Life is life but fic is forever. I've been attempting many things creatively offline recently. Some of it is life getting in the way and some is just pursuing some passions, so not all bad stuff. I had some fun with this one and I'm excited to get to the next chapter, too (I even started it already lmao). Not beta-read.
Enjoy!
Chapter 78: Aliens and Labs
Zim pricked at the wiring and intricacies of the motherboard in front of him. Tak was smoldering where needed, watching intently for any point she was able to step in. Gaz laid behind her, sprawled out across the rug and Game Slave in hand. She held it above her, smashing away at the buttons as Gir snuggled up beside her in the small area between her side and her arm while he focused on the TV. It was only on to distract Gir from Zim and Tak's work, not that Gaz minded the background noise. Skoodge was on his tablet, scrolling through various pages, lightly kicking his feet from the couch.
"Don't mess this up," Zim muttered.
"Don't make me," Tak muttered back.
Gaz smirked, amused, glancing their way. She shook her head. "What are you two so focused on? I come in and you're both just hunched over a motherboard like two Tech-Nerds working on their semester project."
"It's a motherboard to my ship," Tak says. "He promised to fix it with me, with no mistakes, and I promised to teach him how I made Mimi's "shadow form", as Dib called it, for Gir."
Gaz paused her game. She whipped her head to the side. "And WHY do you need that?!"
"Science."
"Are you kiddin-"
The door slammed open, rebounding off the wall. Gaz jumped at the crash, nearly dropping her Game Slave. She fumbled to catch it in time. Meanwhile, Dib threw his bag down with an aggravated groan. He dragged his hands down his face while Tak and Zim both screamed at him. He, at the moment, couldn't care less about their jolting knocking pieces out of their piles, or their knees to the table, or whatever they were shouting at him. He would apologize for that fumble later. He was too exhausted to deal with it at this point. Once the shouting had settled down into agitated grumbles, Gaz sat up, shirting Gir out of her grasp.
"What the hell is up your ass?" she asks, saving her game. She had the impending dread that this was not going to be a conversation she could tune out while she played. The exhaustion in Dib's face said it all.
"Dad," Dib says flatly.
Zim and Gaz both nodded, in perfect unity. "Ah."
Gaz set the Game Slave down, sliding it under the coffee table with the hope it would be less likely Gir might accidently break it. Tak glanced towards the Game Slave, then Gaz, perking an antennae curiously. Zim put his tools down as well, settling backward into the couch with a huff. Tak hesitantly turned the smolder off. Skoodge, at least, looked as lost as she was. Dib trudged over to the couch and fell into it with another groan. He removed his glasses, rubbing at his eyes.
"It's not like he was bad today," Dib began. "He's just so… ugh. He doesn't listen!"
"Did he demand you work in the labs again?" Zim asks.
"Yes. I still love him, of course, to clarify. I just… he just gets an idea in his head and he refuses to let it go," Dib says. "It's not like I wouldn't like working in that lab - it's objectively one of the best in the world - I just know I wouldn't be able to focus on anything cryptid or cryptidzoology-related if I do. I won't have time to do anything with that field if I do work for him! I doubt those people even actually sleep!"
"Well, I'm considering it," Gaz admits. She leaned against Tak's shoulder.
"You are?" Dib asks.
"Eh, idly. I mean, I might just do physics if I work there. He can't make me stay past regular hours if I don't want to; and I'm not sacrificing my gaming hours for more work if I don't want to."
"Well-"
"BUT, then there's making games," Gaz says with a slow nod. "It's a tough choice."
"I'm shocked it wasn't something weapons related," Tak mumbles. Gaz snorted and swatted her knee. Tak rested her cheek in the heel of her palm on the table, turning her attention back to Dib. "The place cannot be that ba… why are you making that face?"
"It is not the place that is difficult," Zim says, his grimace growing. "It is the man. He pretends not to listen.
"And "the man" is your father…?" Tak asks, gesturing to Dib and Gaz. At Dib's nod, she hummed. "And a fellow scientist?"
"He is not a "fellow" anything," Zim snaps. "Irkens are far superior. …Except perhaps these two."
"He's literally considered the smartest man alive," Dib says, almost laughing.
Zim shrugged. "I did not stutter."
Zim wasn't about to admit that Professor Membrane was any better than the two humans lounging in his base, with only one paying rent, until he did something to change his mind. Especially when the man apparently couldn't tell that an alien was effectively having tea-time with him in his own home. And Dib had clocked him as alien almost immediately. He could admit to himself that his disguise had been a laughable. It was a hackney attempt, and yet it had still worked. Thinking back on it, Dib's frustration at being called "the crazy one", while Zim's claim of being human was taken as truth immediately, was understandable. He felt that he could still chalk that up to most of the humans in the school having been willfully ignorant. Even if Dib was the only one obsessed with aliens and the paranormal at the time. He had been far too eager, and far too complacent in the believability of his disguise for too long, and it was shocking it had worked for so long. It was more believable that no one wanted to be the asshole who asked the kid with the skin condition why he looks so weird; or, they just didn't want to be involved. At least, based on his observation of humans over the last decade.
"I would rather try to take Zim ziplining again than go back to that lab alone. At least, for a while," Dib says. Zim slung his arm around Dib's shoulder, patting it reassuringly. Tak folded her arms.
"What if we went with you?" she asks. Dib eyed her a moment before turning to Skoodge. He shifted in his seat and nodded sheepishly.
"I would like to know what it looks like…" he admits. Dib hummed a moment. Gaz sat straighter, poking Tak in the cheek. She smirked at how Tak prickled at that; because it reminded Gaz very strongly of a cat.
