Eyes of Blight
  Turbuggy  

MEDICINA was an extremely overcrowded planet— a fact that became more apparent to Dib as he attempted to dock the Spittle Runner. Thankfully, the IRKEN symbol on the side of the ship gave him priority, and he soon found a suitable place to land. This was the first time he was glad he hadn’t been fully able to scratch Tak’s insignia off of the vessel.

Stepping out into the docking hub gained Dib quite a few sideways glances from nearby aliens— both IRKEN and others alike. However, a quick peek at the bundle in his arms made most curious IRKEN recoil in horror, and everyone else give him clear passage. Dib found that most IRKEN that saw Zim had the same reaction— first suspicion, followed by horror, ending with covering their mouths or fleeing, or both. A similar reaction accompanied the two into the planet’s main square, where a plethora of tall, colorful buildings and busy streets stretched off into the distance. Most had the same IRKEN medical symbol emblazoned somewhere on their faces, if not on bold neon signs outside or hung above their doors. Those practices run by other races had their own symbols present, most likely to point their kin to where they may find aid. Dib rushed into the first building he saw, which just so happened to be IRKEN-run. He pleaded desperately with the IRKEN medical drones stationed there, holding the blanket-wrapped Zim out for them to see. They all gave the human the same response. The moment they leaned in to peer at their potential patient, their faces were overcome with fear. Some even squeaked or shouted as they jerked back, but all of them quickly covered their mouths and shook their heads, speaking in frantic IRKEN DOOM as they pointed desperately towards the door.

It was then that Dib realised two things; one, being that these medical drones most likely knew exactly what was ailing Zim, and about how apparently “dangerous” and “incurable” it was. Two, being that Dib didn’t speak IRKEN DOOM.

“Wait, no! I can’t leave! He’s dying, you have to help him!”

Angry chirps and clicks fell on deaf human ears, Dib helplessly unable to understand. The more he pushed, the harder the medics pushed back, until the duo stood in front of two closed— and very much locked— front doors. The human didn’t even bother trying to get back in, and instead took off running to the next closest building.

Misfortune seemed to cling to the pair, as similar scenes played out from building to building. No IRKEN medics would dare to touch Zim, and those practices run by other races simply refused, no doubt already aware of the virus’ incurable nature. Dib’s unfortunate language barrier didn’t help his case, and Zim had grown far too sick to speak. The boy was unsure if Zim was even aware anymore, as he didn’t move much at all now.

Word spread fast in such a crowded square, and soon, roads had begun to clear of alien bodies, doors had begun to lock. Those that still wandered the area would shriek and scatter at the sight of the human, in a desperate attempt to get away from the contagious IRKEN. Signs written in alien languages were hung in windows, in front of shades drawn, no doubt declaring their closure. In the span of a day, MEDICINA had gone from bustling to barren. Despite this, Dib still ran frantically from practice to practice, banging on each door, pulling each handle, yelling and pleading for someone, anyone, to help him. Not a single soul stepped forward. The entire planet was on lockdown. Quarantined. Hiding away from them.

As the final door failed to open, failed to give way to Dib’s frantic tugging, the human felt a heavy wave of dread wash over him. He felt sick. This was it. Their only chance had fallen through, slipped through his fingers. Dib pressed his back against the door, sliding down onto the steps. His glasses began to fog as his face grew red, and tears made his vision swim. He sniffed, looking down at the IRKEN still cradled in his arms, droplets falling onto his lenses.

“Zim…” he croaked, “I’m so sorry.”

Dib held the bundle close to his body, arms wrapped tightly around the alien’s trembling frame. Zim’s wheezing was accompanied by the human’s sniffling and hiccupping.

“You can’t— you can’t die! I need you, Zim! You’re all I have! Everyone hates me! They think I’m a freak! Y— You’re the only one that has ever validated me! Ever— Ever motivated me! I don’t care what your leaders said! You’re not useless, Zim! You— You’re a good Invader! You are! I…!”

Dib reached up and rubbed at his eyes, trying to dry the tears that refused to cease falling. He knew he was rambling now, but he couldn’t stop himself. Everything was spilling out at once, and it was hard to mend the floodgates once they had broken. The alien only grimaced in pain, a small whine escaping him. Another bout of sobs wracked the human’s body, and he hunched over the bundle, holding it so that he may hide his face against it.

