Is long, is finished, is one chapter. You may want to set some time aside for this one.
- -- - -- - ---- -- -
The loudspeaker blared out over the students. 'Trainee Zim to report to Taller Yami's apartment. Repeat, Trainee Zim to report to Taller Yami's apartment.'
Trainee Zim looked around at the other trainees in the barracks room. Why did he always have to go to Taller Yami's apartment? None of the other trainees had to. Maybe he could just ignore it this once.
Five minutes later the loudspeaker went again. 'Trainee Zim to report to Taller Yami's apartment, at once, or the entire group will face punishment!'
'Just get going, Zim, and stop disturbing our rest time.' Red shooed Zim towards the door.
'But, uh...' Red pushed Zim towards the door again. When he hesitated another trainee shoved him through. They didn't get much rest time, so any they had couldn't be disturbed by a loudspeaker, and they shouldn't all be punished for one trainee's disobedience.
Zim hurried out the door. He knew the way to taller Yami's apartment well. When he got to the door he stood up straighter and attempted to stop his trembling. Then he knocked.
The door opened and Zim saluted. 'Taller Yami, you requested my attendance?'
Yami declined to comment, just pulled Zim through the door and closed it afterwards. However, the feeling of Zim trembling made him grin, and he couldn't wait for what was to come.
-----
'Keep up, Zim!' Red yelled behind him as they ran through the war simulation zone. Why had he been stuck with the shortest, most defective trainee?
Zim pulled himself up over a boulder and crouched behind the piece of wall that Red was behind. He panted from the exertion of trying to keep up with the others longer legs.
'Why'd you take so long?' He growled angrily at Zim. 'Even you're usually better than this.'
'I'm doing fine.' Zim argued, ignoring the spots dancing before his eyes.
'Good.' Red said, 'then you'll be able to get up to there.' He pointed to the remains of a second storey behind another piece of wall some 50 metres away.
'Of course I can.' Zim said confidently. He swallowed thickly. 'I'll just follow you.'
Red looked at Zim. 'I'm not going to lose this because you weren't fit enough. You shouldn't even have been accepted into the higher training program.' He ran off before Zim could say anything against him. He then stood behind the wall and watched Zims progress. He winced when he saw the shorter trip over a piece of concrete and rip his pants open. Zim would never be able to fix them by himself, and the trainees weren't allowed a new pair until next season. Zim would just have to put up with ripped pants until then.
When Zim made it up to Red, Red turned away from him. 'I'll lift you up there, then you can attach a rope to something. When we're both up there, we can just take pot-shots at the other trainees until the course is complete.'
Zim didn't reply. This confused Red, as Zim was always making some point, even if it wasn't useful. 'Zim?' He asked, looking down.
Zim was just lying down with his eyes closed. 'Get up, Zim.' Red kicked Zim with his toe. Zim still didn't move. 'Zim?' Red asked again, this time more worried. He knelt down next to the smaller Irken and poked him. When this didn't rouse Zim, he put his head on Zims PAK. It seemed to be working slightly fast, but that shouldn't cause a problem. Red sighed. 'Curse you, Zim.' Then he pressed the button that would transfer them both to the base.
-----
Zim was inspected by a medical drone when they returned. 'I can't see or feel anything that could cause him to pass out like this.' He explained to Red and the trainee's officer. 'I'll just inject him with some pyroprophix, which should wake him up, but I'd suggest sending him to the sick bay.'
The officer sighed. 'I won't fail you for this, Red. You're a good soldier, and it would be a shame to have to put a black mark on your record.' Red nodded. 'However, Zim will have to be removed back down to the simple program, if he's not removed from the program altogether and sent to become a drone.'
Zim sat up at that statement. 'No! Don't send me to be a drone. I'll be fine.' He stood up, but had to put his hand on Reds leg to stop himself from falling down again.
'Red.' The officer said. 'You'll be in charge of making sure Zim goes to the sick bay. See to it.' He then turned and marched off, leaving the three of them behind.
-----
After Red had been sent off medical drones studied Zim thoroughly; ignoring all his questions, shouts, demands and protests. After much quiet discussion amongst themselves they left Zim alone in a medical gown.
Zim sat on the bench provided and kicked his feet back and forth. He checked his PAK clock. It had been five hours since he had been brought here, and was starting to feel a bit hungry. He walked up to the door and knocked on it. 'Hey! Hey! I want some food.' Then he sat back down to wait for food.
Five minutes later a junior drone came in. He glanced at Zim in disgust, and threw a packet of snacky treats at him. 'Stupid defect.' he muttered, as he turned and left.
'Hey!' Zim shouted. 'What did you say?'