"And why do you want to see it?" Gaz asks.
"Curiosity as well," Tak says, swatting Gaz's hand away. "And I would like to see just what is so bad about this parent of yours to make him so uptight."
"He's always like that," Gaz says nonchalantly.
"What is 'ziplining'?" Skoodge asks Zim.
"It's like a sport," Gaz says. "The two finally, finally, went on a real date."
"N-not "finally"!" Dib shouts.
"Which it's good that you went ziplining. It's good to have a healthy fear of trees," Gaz teased. "Did you have to carry him down the course?"
"Okay!" Dib says, clapping his hands. He stood up, moving to stand before the window so he could face the whole group. "If I'm really going to take you all to the labs I'll have to ask Dad first, but, assuming he agrees-"
"He will," Gaz interjects.
"-then we need some ground rules. Do not touch anything. Do not taste or smell anything. Do not move anything. Do not scare or anger the staff. You can ask questions. That's it. Also-"
Tak scoffed. "Why did you specify 'angering' them? What are they going to do?" she asks.
"Because they're probably sleep-deprived, caffeine-riled, humans. And is that really something you want to deal with? If you mess with their stuff they might just forego any self-preservation and do you really want to know what a human is like when they're like that?" Gaz asks.
"They would not do that," Tak says, crossing her arms. "Humans actually know something called 'professionalism'."
Gaz glared at her a moment before she huffed. A detriment to hanging around someone for long enough was their growing ability to call her bluff. "Alright, you caught me. They won't attack you. You'll just be kicked off the property."
"I am an Irken-"
"They don't believe in aliens, Tak. If you attack a guard for being stupid and messing with their experiments I'll break your kneecaps after you're thrown to the curb," Gaz snapped. "Think me, but without the power of forethought and running on split-decision spite."
"…I understand," Tak says. Gaz nodded, satisfied with the answer.
Gaz could hazard a guess that perhaps one or two of the employees would actually get angry, rather than exasperated, if they messed with something. Gaz would occasionally mess with Dib's home-grown lab when she was younger; but that was to make her security dolls and annoy her older brother. She made a mental note to show those toys off to Tak some time. If anyone would appreciate the artistry of security robots disguised as her toys, it would be the Irkens. Even when she went through his things, Dib's lab was mostly full of things he'd bought from the Swollen Eyeball and research documents. It was hardly to the level of risk messing with the experiments in their father's lab would incur. Myriad of issues could pop up if one of the aliens around her decided to test those waters. She was actually considering a career in that lab - she would not get banned because a few Irkens couldn't keep their own mitts to themselves for a couple hours.
"Thirdly," Dib began, "You need to follow the lab protocols for this tour. I don't care if you find them annoying or inconvenient. If they ask you to do something per protocol, just do it. And lastly, you are NOT speaking to my Dad."
"Why not?" Tak asks. Dib took a second to register the fact that she almost sounded disappointed by that.
"Look, if he talks with you first, fine. I get that you can't really just step out of that conversation easily. I've certainly spoken to him enough times to know how hard it is to just end the conversation when you're not used to handling him. But don't initiate. Please? I don't need the headache."
"Fine," Tak grumbled.
Dib sighed in relief. A weight was lifted off his shoulders, somewhat. He couldn't guarantee that his father wouldn't try to strike up a conversation with them, but he and Gaz could at least operate as a buffer. He was sure that from his perspective, this was a sign that Dib was growing more of an interest in the lab. But, he still didn't need his father trying to recruit two teenagers with exactly zero identification or record to speak of, and start hording all his friends who showed the slightest potential in science.
"Great." Dib pulled out his phone, reluctantly shooting off a text.
Zim was already packing up the motherboard and its spare parts. By the time he was done, Dib had gotten the confirmation text back, along with a flurry of excitement and praise in his interest in "real" science. He fought off a groan. He was going to have a headache by the end of this and he knew it. At the very least, he only found the beating of this dead horse as more of an annoyance than a complete aggravation. A second text came through and Dib snorted. He cleared his throat when Skoodge shot him a curious look. Zim was setting Gir up to watch the TV all day if needed, with very explicit directions to The Computer. Gaz and Tak were getting their jackets and shoes on by the door.
"So, the car should be here soon," Dib says. He readjusted his jacket and ignored the suspicious stare he got from Gaz.
"What car?" Gaz asks. Dib laughed nervously, shaking his head.
"Oh, he wants to impress," he says. He composes himself long enough to pause at the front door. "So, we're going to go on the standard tour. It's the one that the lab gives groups of science and tech majors from prospective colleges; so we'll get to see a pretty good comprehensive view of the lab while we're on it."
"Your father sanctioned an entire tour for random people?" Tak asks, giving him a skeptical look as her disguise flickered on.
"Is that not a bad idea..?" Zim asks, equally skeptical of the decision. "Could they not steal the ideas of the projects once they are done?"
"Well, that's a risk, yes… if they didn't sign legal documents before going on the tour binding their silence. Legally. If they ever stole an idea or spoke about it, they'd get a whole legal team on their asses. Most people can't handle the cost of fighting that, especially when it's a losing battle - signature, you know - so, it's a pretty decent deterrent. Besides, Dad's teams keep meticulous records of everything. Everything is time stamped. It makes legal battles go by very quickly."
"He also uses it to screen for potential recruitments," Gaz says flatly.
"That, too," Dib sighs. They filed out of the house, with Dib stopping at the sidewalk, checking each way for their escort. Zim came up beside him.