“I-I promise, I’ll never try to hurt you again! You can have Earth! You— You can have it! Just don’t die! Please, Zim! Please don’t die!”

Dib didn’t know how he would ever go on in a world without Zim. After 9 years, he couldn’t even imagine the little alien not being around, not being there to constantly torment and test him. As much as Dib hated to admit it, his other paranormal hobbies had ended up taking a back seat, in favor of a certain little green kid. Bigfeets and Chupacabra just didn’t seem as important as the real living, breathing alien that menaced his town. How could he possibly return to chasing clues and hope? How could he go back to late nights filled with nothing, and quiet weekends listening to the faint music of a party next door. One he could only dream of being invited to. How could he go back to wishing he had been born normal?

“Don’t leave me alone…”

Neither human nor IRKEN had noticed the sound of approaching footsteps. Boots collided with sleek IRKEN-made pavement, their steps overlapping one another, as if they moved in a pair. However, only one voice spoke.

“Human Dib.”

The voice was higher in pitch, and sounded distinctly female. It carried an air of adolescence, though not minor. Perhaps closer to Dib’s age?

Wide brown eyes looked upwards at the sound of the clear English words. A bewildered human gaze fell upon the covered face of an unknown figure. The entire alien was covered, in fact, save for one singular eye, set in where Dib would assume was their forehead. It looked similar to his own eyes, though it lacked a distinct pupil. Instead, a seamless green iris stared down at him from within white sclera.

“Wh… What?”

“You’re Human Dib, right?” the stranger asked, their brown cloak blown by the breeze. Two broad bands of purple— one darker, one lighter— adorned their sleeves and garment’s hem.

“Uh… yeah. I’m Dib.” the boy rubbed once more at his eyes, pushing his glasses up haphazardly, “How can you speak—”

“Shh, there’s no time for questions.” the alien crouched next to the duo, “Let me see Zim.”

Dib held Zim a little closer, confused expression morphing into a frown, “Hang on a second, why should I trust you? You’re the only alien here who can speak English, you know both mine and Zim’s names? You’re acting pretty suspicious to me, Pal!”

“Listen, I wish I could give you answers now, but there isn’t much time! If you want to help Zim, you need to listen to me now!”

A pause, “...You can help Zim?”

“I can’t, but I know someone who can. She’s stationed on a healer’s planet outside IRKEN rule, called Kestasis. Here,” a piece of paper was presented, “punch these coordinates into your ship, and it’ll take you there. But be careful, and keep your ship and your little friend here hidden. Being IRKEN around those parts could get you shot on sight.”

“WHAT?! Are you KIDDING me?! How am I supposed to know that this isn’t some kind of trap?!”

“You don’t have a lot of options right now, do you, Human Dib?” the stranger was growing impatient, their frustration evident in the strain of their voice, “You can trust me, and potentially save Zim’s life, or, you can stay here and let him die!”

Dib was silent a moment more, as he mulled this over in his mind. This alien was right. If he followed the coordinates into a trap, and they got killed, Zim would be just as dead as if he stayed here. If it turned out not to be a trap, however, Zim may have a chance at survival. In the end, it all came down to whether or not he was willing to risk his own life.

Hesitantly, Dib lowered Zim, and uncovered him enough for the stranger to see.

“...Will he make it there?”

A single, inhuman eye frowned, and the alien tilted their head to examine the IRKEN, “We’re cutting it close. Really close.” Zim was bundled back up, and held close once more, “But if you go now, and push your ship to its limit, you should be able to make it in time.”

Dib was already on his feet before the stranger could even finish their thought. Quickly, a hand reached out to grab the boy’s arm— its skin was a dull yellow, “When you get to Kestasis, ask for the “Qjylkes Lfenem”. It means “Crystal Shaman”. They’ll know who you are.”

With a quick nod, Dib was off, running faster than he had ever run in his life.

“Come on! We don’t have much time left! Zim is going to die if we don’t go right now!”