The drone just looked at Zim, then locked him back in the room. 'Hey!' Zim shouted. He ran to the door and started banging on it. 'Hey! Come back here and say that to my face! Hey! Hey! Come back here!' After 15 minutes Zim decided that the cowardly drone had run away from him, and went to eat his snacks.
Seventeen hours later Zim was lying on his back on the bench, counting the rivets holding the metal plates together. So far there were 500 of them, but he had the other half of the room yet to go.
Nine more hours later more medical drones came in, this time they took blood samples, did a PAK scan, and gave him more food. Zim ate this happily, then had a small nap.
Five more hours later Zim woke up in a strange place. He was in what seemed to be a janitor's closet, lying on a few thin blankets. He sat up and held his head. They must have put something in the food so he would fall asleep. He looked down and smiled, at least they had put him back in his own clothes.
After collecting himself, he went over to the door and tried it. It wasn't locked, so he opened it and walked out. When he was out of the room he looked around. There was just this little area, a door to the left, and a door in front of him. The door to the left had a window in it, and when he looked out he saw stars. So he was on a space ship. He then tried the door in front of him, and found it was locked. He banged on the door, and then leaned his head against it. There were voices inside the room; maybe they could tell him where he's going.
Finally the door opened and an elite guard came out. Zim looked up at him in awe. Elite guards were the Tallest's own personal guards. If they were there, that must mean that the Tallest was there too! 'Is the Tallest in there?' He asked, peering around the guard to try and see her.
'That's none of your business.' The guard pushed Zim back. 'You just stay in your room until a medical drone comes and collects you.' He picked Zim up and sat him in the room. 'Why we even had to carry you escapes me. There must be plenty of ships heading for Irk, but this just couldn't wait, oh no...' He closed the door on Zim, and it locked with an audible "thunk".
Zim frowned. Why was he going to Irk? And was this really the Tallests personal ship? It would be great if it was. What if he met her? He became so overwhelmed at the thought he sat down heavily.
-----
Sixteen hours later Zim was dragged from the room by a guard, who was following two medical drones. They pulled Zim out of the ship by what Zim now believed was the drone's door.
'Where am I going?' Zim asked. Since he had been brought in he had been thinking over why he was there. At first he had had positive thoughts, but then he had become paranoid, and was now worried that he was being brought in to be deactivated.
The medical drones ignored his question and continued on. The guard shrugged; he didn't know where he was taking Zim.
'Hey! You two! Where am I going?'
'The study halls near the smeetery. You will be kept there for the next 12 months.'
'The smeetery?' Zim asked, 'but I was just there. Why do I have to go back?'
'Be quiet.' the second drone said.
'But I want to know. Do you need to fill me with more information? Or is it because I'm so amazing.'
'You'll be kept there for study.'
'What kind of study? Why do I need to be near the smeeteries for study?'
The medical drones stopped. One of them turned around and whipped a large needle out from his PAK. He shoved it into Zims arm, then turned around again, and they continued walking.
'What?' Zim screeched. 'Wha' was tha'?' he asked, slurring. 'Wha..?' he passed out, and the guard pulled him up into his arms, and carried him.
-----
Zim woke up again, and looked around himself. This was the most he had slept in any short period of time. He pulled a blanket up around his chin, and snuggled further down into the nice soft nest. Not even Taller Yami's nest was this soft. He poked it with his eyes still closed. It even seemed to have a padded base. That was high quality stuff there. Not just cushioned duvets, but proper padding.
He slowly opened his eyes. Everything was blurry from the forced sleep. He looked around and gasped. This was a room for Tallers and elites. Not for (short) trainees. He wondered who it belonged to, and what would happen to him when they found him in it.
He got out of the nest slowly and stretched. Then the TV turned on, startling him. 'Zim,' the Irken on the TV said, 'you may be confused by your circumstances. Don't be, 12 months is a long time to remain confused.'
'Why am I here?' Zim asked.
'I thought you would ask that. This room will be your home until you are told to leave. You will not be allowed to leave this room, unless a medical drone takes you. Don't worry, the food stores will be regularly stocked. Do you have any more questions?'
'What's going on?'
'As I said before, you will be let out in about 12 months. You may be welcomed back into the army, though that depends on if you survive, and what their thoughts are. I believe you are good at sciences, you may be taken into a research station. Well, goodbye. I hope I cleared things up for you.' The TV clicked off.
Zim stood stunned. He still didn't understand what was happening. He went up to the TV and turned it on. 'Hello?' he asked, 'I've still got questions. Why am I here? What's going to happen? Why 12 months?' He knelt down in front of the TV.
'Food?' He looked at the corner. Heating unit, cupboard, refrigerator, drawers, cleaner. He went over and opened the cupboard. There were so many snacks, and in the fridge: more snacks. He made himself a big bowl of nachos, then sat in front of the TV watching blurnsball.