"Are you alright going back today?" he asks. Dib shrugged. He glanced at Zim when met with silence, only to catch Zim's unconvinced gaze in response. Dib sighed, shaking out his hair a bit.
"I'll be fine. I won't be going alone and I can use any of you as an excuse to exit the conversation if it circles the same drain again."
"Or just leave," Zim offers. "Skoodge won't break any of the rules and Gir is at home. Gaz will handle Tak. We could just leave."
"That's tempting, I will admit... but, no." Dib leaned over, whispering. "I want to see the look on those two when they see what Dad's working on."
Zim smirked, muttering back. "Agreed."
Dib smiled, looking down the road as he heard a car approaching. A limo pulled up in front of the house. Dib turned to the confused looks from both Tak and Skoodge as he opened the door and bowed, waving them inside. It was funny to see them dumbfounded. By this point he'd assumed they'd gotten a basic idea of how pricing and expense worked on Earth, and he was glad to see he'd been right. Gaz dragged Tak inside the limo first, followed by Skoodge, then Zim. Dib settled in last, knocking on the dividing glass when they were all ready. The car took off, auto-locking the doors.
"Dib?" Skoodge picked up one of the decorative glasses from the side of the car paneling and turning it over in his palm.
"Yeah?"
"Just how much income does your family have compared to the average human?" Skoodge asks. "My research was surface-level, but I can tell this is not… typical."
"We're nepo-babies," Gaz says.
"Gaz."
"Am I wrong?" she asks. She turned to Skoodge, putting the glass back. "Don't break that. We don't flaunt it. It's god damned annoying to deal with all the people who just talk to us because "daddy has money" and they assume we do, too. We get a ridiculous allowance, but what the hell am I going to use that on?"
"Extortion? Political espionage? Founding an underground empire? More driver-less cars?" Tak offered, gesturing to the empty front seat. Gaz snorted, waving her off.
"GOD, no. That all sounds like a massive bother. I buy the newest gaming system, any game that catches my attention, and random shit I want. The rest rots in my savings account. It doesn't even amount to half of my yearly allowance. This idiot is the one that spends his savings away," Gaz says, pointing to Dib. He flinched, looking away, bashful.
"It's for research," he grumbles. At Gaz's scoff, he whirled around to shout. "I have a savings account! I'm not totally irresponsible! I even got an IRA!"
"And quite the amount you have at this point," Zim muttered.
"Wh-how do you know who much I have in my savings?" Dib asks.
"I forged my own account with the same bank. Their firewall was child's play. I have my own funds, remember?" Zim asks, smug smile spreading across his face.
"Isn't that fraud?"
"And?"
Dib rested his head on the window. He wasn't dealing with all that. Regardless if the "digital" money felt "fake"; he knew Zim must have done something to avoid suspicion with the bank to get that amount in his account and it not be flagged for uncounted assets. He didn't know how banks tracked that kind of thing, but he knew they must have a way to do it. If Zim ever was caught, he would probably just hack whatever record he needed to and scrub the charges.
A sudden thought hit him and he shot back up. "Why haven't we gotten tattoos, then?! You said you didn't have Earth money to pay them!"
"My base is much better-"
"You know that isn't the point!" Dib snapped, reaching over to pin Zim in a headlock. "We were going to get a matching tat; you coward! You just don't like needles!"
"THEY'RE DISGUSTING AND I REFUSE TO ALLOW IT!" Zim screeched. "I'LL COPY IT ONCE YOU GET YOURS!"
"It's the experience!"
"My God," Gaz groaned, resting her head on the back of the seat. Tak was gaping at Zim. She stood up in the car, bracing with the ceiling to jab her finger in his cheek, getting a chuckle out of Gaz.
"WHAT TATTOO?!" Tak screeched.
"When did you get sanctioned for a tattoo?!" Skoodge asks, horrified of the answer he knows he'll receive. Zim cleared his throat, slapped Tak's hand away, and shifted so Dib was further in front of him.
"It's not your business!"
"Like Irk it isn't!"
"I'M EXILED - WHAT DO YOU CARE?!"
Gaz looked slowly towards Dib, glowering at him as she covered her ears. Dib laughed nervously, holding Tak back with his boot as the three aliens bickered. "I may have forgotten what tattoos mean with them?"
"Die."
The limo halted at the front of the labs. Dib tapped the window when everyone had filed out and the limo inched away to park nearby. A glance back confirmed for each Irken that the car was in fact still lacking a driver. Tak's antennae flicked. Dib had never given any verbal command or hit any controls the entire drive; and yet, the car knew when to start and stop, and park. It wasn't likely that it was just from sound. Was there some sort of interface or reactive programing in the very glass of the limo?
Gaz's hand in hers drew her out of the pondering stupor as she was pulled into the building. Dib was idly speaking about how the lab had been renovated recently, with a quick glare at Zim, which was ignored. Tak could take a guess of what had warranted both the glare and the remodeling. A very specific, small, and rambunctious bot came to mind. She let Gaz guide her around, taking in the lobby area. There wasn't a lot of room, nor a lot of seating. Even if they did tours, apparently the groups didn't wait long. Confirmation of that came swiftly, because she didn't have much time to take in anything else before Gaz was directing her to sign that very non-disclosure agreement that Dib had mentioned, and then dragged her through a side door. They entered a hall lined with lockers on either side.
"Please deposit any personal belongings into the lockers. Any electronic devices are prohibited inside the labs due to the risk of confidentially breaches," the receptionist says cheerily. "I'll get the tour guide. Just one moment, please."
