Haiii ! ! How's everyone today ? I hope you're excited for this update ! ! Here , we get a whole chapter written from Zim's perspective ^_^ This is kind of the chapter that really sets the story in motion for later events . This chapter title comes from Sweet Dreams by Beyoncé hehehe . Thank you for coming back and I hope you enjoy it ! ! Reviews are always appreciated 3
Sweet Dream or a Beautiful Nightmare
"GIR!" I shout from the kitchen. He comes barreling in from the living room.
"Yes sir?" He asks, saluting me and his eyes are red but it's brief.
"I told you to clean up the kitchen!" I yell, waving my arm around to show him the mess. He looks at it like he had no idea it was there. "I swear if I so much as see one single ant in here, again-"
"I'm gonna order a pizza!" He says.
"No GIR! No pizza until you clean up!" I say, knocking an empty dish into the sink. He finally sets off to clean the kitchen and I head down to the lab, just hoping he actually does clean. With what little attention span he has, I can already guess I'll have to go clean up, myself. I'll have to do it later, though. "Computer, pull up that raindrop chemical makeup for me, again." I say, watching as it appears on the screen.
"Here's the chemical composition of earth precipitation." The computer states, lacking his snippy attitude for once.
"Sulfuric acid, nitric acid and carbonic acid. And these earth monsters actually walk in that stuff." I complain, looking down at my own notes strewn across one of the tables. "My paste protectant works for about a week each time I use it, but I want something that will last. Especially after I forgot it last month and it started raining. My clothes nearly melted to my skin!" I say, looking over what exactly is in the paste I have to use. That pathetic excuse for an invader Skooge sends me necessities as of late since I haven't had any personal dealings with Irk. The less I need, the better. At least until I can fix the whole banishment, possible deactivation, mess.
I walk over to another table with different beakers full of all the different mixtures I've tried. "This one turned me blue, this one burned worse than the rain somehow, this one gave me a rash, GIR keeps eating this one…" I say, sorting through them. "They all work! It's just the side effects. I just need one that won't be so… not good." The computer doesn't respond to me and I never have any idea what he could be doing, not that I was really talking to him anyway. I'm working on the long lasting paste serum for a long time until it gives me a headache so I put it aside and walk over to the voot cruiser. I'm starting in on the damage from our last crash landing when GIR comes down to the lab in his dog disguise. He's carrying an unnecessarily large bag from that dirty taco place.
"I brought tacos!" He exclaims.
"I thought you went for pizza." I say.
"I ate it!" He replies.
"I don't want tacos." I say back. He clicks the remote at the computer screen and my notes are replaced with whatever show is his new obsession these days. As he's watching tv and stuffing his face, part of the voot falls off completely. "GIR, there's always so much work to do and you never help!" I complain but he's engrossed. His incessant laughter is not making my headache any better but it does ease up a little when my ship starts to look better. I'm painting over the last of the damages when I get an alert that someone's on my lawn. Video surveillance pops up on the computer screen.
"My show!" GIR complains loudly.
I'm watching a little girl approaching my front door, pulling a red wagon behind her. She's wearing this ugly green and white uniform and looks entirely too happy to be on my lawn but it doesn't seem like anything I need to be worried about so I ignore it and continue painting. Well, until she starts ringing the doorbell repeatedly.
"I keep forgetting to set up that electric shock in my doorbell." I sigh, taking the elevator up to the house. When I get to the living room, GIR is already sitting on the couch watching this tv instead.
"Ah! When did you - how did you…" I start to ask but decide against it as the doorbell constantly ringing is driving me insane. I finally get to the door, reactivating my disguise, tearing the door open and glaring down at the girl. "What?!"
Her hand freezes as she is about to ring the bell again and she puts on this saccharine smile even though I'm very clearly glaring at her.
"I'm selling candy bars for my school to buy new textbooks!" She announces.
"Yuck. I don't want any of those, and get off my lawn!" I demand.
"They're two for a dollar!" She says, and I blink at her in confusion.
"I said go away, you-" I start to say but I'm interrupted when GIR shoves past me to inspect her wagon full of supposed snacks.
"I have regular and I have some with nuts!" She announces.
"I'm not buying any of your junk! Get out of here!" I reply but GIR is picking out chocolate bars anyway. "GIR stop that!"
"But I need some!" He whines.
"I like your talking dog!" She laughs, petting his head.
"We have snacks in the house." I remind him. "Go inside, I'm not buying anything else." But of course he never does what I ask.