-----
Zim got up a few days later and stretched out. Having nothing to do all day but eat snacks and watch TV was making him fat. He needed to exercise to keep in shape. He walked over to the TV and knocked on it. 'Hey! Turn on and talk to me.'
The TV turned on and the medical drone (who had finally introduced himself as Doctor Kruns) appeared. 'What do you want now, Zim?'
'I'm getting fat! I want to exercise.'
Kruns sighed; Zim was always bugging him with something, but the Tallest had said he was to be treated well, until it was all over. And it wouldn't be healthy for him to become obese. 'Okay, Zim. Something will be sent up today.' The TV turned off.
Zim sat in the couch in front of the TV and smiled. This would be what it was like all the time when he was Tallest.
Five hours later a treadmill arrived, and Zim had fun directing the drones where to position it.
Six hours after that, he had broken it into a thousand little pieces and was busy using the pieces to try and break the door down.
Four more hours later, a team of drones was fixing the door. Another was fixing the treadmill, and welding it so Zim wouldn't be able to break it apart again.
----- 10 months to go
Two months later Zim involuntarily opened his mouth and made a noise. He stopped and paused. Never before had he done something like that, nor had he ever seen another Irken do it.
'Kruns!' He shouted. 'Kruuuuuns!'
The TV turned on. 'What now, Zim?'
'I... I just did something odd. I made a noise, and my eyes feel heavy. What's happening? I've also been hungrier, and I've been putting on weight, no matter how much I exercise.' He poked his almost completely flat tummy and said, 'See, look?' Then he made the noise again. 'There it is again. What's wrong? Is Zim sick?'
'No, Zim, you're not sick. It's normal to experience weight gain, but you shouldn't be trying to exercise it off. And the noise was a yawn. It means you're tired, so do your heavy eyes. Just get some sleep, and you'll feel better when you wake up.' The TV turned off.
'What?! Zim does not get tired!' He started banging on the screen, but had to stop when he yawned again, and nearly fell over. He looked over at the nest. It did look inviting, maybe it wouldn't hurt to just lie down for a few minutes...
Zim woke up 10 hours later, and then ate a pizza.
-----
Later that month Zim was taken from his room and brought to a medical ward. He was quite excited to finally be going somewhere. 'Where are we going? What's going to happen?'
The medical drone sighed. 'If you don't calm down, I'm going to have to make you sleep again. Do you want that?'
'No.' Zim replied. He remained silent until they were in the infirmary. 'Oooooh! I remember being here! Hey look, it's the machine that I broke! I think I can fix it, let me have some tools.'
The drone hesitated, 'I remember the last time you said you could fix something. There are still burn marks on the walls.'
Zim made a noise of disapproval. 'I was a smeet then, I'm much better now, I promise I can fix it.' He looked pleadingly at the drone.
'It was five years ago! I've never known a smeet to come in here so often, and leave more damaged than when they came in!' He threw a smock at Zim. 'Now, put this on, and lie on the bed.' He turned around to fiddle with some monitors.
Zim grudgingly removed his clothes, and replaced them with the gown. 'Why do I have to do this?'
'It's just to make sure you're physically well.' He ran a scanner over Zim's body. 'Looks like you've put on some weight.'
'Yes! See.' Zim pointed at his stomach. 'I'm bloated and huge! But nobody does anything about it.'
The medical drone looked at Zims stomach, and ran his hands up and down it. 'It's perfectly normal. And you're hardly bloated and huge.' The drone could barely feel a bump under his hands. 'You'll be getting a lot bigger by the end of your stay here.'
'What!' Zim screeched and sat up. 'I'll get bigger!! I'll be the size of Skoodge by the time I leave here.'
The medical drone pushed Zim back down and shushed him. 'It won't be permanent.' He pulled out another tool. 'Now, could you please lift your legs up and spread them apart? I just need to check something, and it won't hurt at all.'
-----
When Zim arrived back at his room, he felt confused and violated. Why had the drone done that? It didn't make any sense. He needed to have a long shower, just to get clean.
When Zim came out of the shower, he turned on the news station. There were some riots among the screwheads; but that was to be expected from them. They were barely more than animals, held in check by the screws in their heads. Zim got bored with the report, and read the news bar. 5,000 dead; storms on Vort destroy land; blah, blah, blah. Zim was about to turn it off when he saw a name he recognised. 'Cadet Trainer Taller Yami executed for participating in defective activities' Zim read it out and frowned. What could Taller Yami have been doing that was so defective? It must have been bad for him to be executed.