She turned swiftly to the door on the opposite side of the hall. Dib turned to them hastily, opening a lock to shove his and Gaz's phones inside for once. "There's no camera in here, so just adjust your holograms to hide the PAKs if you can," he whispered.
Tak wanted to question just why there wasn't a camera in the one room they had to deposit all their things, but it was likely trust, since Zim had wasted no time in adjusting his hologram. Tak's PAK did the adjustment for her, as did Skoodge's, since he didn't reach for any tablet or watch, either. Gaz reluctantly put her Game Slave into the locker as well with a huff. Dib set the lock code and shut the door. And again, her question was answered as they were patted down once they met the receptionist, and a guard, at the door. Their tour guide greeted them afterward, gaze lingering on the siblings.
"Hello, kids. I was told I was doing a guided tour last minute, I wasn't aware it was you two. Did you want to grab your phones back?" he asks.
"It's fine," Dib assured him. "These are our friends. They were curious about the lab projects since they're working on some stuff of their own."
"Oh! Well, pleasure to meet you three! I'm Greg. I'll be your guide today. We'll start in the first wing on our right. Dib, I know you've been here since the remodel, but Gaz, have you been here yet?"
"Nope."
"It's a new layout," Greg says enthusiastically. "We've got geosciences in this wing, and then the next is Ecology…"
Tak tuned the man out, more concerned with gleaning what she could about the labs as they passed through the first door. Broadly, the first wing covered studying their own planet. Tak caught sight of what appeared to be something regarding geothermal energy, another regarding plate tectonics, and hydrology. She looked out past the group and faltered in her step. Gaz glanced her way, but ultimately didn't pay it any mind past squeezing her hand for a moment. Tak fell back into step easily enough. She had just been caught off guard. She hadn't bothered with a good look at the building's size when they arrived. The wing they were in, the first of many, was so large that she was certain several city buses would fit end to end no issue just based on the length of the room. At least two would fit end to end width-wise.
"Is every wing like this?" she asks incredulously.
"Not entirely," Greg says. "Some of the wings are broken up into different rooms based on what kinds of experiments are being done. Some look a lot smaller as you work your way through them because we had to do some specialty insulating for the radioactive studies and any specialized containments. We'll get there, though. It's perfectly safe if you just follow the PPE instructions."
"I already told them to," Dib assured him.
Tak glanced around again. Skoodge was looking as mesmerized as she was. Just walking through this first wing was starting to bring back memories from their training days. Irkens didn't only learn strategy and combat. Like Zim, they were all trained, as Invaders, to be their own one-Irken lab team, if the need arose. She hadn't failed out of the program thanks to Zim only to give up on that pursuit. She had built both her ships almost from scratch. Her adjustments to Mimi had been her own design… Tak shook her head. She wasn't thinking about Mimi right now. That wasn't important anymore.
Regardless, she felt her insides twist in guilt and regret. She was hyper-aware of the small chip hidden in her PAK, once again, for a moment. Mimi had been coming up often in conversation lately - or it seemed that way - ever since she'd promised to show Zim how she made the "shadow mode". Tak was pursuing more than one goal with that deal in mind. Not that Zim knew that, yet. There wasn't going to be any way to hide it once the day came to start her other project, using this deal as justification. Given what she'd observed of Zim's behavior so far, he wouldn't have the reaction she'd initially been planning for. Rather than shock or anger, she was starting to suspect he'd greet her proposition with understanding. It was strange to even think of the two of them coming to any sort of understanding, yet, she was starting to see it.
Gaz, unknowingly, but blessedly, distracted her with a shake of their hand. Tak glanced up, coming face to face with a hologram model of the Earth's core, complete with magma movements. She tilted her head at it.
"What am I looking at?"
"Are you blind, now?" Gaz leaned forward to look at her with a raised brow. Tak sighed.
"What's the point?" Tak asks instead, clicking her tongue. Gaz smirked.
"This," Gaz says, tracing the movement of the magma with a finger hovering just far enough away not to disturb the hologram. "That's the source of the "rhythm". Well, that's what we think the source is. I think Dr. Mergot is trying to prove that theory," Gaz says, sliding a folder closer to scan the contents. She shoved it back into place a moment later with a confirming hum.
"Oh."
"…" Gaz stared at her. The hologram was fun to watch, if Gaz were honest. But not that mesmerizing. "You good?"
"What? Why wouldn't I be?"
Gaz shrugged. "You seem… off."
"I'm not," Tak insisted. She nodded towards the group, who were further along, nearing the exit door. "Shouldn't we stay with the group? Is that not a rule?"
Gaz was silent. Tak kept her stare. She wasn't backing down, not with Gaz. Because that showed weakness, and she could not afford to appear weak right now. Gaz was the type of creature to pounce given a moment of opportunity. Though, even as Tak told herself that, it didn't seem like something Gaz would do right now. Her gaze wasn't a glare, or even calculating, it was simply skeptic. Perhaps it was even concerned. But mostly it was… studying her. By Irk, it was unnerving. Tak was used to feeling like the predator, not some prey animal. Yet, Gaz's amber eyes very much felt like she was being stared down by a large predator. Almost as if it was assessing her. Finally, she could breathe easy when Gaz turned away and guided her along.
Despite having Gaz's gaze lifted off her, Tak still felt uneasy. It wasn't as if she was afraid. She did have a healthy fear of incurring Gaz's wrath, but curiosity or concern was another issue entirely. She had not escaped that conversation. She could feel it in her guts. Gaz was just backing down for now to avoid a scene. Tak doubted it was for her own benefit. She was convinced it was because dealing with anyone interfering would have been too bothersome for Gaz to pursue.
