Haiiiiii ! ! So I also decided to get chapter 5 up today ! ! Surprise ! ! This is actually one of my favorite chapters lol I don't really know why . In this chapter , you can expect Dib's perspective , some interaction with Gaz , and then Zim and Dib working in the lab . The title for this update is based on the song My Head and My Heart by Ava Max ^_^ . By the way , this chapter is SLIGHTLY longer than the previous updates . As usual , I hope you like this update and reviews are very much appreciated ! ! ^_^
My Head & My Heart
It feels like I just shut my eyes when my alarm is blaring in my ears. I groan and stick a hand out to stop it, my face still buried in my pillow. My throat is dry and I have a slight headache. I definitely didn't get enough sleep. Zim was right, I should have gone to bed when we hung up. But I got so caught up in all my research, before I knew it, it was after four in the morning. But regardless, I have to get up now. After a couple more groans into my pillow, I finally sit up and grab my glasses off the table next to my bed. After putting them on, I stand up and move around my room, gathering all my stuff for a quick shower. Of course when I get into the hallway and reach for the bathroom doorknob, it's locked.
"Seriously, Gaz?" I say, sucking my teeth loudly so she can hear it. She doesn't respond so I rap my knuckles against the dark wooden door. "Stop using my shower time!"
"Quit whining!" She shouts back through the door.
"I'm not whining! But you said I get shower time between 8 and 9AM! It's 8:20! Get out!" I argue, continuing to knock on the door.
"Stop it, or I'll cut off your fingers." She replies. I definitely stop knocking but I'm still standing there.
"Gaz, I have other things to do today and it's my turn to shower… You're going to use up all the hot water!" I say through the door. She ignores me of course and I run a hand down my face. She can be so freaking annoying. Other than the sound of the shower running, the house is completely quiet. Most likely because dad is already at the lab for the day. He usually leaves around 5AM if he comes home at all and I think I did hear him getting around just before I fell asleep. I turn and head back to my bedroom, setting my towel down on the bed and resolving to sit at my desk while I wait. My eyelids are so heavy and I just want to crawl back into bed but that's not an option.
Dad left us money to go grocery shopping today. He also gave us a list but we probably won't follow it too closely. We never do. I could go on my own but Gaz decided I have terrible taste in snacks so she always goes with me now. The relationship I have with my sister is complicated. Actually, every relationship under this roof is complicated but still, I've always felt like my dad gets along better with my sister than either of them do with me. My dad, Dr. Membrane, the amazing scientist with more groundbreaking discoveries and inventions than I can count. I'm proud of him. I'm proud to be his son and I'm so happy that he's been able to be so successful doing something that he loves. I just wish he could return the sentiment. He's so proud of my sister who already received early acceptance to SEEK University for their computer science program. Not that it's where she wants to go. But schools are already trying to snatch her up. She's always been interested in interactive media design and ever since we were little, dad encouraged her. She's graduating high school in about seven months and then she'll be off.
Being a year younger than me doesn't stop her from making my life a living nightmare. Most of the time, anyway. She's the kind of sister that would torture me but she wouldn't let someone else do it. I remember when I came home from school and I took the last freezepop from the freezer. When she came home and saw it was gone, I woke up to her yanking me up by my head and shoving me out the door to go buy more. She's a little crazy but I mean, everyone in this house is.
I finally hear the bathroom door open and wait a beat before finally going for my shower.
One very cold shower later, I'm finally dressed and ready to go. When I get downstairs, Gaz is in the living room playing her GameSlaveSystem but shuts it off and powers up her handheld GameSlave7 instead.
"It's nine AM, we should have been there by now, so let's go." I say, heading for the door.
"What is the huge rush today?" She asks without looking up from her game. I lock the house door and then we both walk over to my car parked on the street. Which looks pretty okay after that driving lesson with Zim.
"I have to go see someone today." I mumble as I open the passenger side door for her. She climbs in and after she's settled I close her door and walk around to the driver's seat.
"Who, your psychiatrist?" She scoffs. I just ignore her and pull the car away from the curb, starting towards the grocery store.
"You have the money right?" I ask.
"Yup." She replies. As we drive, the car is quiet aside from the beeps and other noises coming from her handheld game. It's a ten minute drive so we won't be in silence for long but surprisingly she starts talking.
"I'm having a birthday party this year. Dad basically insisted." She shrugs.