Zim just shrugged, then placed a hand on his stomach. It wouldn't be anything that affects him, so it couldn't really matter.
-----
Zim looked at the calendar and sighed. He had missed three months of training. He should be getting ready for the mid-tests, not sitting around and getting fat. 'Kruns?' He said 'I want to go back to training.'
Kruns appeared on the screen. 'We've been over this already, Zim. You can't go back yet.'
'But why?' Zim whined. This was a conversation that had lost all meaning because of its frequency. Zim asked almost every week.
Kruns sighed. The only way to get Zim to stop begging him would be to tell him the truth. 'Because. If you go back now, your body wouldn't be able to cope with the harsh regime, and you'll die. Plus the tallest herself ordered it.'
Zim ignored the first part. 'The tallest herself? I will gladly remain here for the rest of the time if the tallest ordered it. Did you speak to her directly?'
'N- Yes.' Kruns decided a little lie might make things run smoothly. 'Yes, and she said that she might even come and see you if you behave yourself. Things aren't looking too good at the moment, though. Maybe if you obeyed the instructions of the drones, and stopped calling me every day, she will come and visit you.'
'Of course.' Zim pulled off a crisp salute. Kruns had just gained a few more levels in his eyes. 'You can trust me, sir.'
Kruns smiled and turned off the screen. If it got Zim to stop bugging him, anything would be worth it.
-----
The next month Zim was having another check-up. He was getting worried about his weight, and wouldn't accept the reassurances of the medical drones that it would pass. He was just getting bigger and bigger! You could actually see his stomach through his shirt. That wasn't right.
'Why won't you help me get rid of it? I don't like it, it makes me feel fat and uncomfortable.'
The drone looked at Zim sadly. 'You're going to be fine. It'll get better in time. Just eight more months and you'll be able to go back to training. Isn't that exciting?'
'No.' Zim said. 'I want the weight to go now. I can't wait eight months, and you're not sticking that thing in me again.' Zim glared at the tool that the drone had taken out.
'It's just to make sure you're well. Just lie down, and it'll be over soon.' He indicated for Zim to lie down.
Zim glared at him, and pulled his legs close together. 'I'm not doing anything until you tell me what's going on. Why do I need to have that thing placed in me?'
The drone opened his mouth, then froze and closed it. He repeated the pattern a few times, before settling on an answer. 'You remember Taller Yami, and his, ummm... the, ahhhh... what he did with you?' The drone was having a hard time explaining it to the naive trainee.
Zim nodded. 'What does that have to do with anything?' Then he stopped and thought for a bit. 'Is that why he was executed?'
'Yes!' The drone was thankful for the lead Zim had given him. 'Yes, it's because he was doing that, and it gave you a disease. The disease is living inside you, and it will take 14 months from when you got it, for it to leave. That's why you've been putting on weight, and why you're not allowed out of your room. If other Irkens knew you had this disease, it would ruin you forever. You would barely be able to get work as a cleaning drone.'
'Oh.' Zim said. He didn't want to be a drone for the rest of his life. 'And that thing' he pointed at the tool, 'will help me to get rid of this disease?'
'Yes!' The drone just wanted this to finish before he told Zim too much. 'Yes, it makes sure the disease isn't doing anything bad to you.'
'Oh. Okay.' Zim lay down, and said, 'please make it quick.'
The drone smiled, and set about doing his job.
-----
Zim slammed the cupboard door closed. Why was there never enough kippleblax!? He needed kippleblax! 'Kruns!' he shouted. 'You have been ordered to care for my needs. I demand more kippleblax!'
'Zim,' Kruns said slowly, 'you've already had 16 packets of kippleblax just these past two days. I can't get you anymore until next week.'
'I don't care.' Zim said poutily. 'I want more kippleblax now.'
Kruns sighed. It was becoming harder and harder to satisfy the cravings Zim had been having. Last week he had wanted blorch rat! Kruns didn't know where Zim might have tasted blorch rat, but he definitely couldn't get any for him. 'Why don't you have something else? You have some grashnar in the cupboard. Don't you like that on toast? You love that on toast. Why don't you have that instead?'
'Grashnar makes me sick. I'm never going to look at it again, let alone eat it.'
Kruns shrugged 'you're just going to have to put up with what you have in your cupboards, because I'm not getting you anything more.' He cut communications with Zim, and ordered he be ignored unless it was something life threatening.
Zim was in shock when Kruns turned him off. He was being ignored. There was only one thing to do, he was going to lie in his nest and sulk.
Two hours later Zim woke up again, craving grashnar on toast. He didn't even like kipplebrax, why had he been so upset about it? He set out to make himself some food.
