilled about that", Dib pointed out.
"It's all for a good cause! It's just … She is so young and inexperienced, I am not sure she knows what she's up for", Sev En said without looking up.
"But … It'll work, right? Operation Impending Peace and all that. Everyone's got such high hopes", Dib said weakly. It was no use, though. He could see the problems now.
"Maybe. But The Queen is still but a child, naive and prone to mistakes. I fear not everything will go according to plan", Sev En shrugged. Dib looked down. He still remembered how happy everyone was when the treaty had been signed. It had been a day when many humans thought for the first time in years that they may not be doomed after all.
"Maybe not", he said," but she's trying, right? And so far she's succeeding. So I wouldn't let my hopes die just yet." He smiled.
"... maybe you're right", Sev En smiled back. There a mutually comfortable silence between them. Dib pondered over what the Vortian had said and acknowledged that it was impossible to make every intelligent race in the universe happy. Still, he thought the Queen could help at least some races. And that was more than enough.
TBC
Stay tuned for next chapter, promised to be filled with ADVENTURE and FUN (and doooom...!)
/Saga