[A/N] I'm gonna be honest y'all, I didn't think this fic would gain any traction at all. I thought I'd be writing into a void on this one. So needless to say I'm extremely happy that Among Stars has already gotten some attention, it makes me really happy.

That's all. Please enjoy the story!

Iiek turned her gaze back to Gaz, the purple haired girl staring at the clock in an attempt to make it move faster. The other girl had proven to be smart enough to sus out Iiek's disguise immediately, a massive step above her fellow humans, she could be a deadly rival. Or an incredible ally. Iiek did need someone who knew the human race better than she did after all.

Seemingly sensing her gaze, Gaz turned back toward Iiek to find her staring at her, "What?" she growled and Iiek smirked again.

"Nothing," She said, holding the other girl's gaze as amber eyes stared into amethyst, "Just thinking."

Gaz growled again before turning back toward the clock, "Think quieter then." She grumbled.

Iiek's smirk widened as she turned back toward the front of the class, "Of course Gaz, whatever you say."

'Yes,' Iiek thought, 'she'll do perfectly.'

One Week Later

Gaz ate her slop in silence, the cafeteria was mostly empty except for a few pockets of students who were talking quietly. Her own table was usually empty as most people weren't willing to risk her wrath by disturbing her while she was eating, which suited her just fine.

This past week however, that had changed.

Gaz raised her eyes from her food to the disguised girl who sat in the seat across from her at the table as she had all week. Iiek was clearly a member of whatever alien race Zim was from if their earlier conversation indicated anything. Although she was also clearly smarter than Zim as instead of just putting on a wig and some contacts, Iiek had disguised herself by changing her appearance entirely. How, Gaz didn't know for sure but she suspected holograms as she had seen Iiek change the way her backpack looked when nobody but Gaz was watching.

Speaking of watching…

"Are you ever gonna do anything but stare at me?" Gaz asked the other girl, watching as she blinked in surprise. "Don't you have anything better to do, like plot to take over the world or something?"

Iiek just hummed, tilting her head, "You interest me Gaz." She stated bluntly and Gaz raised an eyebrow, "You show a blatant disregard and even disgust for your fellow humans. Not to mention the fact that you instantly saw through my disguise with little effort, something that no one else on this mud ball has been able to do. It speaks wonders of your intelligence."

She leaned forward in her seat, smirking slightly as her purple eyes flashed with mischief, "And in regards to taking over the world, it's just a matter of time now. I've already gotten all of the necessary steps in place. I just need to talk with a few people and my position as ruler is secure."

Gaz didn't let her surprise show on her face, she had underestimated Iiek. Despite all of Zim's gloating and showboating, the human suspected he wouldn't be able to take over the Earth even if her brother wasn't there to stop him. It was like there was some cosmic force keeping him from succeeding in his plans, often making them fail in the most comical ways possible.

Iiek however, didn't seem to have that problem if the smirk on the other girl's face was any indication. Gaz took a sip of her juice, mind whirling as she processed the pale girl's words, if what she said was true, then Earth was pretty much doomed already and the armada Zim liked to yell about so much was already on it's way. Wait a second…

"You said your position as ruler." Gaz pointed out, watching as Iiek's smirk widened and her gaze sharpened, "Aren't you aliens supposed to be prepping the world for invasion or something. Have you gone rogue?"

Iiek's smirk widened once more and the girl began giggling, and then laughing uproariously, catching the attention of nearly everyone in the cafeteria. The blue haired girl continued laughing into the sudden silence and Gaz blanched as dozens of eyes turned toward them, thankful that Dib had taken a sick day to go spy on Zim or something. She turned to the other students watching them and snarled, watching in satisfaction as their faces turned white and they looked away immediately.

She turned back toward Iiek as the other girl calmed down, wiping an invisible tear from her eye before looking back toward Gaz, "You really are a sharp one aren't you? I'm glad I wasn't wrong about you." Iiek smirked sharply, running a hand through her hair under her hood, "You are somewhat correct in your assumptions. Normally when an invader is sent to a planet they are to prep it for eventual invasion and conquest for the Irkin Armada. I however, wasn't sent here. I escaped to this mudball."