-----
Zim sighed and turned the TV off. Of course he agreed with the Tallest; all Irkens did, but sometimes he didn't understand her policies. She went on about alliances, and terms of mutual interest. Zim knew that Irkens were superior to the other species, so why did she always make agreements with them?
And then there were the rumours of the Invader project, which was supposed to take over all the planets that Miyuki was forging alliances with. Zim didn't understand why they didn't just invade the other planets without all the bother of being "nice" to other species.
That's what Zim would do when he's tallest, anyway. He wouldn't bother with treaties, he'd just take over all the other planets, using groups of invaders. He had confided these thoughts to Red often, though Red had just laughed him off, saying that it was a stupid idea, and would never work. Anyway, the Invaders were just going to scouting out uninhabited or mostly uninhabited planets.
-----
Zim sighed. It had been months since he had seen another Irken. He was starting to get lonely, he hadn't even had any health checks for a while. They had just been scanning him using sensors placed in the room.
Even Kruns was talking to him for shorter amounts of time, and when he complained of loneliness, he was told that he was being kept in quarantine. 'Kruns?' he asked. 'I need to talk to you.'
Kruns kept silent.
'Kruns!' Zim shouted. 'Let me out of here!'
Kruns didn't reply.
'KRUNS!' Zim hit the wall. 'KRUNS! If you don't let me out of here, I'll... I'll...' Zim couldn't think of anything he could do, so he started to bang on the wall. He was forced to stop when his hands started hurting too badly.
'Kruns,' he looked at the TV with teary eyes. 'Why won't you let me out?'
Kruns declined to acknowledge Zims presence, even by turning the TV on.
Zim started hitting the screen, crying, until he fell to his knees. Then he placed his face in his hands and started sobbing loudly. Why wouldn't they talk to him? He just wanted some company.
He eventually got up and crawled to bed, tired out from his emotions. Sometimes he just wondered what he had done to deserve this kind of treatment, and if the tallest knew of his suffering. Surely she wouldn't want one of her best soldiers to suffer like this, even if he was carrying a disease given to him by a defective.
-----
Zim woke up the next morning, still drained. He just felt so out of it lately. He barely felt like he had the energy to make some food before he collapsed back into bed, so long as he didn't have an emotional breakdown between getting up and going back to bed.
There must be something wrong with his PAK. That was the only answer. Why it was taking so long to destroy the massive diseased growth in his spooch, and why he was losing emotional control, and why he had to sleep a lot. His PAK was faulty. Not that he was defective, of course, his PAK just needed a tune up.
There were some utensils in the food area that would help him to fix his PAK, and he knew that with his brilliance he could do it within 10 minutes.
He got out a set of different sized knives, some spoons, and a couple of sticks. Then he carefully removed his PAK, opened it up, and stared at the insides. He had brought up a knife to sever a few wires when he was tackled from behind. 'What!?' Zim shouted, as he was thrown onto his back on the floor.
A second guard pulled him upright, while the first replaced his PAK, using a few magnetic clasps to ensure Zim wouldn't be able to remove it again.
'What are you doing?!' Zim demanded to know.
'We were told to prevent you from killing yourself.' He looked at Zim in disgust. What kind of Irken kills themselves over such a small thing as confinement, though that hideous stomach growth might tempt him to.
'I wasn't trying to kill myself. My PAK is faulty and I have to fix it.'
'Sure it is.' The second guard drawled. 'PAKs become faulty all the time.'
'Yes' Zim said, completely missing the sarcasm. 'Send somebody in to fix it.'
'Sure. We'll make sure you're properly looked after.' They both left the room, not planning on telling anybody about Zims "broken PAK."
However, 2 days later Zim got a visit from a medical drone, who told him that his PAK was fine, and he was just experiencing side effects of the disease, but there was nothing else to worry about.
-----
Zim woke up with a start. Something had woken him up, but there was nothing around him to have done that. He got out of the bed and looked around. 'Who's there? Who dares to wake Zim!'
Nobody appeared to claim they had woken him up. 'Do you dare to hide from Zim?' He checked under the couch, but there was nobody there.
'Are you cowering in the wash room?' He walked over to the door.
'Aaaah!' He shouted out suddenly. Something had attacked him from inside! He scurried into bed and pulled the covers over his head. Whatever was in the room with him was obviously very sneaky if they had managed to put something inside of him without his knowledge.
His antennae started twitching and he tried to stop himself from panicking. He was a soldier, and soldiers don't panic, not even when they have something inside of them that's attacking their spooch.
He whimpered and cowered down more when he felt it attack him again. It wasn't hurting him, but it was scary. He had never been told about these sorts of attacks before.
Finally Zim steeled himself to confront the intruder and make him stop the attacks to Zims spooch. He got up carefully, with a hand placed against his stomach, and walked over to the washing room. He flung the door open, ready to confront the intruder, and force him to undo what had been done to Zim.