"Is it going to be on New Years Day?" I inquire.
"No, I'll do it the day before, on Saturday."
"Okay, awesome."
"Dad is going to pay for the food and drinks and everything. You have to decorate and you also have to bring a gift." She continues. I just nod even though she didn't buy me anything when I turned 19. Or 18. Or 17. You know what, let's move on.
"Okay. Sounds great." I say, staring through the windshield.
"I guess." She says and we're quiet for a minute. "You should bring your boyfriend."
"Gaz," I start, rolling my eyes for added measure. "I told you to stop calling him that."
"I don't listen to you." She replies.
"Yeah, no kidding. But you can't call him that, especially when he's actually around."
"I don't even talk to him."
"Hmmm." I reply, still focused on the road but unconvinced.
"Well, you two spend even more time together than you used to, which I didn't think was possible but here we are." She says, not missing a beat with the rhythmic clicks and beeps on her game.
"It's… Complicated. We can learn a lot from each other and I like that." I reply simply.
"It's kind of twisted. I mean like, six years ago, you really hated each other. Didn't he basically kill you once? With rubber piggies or something?"
"Don't remind me. This is confusing enough." I sigh.
"Well. It just ought to be. Don't worry though. Twisted can be pretty neat." She shrugs. I don't respond. "And I could pretty much guess where this was headed that one summer when dad sent you to nerd camp." She continues. Ugh. I know exactly what summer she's talking about. It was the summer right after freshman year of high school. And no, it wasn't really "nerd" camp. I didn't tell Zim I was going to camp, I didn't really think it mattered but I was only gone for two days when apparently Gaz caught him snooping around my room. "I know he went to see you." She says.
"No he didn't." I insist, but he definitely did. "We're here anyway so let's get this done." I say, pulling into the parking lot and securing a spot closest to the exit of the super center. We get out of the car and I get us a shopping cart as we enter the building. "Okay read the list." I say, taking the cart down the first aisle. The grocery shopping goes how it always does. She reads the list, I find all the items (after she approves of them of course) and I push the cart. And as usual, the last thing we do is head for the snack aisle. "So how much do we have left for snacks?" I ask.
"It's fifty." She replies.
"Okay. So what, I guess kettle corn, cheese curls, jello, you can pick the cookies." I say haphazardly tossing things into the cart.
"Ew, no way am I eating cherry flavored jello, get strawberry." She demands, snatching it out of the cart and shoving it back at me.
"Right, I forgot." I say, switching it out. She places a couple of packs of count cocofang's chocolate chip cookies in the cart as well. I add a large box of variety granola bars to the cart and that goes off without a hitch thankfully. We add a few more snacks to the cart before finally deeming it enough for the next two weeks and make our way towards self-checkout. Anything to avoid the weirdos who work here. When we get there, I start pulling the items from the cart, scanning them one at a time and placing them into a carrying crate while a security guard is boring holes through me from near the exit. After I pay for the groceries, I pick up a blueberry cheese danish and slide it across the scanner.
"Who's that for?" She inquires.
"I'm paying for it with my own money." I reply before also scanning a pack of candy. It's a pack of fun dip but it's supposedly a new mystery flavor where the sugar inside is white and you're supposed to guess what the flavor is. I glance up at her and she's grinning like a cat about to pounce on a mouse. I clear my throat and place the two items in a small plastic bag. "Wait here, watch the stuff."
"Obviously." She scoffs. There are about five crates of groceries so I start making trips to the car, dumping each one's contents into the trunk and the backseat. When I go back for the last crate, she follows me out. I drop the last of the groceries off in the backseat of the car and then take all the crates back to the store as Gaz settles in the passenger seat.
"Do you want to stop for coffee?" I ask, shifting gears and preparing to pull out of the parking space. Someone blows their horn behind me and I guess they want the spot but it startles the crap out of me. Gaz continues playing her GS7 with her left hand, using her right to roll her window down and stick her middle finger out which does actually make me laugh.
"Coffee sounds good." She says, rolling her window back up as we leave the parking lot. "Funny though, I thought you were in a rush to see Zim." A slight warmth spread over my nose and cheeks and I clear my throat.
"I am. But we're making good timing and… He said I'm more annoying when I'm tired. Which I am… tired. Not annoying, I meant-"
"Ugh, he should know by now, you're always this annoying." She sighs. I drive us to a CWong coffee shop and get in line for the drive through.