She was going to get cornered later.
Tak tried not to think about it. The next wing they entered was the Ecology section. Once they'd opened the door she was hit with the scent of a myriad of different flora. She was almost thankful that Greg paused their tour to answer some of Skoodge's questions. He had the internet at his beck and call, yet he was still humoring the man. She consciously tuned into some of the conversation and perked her lip a bit. Skoodge was asking clarifiers for the experiments. She had to hand it to him for that. She doubted he'd find much information about them online, after all. She wasn't even surprised that Skoodge latched onto the topic of habitats.
Irk-conquered planets, by consequence of all the industrialization, obviously lacked good biodiversity. Truth be told, she was gaining interest herself just by looking around the room. The degree of different plants scattered around the room, some in their own casings, was almost overwhelming. She could identify them with her PAK. Most were tropical or desert plants, which was explained the casings. Further study of a nearby casing that housed a juvenile agave plant confirmed her suspicion. They were effectively terrariums; precisely controlled to keep the plants at their best health. Gaz nudged her shoulder, nodding to the agave plant.
"They're trying to see if they can get it to bloom faster."
"Why?"
"Because they can take decades to bloom. It's not a very good adaptation when the habitat around them is being ruined. A tad slow to react."
"It takes how long?"
"Right? Come here, I want to show you Dr. Biens' station." Gaz took her to a large tank. It was filled with not just corals, but the fish that her PAK confirmed lived within coral reefs. Specifically in the Southern hemisphere. Gaz pointed to the most brightly colored corals, which were in small cages at the bases of the rock facings. "Dr. Biens is working on coral restoration. Weather patterns can kill these things really easy, so he's working on improving their resistance to sudden temperature shift."
"Huh. So, he's got them in cages why?"
"Oh, so the fish don't eat them. They need to mature first."
"Why not just leave them in their own separate tanks, then?" Tak asks, trailing the path of a colorful fish as it swam past them.
"I don't know. I'm not reviewing his thesis. I just think it's kind of cool. Aesthetics? Saving space?"
"Well… fair."
Tak let Gaz drag her around again. Other than some adjustments, Gaz didn't let go of her hand. Even if Gaz was showing her hand-picked experiments to show off in each wing, she didn't show much change in her own excitement until they reached the Physics wing. Tak wasn't sure she'd ever heard Gaz speak this much. And if it weren't for her PAK refreshing her own knowledge on physics, she would have gotten lost in all the information Gaz was spouting offhand. She understood now why Gaz had specified physics as a field of study - the girl was utterly captivated by it. It was the kind of enthusiasm that one reserved for a life-time pursuit. What that had to with games, Tak wasn't sure, but she was confident she would learn one day if she let Gaz keep talking like this.
"-nd over here is the model of a Particle Accelerator. There isn't one here, it would be way too big, but they work in tandem with the lab that does have one. I think at least one of these guys is trying to find the God Particle?"
"What is one normally used for?"
"Well, it smashes charged particles together. Electrons and protons. Scientist can study the actual building blocks of matter by studying the results of the collisions. It's basically studying physics at the subatomic level. They have to monitor it with just about the highest-speed camera ever made. Well, it's not really a camera, it's a computer monitoring it for the collision impact, but you know what, same thing for a surface level understanding."
"And, that thing?" Tak points to a glass globe nearby. It had what appeared to be lightning tracing the inside, but Tak highly doubted it was real lightning. Gaz, however, lit up once more, dragging her over.
"It's fun is what it is," she says. She placed Tak's hand on the glob and the lightning on her side honed in on her hand, tracing up and down the contact points. When Gaz placed her own hand down on the opposite side, the streaks were nearly split in half, save for a few stragglers between them. "It's plasma. You use it in some of your weapons; I've seen the diagrams in Zim's lab."
"I've not seen it like this before," Tak admits. She moved her hand, watching the plasma follow it. "I don't build the weapons, so I don't know the intricacies off hand."
"Well, this is a plasma globe. It's full of gasses, with a high-volt electrode at the center. That orb on a stick in the center. That voltage is what's making the filaments - the "lightening". They're attracted to the small electrical signals that run through your nervous system when you place your hand down. That's why it follows you."
"Why does it work on me…? Oh. Oh, of course," Tak removed her hand to drag it down her face. Every living thing, unless it's biology was wildly different, had small electrical signals just from the nervous system functioning. She had learned that in rudimentary classes as a smeet. Yet, she had chucked that basic information out of her immediate memory stores fairly quickly once she'd learned all she could about the basics of plasma physics. Hearing Gaz describe it felt different, though.
Is this how Zim feels when Dib goes on his hours long lectures? she wondered.
She had to admit, the lab was impressive. If not in the scale of the technology it was by diversity. Even while she'd seen some space-travel related science in this wing she'd yet to see hide nor hair of anything related to war or weaponry. They'd walked through five wings already, and according to Greg, they were hardly even halfway done. Once they'd finished with the wings on this floor and were moving on to the next one, Tak caught sight of the building map. On the key at the bottom was a list of the related wings. There were almost twenty. Each wing was dedicated to an entire field of science. It was no wonder the tour could average upwards of two hours; she was fairly certain they'd already been there about an hour and had only made it through a fourth of the facility thanks to Skoodge pausing to ask questions. He was no doubt still making notes in his PAK for later. The group stepped out of the elevator into another lobby-esque area. If not for the tables, Tak would have mistaken it for a lobby.