Unfortunately, there was nobody in the room. Zim looked around for a few seconds, then dashed back under the covers of his nest. It must be a ghost, or some other scary creature.
'Kruns!' He shouted out. This was an emergency. 'There's an intruder in here with me.'
The TV turned on casting a blue glow over the room. 'There's nobody in there with you, Zim.' Kruns had become used to Zim calling at any time of day or night. 'We've been keeping constant watch over your room, and nobody has entered or exited for the past 2 weeks.'
'They must have! Somebody came in, and placed something inside of me that's attacking me.'
Kruns sighed. Sometimes he wished they could just tell Zim what was happening, just to stop him from bugging them. 'Zim, you don't have to worry about anything, unless you feel the sharp pains from lower down in your abdomen. Until then, just try to get some sleep.'
'But it's baaad.' Zim whined. 'It can't be normal, it feels all movey and hurty.'
'Fine, we'll send somebody over to check you out, and then you'll know that it's fine. Now go back to bed.' Honestly, it was like Zim didn't realise that Kruns had other work to do.
Zim nodded when the TV turned off, then went and huddled under his covers, whimpering every time he felt the movement within him. He didn't get any more sleep until the medical drone came and confirmed that what Zim was undergoing was completely normal, and not the work of some unknown intruder.
-----
Zim sighed and turned off the TV. There was never anything good on, and Brockian Ultra Cricket wasn't due to start for two more weeks. He rolled off the couch, stood up, and stretched. It was good to be able to work out the kinks in his muscles that had developed after the 12 hour long Tallest Day documentary screening.
He stretched his arms out over his head, then stretched his back out, standing up straight afterwards. Zim frowned. Standing up straight, afterwards.
He stretched out again, and still couldn't stand straight. 'Stupid body!' he cursed at it, 'stand up straight when I tell you to.' That would sort the problem out. He stretched again, but still couldn't stand up straight.
'Aaaahhh!' He screamed. Why wasn't his body doing what he told it to!? It had been disobeying his orders for some time now, and this was the last straw. If it couldn't even manage to stand up straight, he wouldn't let it sit down.
After five hours of standing up, Zim sat back down on the couch. Now he was tired, and his back still hadn't learnt to stand straight. He looked down at his now very large stomach and poked it. He felt whatever it was move in reaction to the poke, and sighed. He had been keeping count, and there were now only three more months to go until it was removed. He still thought that was too long, and why couldn't they just remove it earlier?
He kept on staring at his stomach, and then a thought clicked. Maybe the growth was the reason he couldn't stand up properly. It must be pulling his body out of shape, also causing all the other problems.
'You're a stupid, body distorting growth, aren't you? And you've been stealing all the food I eat. Stupid parasite.' He hoped Taller Yami had suffered before he died, for making Zim go through such a pointless waste of time. Diseases did nothing for anybody, except make them sick.
He got up and stumbled to the Kitchen. He couldn't even walk properly anymore! Then he made himself a snack, ate half, and threw the rest of it out because it was making him feel sick. He hated that stupid growth.
-----
'Aren't you excited that you'll be leaving soon?' The medical drone asked, more for something to say than out of interest.
'Yes, Zim is counting down the days until he gets to go back to training, and lose this lump.'
'I wouldn't expect it to be more than 2 months.' The drone put away the scanner that he had been holding. 'Everything's coming along very well.' He patted Zims stomach, and grinned. Zim glared at him.
'Why can't you take it out of me now, instead of making me wait.' Zim didn't like having to wait for things, especially not if he didn't have to.
'Oh, we don't take it out, you have to push it out.'
'Push it out?' Zim was confused. 'How am I supposed to push it out? And where from?'
The drone shrugged. 'You'll know what to do when the time comes. Anyway, you seem to be perfectly healthy, and I guess I'll be seeing you again next week.'
Zim shrugged. He didn't care when the drone came around, though the visits had become weekly lately, instead of the monthly, and before that, bi-monthly visits. 'And you're sure you can't take it out of me earlier? Not even if I give you 50 monies?'
'I know it must be hard for you to understand, but there was somebody in here for the exact same problem 6 years ago, so we know what we're doing. You'll just have to wait for it to come out on its own.'
'But I don't want to wait.' Zim whined, 'I want it out now, so I can just get back to training.'
'No. You'll just have to wait. Now stop complaining like a sore smeet, and show some patience.' The drone left the room, with Zim looking indignantly at the door. He had not been complaining like a sore smeet.