"What do you want?" I ask her.
"Iced black coffee." She replies. I want to say yuck but I keep that to myself. I start daydreaming about what Zim said. Based on him alone, I can probably guess it wouldn't be safe for humans to roam around Irk. But I'm still pretty excited. I've actually always wanted to visit Irk but I never asked him about it. I figured it was a touchy subject since even he didn't go for visits. I wonder if it'll be just like another earth. Or if it'll be more massive with better technology. I wonder what their sun looks like or if they even have one. Would people be at coffee drive through windows there, too? Or is coffee too much of a luxury and everyone there really is just a soldier?
I'm startled out of my thoughts as someone honks their horn from behind me and I pull up to the window.
"Hi. Can I get a large iced black coffee and a large iced caramel macchiato?" I say into the microphone.
"Sure. That'll be $11.79. Don't forget your ticket." The person replies and he sounds half asleep just like I feel. I remove the slip of paper and pull up to the next window, passing it off along with my credit card to the woman in the window. She's leaning on the window sill, her head resting in one of her hands, staring off into space but takes it and passes it off to someone behind her.
"Cara." Gaz says and the girl finally looks into the car.
"What's up Gaz?" She asks. I lean back in my seat so they can see each other.
"Your house tonight at eight, right?" Gaz asks and Cara just nods. Gaz goes back to her game and I just try to keep my gaze forward.
"Here." Cara says, holding a tray out to me, our two drinks nuzzled in it.
"Thanks." I say, taking it carefully and putting my credit card away. I hand Gaz her drink and place my own in the cup holder. I sit the empty cup holder in the backseat with the groceries and take off.
"When did you two become friends?" I ask.
"We're not friends." Gaz replies.
"Uh… Okay." I say. The rest of the ride home is quiet. And when we get there, Gaz disappears into the house while I make trip after trip taking the groceries inside and putting everything away. I finish up and it's just a few minutes after 12pm so I take a granola bar from the pantry and sit at the table. I don't actually want it but I didn't eat breakfast today so I tear it open and eat it between sips of my coffee. I'm trying not to seem overeager but by 12:20 I'm already up and leaving the house again.
"Gaz, I'm leaving!" I call through the house.
"Do it quieter!" She replies from upstairs. I open the house door and at the last minute, I decide to slam it anyway, because why not. I'm walking down the porch steps when I stop for a second and evaluate my outfit. I mean it was good for grocery shopping but now I'm wondering if I should change. It's just a plain white t-shirt and a pair of black jeans. Nothing special, along with some black combat boots. I shrug because it'll have to do, and get back into my car. It's a short drive over to Zim's house and the parking spot out front is vacant as always. I get out of the car and head to the front door. After wiping out some imaginary wrinkles in my shirt, I ring the doorbell. In just a few seconds, the door swings open.
"Did the doorbell shock you?" Zim asks, looking down at my hand.
"Did the… what?" I ask, completely confused. His face falls for a moment then he shrugs and steps aside so I can come in. I see GIR on the couch of course, his bright blue eyes fixed on the huge tv screen. "GIR!" I call. He turns to me and then hops over. "Hey! I brought you something." I say.
"Awwww! Gimme gimme gimme!" He says, bouncing excitedly and holding his hands out.
"Okay well, I was going to say you have to jump up and down three times but-" I start, opening up my bag but he's already rocketed up to the ceiling and backflipping down again. I back up slowly and when he finishes his task, he stops in front of me with his hands out again. "You're the best." I laugh and finally hand him the danish. He snatches it up along with my half finished coffee and races back to the couch. "Hey I was drinking that!"
"What is that?" Zim asks as we both watch GIR tear into the pastry.
"Unfortunately one is my coffee. But, the pastry - it's a danish. It has blueberry filling. I don't know, it reminded me of him." I shrug. He just nods. "I got you something too, though." I say.
"Earth food?" He asks, squinting an eye at me.
"Well yeah but one of the few that you actually eat." I say, taking the candy from the bag and holding it out. He narrows his eyes at it for a moment then looks back up at me.
"Why does it look like that?" He asks.
"It's a new flavor. Just take it."
"Okay. Well… thanks." He says, finally taking it, analyzing it some more. "So if I guess the flavor, what do I win?" He asks, an antenna arching upwards.
"Your favorite thing. The gift of being right." I reply. He scoffs at that. "Alright, well, I'm here before 1pm your majesty."
