Chapter Five
{Mind of a 16 year old}
It took about three hours to get through all the invaders. Well, not all of them but the ones who were assigned a planet. Zim listed planets that Dib had never even heard of. They were pretty random, too. Like one called the Couch planet? Who thought of that?
After the assembly, Dib followed Zim once more.
Not even paying attention to where he was going, for he had many things on his mind. Like that, he had ACTUALLY been able to hurt Zim! Even though he was out of it...
Dib was confused due to this, so he tried to settle his mind by trying to remember what all happened.
(flash back)
Zim hissed as Dib was bombarded with all the knowledge of Irk. Somehow, he had latched his hand on to Zim's arm as they walked.
"HANDS OFF DIB!" he gritted out sharply in a low voice. The chip in Dib's head obeyed even though he had barely recognized Zim's words as Dib's world started to spin. Zim made it worse by jerking him back and forth as he shook the human viciously.
"WHY did you do that … Dib – filth?" He stared at Dib's face for a moment, then stopped shaking him back and forth.
"What's wrong with your face?" Zim was all blurry, and Dib's eyes started to water. His face was paler. Dib's brain was getting too much information at once, and it felt like a balloon was getting squeezed. His head was going to explode!
"It…I…It's…too…to mu…ch…much. I ca…can't…thi…thing…think." Dib tried to form the words, but it was hard even to process them when all the knowledge was going at hyper speed through his head. Raising his hands, Dib cupped them around his head and tried to force the information back!
To compress or to stop the flow, but it just forced its way even farther inside, making his head feel enfolded into itself over and over again. As Dib crouched down to bring his knees closer to his head, he opened his mouth and just let himself ramble as tears filled his eyes.
"It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts! IT HURTS! HURTS, HURTS, HURTS!" He repeated this over and over and over again. Trying to make his brain realize it was overloading and that it couldn't take it anymore! Then, just as quickly as it appeared, the pain vanished. Still holding onto his head, Dib looked up at Zim dumbfounded.
"What?" Zim asked him after they stared at each other for a while without talking.
"It's gone…" Dib started in a whisper of surprise.
Did he do something? Or was it some kind of short burst then gone in a flash kind of thing. Like an explosion? Yeah, that's exactly like it, just on an extreme level inside his head without blood or death.
"Well, of course it's gone, you idiot!" Zim's eye twitched as he continued.
"Now, are you done complaining? We have more important things to deal with at the moment than you and your stupid pain." He pivoted around and walked through the double doors rubbing his arm. He stopped mid-way and flung a death glare back at Dib.
Stumbling, the human got to his feet; then wiped his tears away and followed after the Tallest.
(End of Flash back)
Dib came back to the present just as he slammed into Zim's back. He had just finished growling something at him, so Dib decided to risk being hit.
"What did you say?" Dib asked dumbly.
"Listen to Zim and STOP putting your feet in the sky!" Zim barked.
"Uh …head in the clouds…" Dib corrected him unconsciously.
"What?" Zim faced him with his expression annoyed.
"The..., the saying is 'get your head out of the clouds' not 'stop putting your feet in the sky'." Dib informed the alien.
"You're lying!" Zim screamed.
Oh god, is he serious? Dib stared at him as he raised an eyebrow. Why did young Zim suddenly pop back?
"So where are we going?" a changed of subject was in order.
"That's what I just told you!" Zim huffed out.
"So… we're at -" Dib tried to start.
"The Main Lab." The alien cut in and presented a door that Dib guessed was the main lab's. It was a big door.
"Okay, what's at the main lab?" He asked as he stared at the very large door. What is with Irkens and large doors?
"The main computer and the smits." He informed me.
"So…Gir is in there?" Dib eyed it suspiciously. He didn't dislike Gir or anything, but the little robot was a bit of a menace. Even if he didn't mean it, the robot always ended up in the way. Now Dib can vouch that he WAS helpful a couple of times when he was investigating Zim, but that was before, and the now this Zim is different, so that means that this Gir has to be different too…right?
Rolling his eyes, Zim turned to press his hand on a large screen pad.
"Is it even safe that Gir is with the main computer?" Dib asked the alien suspiciously.
"Yes…" Zim rolled his eyes and drawled just as the screen pad highlighted his hand with a laser.
"I told you before, Dib-Worm, I reprogrammed him." As he took his hand off the pad, the door started to open, and a blur flew through the door toward them.