-----
Zim picked up his pants and stared at them. He had thrown them aside in a fit of anger, after struggling to put them on fir five minutes. They should be fitting; they had been given to him specifically because they would fit around the growth. But they weren't fitting anymore.
He held the pants up to his face and stared at them harder. They didn't seem to have shrunk, but why else wouldn't they be fitting?
'Kruns!' Zim shouted. 'My pants don't fit anymore! I need a new pair.'
Kruns appeared, grinning. 'This is great news. You'll have that thing out of you within two weeks, three at most. I'm sure you'll be glad for that, and I know I will be.' Kruns was getting tired of having to babysit Zim. 12 months really was too long to have to put up with him. He almost wished Zim had just been executed, or that the growth had been destroyed. But it wasn't policy to destroy any viable smeets that weren't physically defective, so it had been kept. It might have to be destroyed after birth anyway, but that was still at least two weeks away.
'But what about my pants?' Zim whined, distracting Kruns from his thoughts. 'And why don't they fit?'
'A new pair of pants will be sent soon. Just relax, and don't stress.'
Zim nodded. It was good to get more pants. 'But why don't they fit?'
Kruns sighed. Some things Zim just didn't ignore when you ignored them. 'Your body is getting ready to expel the growth. To do that a few minor changes need to occur. Nothing lasting; your body will readjust back to its previous state within a week.'
Zim was astonished. 'What changes? What's happening? Tell meeee.' Oh, how Kruns hated that whine.
'You're hips are widening, and your pelvic cavity is expanding.' He stopped. 'You should probably have felt some discomfort due to this.'
'Oh, yes.' Zim said, offhandedly. 'Such discomfort I have felt. I could barely sleep, but it's over now. I'll just wait for my pants now.'
'Zim, you need to tell us if you feel any pain. Haven't we told you that already? Always tell us if you feel any pain.'
'Yes, yes. Of course Zim will.' He didn't really know or care what he was agreeing to.
Kruns sighed. 'Your pants will be there soon.' The TV turned off. Zim sat down on the couch and flipped to another channel to watch the news. Apparently the screwheads weren't allowing any aliens on to their planet, and were holding the ones already there hostage. The army was going to be called in. Zim wished he was there, so he could cause some destruction.
-----
Zim woke up after an afternoon nap and yawned. He had been sleeping so much lately, and he never felt fully refreshed. He looked at the kitchen and decided it was too far away to walk over to and get food from. Maybe if he reached over...
Zim fell off the couch and landed on his side. Stupid kitchen, being further away than he could reach. Zim sighed and got up. If he was off the couch he might as well get some food.
He pulled a readymade meal out of a cupboard and shoved it in the heating unit. After the five minute wait for it to heat up, he pulled it out, cursing about the heat travelling through his gloves, and turned back to the couch. He was on the couch with a fork full of noodles when he noticed the TV was on.
'Eh? Kruns, what are you doing here?'
'I came to tell you to be more careful. I saw you fall off the couch.'
Zim shrugged. He was perfectly careful, it's not like a little fall could hurt him, anyway. He told Kruns so.
Kruns started to reply, but stopped. He couldn't let Zim know it wasn't him he was worried about; so he decided to change the subject. 'Didn't you hear the TV turn on?'
'No. The heating unit was making such a terrible noise, I couldn't hear anything.' The heating unit hadn't been making any noise, but Zim didn't want Kruns to know of his (new) slight hearing problem.
'I called before you started heating your noodles, Zim. Can you hear properly?'
'Of course Zim can hear properly! Zim is no slurging Hotsplicker.'
'I never said you were. Have you been able to feel air pressure?'
'Of course Zim has!' He could, but not as clearly as he had been able to the week before. 'How dare you claim Zim is defective!'
'Okay, Zim, okay. Just calm down, sorry to have upset you.' Zim must be going through mood swings. 'Just remember to be more careful.' He turned the TV off.
Zim sat back down on the couch and picked up his bowl of noodles. Zim was always careful. And how dare that drone remark on Zims not-so-perfect hearing?
-----
Zim was sleeping in his nest, covered in blankets. His antennae twitched every so often, and once every 15 to 20 minutes or so his face would scrunch up, and he would clutch the blankets tighter.
'Mur mur mur,' he muttered, pushing himself further down into the blankets, until they covered up past his chin. His antennae twitched as he rolled onto his side.
He opened his eyes slowly as he woke up. There was a slight pain in his stomach, but it was going away. He sighed and looked down at his belly. He couldn't reach his hands around it, even when he put his thumbs on his waist, and reached around with his end finger.
He eventually got out of his nest, and went to get some food. His days had been endlessly repetitive like this, bed, eat, TV; bed, eat, TV. But it would be over soon, Kruns had said so. He might even get to see the Tallest! That would be a great moment in his life.