“And we will all die if I take you to these coordinates!” Tak’s voice growled, the ship still docked on the surface of MEDICINA, “Seeing as your inferior mind seems to be struggling, allow me to make one thing perfectly clear— if we enter this airspace, we will be shot down. Does that make sense to you, or should I explain it again?”

“Ship, I’m not willing to argue with you! If you don’t take us right now, I’ll find another way there, and leave you here to rot!”

“Good. Anything would be better than being blown to scrap in the middle of hostile territory. Maybe a competent IRKEN will find me and take me away from you.”

“Ship, please!” Dib begged, his voice cracking as he became more desperate. He could feel the lump growing in his throat, and his eyes had begun to sting, “This is the last chance I have to help Zim! I can’t— I can’t lose him!”

The female IRKEN voice groaned, “That’s enough whining, you spoiled SMEET! I will take you, if it will shut you up for a moment. Maybe being blasted to bits will finally allow me some peace.”

Dib sat back, the small alien cradled in his arms. Things were eerily quiet now that Zim had grown unresponsive. Only his wheezing, and the soft hum of the ship kept the human company. It had been a few days— 5 to be exact— and Dib was becoming more restless with each second of travel. Zim was often sleeping now, spending less and less time awake. The fear that he would simply drift off forever had grown even stronger in the pit of Dib’s gut, and he found that he was no longer able to escape it. He just hoped that they would reach Kestasis in time.

As he sat back, he examined the slip of paper the cloaked stranger had given him. On one side, coordinates, on the other, a message. One he hadn’t stopped thinking about since first reading it.

What could that possibly mean? The way it was laid out, with a “batch” and a number, was it some kind of product? What did it have to do with Zim? How did this stranger know about Zim’s illness, or even who Zim was? How did they know who Dib was? None of this made a lot of sense, and it gave the boy an awful feeling. This had to be some kind of trap. Surely! Why else would everything be so cryptic and secretive?

Sighing, Dib stuffed the note into his pocket. If this whole fiasco did somehow work in their favor, the least he could do was play along. If they survived, he would give the strange code to Zim. Hopefully he could make more sense of it than Dib could.

Looking down at the alien, Dib frowned. He pulled the sleeve of his trenchcoat down over his hand, and used the fabric to carefully dab away the sweat from Zim’s brow. Despite his violent shivering, the IRKEN’s face was hot and flushed, no doubt riddled with fever. The boy wished there was more he could do to comfort Zim, or to ease some of his symptoms.

“When we get back to Earth, I’ll buy you as many snacks as you want.” Dib mumbled as he dried the alien’s feverish skin, “And… I’ll let you break all my cameras! A-And my laptop! Or… something! I don’t know, just… anything you want!”

“Are you quite done?” the ship’s voice asked flatly, “If I wasn’t simply a simulated personality, I would be retching.”

“Okay, okay, I get it! I’m sorry I’m not a cold, unfeeling alien monster, like you!”

“Funny you would say such things while coddling a cold, unfeeling alien monster like me.”

“...No. Zim’s not like you. He’s…”

Dib paused, looking back down at the tiny IRKEN in his arms. He seemed so small now, nothing like the boisterous Invader he had been for so many years. But… he had been a danger back then, hadn’t he? Selfish, and loud, and arrogant. He had caused a lot of havoc back on Earth…

Then again, Dib had also witnessed many of Zim’s intense displays of emotion. Fear, pain, sadness, even the occasional genuine bout of joy. From what information he had managed to gather over the years, none of these things were common practice among IRKEN. They were things that got Zim into trouble, caused him to suffer, made him different. Things that made Zim,

“Zim.”

“He is not like me, because he is Zim?”

“...Yeah. That’s right.”

“Ah, I see. You’ve lost your mind.”

Dib couldn’t help but laugh, though it was bittersweet. Or course Tak, or in this case, Tak’s personality, wouldn’t understand. Not only did she still hold a grudge against Zim, but she was IRKEN, and fully functional, just like the rest. Zim may not have been created perfectly. Maybe his PAK was “defective”, like his leaders had said. But Dib was no different, was he? He, too, was shamed and tormented for not acting the same way as his peers. For being insane. Neither of them seemed to fit into their societal moulds, no matter how hard they desperately tried. Maybe they weren’t meant for those moulds at all. Maybe they were meant to make their own.