"Stop that." He says. "We need to go to the lab, so come on."
We board the elevator and when we get to the lab it's in complete disarray. Papers, beakers, viles, syringes, and everything else you can think of are strewn all over the tables and some on the floor. It's pretty dim aside from the faint glow of red lights coming from the perimeter of the cable filled ceiling.
"Wow…" I say. "Have you been working all night?"
"Yes." He replies. "If you're going to be accompanying me on this trip, there are some things that need to be put in place. First of all" He starts, ushering me to a seat at one of the tables in front of the large computer screen. He walks across the room over to the keyboard and starts pressing buttons. The screen blinks to life and I can see what looks like a short list but it's written in Irken. "You can't go to Irk looking like that. There's also nutrients to worry about. And of course you can't speak Irken, nor can you understand it."
"So I'm here for a makeover and some foreign language lessons?" I ask, mostly to get on his nerves. Which it works because he does roll his eyes but ignores me.
"As I said previously, the trip won't take all that long and I see no reason why we wouldn't be able to pack enough food for you. So that won't really be an issue."
"So there's really no food for humans to eat on Irk?" I ask.
"There's never been a human on Irk before but if you want to be a test subject, be my guest. And stop interrupting me!" He says. I hold up my hands in surrender.
"No, that's fine. Packing food is fine, go on." I say. His eyes return to the keyboard.
"To help with your appearance, I created something that will act pretty much the same as my own disguise. It's a PAK. Sort of. It's main function is to keep you disguised and also be life sustaining. You know, provide you with everything you'll be missing from earth like sunlight and all that other stuff. But, simultaneously, while wearing it, it'll change your skin color. I haven't figured out how to cover up your hair fur stuff but I'm working on that. The PAK will also adjust so that you can handle the gravity difference."
"Oh my God, Zim that's-" I start but I stop short when he cuts his eyes at me. Clearly I've been warned and I don't feel like hearing him yell at me again.
"I also made these." He switches the monitor again and instead I see a diagram of what looks like contacts but again, all the writing surrounding them just looks like scribbles to me. "These will give your eyes the illusion that well… you have Irken ocular implants. It'll also make your vision less… bad. No one… No one on irk wears glasses. So… you can't wear those." He looks at me expectantly and when I don't respond he nods. "The last thing I worked on is this." He says. But nothing comes on the screen and when I turn to look at him, he's standing right next to me and I almost jump out of my seat. He watches me confused as I resettle in my seat and then holds up a necklace for me to see. It's a bright pink rectangular pendant hanging on a black string. It's like it's glowing and I'm just staring at it for a few seconds until he holds it closer for me to take it.
"You… Made me a necklace?" I ask, going to take it from him and he pulls it back.
"It's not just a necklace! When you secure the clasp in back, the pendant will fuse to your skin. It'll send signals to your brain so that when you see or hear anything in the Irken language, it'll be translated to you in Earth English. It'll also translate whatever you say to Irken as well. So we won't have to worry about any suspicious language barriers. Not that you should need to be communicating with anyone besides me-"
"Wait, fuse? To my skin? That sounds like it'll hurt. Have you tried it on?"
"No. Because it's not made for me and it probably will hurt." He says, giving me one of those nefarious pointy toothed grins but I can't focus on it because he's looking me right in the eye.
"Can't you make it so it doesn't need to fuse to my actual body?" I ask.
"Quit complaining. You and your fragile flesh will be fine. And if it burns too much, we'll just take it off and I'll fix it." He says. "Well unless it gets stuck and I have to surgically and painfully remove it." he shrugs. I want to argue more but I don't know when he got so close to me and since we're in the base, in his lab, he isn't wearing his contact lenses. I can actually see his wide blazing eyes staring through me. He puts a hand on my left shoulder and slides the other through my hair, pulling it to one side. It's surprisingly gentle for him and I sigh into it. He does it again a few more times and I close my eyes. I open them up again a couple of seconds after I notice he stopped and I see him standing in front of me with a smug smile on his face.
"I guess it doesn't burn." He says. I look down and I'm already wearing the necklace. It's almost like a choker and the pendant stops right where my collar bones meet. I reach up and touch it but of course it doesn't move.
"This is really fused to my skin?" I ask. But he doesn't answer me. I take the black string and lightly tug at the pendant but it really doesn't go anywhere.
