Hello, sorry for taking so long. I didn't really enjoy writing this because not much happens and it's barely relevant to the plot so that's why :I

Again I would like to thank 3DPhantom for sharing their experiences with me to help me get the whole surgery part believable! Off course it's still not exactly how a surgery is done but I'm taking a few liberties to make it all science-fictiony :)

And hey look! IT'S THE NEW COVERRR! :D I hope you like it. If anyone wants to see a bigger version on it, it's on my tumblr at sagaholmgaard . tumblr post/ 123640879951 / skoodge -you- have -to -see -the- flashing but without spaces. If you're a tumblr user it would also be nice if you liked/reblogged it c:

CupcakeTrue: Thank you for your idea! I think it was your comment that made me make something that WASN'T a scene but more of an overview of the story.

Fancykitty1123: The third little picture in the cover is a vague future picture! I hope my style stayed true to your expectation :p

Guest: The only question is WHEN things will go wrong, right? It could be any moment now, y'know?

Chapter 21

Was he sleeping or...? His brain was all messed up and his thoughts were as unorganized as a herd of shnooberhoppers running away in panic. That's not how it should feel to be awake, but it wasn't how he used to feel when asleep either.

Welcome to the waking world, Irken subject, a voice said. A voice that was in his head but wasn't his. Something like fear gripped his sluggish body.

"Wwhaa..." Zim moaned and opened his eyes. The world was as blurry as his body felt.

"You're waking up already? Hey, don't get up yet!" A blurry motion and two hands pressed him back on his belly. They weren't pressing hard at all, but it was enough to keep him in place somehow. He moaned and breathed heavily as his arms gave up on him.

"There, just stay calm, okay? We don't want you hurting yourself", the voice said. This voice wasn't in his head. That must be good, right?

Everything was so blurry. He rubbed his eyes, but it didn't help. Had his eyes stopped functioning? Why would they do that?! Stupid treacherous eyeballs.

"Now that you're awake and calm, I'm just gonna..." The blur moved. Suddenly something moved inside his throat. He felt it being pulled out of him. "There. Breathing tube removed."

There was silence once again and Zim spent the time trying to focus his vision on something, anything. Slowly, he could see. Lard Nar was right in front of him, sitting with a holographic pad in his hands. His fingers ran over it as he wrote down things.

"Lard Nar..." Zim mumbled. It didn't come out quite right.

"Don't expect me to understand that", Lard Nar said, not looking up from the holographic pad he was writing on. "You're still under anesthesia, so just relax and stay there. The others are on lunch break and should be back soon."

Zim moaned and relaxed. It was hard to think and he didn't like it. And the more awake he became the more he felt … something on his back right between his shoulder blades. It hurt somewhat and he felt like something was inside him that shouldn't be there.

"Master, you awakie yet?" yet another voice said. This time Zim recognized it immediately. Although he couldn't see GIR, it was obvious it was him. The Irken could just imagine him sitting on the bed with his little legs dangling over the edge.

"GIR, leave your 'master' alone. He needs his rest", Lard Nar said distractedly.

"Aw, but he promised to play hide n seek with me..." Gir said sadly. Zim had never promised that.

"GIR", Zim said, and this time it actually sounded right. It encouraged him to continue," What are you doing here?" He remembered one thing, and that was that GIR had been locked in their room before the operation had started.

"I came here riding an old fat lady! Then I saw you was sleeping and decided to sing until you woke up!" GIR answered. That sounded plausible, but it might just be the fog in Zim's head that made him think that.

"The SIR unit actually started banging on the doors in the middle of surgery, screaming your name. We had to call for reinforcements so he wouldn't screw up. It's a wonder nobody got hurt", Lard Nar said. Zim could barely make out the cold sharpness in his words. "The guards only managed to hold it until we were done. It's been sitting here ever since. Staring at me. I'm creeped out by my own creation!"

"It was a stare-off!" GIR cheered.

"It was not! I wasn't competing!" Lard Nar snapped.

"Yes you were", GIR said. Lard Nar growled and turned to Zim.

"Anyways, Zim, how do you feel? You seem somewhat coherent now, are you able to answer some questions?" Zim thought (which still was hard, but it was getting easier by the minute), and nodded.

"Yes. Yes, Zim can do that."

"Good", Lard Nar got up and stood beside him so that Zim almost couldn't see him, lying on his belly. "Try moving your left foot."

Let's see, left... Zim needed a moment to realize which one he was supposed to move before he could even try.

"Good. Now your right foot."

And so it went on. Zim had to move every body part, from toes to antennae until Lard Nar was sure nothing had been paralyzed during the operation.

"Excellent! We didn't hurt any vital nerves after all!" he said, still writing on his holo-pad," Not that I thought we might, or anything."

In that moment, There was a knock and a door sliding open. Zim went through quite some effort to turn his head to the other side and look at Dib and Sev En walking inside. They waved and Lard Nar waved back.

"Dib! Where've you been?" Zim asked, irritated at his own hoarse voice.

"I took a fifteen minutes lunch break! All this tension and excitement made me hungry!" Dib shrugged with his hands up protectively.

Lard Nar got up and gave the holo-pad to Sev En. Sev En's eyes moved over the hologram quickly and expertly. It's possible he was just trying to look smart.

"Zim seemed startled when he first woke up, but other than that he's been showing nothing but positive signs so far", Lard Nar said, pointing at something on the hologram.

"Great, thank you, Lard Nar", Sev En nodded, still looking through the notes.

"Startled? What on earth is that supposed to mean?" Dib asked. He leaned over the Vortians to see the pad, but the text was in Vortian. He couldn't read it.

"It's normal to feel startled or confused after a surgery. Stop worrying so much, Dib", Lard Nar said," Well, your shift has officially started. Anything that happens until I get back from lunch is totally your responsibility." And so he left.