"This is one of the employee areas. If you need the restroom, they're on the right. We can take a short break here," Greg says.
"So, how many of these are there?" Skoodge asks.
Tak shimmied to the side, dragging Gaz along this time, away from the boys. Gaz raised a brow at her. She kept silent, though, letting Tak tour the employee area of her own volition. Nearing a door on the far side of the area, the door opened and Gaz planted her feet. Tak jerked backward with a yelp.
"Fuck," Gaz whispered.
"Gazlene!" Professor Membrane shouted cheerily, throwing his arms up.
"Hi, dad."
"I was curious if you were here ye-" Membrane paused, zeroing in on the pair of entwined hands between Tak and Gaz. Tak raised a brow at him, challenging him to say anything. "Oh, you got a girlfriend. When did that happen? I would have sent a congratulatory message."
"I know," Gaz groaned. "That's why you didn't know."
"Well, congratulations!" Membrane says. He held his out to Tak. "Professor Membrane! Father of this gothic, scientific prodigy. What's your name?"
"Tak," Tak slowly shook his hand. "I've heard of you before. I must say the lab is impressive. Even by my standards."
"Aha! Of course it is, I run it! We have internships open, you know."
"Dad, we're going to tour freely for a second, I want to show her the full Astrology department," Gaz says.
"Oh, but-"
"And I'm going to find a place to make out. Let's go," Gaz says. Tak stumbled after her, leaving Membrane shocked silent behind them.
"W-what?!" Tak sputtered. Gaz slipped through the door Membrane had exited, dragging her down the hall with a smirk. "Hello?"
"Oh, relax, we won't make out if you don't want to. But I did want to show you the Astrology department and not get stuck talking for, like, an hour."
Membrane stood where Gaz had left him, processing her words. It made sense - she was only just leaving her teenage years - but he hadn't expected to hear that. He eventually was able to straighten up and spied Zim and Dib across the room with Greg and another friend he hadn't met yet. He eagerly made his way over.
"Son! And other son! Has the tour been enlightening?" Membrane asks.
"Dad, hey. Yeah, it's been cool," Dib says.
"I'm impressed how well you fixed it all," Zim says with a smirk. Dib elbowed him in the arm. Membrane took it in stride, however, laughing the comment off. He turned to Greg, exchanging pleasantries before landing his gaze on Skoodge.
"And what might your name be? You're one of the friends my son invited, yes?"
"Oh, yes, sir. I'm Sko-, um, you can call me Skott," Skoodge says, already putting his hand out for the handshake.
"Excellent! If you like the labs, we are doing internships," Membrane says.
"Really? Well, maybe," Skoodge says. Dib cleared his throat and Skoodge waved his hand, bashful. "If I can. I mean, I 'd have to think about it… but it is really impressive."
"Excellent! You can grab the application form on your way out at the reception desk. We keep a stack up there."
"Yeah, great. Stop calling me your 'other son'," Zim but in. "Not your son."
"Ah, sorry, little green friend. Let me clarify."
"It's Zim."
"I use it as a form of respect, of course!"
"….Right," Zim says flatly. Dib lightly elbowed him again and Zim internally groaned. "Speaking of the labs… do you have any projects you're working on that "Skott" could observe?"
"Oh, of course! On every floor, in fact. Would you like to learn more about them?" Membrane asks, turning his attention to Skoodge. Zim took the opportunity immediately to drag Dib off towards the elevator. Once inside, his PAK alerted him of a message.
Skoodge: Are you sure this family is entirely human?
Zim: Yes, you walnut. I tested their DNA.
Zim: Frankly, I find it more impressive that they are.
Skoodge: I just need to confirm that because he's shockingly close to developing functional immortality.
Zim: Do not curse me with that possibility. I will destroy your ship and then you.
Skoodge: …Okay that was harsh.
Skoodge: But seeing what he could do in an Irken lab is incredibly tempting!
Zim: I WILL EVISERATE YOU IF HE COMES WITHIN A MILE OF THAT BASE BECAUSE OF YOU!
Skoodge: Not YOUR lab!
Zim: I do not care. Do not let him near your things. He WILL grab them.
Skoodge: That's ironic given the rules of the lab. And a bit contradictory.
Zim: Yes, he's very good at it.
Zim: DO. NOT. INVITE HIM.
Skoodge: I'm not!
Zim rubbed at his temple with a low groan. Dib leaned around to better look at him. He didn't seem sick, at least. Dib grabbed his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Zim glanced over at him with tired eyes and Dib smiled in return.
"I don't' know, entirely, how you view Skoodge and his abilities, but he won't do anything stupid," Dib assured him. Zim couldn't bring himself to oust Skoodge for his simple curiosity. If it were literally any other human, Zim would potentially find it negligible or non-threatening to suggest seeing what they could do with Irken technology. When it came to Professor Membrane, however… he didn't fully doubt that the man would recognize it as alien technology.
Gaz pushed open a door and paused inside. Tak joined her, taking in the room. It was far from Astrology. Diagrams and half-built prototypes littered the walk way on either side of them. Robotics of myriad of uses in various stages of completion took Tak's attention immediately. If her antennae were visible, they would have been straight up in attention. Gaz took one look at Tak's face and finally released her hand, tapping her back and letting Tak roam freely throughout the room. It was relatively empty, given it was the lunch hour now, so Tak was free to browse with little worry of being watched.
"I forgot you liked robotics so much," Gaz admits. Tak cleared her throat, studying a robotic limb. Based on the diagrams, the researcher was attempting to improve the ability to feel actual touch with the limb.