"But - but…" he argues and I try to brace myself because obviously this headache won't be going anywhere any time soon. He goes into a fit, bouncing off walls, knocking things over in the living room, screaming like he wants my headache to be permanent.
"GIR!" I yell. But he's still screaming and crying in the middle of the floor, hitting his fists against it. "GIR stop that!" He doesn't. I huff out a breath and turn back to the girl who's clearly amused at my overly emotional dog. "Okay, you need to get out of here. GIR come here!" I shout even louder and he finally gets up, walking over to me with tears still streaming down his face. "What do you want?" I ask. He picks out over a dozen candy bars and a few packs of jellybeans, racing back to the couch with it all as I pull out some money.
"Can I visit your dog again!?" The girl asks while I'm counting the dollar bills. I shove it at her but before she can take it from me I pull it back.
"Wait, do you have the fun dip?" I ask. She nods excitedly and reaches into the wagon to get one, handing it over. I snatch it up and hand her the money.
"Thank you! Enjoy! And thank you for helping our schools!" She says.
"Just hurry up and get off my lawn!" I say, turning away and kicking my door shut. I turn to GIR as he tosses a bag of jelly beans, like the entire bag, into his mouth. "Ugh. GIR you're eating plastic." I say shaking my head and walking over to the kitchen. It's still a mess and I just start in on fixing it up. After I finish cleaning the mess from this morning's breakfast, I pull the chair out and sit at the table, tearing open my candy packet. I can still hear GIR watching tv in the next room. I'm just staring down at the table while I eat.
I haven't been able to go home in a while. So I'm really considering what the Tallests said to me this morning. I can see where they're coming from. And honestly, I'm lucky they didn't read my file and immediately decide to hunt me down and deactivate me without asking any questions. Both sets of Tallests before them have been eliminated by me, however accidental it may have been. Even when I'm not on Irk, I'm a threat to our overall mission. If it were someone else threatening OID2, I would fully support them being deactivated.
I look up at the other chair and see Tallest Purple.
"The new Tallests invited you back to Irk?" He asks in bemusement. I look back down and ignore him. "They must be dumber than us. You need to stay far away from Irk." He continues.
"Get out of my house!" I shout at him but he isn't phased of course.
"They know what you did. Everyone knows what you did. No one wants you around. Not on Irk not here aside from that pitifully confused human." He replies. I shake my head and smack a hand to my head, raking my nails down the side of my face.
"Stop it!" I hiss. I hear him laugh but even though he does, I look back up and he's finally gone.
Yes. A threat to Irk. It's true. So the least I can do is allow them to create this vaccine of sorts. It probably won't work but I can at least let them try. And if it reverses my banishment, I'll be able to go home again. But what would I do if I went home? Even if they somehow can make sure no one like me exists ever again, I'd still be me. I'd still be someone they don't want around. How could I go back? Would I have to stay here? The idea of being here forever just makes me sick. They don't even want anything to do with this garbage place. If they're choosing not to usurp it, it's never going to get better and I'll still be here.
The sugar I'm eating gives me an energy boost and my headache has finally subsided after about an hour so I stand up and walk back to the living room. The tv is blaring and GIR is across from it curled up on the couch. I could put him in sleep mode just to make sure he doesn't make any trouble overnight but I decide to take the risk because he's completely covered in everything - everything he's been eating. Pizza sauce, taco cheese, chocolate, soda. You name it. It's so gross, I'll take my chances. I turn the tv way down but leave it on so that the light illuminates the room. Then I double check that all the doors and windows are secured before I go to my room. There aren't any lights to turn out since the base is typically pretty dark, aside from sunlight but the sun set a long time ago. There are some warm red lights (I installed them because they remind me of Irk) around the ceiling but they're not very bright. Only GIRs room has a few lamps in it because he asked for them after I couldn't convince him that there were no monsters in his closet. Other than that, I don't need much light to see. Humans are so primitive, lacking the ability to even see clearly most of the time.
I sit down on the left side of my bed and gaze up at the skylight. For such a cloudy day, it ended up being a pretty clear night. There's a full moon and it looks closer than usual. I check the clock by my bed and it reads 11:03pm. The Dib is probably watching the moon right now. He likes when there's a full moon for some reason. He likes studying how it affects people's behaviors and why hospitals are more busy during these times. His weird theory about highly evolved werewolves using mind control to cause all the weird occurrences doesn't seem right to me but I'm not going to stop him from researching it anyway. He was always right about me, after all. I stare at it some more, wondering if I should pay more attention to GIR during full moons. Maybe he's more energetic during these nights. Maybe he causes me worse headaches these times. I really should study him more often. I don't actually find the moon very fascinating but I've watched it with Dib plenty of times and I've visited with him and GIR a few times, too.
