Hey Spacejerk

Free At Last?

Dib sat on his pallet, hands wedged firmly under his legs, teeth clamped together. His eyes stung but he kept them trained on the hoverscreen, paused on the image of Zim appraising the bloody tip of his PAKwire. He would not scream. He would not tear open the still-healing seam along his scalp. And, above all, he would not allow himself to live in denial of the truth like everyone around him. He would stare at the screen until the screeching denials that crowded his brain submitted to the facts and all their implications.

Implications like the possibility that every untimely trip before he could grab Zim had been perfectly coordinated by his saboteur. The likelihood that leaving the lens cap on his camera had been a deliberate oversight buried in his subconscious. Perhaps, even, there had been deliberate exacerbation of those traits that marked him "insane" by his peers. There had been fits, hadn't there? From time to time, when the frustration of it all became unbearable, something like a seizure would take him, but nobody had ever remarked because he was just "the crazy Membrane kid."

Something was always in the way or ill-timed or fouling his efforts. He'd never had a shot in hell of capturing Zim, or even getting decent evidence of his existence. The enemy had accidentally planted the ultimate spy cam, then continued bumbling his way through oblivious humanity without realizing he'd permanently handicapped the opposition.

And then, like a soap bubble blown too large, the sick feeling broke. Dib's lungs expanded, hauling in a deep draught of air, and he laughed. He rocked back, hands gripping his stomach as he roared. "Oh, Zim! Oh you absolute idiot! You perfect moron! I was so close, all the time. So close! Fighting you and your empire's programming together, of course I couldn't win. Now? Now? Now you're mine! I'll never miss a shot again! I'll never blow a chance to gather evidence. People will believe me because I'll be Dib Membrane, the man with the largest collection of undeniable evidence of the paranormal to ever exist. Dad wants me to do science? I can marry science and the paranormal. I'll find out all your secrets! I'll be unstoppable! Unstoppable! OOOOWW!"

One of the larger robotic arms zapped his leg from below. The hoverscreen crackled, listing to the side a bit, then dipped below Dib's pallet to vanish underneath. Moments later it emerged, crawling along the floor at the center of those larger robotic arms that it now piloted. It dragged itself over to the door and clambered up the bars to grip the shiny silver chain. The links snapped like twigs and the chain unwound, clinking foot by foot to the floor. The hoverscreen turned to Dib and flashed one word on its screen.

F O L L O W

Then it pried the door open, slid down the frame, and crawled off.

Dib gripped the edge of his pallet. The moment had come and he couldn't move. He could run now. Dart out into the hall and search for an exit, see if Zim had missed sealing any off. But the little hoverscreen might have more information. Might lead him to Zim. Might lead him straight into a trap where Dib would be executed or experimented on, too. His knuckles whitened. No saboteur left and he couldn't figure out which decision he wanted more.

The screen flipped around, and on the blue background was a very familiar set of words in white lettering.

Y O U   H A V E   O N E   N E W   M E S S A G E .   A C C E P T / D E C L I N E

He missed the hoverscreen by inches, hitting the ground at the end of his dive. The screen launched itself with powerful arms, grabbing prison bars and flinging itself monkey-like down the concrete walk. Dib scrambled to his feet, his decision solidifying with every step he took, sprinting after it.

The hoverscreen swung itself into another cell, one with its door hanging open. Dib slowed his steps, craning his neck. He was intent on catching danger a millisecond early. Zim wouldn't sucker him this time.

From his angle of approach he could see through the bars into the cell. The Voot Cruiser took up a good half of the room—or what was left of the Voot. It looked like a skeleton of a vehicle. The windshield bubble looked to have been removed and reformed into a sphere. Zim lay inside this pod, eyes shut, floating in some kind of green goo. Wires travelled from Zim's pod to a beaver-sized box of parts cobbled together from a Voot's interior panels and control boards. Dib recognized bits and pieces from his work on Tak's ship. From there, one more set of wires extended to what appeared to be a helmet with no occupant, laid to rest on the cell's pallet.

The hoverscreen perched on top of the box, wrapping huge robotic limbs around it as if to fortify its walls, and flashed its offer of one more message. Silent, Dib reached forward to accept.

.....

Note: So, it has finally happened. Child is now Sadie Sadie, married lady (cookies if you know the reference!) It's weird. Fanfiction was supposed to be that thing I grew out of someday, right? "Graduate to writing your own dang fiction already, Child." But I am having myself a grand old ball, a blast, a real mad witch's cackle over here. I'm enjoying this far too much to stop, even as I pass married status and approach age thirty. Here's to never growing old at heart. Also, here's to a bit more consistent updating now that I'm back from my wedding madness. Thanks for all your patience! I hope those of you that celebrate have a Merry Christmas, and those of you who don't have a good and gentle season.