"Don't uh… don't do that…" he says.
"This is actually really cool but in a really weird way. And oddly enough, I really like the color, what did you use to give it that-" I stop abruptly when I look up at him and he's just wide eyed and staring at me. "What's wrong? Did it do something wrong?" I ask, looking down at my hands but they're still the same color. Same four fingers. And I don't feel any different.
"No um, it's…No it's fine. It works."
"Huh?"
"The necklace, you actually sound… good." He replies. And I realize I'm wearing the necklace. Which means I haven't spoken English since I put it on. And now it's my turn to serve up the devious grin.
"Oh no way." I say. "You like hearing me speak in Irken."
"No! I'm just happy that it works!" He snaps.
"No, you already knew it would work. You made it" I reply smugly.
"Of course. Just stop talking!" He demands. I just laugh and shake my head. He walks over to a different table and retrieves a small plastic tube. He twists the cap and retrieves a small case, walking over and holding it out to me. "These are your contact lenses. Just hold the tube up to each eye and they'll go on."
I take the tube and remove my glasses. "Okay. The necklace didn't burn so can I trust these will be the same?" I ask.
"Stop talking. Or take off the necklace." He replies.
"Wait, so are you talking to me in Irken?"
"No. I'm talking to you in English." He says impatiently.
"Okay. I'm really just stalling because I'm nervous about putting these on." I admit, palming the back of my neck.
"Touché?" He replies.
"No. No, that doesn't work here." I shake my head and he huffs out an irritated breath. "And back to these things you want to put in my eyes, how do I know they won't melt them or something?"
"Oh please, I worked on them all night. They're similar to my own that I wear and I'm fine. Now put them on or I'll put them on for you!"
"Fine fine." I say quickly, unscrewing the cap and holding the tube up, covering my left eye. I hear a clicking sound but I don't feel anything.
"Okay, put the other one on." He says. I place the tube over my right eye and I hear the clicking sound again. After twisting the cap back on and handing it to Zim, I look around the room but everything still looks the same. Blurry. And it definitely doesn't feel like my eyes have anything on them.
"Just give them a moment to start working. They're completely safe and are made for long term use so don't get scared about falling asleep with them in. Speaking of. The last thing we need to do." He says walking towards the back of the lab. He stops halfway and motions for me to go with him and I stand up, following cautiously since my eyes still haven't adjusted. The back of the lab is way more orderly. I haven't been in this specific area in a long time, we just haven't really been doing very many dissections and studies on the living environment. The back wall is lined with various plants and animals in observation glasses and I don't even want to know why. Across from them is another computer similar to the one we just walked away from but it's higher up in the air and there's a chair connected by a long piece of metal to the ceiling. What looks like an operating table is adjacent to the computer but it's laying flat.
"I'm not entirely sure this is somewhere I want to be…" I say, looking around. My eyes have finally adjusted and I'm actually seeing the room without my glasses!
"We're two for two and you're still scared? You won't last a day on Irk if you don't get it together." He hisses. "And stop talking."
He's right. I already let him fuse a pendant to my skin and put contact lenses that he made in my eyes. Might as well let him come full circle. I just stand beside him as he types in a code to the operating table and it shifts into a seat. Then he looks at me expectantly. I take a deep breath and sit down in the seat, my stomach feeling uneasy. He sits down in the computer seat and just stares blankly at me for a few seconds. My gaze shifts around the room awkwardly as he continues to stare at me.
"How are the contacts?" He asks.
"They're great… I've actually never seen this well without my glasses." I reply, glancing around the room again.
"They should also help with night vision. It isn't very bright on Irk. Let me know if they get uncomfortable." He says and I just nod. The large computer is displaying the time in the center and I can see that it's already after 1pm. In less than four hours, Zim will be agreeing to go home just so they can make some anti-Zim vaccine. It just doesn't sit right with me. I can't put my finger on it but the whole thing makes my stomach hurt. But what could I say to Zim? I've got a bad feeling about this? Pshh. He never listens and probably isn't going to start now. I look over at him and he's still just watching me.
"What, are you waiting for me to have a horrible reaction to one of these?" I ask.
"Not at all." He says, standing up and walking over to a table, then walks back over to where I'm seated. "Here." He hands me a small mirror.