I sigh, remembering I promised GIR he could have the moon when I conquered this planet. But I have no idea what I'm doing anymore. His dream is to have the moon. But what is mine?
Dream.
Irkens don't dream. At least, we aren't supposed to. But I'm getting used to being defe- different… A long time ago, back around my second year of high school, I overheard a few obnoxious humans discussing their dreams from the previous night. I've heard people talk about it before but it just wasn't interesting to me at the time. I asked Dib about it and he seemed confused about why I even cared. But it was really interesting that even while humans are unconscious, their brains create scenes and stories for them. I wanted to see what it would be like, after all dreams sounded like fun. If I could close my eyes and have a moment where I'm home, where I'm normal, where my leaders respect me, I'd want to live there. So I created a dream simulation machine. It's somewhat dangerous to operate and I only used it once back then because the dream I had was so confusing and fuzzy. I couldn't pinpoint any one thing that happened. It reminded me of when I accidentally ingested some earth poison that was brought to a party during sophomore year. My PAK had to rehabilitate me. Dib told me dreams are like that sometimes but I wasn't interested in trying again. But these days, I haven't had much more to do so I recently started trying it out again. It still isn't very safe to use but I'll work on that. I have to detach my PAK to use it but I created it to be similar to my PAK in its ability to be life sustaining as long as it's connected. I don't know what sleep is like for humans but it doesn't feel like anything to me. It feels like sitting in a blacked out room until the dream starts up.
After switching out my PAK for the dream simulator and setting it for six hours. I get settled and stare at the skylight until it finally starts to work, pulling me under, almost like I'm falling.
I'm standing in a really dark room. I think it's a room anyway. And even too dark for me. I can't even see my hands in front of my face. Still, I start forward until something on my right catches my eye. It's a little spark of light. It's like it's flickering. It's so small when I first notice it that I almost miss it but I turn and start walking towards it. As I get closer, it illuminates the blackness of the room I'm in and it's completely windowless. It's a really small fire, glowing red, yellow, orange, just sitting on the floor. There was no heat coming from it though. Then it started to spread, getting taller and beginning to cover the floor. I started to back up and retreat to where I had walked over but slammed right into a wall that I didn't even see but I reach a hand out and it's definitely there now. It keeps me in place and I feel the fire growing behind me. I'm backing up against the wall but there's nowhere else to go and I start feeling the nerves rising. It's becoming too hot to stand near and the air isn't breathable. The flames encompass the perimeter of the room and continue spreading. Now I'm choking on smoke and it's burning my eyes, worse than my contacts do. I can't see and it feels like my throat is on fire as I fall to the floor gasping for air and the fire just keeps spreading. I'm not very alarmed until I actually feel it on my skin but it feels like the room is closing in on me and I'm suffocating. Even looking up doesn't show me a way out. I'm choking like crazy and starting to pass out and finally it all disappears.
It disappeared because I jumped up in my bed, flailing around for a moment before I reorient myself. I flit my gaze around the dark room, dragging in pained breaths, but everything is as it should be and I don't smell any smoke so GIR hasn't set fire to the base again. He might even still be asleep. The clock reads 11:47 pm! I haven't even been using the simulator that long. I hit the button with more force than needed for the dream simulator to retract and jump out of bed, walking over to my PAK and connecting it instead. I check over my skin again and even though I clearly remember how badly it burned, there's nothing there.
I feel a little too antsy to sit around my room anymore so I go back to the living room. Of course GIR is still asleep on the couch. It hasn't been long since I went to my room. And he's still just as much of a mess of course. Still, I sit down on the couch next to him for a few minutes. Why would I dream about being on fire? What kind of dream is that? Aren't dreams supposed to be a good thing? Maybe there's something wrong with my simulator. That hasn't happened before, the dreams are usually pretty tame and consist of things I actually want to achieve.
I stand up again and walk over to the phone near the house door, picking it up. I'm staring at it for a minute, then glancing between it and the tv which is still playing some tv show that's sickeningly colorful and bright for midnight. Thank goodness the volume is down, I can only imagine the horrible accompanied singing. I huff out a breath and sit the phone back on the receiver, then shake my head and pick it up again. I start dialing and halfway through, GIR turns over I'm his sleep. The last thing I need is for him to wake up right now so I sneak out of the living room and back to my room. I finish dialing and even though I hesitate on the call button, it's finally pushed and the line is trilling. It's actually ringing for a long time and I start drumming my fingers on the nightstand. I sigh and stare up at the stars for a few seconds and as I'm about to hang up, before it goes to voicemail because I hate leaving those, it stops.