Gaz was confused, "But wait, I thought you… Irkins, were all about pleasing your leaders. Zim can't stop talking about 'pleasing the Tallest' or whatever."

Iiek grimaced at the mention of the other Irkin, "Zim is… how do I put this?" She scrunched her face in thought before snapping her fingers as it came to her, "Ok so you know how sometimes a boss will send an employee on some random errand just to get them out of their hair?"

Gaz nodded, her father had been known to do that to some of his more incompetent employees who he couldn't fire due to contracts and stuff getting in the way. Sometimes he'd send them halfway across the globe just to get a bottle of water from a specific place, it was hilarious.

"That's what the Tallest did to Zim. Earth is so far outside of the Irkin Armada's flight path it isn't even slightly plausible for them to get here without the use of a wormhole. And even if they did, they hate Zim, they'd likely shoot him into the crust of the planet as part of the organic sweep. Those morons like to do that sometimes."

Gaz nodded, that explained some things, like how Zim had such a hard time getting his beloved leaders to come to Earth. Iiek's tone when talking about her alleged leaders also explained some things.

"You hate them don't you? The Tallest." She asked, watching as the girl across from her froze, "The way you talk about them. You really hate them, that's why you escaped."

Iiek's teeth clenched with anger, "Hate doesn't even begin to describe it." She snarled quietly, "I loathe the Tallest and the Control Brain by extension. The way they treat the Irkin they deem inferior is… No, that isn't a conversation for now." Iiek took a calming breath and stood.

Gaz watched warily as the other girl approached her, reaching a hand into her backpack. Her theories about the backpack being a hologram were proven true as Iiek's hand passed through it like it wasn't even there.

Iiek stopped right in front of her and leaned in closer, close enough that Gaz could feel the other girl's breath on her face. Gaz stared into Iiek's amethyst eyes and kept her face stoic even as her heart beat weirdly in her chest. The invader held her gaze for a moment before smirking and pressing something into Gaz's hand before stepping back.

Gaz looked down in confusion, "A phone?" She turned it around in her palm, examining the black screen and purple metallic casing. Turning it on revealed a screensaver depicting a dark red planet. It's design was unique, not resembling any phone Gaz had seen before.

"It's my own design." Iiek spoke, tapping on her wrist in a way that seemed random but was clearly intentional, she looked back up at Gaz, "It's solar powered and can hold up to a week's worth of battery. It has over six terabytes of memory and is also more powerful than any other phone on the planet, it can even reach into space."

The purple haired girl looked down at the phone in amazement, although she didn't let any of that show on her face when she looked back up at Iiek "That's pretty impressive. What other gadgets you have in that backpack of yours?"

Iiek's mouth immediately turned up in a mischievous grin, purple eyes flashing and Gaz knew she had made a mistake, "Oh Gaz, I didn't know you were so bold." She spoke lowly, "You haven't even bought me dinner yet and you already want into my PAK? I'm sorry to say, but I'm not nearly so easy. You'll have to put in more effort than that."

Gaz's felt heat blossom in her cheeks and she grit her teeth, "That wasn't what I meant."

Iiek just laughed, "Oh I know, I was just messing with you. You are always so stoic and it's so much fun." She checked her wrist, eyes seeing something that Gaz couldn't, "It's been a pleasure chatting Gaz, but I have a meeting to prepare for after skool. I'll see you tomorrow."

As she began walking away, Gaz call out, "Wait, what's the phone for? Why'd you give it to me?"

The other girl stopped and turned back to Gaz, eyes seemingly glowing in the darkness of her hoody, "I told you Gaz, I find you interesting, I like to keep an eye on things that interest me. You can use that phone to call me and ask me any question you want, although I should warn you," She smirked, "any question asked is a question earned. I've got some of my own questions for you."

She turned around and continued walking out of the cafeteria, leaving Gaz to stare down at the phone, mind whirling. She looked around to find numerous students staring at her with wide eyes and open mouths.

"What are you looking at? Do you want me to destroy you?" They all turned away immediately and Gaz smirked before returning to staring at the phone.