I quickly hold it up to my face and I don't know why but my first instinct is to smile. I mean this would freak anyone out. But I guess I'm not just anyone. And to me, it's beyond cool. I still pretty much look like myself for now. Still the same spiky, shoulder length black hair. Same nose, same pink lips. But now my big round eyes, the only difference I can see, are completely blue in color, save for some areas where they're a slightly lighter shade. I'm actually really obsessed with it and it wasn't something I was expecting to actually like but they look really cool. They're not the same mixture of deep red and soft pink as Zim's eyes but they suit me. They're like looking out into the night sky when the sun is pretty much down but some blue daylight remains while all the stars are coming out.
"You've got to let me see the notes for these things! And you did this in a night? Less? These are amazing!" I explain, blinking a few times just to reopen my eyes and see the contacts. Seriously. This is something I've thought about Zim for a few years now. As upset as he's been about losing his mission, he's never thought about what it could be like to switch sides. These are amazing, and they really improve my eyesight. I've just always thought of all the good he could do here on earth if he wasn't so obsessed with enslaving it.
"They do look cool. But I didn't expect anything less." He nods, walking back over to the big computer chair. I hear a few clicks of the keyboard before the computer screen flickers to a plain blue wallpaper. Then a few more clicks and the chair he's sitting in is lifted off the floor slowly and stops him right in front of the screen. "The last thing has to do with your PAK of sorts. It's made similarly to my own but it can't be exactly like mine. Your human body is too sensitive. So I need to finish yours up by encoding it with your biological composition."
"Oh. Okay. So what, you need to draw blood or something?" I ask. He tilts his head to one side and looks at me, one antenna perked in confusion.
"You wouldn't sit in a chair but you'd be alright with me sticking a needle in your arm?" He asks.
"You're right. Something is totally off. Must be the contacts." I reply.
"Your sarcasm isn't lost on me." He replies.
"Well, it's about time." I tease and he's just staring at me. "Okay so what do you need to do?"
He presses a button on his keyboard and a variety of cords and wires drop down around me.
"A warning would have been nice." I say, trying to catch my breath.
"It wouldn't have been as much fun to watch." He says even though he's not laughing or even smiling. "Now, as you've just demonstrated, you're a nervous wreck. You always are really." He says nonchalantly.
"Thanks."
"The PAK is connected to the computer through similar means. All I have to do is connect these cables to you, the computer will be able to scan you and basically download you into the PAK. It's basically… A shell of a PAK right now. And the computer needs a full scan to properly assign the PAK to you so it can work in tandem with your DNA and weird human biology. It works best at collecting the readings for you to be asleep though." He says, clicking a few more buttons and coming back down to the floor. He marches over to where I'm sitting and starts sorting through the dangling cables.
"You have to tell me if anything is going to hurt." I demand, watching him pick up each cord, inspecting it, and letting it fall back down again.
"Hmm." He says. "I've done the same thing for different purposes on all the beasts in those tanks back there. They're all perfectly fine."
"Well unless you've got a human behind one of those glasses, which I sincerely hope you don't, you're out of your league."
"Unfortunately, since Nick is gone, I do not. Yet. But that's what makes this so enjoyable." He replies.
"You finally let Nick go?" I ask.
"No." He replies.
"Then… What happened to him?"
"Don't ask. Unless you're volunteering to take his place." He says.
I start to protest when I hear a loud noise through one of the air vents in the ceiling. I'm already pretty on edge and look towards the sound immediately but Zim completely ignores it. Seconds later, GIR is jumping out of the vent and landing on the floor loudly.
"GIR, you scared me!" I say.
"What is that mess all over your face!" Zim yells. GIR stands up and walks over to us, smiling. He's painted his lips red and is wearing blue eyeshadow and lots of pink rouge on the sides of his face.
"My makeup just came!" GIR replies excitedly.
"I told you to cancel that horrible subscription!" Zim argues as he begins placing the wires and cords around me. "He gets this ugly magazine every month and always orders the most disgusting face paint. It doesn't even wash off!" Zim complains, still pressing cords and wires to my body. There's one on the back of my head, one on each side of my head, and one at the base of my neck now.
"I think you look great!" I say and Zim basically growls at me.
"I want to look like Zita Coleman!" GIR exclaims and Zim just rolls his eyes.
"He watches that wretched girl we went to middle school with. She actually does tutorials to show people how to use that disgusting stuff." Zim says to me, shaking his head and connecting another cord to my forearm.
