A/N: Here we go, the epilogue to "Shadows of the Future". Won't be much, but I'm just trying to set the stage for the next part of this trilogy. With that said, read on!

Disclaimer: I own Jana. Everyone and everything else belongs to Jhonen Vasquez.

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Main Control Room, Zim's Base, Five Hours Later

Zim tapped his fingers against the armrest of his chair in frustration as the computer ran a complete diagnostic of all its systems. Several hours earlier, after he'd finished trashing everything on the space station's bridge in order to vent his anger over the Cannon's destruction, the computer had alerted him to a hack in their mainframe. Apparently, Dib had used the connection between the escape pod's computer and the main computer to do… something. And Zim was in no mood to wait and find out the hard way what that "something" was.

"Diagnostic program complete," the computer finally announced.

Zim couldn't help but notice the nervous tone in the computer's voice. "What did he do?"

The computer was silent for a moment, no doubt afraid of what Zim's reaction would be. Finally, it said, "He managed to access the memory files containing the schematics for the EMP Cannon and erased them. The backup files too. There is no way for you to rebuild it without starting from scratch."

Despite the computer's expectations, Zim didn't become angry. He simply flicked his antennae in irritation. "No matter," he said, "I had no plans to rebuild the Cannon anyway."

"You didn't?"

"Of course not," Zim snapped, "I never try a plan a second time after it fails. Dib found a way to destroy the Cannon once before, he'd be able to do it again. I can't afford to become predictable."

Before the computer could respond to that, the doors to the room slid open and Jana shuffled in. After her pod had been sent spinning out of control into space, she had drifted for a while before Zim had dispatched a few drones to retrieve her. Now, she walked into the room until she was standing in front of Zim's chair, where she dropped to her knees and bowed her head.

"I have failed you, master," she said, "I beg of you, end my pitiful existence. I deserve it."

Zim didn't answer; he merely looked her over in silence for a minute. She obviously hadn't bothered to fix herself up before she'd come down here. The hole in the front of her suit was still there, showing that her abdomen was still partially scarred black, and the sleeve on her damaged arm was still torn away, revealing that the arm itself was covered in scar tissue. Judging by the fact that her fingers were twitching slightly, Zim figured that Jana's PAK was starting to reactivate the nerve endings. Taking all this into account, Zim finally spoke up.

"No, I don't think I'll do that."

Jana blinked and looked up in surprise as Zim continued. "After all, you seem to have suffered enough. And besides, you're the only competent servant I have, and I don't want to have to go back to just those two."

To demonstrate his point, Zim gestured to one of the computer's smaller screens. It showed a view of the living room, where GIR was sitting on the couch, laughing while he hit himself in the head with a frying pan. Minimoose floated nearby watching this, while sipping on a SuckMonkey.

"B-but, I failed in my mission," Jana stammered in confusion – she'd never seen Zim forgive failure before. "I was supposed to alter the timeline so that Dib would never become the focal point of a resistance against your empire. Instead, events have been altered so that there will be no empire to begin with. You're supposed to be leading the Armada in raining destruction down on this planet right now, not brooding in your lab."

Zim merely smirked and leaned back in his chair. "True," he said, "But I'm not giving up hope. Ever since your arrival, I've been looking into the concept of time travel. And while the humans may be annoying little pig-weasels, they have some interesting theories on the subject. My favorite is the belief that, even if you were to alter the sequence of events in a timeline, the end result would still be the same."

Jana considered this for a moment, before speaking up again. "So, you are convinced that even though the Cannon has been destroyed, we can still ensure your ascension to leadership of the Empire?"

"Yes, I am," Zim said. He leaned down and cupped Jana's chin in his hand, moving her head so that she was looking at him straight in the eye. Jana shivered slightly at the touch, but Zim didn't notice and continued. "I will conquer this pathetic mudball of a planet, and I will become Tallest, no matter how long it takes. And you will continue to serve me to the best of your ability until then. Understood?"

"Anything for you, my lord," Jana said softly, staring into his eyes. For a moment, they stayed like that, pale red gazing into emerald green. Then Zim realized how close they were and quickly pulled back into his chair.

Clearing his throat, Zim quickly waved his hand dismissively. "Well, uh, you'd better go rest up," he said, "I want you back in tip-top condition by tomorrow soldier."

Jana clasped her fist to her chest in salute. "As you wish… my Tallest."

Zim's antennae perked up at that, and he grinned slightly as he watched Jana stand up and march out of the room. The grin stayed on his face as he pressed his fingertips together in thought, new plans of conquest swimming around in his brain.

"I resent that 'competent servant' remark, just so you know," the computer spoke up. Zim rolled his eyes.

"Like I care," he said, "Now leave me be computer. I have plans to make; tomorrow's a brand new day, full of possibilities."

"It's also a Skool day," the computer said smugly.

Zim stiffened at that, then slumped in his chair. "Ah, frag," he muttered, "I forgot that this failure means I still have to go to that place."

With a sigh, Zim opened a compartment in the console and pulled out one of his textbooks. Briefly glancing to see which one it was, and seeing that it was the Biology one – which meant that it would at least be slightly interesting – he opened it up and began flipping through it. As he passed through the chapter on genetics, he paused as something caught his attention. His eyes began skimming over the page, absorbing the intriguing piece of information he had just found. A few seconds later, he began chuckling evilly.

"Oh, now this should prove quite helpful," he laughed, "Hear me well Dib – you may have won the battle, but the war is far from over! Mwa, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

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A/N: Like I said, not much, but it gets the job done. Now I bet you're all wondering what Zim just found in that textbook, huh? Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not telling. You'll have to wait until the next story, which I call "Evolution of Evil", to find out. I'll have the prologue of it up soon, but I first have to finalize some of the plot points.

Until then, read and review!