When Iiek had first arrived on Earth, she had spent some time searching for the perfect avenue to start her plan and after around a week, she found it.

See, Earth had only a few predominant companies competing in the luxury goods industry. There were only two worth noting, the GES, the company behind the Gameslave systems and it's offshoots, and the tech division of Membrane laboratories, Membrane Tech, though they mostly focused on household items. There was barely any competition between the two as they both had a stranglehold on the market, leaving no room for innovation.

This left a gap that Iiek was all too happy to fill with her own company. It was extremely simply to enter the local government databases and create a background for herself in business management and tech development. From there it was just a matter of money, something she had in abundance after hacking into the local banking systems, passing by the firewalls as if they weren't even there.

IRK Tech company focused only on technology based luxury goods such as televisions and game systems. Using her own designs to create technology nobody could find elsewhere, Iiek's company soon had more than enough money to buy GES out completely. Leaving only Membrane Tech to compete with her.

Back at her base, Iiek stared at the massive screen in front of her with her hands steepled in front of her chin. On the screen were numerous data entries, red lines going up and down to indicate the stocks of her company. Most of them were up, although a few had gone down as Membrane Tech attempted to close the gaps on their sales.

If the meeting went well however, Iiek wouldn't have to worry about that at all. Though she still had something to take care of first.

"Computer! How much time is left until the meeting?" She yelled out at the empty room around her.

"Approximately one hour and fifteen minutes remain until the dinner at the Membrane household mistress." The voice of her household A.I. spoke to her through the speakers in the walls, "Would you like me to move it back?"

Iiek waved her hand, "No need, that will be more than enough time to do what I need to do." She rose from her chair and began walking to the elevator, Ram following behind her silently, "Prepare a hormonal scan in the sub lab. There is something bothering me."

"Right away mistress."

Iiek entered the elevator and pressed a button on her wrist, the doors closing and the floor lowering. Her face scrunched up as she recalled her actions earlier that day.

The way she had acted with Gaz, taunting her, gifting her something, flirting with her. It all pointed to one thing, but there was only one way to know for sure.

Reaching the sub lab, Iiek stepped off the elevator and mad her way over to the full body scanner. Removing her outer layer of clothing and wincing as the cold air of the lab brushed up against her dark green skin, she entered the scanner.

"Ram, preform a full emotional scan for approximately 1:37 earlier this afternoon." The SIR unit saluted and began pressing buttons on the console, the scanners around her whirring to life as he did so.

Iiek closed her eyes as the scan began, dark blue laser passing through her body as they analized the chemical composition of her internals and her PAK. It took around fifteen minutes for the scan to complete and as it did, Iiek exited the scanner and re dressed before walking to the large screen on the wall.

"Computer, display scan results."

"Understood mistress, displaying now." Iiek watched anxiously as the results appeared on the screen.

Emotional Scan Results

Boredom: 2%

Anger: 8%

Playfulness: 17%

Cheer: 20%

Interest: 21%

Desire: 32%

!Warning! Scan results indicate possible Irkin courtship in progress.

All courtship of the Irkin species has been forbidden by the Tallest and Control Brain. Please report the scan's recipient to the nearest Irkin outpost for rehabilitation and reprogramming.

Iiek just stared at the results for a moment as what she had suspected was proven true.

Irkins weren't like other species, intimacy in their species was extremely rare, to the point that it was almost unheard of. This was mostly due to their PAKs as they functioned as not only secondary brains but also emotional inhibitors, making it nearly impossible for an Irkin to become physically attracted to another being.

That being said, nearly impossible wasn't the same as impossible. There had been instances of Irkins becoming physically attracted to other species if the desire was strong enough. This inevitably led to the Irkin abandoning their mission and choosing to stay with their newly acquired mate, something the Tallest and the Control Brain were against for obvious reasons.

They had made it outlawed for Irkins to mate even inside their own species. Any Irkin found initiating the courtship was to be reprogrammed, which was just a fancy way of saying their PAK would be completely wiped of all data and replaced. A fate worse than death as an Irkins memories were stored inside the PAK, wiping it of data would essentially revert them to an infantile state.

