Gravity of You [Invader Zim] [Zim x Dib] [ZADR]

Chapter Eight

Zim was having a great morning so far, he had found some food he could eat in a nearby store and was having it on all his meals, including today's breakfast. He was doing some maintenance on his equipment and even had the time to take care of his eyes, which were getting irritated with the continuous use of lenses. Nothing some Irken medication couldn't fix.

He was reclaiming the portable cameras he had on some locations, coming to mind that he still had one on Dib's yard, although he never used it again. He turned it on one last time before making it come back when he saw something odd. They were home. All the Membrane's were home, meaning that for some reason Dib and Gaz didn't go to school and Membrane was not working. They were in different places in the house and Membrane was walking in his living room from one side to the other.

Zim was alarmed by it, getting his phone to check if Dib had said anything but there were no messages since the night before. Looking once more, Zim observed Vortex requesting entrance in the house and Membrane opening the front door to it. The dog went straight upstairs and that was the absolute proof something had happened. Vortex always knew when Dib was sad or going through a lot.

Zim was about to call Dib but right before hitting the Call button, he realized it would give him away on his camera and that it wouldn't be nice to explain Dib why he had something like that on his house. So he tried another approach that didn't include sneaking on them. Texting.

" Hi Dib I went to school to get some stuff I forgot in the locker and you weren't there. Are you ok? "

Wasn't the most ingenious story ever but it should do the work. Sometimes Zim didn't go to school simply because he hated the place and he didn't have an interest in getting a degree or anything. He just went there to be with Dib.

Almost one hour passed and Dib still hadn't answered him. Maybe now the alien had a good excuse to come by his house and check if things were ok, although he suspected what it could be by now.

"Do you think Dib found out?" GIR asked as he watched a disturbing kids show on TV

"I think so, GIR. Membrane is home, I think Dib found out last night... he is always on his father's lab"

"What are you going to do?" GIR asked with his metallic voice as Zim was unlocking his door

The alien sighed and stood there for a moment.

"I... don't know. But he'll need someone to talk to and I'm the only one he has outside his family" Zim said as his PAK inserted the lenses and wig on him

Dib was in his bedroom, the door was locked and the curtains were closed. He allowed Vortex to enter some time ago, finding some comfort in its company. The young Membrane had been crying all night after his most recent discovery.

The night before he was analyzing some things on his father's microscope just for fun. They were some tiny samples of Zim's skin, that the alien had given him willingly to satisfy his curiosity. He was saving the pictures he had taken with it on the computer when he saw that a recently used file had his name as the title.

It made him feel nervous, maybe deep down he kind of knew the truth. He tried some passwords to open it and after sneaking on his father's notebook he found the right one.

He felt his throat get tight as he discovered the folder was an obscenely complete file on him. It was documented in details of days until he reached the age of seven. After that, the data started to be less dense. The most important report he found stated clearly that he and his sister were genetic clones of their father, the only difference was that Gaz was manipulated to be a female. The same file contained pictures from the older Membrane among side with pictures of Dib in different ages.