"MAS-TTA!" a happy high-pitched voice screamed. Dodging the object with a side step, the robot slammed onto Dib's head, almost knocking him off his feet.
"Ahh!" was all Dib got out before his face was covered, and his air passages were blocked.
"Big headed BOY," Gir squeezed tighter. "You're BACK!"
Dib winced at the strength of the tiny being. Damn this robot is strong. Trying to pry him off so he could breathe, he faintly heard Zim call for Gir.
"Yes, Sir." Gir fell to the ground and saluted his master while Dib took a deep breath with his hands on his knees.
"Status report." Zim ordered as we followed him into the lab.
"Everything is in working order. 20 correctly made tubes are growing." Gir replied obediently.
"Main computer, awaken." His voice commands to nothing visible.
"Yes, my Tallest Zim?" a female voice replied.
"Take this," Zim held out the flash drive that he had stored earlier in his PAK.
"Analyze it and tell me what's wrong with Dib."
"Yes, sir." A computer tentacle accepted the drive and disappeared.
Find out what is wrong with him? He's going to OPEN his head again!
"Like hell you're going to experiment on me AGAIN! Dib spun around, aiming for the large door. But it closed before he even took one step.
"DON'T LEAVE THIS ROOM DIB!" Zim ordered, making his body stop in place. Seething Dib turned to face him.
"I will not let you RIP open my head a second time!" Dib shouted at the alien viciously.
"If I wanted to rip open your head again, I could do it without your consent! You were out cold when it happened anyway. You felt nothing. So why get all whiny about it now?" He faced the human as he said this. Waving a hand in dismissal.
"I wouldn't want to open that meat ball again anyway." Zim huffed out as he looked away.
Did he call his head a meat ball? Dib opened his mouth to rebuttal, but Zim cut him off.
"The Chip is synced to the computer nonetheless. Why make a mess?" The info was startling.
A blue beam flashed over the room until it reached Dib, and then a beeping sound came from the back of his head near his neck. Sighing, he mumbled something about his head being a beacon as he watched Zim move toward the digital screen that formed in front of him.
Sauntering up next to him, Dib tried to estimate the size of it. He guessed about the size of the screen in Zim's room times five.
"A beacon's fitting, don't you think?" Zim gave Dib a sideways smirk as the man glared at the alien for the comment.
"Shut up," the human snapped out. Then, he turned his attention back to the screen. It was see-through, a projection of color mostly. Raising his hand, he reached out to touch it just as the computer started to speak.
Like a snake, the alien grabbed his hand as they looked up at the large computer's avatar face and listened dexterously to what it told them.
"It seems there is no internal brain damage. Knowledge he acquired over the past five years is still there."
"Why doesn't he remember anything?" Zim asked frantically as his face showed concern.
"He suffers from a type of amnesia. Mainly, Source Amnesia, which is that he has the information, but he does not know how he learned it. There may be a hint of both categories of Semantic, which is of basic knowledge, like if something is big, small, or named, and episodic, which is the change in behavior because of an event. Both of these are in his declarative memory loss; but only a small amount. Those are long-term memory loss, but the episodic has a possibility of making him have a better chance of regaining them back."
"Explain." Zim ordered as Dib reclaimed his captured hand.
"If an event that can trigger some new behavior is activated, then there is a possibility of reviving those lost memories." The computer complied.
"And if it doesn't?" The alien sqinted his eyes seriously.
"If not, maturing of the mind, body and spirit is in order; because at this moment, that mind of his is a 16 year old teenager instead of a 21 year old adult." The female voice informed him.
"Do you know the estimated time amount for this?" Zim questioned optimistically. His eyes and brows relaxed at the news.
"It could be from a day to a week to years. It all depends on the effect it has on Dib. Negative, and it will pull his mind down further into the dark or positive, and everything will come back."
"How do we know what's good or bad?" Dib asked before Zim could. Zim shoved him to the side as Dib glanced at Zim with a smirked while he glared. Dib guessed Zim wanted to be the one to ask. Well, too bad, he told Zim in my mind.
"It's more likely that Tallest Zim would know that answer since he knows you best Tallest Dib." Dib frowned at the reply and faced Zim.
"Really, you know the answer to this?" He tried to say mockingly.
"In a way." Zim challenged him as they looked at each other. Dib raised his eyebrow at Zim in response.
"It's always been power or weakness between us, so that is what I'll use." He informed the human smartly.
Power or weakness? What does he mean by that? Okay, power, he could understand, but what does having a weakness have to do with it?