"This is remarkably close to the prosthetics on Irk," Tak muses. "They're very close to being comparable."
"Really? Cool…" Gaz bounced on her heels, glancing around to make sure that no one was in the room. She was grateful that each floor took timed lunches. She knew from living with Dib, and now Zim, that if they weren't, these people might not eat all day. Regardless, she psyched herself up and turned back to Tak. "So, have you snitched on Zim, yet?"
Tak flinched. She looked at Gaz, suddenly feeling a little smaller now that she was bent over to study the diagrams more. Gaz had crossed her arms and was staring down at her rather intently. "What?"
"Because while you are very fun to hang out with, and I like having you around, my brother does come first. And frankly, that means Zim also comes first, because those two practically glued themselves together."
"No, I haven't," Tak admits. Gaz regarded her a moment, finding no fault in her expression or eyes. She waved her hand briefly, inviting Tak to elaborate. "I… was as vague as I could be. In my report. "
"Good. Why?"
"Why?"
"Yes. Why? You hated this planet on your first visit."
"That wasn't - that wasn't because I hated the planet. I was trying to get my Invader status back."
"Yeah? How'd that work out for you?" Gaz asks, popping her hip out and tapping her foot. Tak fought the urge to shift uncomfortably. She knew this was going to happen and she had still let her guard down just because they'd hit the robotics unit. Of course. Tak huffed, moving along the walkway. Gaz wasn't far behind her.
"I had to relinquish Mimi, for one," she says bitterly. "They said she wasn't "sanctioned"."
"…Oh."
"And… it feels… nice. On this planet. Like to be standing on it. That 'hum' calms me down. I've not felt it so strongly on other planets. Most don't keep their flora or fauna once they're industrialized."
"What, none? Don't you guys need air? You're breathing right now, I can see it," Gaz says.
"It's not like we don't know how to make artificial air," Tak scoffs. "But that hum."
"Yeah, the heartbeat."
"The what."
"Yeah, the heartbeat. The magma down under us? The rhythm you feel? It's assimilating you."
"WHAT?!"
Gaz snorted, covering her mouth. "I'm lying! It's not actually assimilating you; but if you're here long enough, it looks like it does start affecting your almonds."
"My what?"
"Your almonds - it's a metaphor. We get a little anxiety-ridden if we orbit the planet too long without coming back. We can't feel the rhythm all the way from space."
"….I see?"
Gaz highly doubted that given the confounded look Tak was still wearing. A devious thought crossed her mind and Gaz smirked. "Yeah, so since you're not a traitor, do you wanna make out?"
"WAIT, YOU NEED TO EXPLAIN A FEW THINGS FIRST?"
"What? Like what making out is? You have Google."
"STOP THAT."
Gaz laughed, wiping at her eyes. Tak groaned, shoving her in the arm enough to move her but not topple her over. Gaz glanced her way, catching how dark Tak's face had gotten and started laughing again. She took another moment to compose herself, getting dangerously close to Tak storming off, wiping her tears away. "Sorry, ahaha. I couldn't help it."
"Right."
"But, I am happy to hear that. What was that you said about Irk having no plants? Like any? On most of the planets you conquer. Seriously?"
"Well, not every planet," Tak amends. "Some Irkens can earn their own small plots with flora and some fauna on them. But that's about it. Maybe one or two for stealth and terrain training."
"….No wonder you guys need to touch trees so much, god damn."
"EXCUSE ME, IT'S JUST HOW WE DO THINGS."
"Doesn't mean it's a good way to do things. The more I learn the more I think you're Empire is just a natural extreme for capitalistic-utilitarian-nightmare-fuel. Like, the fuck, girl? Touch some damn grass."
"…."
"Your silence speaks volumes."
"I literally don't think I can speak more about this without getting flagged as a risk."
"What if it was, like, in an attempt to indoctrinate me?"
"What."
"What? At least then it would look like you're trying to recruit an ally or something if they scan your brain backup or whatever it is."
Tak opened her mouth to retort but froze. She closed it, thinking seriously for a moment. "…..Maybe?"
Gaz snorted, patting Tak on the shoulder. "We'll talk later. C'mon, I can tell you wanted to tour this room the second we walked in."
"You didn't plan to bring me here?" Tak asks.
"Hm? No, I was actually trying to find the Astrology department," Gaz says. "This place is a damn maze sometimes."
"…. I don't believe you."
"That's your problem," Gaz says with a smirk.
She took Tak's hand again, pleased to find Tak still wasn't even trying to pull away from her when she did. Zim had warned her not to remove the gloves until her PAK was on permanently and had fully synced to her body systems due to the venom. She could barely feel the leathery glove in her palm, hidden by the hologram, as she rubbed her thumb over the back of Tak's hand. Whether Tak had assumed Gaz knew better or not, she opted to take a small chance and, while Tak was looking over the public information for one experiment, pulled her hand a little closer so that she also cup her other hand around Tak's wrist. Her fingers slipped past the cuff of the glove to brushed against the base of the palm underneath.
Tak glanced her way, but at Gaz's innocent (as much as it could look with her reputation) and small smile she turned back towards the experiment. Tak's hand gave hers a small squeeze and Gaz could have punched a wall with how much that made her day. She wasn't as experienced as she postured in relationships, especially when it came to someone who was as touch-starved as the Irkens appeared to be, and as small as the gesture was, it was a gesture of confirmation and she would fly with it.
Finding the Astrology department was harder than Gaz would have thought only because the maps of the facility appeared exclusive to the elevator and the lobbies. After exhausting her knowledge of the floor's layout from her first visit she had to admit defeat and find the elevator instead. Of course, the halls felt like a maze when they wanted the elevator instead.
