Hello guys, I'm here again with a new chapter of 'Superior'! I hope you enjoy!
Guest replies:
Fancykitty1123: I hope you'r enjoying your summer break!
Guest: wow really? xD No, I'm just 17 years old, but um. Thanks? I'm taking that as a compliment :)
Guest: Sorry if you thought that :/ I have a minimum of 2000 words per chapter, and the only time limit I put on myself is 'post as soon as possible'. Well, this new update was was faster, right? So I hope that pleases you :D
Chocolate334: It's here now :D
Guest: The Vortians are getting WAY too excited about this and everyone should find safe hiding spots ASAP D: And your rambling is actually really interesting. The idea of this being an origin story instead of a AU is really cool, but I'm probably not gonna go with it. I mean you can have that headcanon, that's nice, but I'm not gonna write my story like that. Still an interesting thought though!
Chapter 20:
And so, after a lot of hesitation on Dib's side, they decided that Zim would be the one to test out the first prototype.
To be honest, Zim thought it would be more … exciting. He had expected to be pierced with several metallic pieces while electricity was flowing through his body, but that had not happened. At least not yet.
No, they had gone through a row of days with physical examinations, IQ tests and MRI scans of his body. Then they spent a day DISCUSSING said MRI's. Whenever Zim thought they had done everything thinkable, Sev En or Lard Nar would come up with yet another thing to check out. Dib called it 'taking safety measures' or sometimes 'making sure everything is in order'. Zim didn't mind being in the center of (the for once positive) attention. But it was just so BORING.
And then there was this one day when he had to swear his loyalty to the Vortian empire. Apparently that was all part of the project, since the main goal after all was to create a super-soldier that could protect a large empire against enemies. It was a grand day, Zim and Dib were outfitted with formal Vortian clothes, a large crowd gathered in the castle's conference room and, while a dozen of cameras broadcasted live, Zim got to walk over to a little scene and hold a small rehearsed speech.
He had to promise to never do anything against the Vortian empire, to always stay loyal and to perform his duties faithfully. Dib said he didn't know what he just got himself into, but Zim thought it sounded simple enough. He could keep that promise.
Then there were another dozen Vortians poking microphones at him, asking him a ton of questions at the same time. That ended with him standing on Dib's shoulders while the human tried to handle the hoard of interviewers.
The day after their lab was filled with letters from various beings, Vortians and others alike. Some were angry, outraged at this crazy plan of action that would definitely doom them all, some were excited, thinking this opened doors to new possibilities. Others were tilting towards conspiracy, claiming that Zim was no real Irken or that the government was corrupted.
Zim very much liked feeding the letters to GIR.
During these days of examinations and blood samples, Zim spent a lot of his free time in the garden, exploring it or relaxing in the trees. Dib began trusting him to walk around by himself after a few days. That way, Dib got his own sweet spare time, where he could walk out and enjoy the city or catch up on about a year of no internet connection. He was behind on quite the bunch of TV shows. Sometimes Zim would come with him, but most of the time they parted and didn't see each other until dinner time.
Dib didn't mean to keep the fact that GIR was turned on as soon as they returned to their room secret, but it just sort of happened. There was no reason to bring the robot to work, and the subject didn't really come up. After a few days, he forgot completely that the Vortians didn't know. So he had a lot of explaining to do when they finally found out.
It had been a coincidence, really. Sev En had stayed in the castle after work, and met Zim outside when going home in the evening.
"Hello Zim. How pleasant to meet you here", Sev en greeted. Zim stopped in his quest to climb a tree and looked at Sev En for a moment.
"Err. Yeah. Pleasant", he said, not really seeing what was so pleasant about it. They met every day anyway, right? It wasn't unpleasant either, but that didn't equal to it being pleasant either, right?
"I see Dib has finally let you walk around on your own."
"Yes", Zim answered shortly. He had been very busy and really wanted to get back to climbing that tree. But Sev en seemed to be in a talkative mood as he opened his mouth again.
