The females watched in awe as they saw the whole thing unfold...Zim was beside himself with laughter..

"Why did he run? The Dib Stink though he would get away?!"

Gaz huffed a laugh in shock.

"I cant believe he actually got arrested...holy shit... Oh he is going to be pissed!"

Jack lynn was the next to react...she seemed to be in shock.

"All of this time...I never thought he'd be arrested. What happens now!?"

Gaz picked up her phone and dialed.

"I need to let Dad know."

~~~~~~~~~~Gaz

The phone barely rang once before her dad was on the line.

"Yes daughter, what's going on? Any news!?"

"Dad, Dib was just arrested, I'm not sure what for, but we just saw it on the cameras. "

"Oh dear... well...I supposed I'll wait for the police to reach out. Dib will just have to stay a few nights in jail I think. He has some lessons to learn. Do you know what he was arrested for?"

"No, but I'm willing to bet on resisting arrest...he bolted and failed. "

"He ran from the police? What in the world..."

" Yeah...they had to kind of tackle him."

"Oh...where did I go wrong?"

"It's not your fault Dad... Dib's just ...crazy."

"Yes, yes...he is crazy...but he wasn't supposed to be!"

"Is anyone?"

"Without crazy, sane could never exist Dear. Well...thank you for calling me, I'm going to head towards the station and talk with the academy until the police call. You girls stay safe. And tell Jacklynn she needs to come by for dinner sometime. Oh, and see if her neighbor will be so kind as to give us a copy of that footage."

"Will do Dad. lemme know if you get any info."

"Of course Daughter."

Gaz looked to Zim and Jack who were watching her patiently.

"Dad is going to wait for the cops to call and go from there. Sounds like he's going to let him stay in jail though. Scare him straight I guess. Zim, Dad wanted to know if he could get a copy of the footage."

"Of course. Computer -"

"Processing."

Gaz smirked.

"Could you make that two copies Zim...I want one for myself too"

Zim laughed and nodded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Jacklynn

Copies made, Zim went out to collect the stack of papers that Dib had left behind and brought them to her. She thanked him, and set them on the table... she'd deal with her homework later.

"You ok Jack?"

"Yeah... it's just...seems like it's one thing after the next. I don't know what to do about school. My perfect attendance is out the window."

"How can it be fixed?" Zim asked.

"Well, if I had a doctor's note, that would be one thing. But I can't see a human doctor anymore...Wait! Let me try my therapist!"

She dialed the line and spoke to her doctor. she explained that she had a bit of a breakdown from stress and asked if she could get an excuse for today.

"I'll give you one for the week. Take it easy dear, do we need to adjust your meds?"

"Thank you!! And no, they're fine, it was just situational, I'll fill you in at the next appointment."

" Sure thing... I'm emailing the school now. Take a load off and try to relax, ok?"

"Yes, thank you again."

She gave a sigh of relief and slumped onto the couch.

"Now what do we do?"

~~~~~~~~~Zim

He thought for a moment...He should get a status check on Jack Lynn...but he figured that could wait until tomorrow, she didn't need bothering anymore today.

They had just eaten, so that was done...he didn't really have many things to do recreationally...

"Computer, status on voot cruiser repairs."

"Repairs have been completed."

"What is a voot cruiser?" Gaz asked.

Zim smirked. "It is my ship. Once it is dark out, we can go for a ride if you like Jack Lynn...I should survey the area anyway."

Gaz's expression became desperate as she turned to look at Jack Lynn...who looked...confused?

"Why did I not figure you had a space ship...when you say ride...you don't mean to space do you?"

Gaz was bouncing in her seat now.

"Please tell me you mean to space!"

Zim laughed.

" We can, but if you are not ready for that Jack Lynn, we can just fly around on Earth...I only need to survey the area...but we can go wherever you like."

Jack Lynn's eyes were wide, she bit her lower lip a little ... something Zim couldn't seem to take his eyes away from.

"I think...just around here for now. "

Gaz seemed deflated but Zim nodded.