Iiek's PAK was already defective. Instead of simply wiping it once they found out, they would likely just destroy it, killing her. Not that she would ever let them find out.

Iiek stared at the alert for another moment before calling out, "Computer, erase the results of the scan and reboot yourself to an earlier instance." She had already disconnected the computer from the greater Irkin network but one could never be too sure.

"Understood mistress. Rebooting." The lights in the base flickered for a moment before restoring themselves as the A.I. reboot itself.

Ram tapped her on the thigh, "Mistress, the business dinner begins in forty five minutes. It would be prudent to begin preparations."

Iiek took a deep breath. She would deal with the scan results when she had the time, she had a business dinner to attend.

The Membrane household was rather impressive all things considered. Made of dark grey metal, the house was two stories tall with a large garage off to the side. An actual fence made of electricity flowed on either side of Iiek as she made her way to the front door.

Ringing the doorbell, Iiek only needed to wait a moment before she heard a response from inside. "One moment please. I am dealing with an extremely volatile chemical mixture, the slightest wrong movement could cause it to go critical and doom all of humanity! Wait son! Don't touch that, oh no!"

Iiek listened in confusion as the sounds and vibrations of numerous explosions shook the house to it's foundations. The roof opened up and smoke began billowing out of the top. Despite all of the noise however, none of the neighbors exited their houses to check what was going on.

'They must be used to it by now.' Iiek thought wryly, adjusting the tie on her dark grey suit. She had decided to forgo holographic clothing this time as she had no idea what kinds of scanners Professor Membrane had in his household. The man was supposedly eccentric and it would be bad for her to suddenly be wearing different clothing simply because he had brought out something to scan his food after all.

Iiek straightened as the door opened, smoke billowing out of the house only to dissipate and reveal a man in a singed lab coat and goggles. He coughed a few time before reaching out to shake her hand, "Hello, I'm Professor Membrane. I must say, I expected you to be older."

Iiek giggle as she accepted the man's handshake, "Yes well. Genius doesn't wait until you're an adult to reveal itself. I just capitalized on the opportunity as it presented itself."

Membrane laughed as he gestured for her to enter, "I was much the same way when I was your age. Always taking the opportunities as they came to me. It's what got me where I am today!"

As they walked through his house, Iiek noticed the distinct lack of pictures on the walls. She shrugged figuring the man didn't have any close family.

She was immediately proven wrong as the man spoke up as they approached the kitchen, "I hope you don't mind if my son and daughter sit in on this little business dinner. I would send them out with friends but I'm afraid they don't have any. Although my daughter has been talking about this girl from skool which is a massive improvement."

Iiek just nodded, "Of course I don't mind sir. This is your house after all, I would be a very rude guest to deprive your children of dinner."

Membrane laughed loudly as they reached the door to the dining room, "Ha! That you would." He stopped at the doorway and turned to her, bending down to speak to her quietly, "Now my daughter most likely won't talk very much during dinner. But my son has these… obsessions that he can't keep quiet about, just smile and nod, but whatever you do, don't ask about aliens."

Iiek nodded, fighting a grin at the irony and Membrane stood back to his full height, "Great! Let's get this dinner underway than!"

'His children certainly sound interesting.' Iiek thought to herself as she stepped in behind the man. 'In fact, they almost sound like…'

Iiek froze as she saw the two figures already sitting at the dinner table. Dib stared back at her with a confused look on his face, most likely wondering where he had seen her before. Gaz however…

Gaz was staring intently at Iiek, fork clenched in her tightening fist.

Professor Membrane spoke cheerily, seemingly oblivious to the atmosphere between his daughter and guest, "Children, this is Iiek. She's here to discuss the possibility of entering into a partnership with Membrane Tech."

*Snap* Gaz's fork broke in her grip.

"Gaz you need to more careful!" Membrane scolded his daughter, "What if the broken edge flew out of your grip and injured our guest here? That would have been a horrible tragedy."

Gaz looked at the broken fork in her grasp and then back at Iiek, "Yeah, it sure would have."

Iiek gulped as the amber eyed girl stared daggers at her, "Oh dear."