"Do you know where he is? I did have this thing I meant to talk to him about."
"Ehhhhhh. He's probably fighting his way through all the aliens and filth out in the city. He likes that for some reason", Zim shrugged.
"I LIKE FILTH TOO!" a high-pitched voice screamed from the tree. Sev En jumped about a meter in the air, gasping.
"What the flonk was that?!" He stuttered. Zim didn't answer at first, completely mesmerized at the sheer height of that jump Sev En had just made. "Zim? You heard it, right?"
"Oh yeah. It was GIR. I threw him into the tree before you came."
"MASTER MADE ME FLY! I hit a bird's nest! Teehehehehe", GIR giggled.
"...GIR?" Sev En said. The name sounded oddly familiar, like when an old friend presents themselves to you and you feel like you should remember them.
"Yes! Your unruly robot that has now accepted ME as his master", Zim said proudly.
"Do you mean the broken SIR unit? But I told Dib not to restart it", Sev En protested. Zim shrugged.
"It wasn't the Dib, it was me!"
"Yes, I assumed he would tell you the same thing", Sev En's shoulders sagged. At that moment, GIR decided to jump out of the tree, stumbling into the tidy rows of planted flowers and kicking dirt everywhere as he went. Sev En winced and tried to hide himself behind Zim. Although Zim's body mass was too small for a grown Vortian to hide behind.
"GIR! What did I tell you about touching the inedible flowers! Get back in the tree, you stupid robot!" Zim said, turning to the robot.
"Okee dokee", GIR giggled and rocketed himself into the tree again.
"Anyways", Zim said and turned back to a shivering, wide eyed Sev En,"he did tell me to not do … the thing. BUT I DID ANYWAYS! And GIR is fun, so you were all wrong and Zim is a genius. There", Zim smiled. Sev En stared for a moment. Then he seemed to gather himself and put on a very stern expression.
"I want you to turn that thing off right now. I'm going to have a talk with Dib. Good bye, Zim", he said, leaving without another word. Zim stood there for a moment, one eye wide and the other narrowed, wondering what could have changed Sev En's mood so drastically.
"Err. Whatever", he said and decided to go on and ignore the Vortian's order.
Later, he and Dib shared a short but fun talk that ended with them agreeing that Sev En had over reacted.
Slowly, the people in the castle got used to Zim walking around unsupervised, but Zim found that it didn't stop them from whispering behind his back. Or avoiding his gaze. Or tensing up whenever he got close. He got into the habit of never looking at them and just walking straight past them without showing them he took notice. He started walking with more purpose. With eyes set forward, head held high and face set into a scowl. He wouldn't let them think he was bothered by their looks.
The more time went past, the more he wanted to become an unfeeling robot.
Then finally, one day, there was truly nothing else to be tested. No more samples to look at. No more vows to be made. They were all in a different lab (not that Zim could tell), one with a different set of tools and a surgical table in the middle. Zim wore a hideous hospital gown, while Dib, Lard Nar and Sev En just wore different lab coats, their gray and blue color scheme signaling that they were about to perform surgery.
The emotions were differing from person to person. Although one could rightly say there was a shared aura of nervousness. Zim kept grinning in anticipation, but still felt strangely nervous because, what was to be done to his body was very much irreversible after all. Both Vortians had neutral expressions put on with careful professionalism, but their insides were tingling at the thought of what was gonna happen. Dib was the only one who let his nervousness show. His gloved hands kept fiddling restlessly, fingers twisting and untwisting, face scrunched up as if he had eaten a lemon, never really standing still but walking in a circle.
"Well, it's time", Sev En said,"Zim, are you ready?"
"Hah! I have been ready for DAYS! IT'S ABOUT TIME we do this!" Zim replied over-confidently. He walked up to the bed in the middle of the room and lay down. Sev En then reached for the bed's controls and adjusted it until Zim was seated comfortably.