" What should we do till then? there's still a few hours to kill...do you have video games, or movies Zim?"

Zim thought...aside from the Earth TV...which, didn't really interest him, there wasn't anything for entertainment...

"No video games, but I have battle simulations, flight simulations...there is the training room."

"Training room?"

"It is a holodeck. The AI creates a Tangible VR training scenario...battles and such."

Gaz's eyes went wide and even Jack Lynn seemed interested. Zim took them down and entered the arena. it was a pitch black room, absolutely nothing was visable.

Zim went over to the wall by the enterence and touched the wall. a computer screen lit up and he input some info.

"It will only recognize two beings at a time...Jack Lynn, did you want to participate?"

"Ill spectate this round, you and Gaz have at it."

"Once the hologram starts, you will be able to see everything, but we will not see you Jack Lynn."

She nodded and went to sit in a corner.

Zim nodded and continued his work. He set up a fairly novice going into intermediate program. Before their eyes, the void of blackness became a scene on what looked like Mars.

They were standing on dusty red orange earth, plumes being stirred up here and there by the gritty hot wind blowing. Two suns shone brightly overhead in the bright blue cloudless sky...The area was pretty empty but for odd rock formations, and a smattering of strangley colored and shaped cacti, looking almost like coral.

Zim turned to Gaz.

"Okay, the objective is to defeat the enemy coming at us, the first wave will spawn soon. We have no armor and no weapons, you will have to collect bits of armor from those you fell, as well as weapons. Understood? You cannot die, but blunt force will be felt. this is Tangible VR."

"Holy shit this is so cool Zim! Ok! Got it!"

Zim was impressed as he watched Gaz grab a large rock, the first wave of foes coming in quickly.

~~~~~~~~Jacklynn

She watched in awe as Zim extended mechanical spider legs from his pac. he used them to manuver around the enemy, stab them, lift himself into the air, and even emitted electricity from them to slice through his atrackers. before long, he had a full set of armor and was heavily armed.

Gaz had nothing but a rock, she leapt at her first victim and ripped off his helmet, following him to the ground while she put it on herself and traded the rock for his gun, taking down four more...She had almost completed her armor before the next wave came loose. They had managed five waves before Gaz got shot from behind.

The simulation suddenly ended. Zim looking refreshed and Gaz thoroughly out of breath, red in the face, but gloriously happy.

Jacklynn laughed and clapped for them.

"That was amazing! Holy shit Gaz, you kicked ass! And Zim, that was...unreal...how much training have you had ?"

"Oh, about 25 years."

Gaz stopped and looked at Zim

" I thought you said you were like 27."

"I am. training started when Zim was hatched."

Gaz looked as white as a ghost... Jacklynn had so many more new questions. But first...

"Zim... you're 27!?"

Zim looked at her a little perplexed.

"Yes, In Irken time...do not know in Earth time."

"Still...it can't be that much of a difference... I'm only 17... that's a big age gap."

Zim looked panicked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Gaz

Oh no...ok, so to be fair, she was a bit concerned about this too...but if what the medic said was true, there really wasn't any turning back now.

This had been on her mind as well...from what she could see...most of Zim's life had been spent in a tube...and if he hadn't even known about reproduction until last night...she was curious if he had even gone through puberty until recently...that had to mean that he wasnt quite as old as his age, at least life experience wise.

"Jack...I think we need to put the midnight ride on hold...You and Zim really need to talk...Zim I think you need to show her your baby videos."

Zim immediately looked worried.

"Gaz, I do not want to stress-"

" She can handle it Zim. But I think she needs to understand."

Jack looked between them both, looking concerned and lost.

"Understand what exactly?"

Zim sighed.

"You will see Jack Lynn...Is there anything else Gaz?"

"I think...I think you should let Jack talk to your medic. So she can ask about the changes to her body, and Irken mating."

Zim looked hesitant, but nodded.

"Jack...what do you think?"

"Well...it couldn't hurt."