"Hello?" He asks.
"You took forever to answer, Dib-human." I complain.
"Sorry, my phone doesn't get much traffic after midnight." He replies sarcastically.
"You don't sound like you were asleep, either." I point out.
"I wasn't." He says.
"Is it because you were staring at the moon?" I guess.
"I'm…uh… yeah, how'd you even-" he starts to ask.
"I just know…" I say, sliding back on my bed until my back is against the headboard and then dragging my knees up to my chest.
"Is… are you… are you okay?" He asks hesitantly. I roll my eyes even though he can't see that but for some reason, the question irritates me. "Zim?" He prompts.
"What's the last dream you had?" I inquire.
"You know, I don't really remember. It had something to do with undead college applications but I'm pretty sure that's just because my dad talks to me about it all the time… Why?" He asks.
"Aren't dreams supposed to be a good thing?" I ask.
"Well… I don't think they're good or bad. They're just kind of… I don't know, something that happens." He replies. I hear some shuffling on his end and then a door closes, then it's quiet. "Why? Did something happen with the simulator?"
"I don't know. It's just, I had a really Uh, less than pleasant dream. It wasn't. It just wasn't good." I shrug but I see something move on the side of my eye. I try to ignore it but that just doesn't work for long.
"You're getting a little dependent on this human, Zim. Pitiful. Pathetic really." Tallest red says to me from the doorway. But I don't look up.
"What wasn't good about it?" Dib's voice comes through the phone.
"Yeah, what's going on in that twisted up mind of yours?" Red asks scornfully.
"Shut up! Stop asking me questions! I'm the one asking questions!" I say loudly, closing my eyes and when I open them Red has disappeared.
"Okay, well ask me some questions then." Dib says back, calm and the complete opposite of how I'm feeling. I let my head fall back against the headboard and stare up at the skylight.
"It's just, I had this dream. It was awful and it felt so… I don't know…" I trail off. I start wondering if this has anything to do with the nature of dreams. It could also be because there's something wrong with the simulator. Or there's just something wrong with…
"That sounds like a nightmare." Dib replies.
"What? Is that a kind of dream?" I ask. "I haven't heard of it."
"Well… people aren't as eager to discuss them as they are to discuss dreams. But usually, nightmares are unpleasant. For everyone. It's not just you." He says.
"I didn't make the simulator to include anything but dreams, though." I argue.
"Yeah well you have an affinity for making more complex things than even you realize."
"What's that supposed to mean!?" I ask.
"I'm just saying, maybe the simulator can do more than you originally intended." He says. I'm just quiet for a moment and he continues. "Do you want to tell me about it? I mean I can do some dream interpretation for you, and you never know it could also have something to do with the full moon although I don't know how much effect it could have on your biology and if it'd be similar to ours since it's not actually your moon but-"
"You're getting Dib-ranting" I groan.
"Right." He laughs. "Well I'm saying that I've done a lot of research on dream interpretation and symbols. It could have a deeper meaning to it, a lot of times the meaning is nothing like the dream or nightmare itself. So I mean do you want to tell me about it?"
"No." I reply simply.
"In that case, don't worry about it. It's not real." He says nonchalantly.
"I'm not worried. Worrying is a waste of time." I reply.
"Good." He says. We're quiet after that and I wonder how to bring this next topic up. I literally just said I don't worry and I don't want it to sound like that's what I'm doing but I need to talk about this. I almost wish he would give me an opening or prompt me in his annoying usual way of trying to get me to talk to him. But sometimes he just quietly waits for me to decide I want to talk and I don't know which one gets on my nerves more. I sigh loudly into the receiver and he still doesn't say anything.
"I have to have an answer for the Tallests today." I declare.
"I know. At five right?" He asks.
"Yes." I reply.
"I mean I still don't think you should do it." He sighs.
"It sounds fairly simple to me and if it helps with OID, I want to do it." I say with an air of finality in my tone. I have to do it.
"I get it but I still don't want you to." He says back.
"Yeah I know that." I reply.
"But you don't care, right?" He asks, signing heavily.
"No." I say back.
"I didn't think so…" he says. It gets quiet again and I have a weird feeling. I don't know what it is but it's like maybe I should say something else. I don't know what exactly but I take in a breath and try anyway.
"You're worried about Zim." I say, even though it was supposed to be a question.