Dib watched him desperately. This was so wrong, he felt like he was about to betray his best friend. Only Zim was certain this was a good idea. If only he had tried harder to change their minds, or if he had just come up with one more reason to stall the surgery, then maybe some incident or another would have forced them to cancel the whole project. He took a step forward, the word 'wait' bubbling up in his throat.
But no one was paying him any mind. Zim was turned to Sev En who was once again going through what they were gonna do. Not that it was needed, since Zim had been right there with them planning. It was more of a formality, really. To tell the patient what was gonna happen to them.
"This is the first of many surgeries. We just want to attach the AI to your spine and see how it interacts with your brain. Once your body accepts the AI as part of you, we will have another surgery and expand it with a few simple gadgets. You will get to get used to those and then we will gradually attach more advanced parts to the PAK."
"Yes yes, very fascinating", Zim said, either pretending that he didn't already know all that, or not listening at all.
The Vortian way of doing surgery was different from how they did it on Earth, and Dib wasn't sure he liked that. On Earth, the surgical team would be made up of lots of people, all specialized and well educated, but here it was just him, Sev En and Lard Nar. While Vortians were known for their high intelligence, Dib didn't understand how that equaled to 'we are inventors but since the circumstances call for it, we are now also surgeons'.
Apparently, an online course together with a few stimulation games was enough for them to perform a genuine, complicated surgery.
"Just tell us when you're ready and we will start with the preparations", Sev en said, breaking Dib's line of thought.
"Zim is ready, I'm more concerned about Dib though", Zim said, giving Dib a look. Lard Nar nudged him roughly.
"Come on, Dib, focus! This is a simple surgery for us, but it's not gonna work if your mind keeps on wandering," he huffed.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm focused already", Dib said. He took a deep breath and walked up to the table,"... are you still sure about this, Zim?"
"Yes!" Zim said sharply. Dib guessed weeks of asking him that exact question was a bit annoying.
"Okay, okay", Dib said, walking over to his team, taking a deep, shaky breath. "Let's do this." I guess.
Sev En expertly put the IV into Zim's wrist, muttering about how Zim's veins were tiny compared to the realistic stimulation he'd been training on.
"Do not make fun of my veins!" Zim said, looking suspiciously at the needle taped to his arm. Meanwhile, Lard Nar attached a tiny cord to Zim's head, its other end attached to an AI that would show them a live feed on Zim's condition through the whole operation. Dib scanned through the information. Except for a list with information about Zim's specie, sex, age and so on, the computer had a wide array of buttons and glowing lamps, all with their own special function.
There was an orange lamp, that would go green once Zim was unconscious and ready to operate on and red if something went wrong. Another lamp pulsed brightly yellow in the same pattern as Zim's heart-equivalent. Some lamps looked like they were the same color to Dib, but Lard Nar ensured him that to the Vortian eye, different colors were easily distinguishable. It was yet another thing he had to trust them on.
"Okay Zim, this'll just be two quick pricks in your spine, and then you'll wake up fused with the greatest piece of machinery we've ever created! Right, guys?" Lard Nar said. He looked expectantly at Sev En and Dib. Sev En nodded with a smile with Dib following suit.
"I know that! Let us be doing it already!" Zim said. Once again, Sev En nodded. With fingers swiftly sweeping over the keyboard, Lard Nar ordered the machine to infuse Zim with the anesthesia.
Dib followed the liquid through the IV into Zim's veins, thereby making them pass the point of no return. He raised his eyes to meet Zim's own, finding that he was already looking at him. Off course, the drugs were already doing their thing and while Zim might have tried to say something, all that came out was a groan as his eyes slipped shut.
The orange button switched to green.
TBC
Special thanks to 3DPhantom for sharing their experiences about surgeries with me c:
Also, I'm thinking about drawing a cover for this fanfic but I don't know what to draw. Do you guys think I should draw a scene that has already happened or draw a future scene, giving you a preview of what's gonna happen? (Nothing too spoilery, just enough to make you excited!)
/Sagapaga