"You know, for someone who doesn't mind causing people pain, you sure make a lot of things that don't hurt." I say. He's about to connect another wire to my forearm when he sneers at me, reaching around and yanking the wire out from the base of my neck. "Ah! Fucking hell, Zim!"
"You're just as annoying in Irken as you are in earth English. Shut up." He hisses, slapping away the hand I'm rubbing my neck with and he reconnects the wire. GIR collects some papers from the table nearby that I hope aren't important because he gets comfy on the floor and grabs a box of crayons from inside his head.
A few moments later, Zim has all the wires secured to my person and I'm wondering - for the millionth time in the past few years - what exactly I'm getting myself into.
"Don't move." He instructs, turning and walking over to the table. He doesn't seem bothered by what GIR is doing so I take it as a good sign. "This process will work better if you're asleep." He continues with his back to me.
"That's fine. I could actually use a nap, although this won't be a very comfortable one." I say, glancing down at GIR who is coloring some fluffy clouds around a large sun. When I look back up, Zim is still standing over by the table but facing me now and he's holding an actual syringe and I feel dread wash over me. The syringe is filled with a bright blue, somewhat translucent liquid. It reminds me of photos I've seen in textbooks of how beaches used to look before all the water on earth turned this deep, murky green color. "Absolutely not, Zim. I'm not actually okay with you sticking a needle in my arm."
"It doesn't go in your arm and time is of the essence." He says, marching over to me.
"That needle is the size of my hand, you're not sticking that in me anywhere. Figure out how to personalize my PAK without it." I argue, feeling my skin start to prickle and my stomach clench when he just smiles.
"What are you going to do? Run?" Zim asks, waving a hand at all the cords and wires.
"I'd rather tear them all out at once than take…What is that, anyway?" I ask, eyeing the needle curiously.
"It's just a sedative. That works in tandem with the PAK. It'll enter your system, put you under, then collect all the data it needs. After it's finished it'll leave your system and settle within your PAK. It's simple." He explains.
"No." I reply flatly. He squeezes his eyes shut for a second and tugs at an antenna with one hand. When he opens his eyes again, they're glowing. Not the usual ruby with pink specks I'm used to, they're completely red like two small fires and he storms over to me.
"I've been working on these things for hours, all night! You will not waste my time and my resources!" He yells, wrapping a small hand around my neck. There's no force behind it and when he blinks, his eyes are back to normal and I don't say anything. His fingers come away from my neck as he trails one slender digit down to my chest, over the pendant, his face only inches from my own.
"You'll be fine. And you cannot go to Irk without a PAK." He says softly. I shake my head but I still don't respond.
"Don't be so difficult." He says, moving his hand up to my hair. My resolve is weakening as I feel him lightly running his fingers through it. I glance past him at the computer and it's already 1:45pm. I don't even know how long this process will take. I look back at him and let out a sigh.
"Is that going to hurt?" He narrows his eyes at me and a PAK leg extends for him to retrieve the contacts tube. He holds it up to my face and removes each lense, then reaches around and unclasps the necklace, placing both in his PAK. He walks around behind the chair I'm in and then he's back to playing in my hair.
"Dib-human." He says quietly in my left ear and I scold myself for letting it get to me. It's like a command and a prayer. He's the only one to ever call me that and the only one I ever want to hear it from. It's such a weird nickname but it's so Zim. I don't know if the shivers down my spine are from fear or not but… I like them.
"Hmm?" I ask.
"I thought you finally trusted me." He continues. I take a deep breath and close my eyes. I mean, I guess he's right. This isn't optional if I really want to go with him and this is an opportunity that no other human, none that I know of, has ever had. He's already given me his word on more than one occasion that he wouldn't let me get hurt. He actually spent his entire night creating things to ensure my safety just so I can accompany him on his trip. I've been trusting him all this time, it wouldn't make sense to stop now.
He drums his fingers lightly against my shoulder and when he walks around to face me again, I open my eyes. The room is blurry but he's close enough that I can at least make out his eyes.
I gulp. "I do."
He waits a beat and now I can also make out the unmistakable pointy grin as he narrows his eyes.
"Good." He nods, and not a split second later does the hand in my hair tighten, yanking my head to the left and I feel the needle pressed into the area where my neck meets my shoulder. I inhale sharply and tense up for a second before I start to feel heavy and the blurry image of Zim, still smiling at me, gets darker and darker until everything fades to black.