"Well. I don't know. I guess I am. I mean, hear me out. These are the same people who lied to you about coming here. And the same ones who -"
"We really don't need to go over all of that again. I was there. Also, these aren't the exact same people. And it is not going to be anything crazy. It probably won't even take long. One or two days at the most."
"One or two of whose days? Mine or yours?" He asks. But I don't respond. "So how long is that then?"
"It's only a few months. That's it. Stop getting worked up!" I scold.
"Zim, I'm good at math just like you are. Three to six months is not… That's not…" I can hear him let out an irritated sigh but he doesn't finish the thought.
"What? Hurry up and spit it out!" I say. There's an even worse feeling growing in me and it's both exhausting and picking at my last nerve.
"Do you even consider me at all!?" He asks, clearly sounding equally exasperated.
"Yes, I do and considering you'll still be here when I get back, I'm going! You're not thinking clearly and I know that's the trouble with humans and your emotions!"
"Yeah and maybe I should already be used to you putting everything before your own emotions!"
"It's not all about emotions, you still need to look at reality!"
"I AM looking at reality! And my reality is that I'm taking one gap year, ONE! And now you're going to be away for most of it? I - thats - thats not something I want!" He exclaims. "Jeez, it's like I have to spell everything out for you!"
"Dib, this is really important. If it wasn't, they wouldn't have contacted me to begin with. I need to do this" I say.
"If it's so important, study your own DNA, run diagnostics on your own PAK! Hell, make the vaccine yourself! Send them whatever they need, but… stay here…" That horrible feeling that's come over me isn't getting any better and I just want to hang up immediately because I just can't stand it. It just continued to fall on me, getting heavier and heavier, until it feels like everything in my stomach is about to come up. Why do humans even choose to be involved with each other like this if this is one of the feelings it causes? Seriously, can't my stupid PAK protect me from any of these feelings!? But then a thought clicks in my mind and it's the first thought I have that seems to counter all these suffocating emotions. I don't even realize that it's not a good thought, I just jump at it. I grasp at it because it's the first thought I've had all night that makes me feel… better.
"Do you want to go?" I ask. Okay so it didn't really come out as politely as it could have but I mean give me a break. At least I asked. He's quiet for a minute and I'm just listening to the silence.
"To Irk?" He asks and I roll my eyes.
"No, to Saturn. I swear Dib-Thing, sometimes…" I say, shaking my head.
"Wha- I'm just a little shocked that's all…" He replies.
"Well if you don't want to go with me, then what is it that you want me to do?" I ask.
"No, I do! I just never thought you'd want me to go."
"I don't. It's not really a good place for a human to be sneaking around. But… There are ways around that. I'll figure it out. So it's something you want to do?"
"Yeah! It is! But wait, why did you suggest it?" He asks. I don't actually know how to respond to that so I just don't. "Zim, come on." He continues and my eyes narrow at nothing in particular.
"So that you'd quit whining! Between you and GIR, I don't know who gives me more headaches." I respond through gritted teeth.
"Mhmmm." He replies and it's loaded with skepticism but then it completely disappears as he continues speaking. "You know… It's okay if you would miss me, too."
My eyes widen and it feels like my blood runs cold. Well… colder I guess. "Dib, don't do that."
"But you would though. Otherwise, you wouldn't have offered to take me with you." He says and there's a slight teasing in his voice which is scratching at my brain and the feeling that I need to throw up comes back in full force.
"Stop it." I reply but of course, as annoying as GIR, he doesn't.
"Nope. Say that you would miss me." He demands.
"It would only be two Irken days. There wouldn't be any point in missing you or anything on this filth bucket for that matter!" I spit the words rapidly.
"Zim. Admit it." He demands again. But this entire call has been more exhausting than cleaning the house and fixing the voot. It ends now.
"I have something I need to begin working on immediately if you're really going to accompany me on this trip. I'll need you to stop by the base today around noon. 1pm the absolute latest. Don't make me wait and don't make me come and get you." I say.
"Ugh. Don't get all coldly flustered at me. I have to do some grocery shopping but I'll definitely be there on time."
"Good. Now go to sleep. You're even more annoying than usual when you're sleep deprived."
"That's not true!" He argues.
"Goodbye, Dib-Thing." I announce before promptly hanging up the call and standing from my bed. The clock is already reading 12:30AM so I need to get started right away. Just as I'm making my way to the lab, I hear GIR shriek and then a glass shatter in the kitchen. I roll my eyes again. I don't know what will successfully drive me up a wall first. Whatever this thing is with the Dib-Human or keeping GIR out of trouble.