"For Christ's sake," Gaz muttered, braced against the wall with her head bowed. Tak stood beside her, lifting one hand from where she'd crossed them at her abdomen to hide a smirk behind her palm.
"I can't even offer to help," Tak says, a little too smugly for Gaz's liking. Gaz slowly tilted her gaze towards her with an annoyed glare. Tak put her hand up. "I don't know the layout."
"What, you can't do a hologram scan like Skoodge can?"
"I… could do that… but it is visible, so…"
"AUGH!" Gaz rested her head on the wall.
"We can't actually get lost, can we? The building is only so large," Tak reasoned. "If worse comes to worse, I can break a window-"
"Absolutely not," Gaz snapped. "I'm paying for that, nor am I going to try and explain how you busted what is effectively bullet-proof glass, given the security of this place."
"That's… fair," Tak sighed, letting her hand drop to her side. She completely uncrossed her arms to pat Gaz on the back and retrieve the approximation of a smart phone from her pocket. Technically, it was a smaller version of her PAK tablet, linked and synced to the larger sibling device. It was two hours since they'd ditched the boys, leaving them three hours before the labs were closed to the public.
"I think we need to ask for directions," Tak admitted. Gaz groaned again, banging her head lightly on the wall. "Swallow your pride for this, at least."
"You're one to talk."
"Bite me."
"Only if you ask nicely," Tak teased. Gaz stiffened under her hand and Tak glanced up to see the girl's face redder than she'd ever seen it before, even when she was already in a rage. She couldn't help but snort out a chuckle and dodge away when Gaz went to swat at her.
"Don't flirt with me if you don't mean it," Gaz warned.
"Who said I didn't? You can even pick where."
Gaz choked on her own spit a second, whirling around to face Tak. "Did you Google how to flirt, or something?! Where did this spawn from?!"
"Your internet is very lucrative."
Of course she had Googled it. Gaz should have known better. She laughed, pulling Tak's hand as they continued along. "Well, keep going, smooth talker. What else did the internet teach you, hm?"
"Hmmm… "You're a thief because you stole the stars from the sky and put them in your eyes"?"
"AHA! Oh, no, ahaha! That's so cheesy!"
"How about: "I will give you a kiss. If you don't like it, you can return it"?"
"No! HA!"
"You're like a breakfast bar - half sweet and half nuts."
"HA!" Gaz snorted, shaking her head. "Just, aha! Just say what you're wanting to say instead. These are too much."
"…I feel like I've found a home, and… thank you," Tak says. Gaz paused, halting Tak when her hand tugged her back after she stopped. Tak turned to her. "And, pick up lines aside, because those were clearly failures, do you want to show me how an actual date is done?"
"It would be my actual pleasure," Gaz says, bumping into her as they continued walking.
Tak clenched her hand, letting a smile cross her face. Despite the joy she'd been experiencing while here - in ways she never thought she would, in oddly domestic ways - it was still worrisome to stay here as she was. If the Empire had ever scanned her PAK's memory logs she would be in legitimate trouble if and when she ever went back to IRK or answered another Invasion draft. She couldn't live in denial forever about her traitor status. Doing that would just lead to her own downfall, eventually. The sheer fact a planet could have such a grasp on one's psyche was also… troublesome, to say the least. It was even more contradictory that she wasn't as unnerved by that as she thought she would be. She'd never been on a single planet for very long after she'd graduated from the Academy to know if it was commonplace, either. She'd never gotten the chance to formally infiltrate a planet to overtake it. She was always on Irk-governed planets that had already been largely hollowed out and modified, which would have, by her own theory, destroyed whatever "heartbeat" it would have had. If she had confidence there was a single planet within this star system that was Irken-allied and not hollowed out she might even consider staying there for a year to test said theory; but it would take her almost a year at lightspeed to find one. As far as her PAK was concerned, Earth hadn't even been on the Irken star maps before Zim successfully landed here.
If she was going to do that, she wanted to either drag Gaz with her or rebuild Mimi first. Both would be ideal. If, in some way or another, she could successfully rebuild her SIR Unit, it would alleviate a lot of her anxiety, now that she thought about it. She turned to Gaz.
"You called Mimi a cat," Tak started, getting Gaz's attention. "I did base her off a common house pet; but she didn't act that much like a cat. Is that how you first knew?"
"No, she acted a lot like some cats," Gaz says. "Hell, I kind of wanted to hold her."
"Why?"
"She seemed like a good therapy cat. For me. She had just the right amount of temper," Gaz says confidently.
"…"Therapy" cat?"
"Yes-what am I so surprised about? Of course you guys don't have therapy. So, therapy cats can be used for a lot of stuff, like anxiety."
"…Oh."
"Tak, was Mimi your therapy cat?"
"I… not officially, but… I mean she did help a lot with that when we were travelling, now that I think about it," Tak admitted sheepishly. Gaz hummed, nodding sagely.
"Okay, it's official, we're building Mimi again. You have her SD card, right?"
"Wh-what?! We can't rebuild her here!"
"Why not? It's not like you don't have a fully-fledged Irken lab right there. Equipped with an Irken who will be more than willing to do it if it means it would piss off the Empire even a little bit," Gaz says smugly. "If nothing else, out of pure spite and pettiness. Which I will always support."
"I… do have her memory card," Tak admitted quietly. Gaz smiled - and dear Irk, Tak wanted to see that every day from here to her death - and started to swing their arms at their hands.
"Then, let's go make a deal with Zim, hm?"