"Zim? You okay?" Dib asked, bending down by the bed,"How did it feel waking up?"

"Errrr", Zim mumbled, leaning away from Dib's lunchy breath. He vaguely remembered waking up, but 'startled' wasn't a word he wold choose. 'Terrified' would be much more suiting. He couldn't put his finger on why he felt that way, though," I dunno."

"Master's been sleeping for a loooong time. Only the KISS OF TRUE LOVE could wake him up!" GIR said. Zim frowned. Kiss? That would explain the terror.

"Zim was under anesthesia. That has nothing to do with true love", Sev En said,"It is simply science." Zim huffed and tried to sit up again. If Lard Nar was gone then his rules didn't apply anymore, right...? Besides it was weird not being able to look at everyone else in the room.

"Are you trying to hurt yourself?" Dib exclaimed. Zim's arms shook beneath him with the effort, but he kept trying. "Goddammit, Zim! Be still!" Again, just like last time he tried to get up, two hands landed on his shoulder. But Zim felt stronger now, and growled at Dib.

"Hey! Let go of ZIM!"

"No way, you're staying there until we tell you to, okay?" Dib wrestled Zim back into the covers after some struggle, while the Irken protested loudly.

"Zim, please listen to Dib. If you wait patiently Vort's fast healing technology will make sure you can sit up before tomorrow", Sev En said.

"I have been patient forEVER!" Zim exclaimed, pouting into the pillow his face was currently pressed against.

"You haven't even been awake twenty minutes!" Dib exclaimed.

"If you do not be still we will just insert more drugs into your system. I think you would rather be awake, right?" Sev En said, making Zim think his options over. He hated to admit it, but he really had no choice.

"Fine! But only because you're forcing me", he finally muttered.

"Great. Now tell me how you feel." Zim frowned. Trying to ignore your pain became a bit hard when someone asked about it.

"It feels like someone pierced my spine."

"Then imagine how it would feel without narcotics", Sev En smiled," You know it will hurt less if you don't move."

"Ugh." Zim hid his face in he pillow as was his only way of showing how he felt about that.

"Ugh", GIR mimicked and suddenly something (GIR) threw itself on Zim's legs. The Irken yelped and instinctively tried to turn around again.

"Oh gods, I knew the SIR unit was a bad idea", Sev En gasped.

"Don't MOVE, Zim!" Dib exclaimed. GIR giggled and rolled all over Zim's legs while Dib tried to catch him.

"THEN GET GIR OFF MY BODY!" Zim screamed. It didn't hurt or anything, there was just something overall uncomfortable about being completely helpless.

"I'm trying. I'm trying", Dib said distractedly, finally grabbing GIR's arms and lifting him off the bed. GIR screamed.

"MASTER! No! Don't let the meanies take me!" The little robot screamed, fake tears rolling down his face.

"BE QUIET, GIR! You're making my head hurt", Zim replied.

"Okay!" GIR said. Dib let go, still astounded at how GIR could go from a crying baby to a happy little child in less than a second. He tried not to think about how the very same robot had jeopardized the whole operation minutes earlier.

"You didn't break anything, did you, Zim?" Sev En asked biting his lower lip. Zim shook his head, thinking that nothing was broken except his patience. He just really wanted to get up!

"Put GIR where I can see him, Dib!" he said.

"You sure? I think we should just turn him off until you're recovered."

"He's my robot! Just do what I say!"

"Okay, sure", Dib put GIR down on the chair beside Zim, where the Irken could keep his robot under a watchful eye. GIR waved

"Hello, stranger!" GIR said.

"THAT'S BETT-" Zim was interrupted by GIR's hands squishing his face.

"Oh gods", Sev En sighed to himself. It had barely been twelve minutes, but he already wished Lard Nar's break was over. After a final confirmation of the notes, he put down the holo-pad and sat down.

"Now we just have to wait until Zim is in a good enough condition to continue the experiment. It could take weeks, or even months depending on how his body reacts to the PAK", he said, louder this time. The sound Zim made would later enter history books as the loudest and longest groan made in the history of the universe.

"Don't be a whiner, you knew all this", Dib huffed.

"Yes, but I pretended not to know."

"Like you pretended you didn't eat all my snacks three days ago?"

"Heh, no. That's a completely different kind of pretending. And I did not eat them! You're LYING!"

Sev En tuned them out. After his months of working with them, he (and most of the castle employees) had learned that they could bicker for hours, if nobody stopped them. He thought they might as well be given that chance for now. It was one way to pass time, after all.

"Am not! You totally ate them: all the wrapping paper was hidden under your pillow!"

"Why would you look under my pillow?"

"Because every time something that's mine disappears, I can find it under your pillow."

"That is not true. Sometimes it's in GIR's head."

"MY HEAD'S A MISSILLE LAUNCHER!"

"... We know, GIR."

Like a miracle, the door opened and Lard Nar stepped in. Sev En sighed in relief, something Lard Nar noticed and nodded understandingly. He took the final chair and sat down beside his coworker.

"Anything exciting happen when I was gone?" he asked. Sev En shrugged.

"Well, GIR almost hurt Zim by scaring him, but otherwise no", he answered. Lard Nar groaned. Both of them were wary when it came to the destruction machine, but they had to admit that it was amazing how Zim was never truly hurt by it, no matter how many times he got in trouble thanks to the little things.

They both looked over to the trio by the bed. Somehow, their conversation had changed into something that they all laughed about.

The Vortians silently agreed that it was the weirdest trio in the universe.

TBC

There you go. Pretty unexciting, huh? Well, next chapter is gonna be more exciting, promise!

Hey, I passed 50k words with this chapter, didn't I? That's cool!

Man I'm tired.

/sagapaga