He winced a bit at the pain in his spooch, and put a hand over it. Hadn't Kruns said something about pain? He should ignore it, or something. It would all be over soon, anyway.
He opened some food cupboards, but nothing inside looked appetising. He closed the cupboards and opened the cooling unit. Nothing in there either. Maybe there was something good on TV. He turned it on, then turned it off again quickly in disgust. Lifestyle programs, reality shows (nobody ever died in them, where was the fun in that?) and sagas of alien life (why would he care if Blorx was cheating on Grusbing on All My Huxxglorx?). The Brockian Ultra Cricket final was going to be on in five hours, but that was ages away. He sighed; maybe he would just do some exercise until it came on.
------
Two hours later Zim was shaking. He had been forced to get off the exercise machine by the pain in his spooch. It was coming on quicker and quicker now.
'Kruns!' he shouted. 'Kruns! I'm hurting.'
Kruns immediately appeared. 'What's the problem? Where are you hurting?' He couldn't believe he had gotten so wrapped up in All My Huxxglorx that he had forgotten that Zim was due soon. 'Is it your spooch?'
Zim nodded weakly. 'It hurts.'
'Is it a sharp pain? How often?'
'It hurts,' was all Zim could repeat. What was happening? And why was it happening. He almost wanted to cry.
'Okay, okay. Just breathe deeply, and stay calm. We'll get you into the infirmary soon.' The TV turned off to the sound of Kruns shouting orders to underlings.
Zim lat down and the couch, and tried to concentrate on his breathing. He knew how to breath, but he had also been taught that breathing helps to calm down under the stresses of battle, so he was sure it would help him here.
Two minutes later a medical drone came in. He asked Zim questions, how long had it been hurting, how often did the pain happen, and placed a hand under Zims shirt and on his stomach. The drone frowned at what he felt, and helped Zim sit up. 'I'm just going to take you to the infirmary. You'll be taken care of there, and we can get this thing out of you, can't we?' He helped Zim stand, and then led him out of the room.
Zim had never really realised how tall the drone was before, but of course they would only send competent Irkens to help Zim, and not short drones.
The drone led Zim down around 100 metres of corridor, until the infirmary was in sight. Zim was glad the infirmary wasn't further away, he didn't know if he'd be able to make it if it was further.
The drone led him into the infirmary and sat him down on the bench. Another came up behind Zim and started to take his clothes off. Zim growled at the drone; he could remove his own clothes.
After he had taken his clothes off and put on the hospital gown they had given him he lay down on the bench, concentrating even harder on his breathing. It all hurt, and he was scared, but he couldn't let them know. He let out a whimper as he felt the pain again. Why did it hurt?
One of the drones reached out and held his hand, which Zim promptly dug his claws into. They deserved it for putting him through this pain.
Five minutes later somebody else entered the room. Zim looked over at the new Irken, then up, and up some more. Zim gasped, that Irken would have to be over five and a half feet tall, maybe even six!
HIs antennae flattened in respect as the new Irken kneeled down to face height with him. 'So how are you doing today, Zim?' he asked.
'F- Fine, taller Kruns,' he said, wincing in pain.
'You don't need to call me taller, Zim, and you shouldn't lie to me. Now, how are you feeling?'
'I hurt.' Zim whimpered.
'Of course you do.' He moved down to between Zims legs, and folded the gown up to Zims waist. He put on a pair of gloves that was held out to him by a drone, and put them on.
'Hmmm.' He poked at the newly formed hole between Zims legs, causing Zim to flinch away. 'It'll still be a while until he's fully dilated, and I wouldn't want him to try anything until then, what with his height. You can get him more comfortable while we're waiting.'
One of the drones nodded and raised the head of the bench slightly, just so Zim wasn't lying flat.
Zim looked around confusedly. 'Try what? What's dilation? What's happening?'
'You're getting rid of the thing inside you. You should be happy, you've been waiting for this since you came here.'
Zim would have responded, but he was in pain from another contraction. He tried not to make any pained noises, but it was hard. 'Just breathe through it.' One of the drones said. Zim realised that they were the only two medical drones he had seen while he had been here. He nodded and tried to breathe through it, and all the coming ones.
Half an hour later Kruns said that Zim would be ready to push it out whenever his body felt ready. Zim leaned over to physically push the thing out with his hands, but got them restrained by a medical drone. 'You don't push it out that way.'
Zim whimpered. He just wanted it to end.
Fifteen minutes later Zim felt a strange sensation in his spooch. It was different to the pain, and he didn't know what to do. 'Kruns.' He said hoarsely, 'I feel different.'
'DO you feel like you want to push?' Sometimes he wished that Irken birth was common knowledge, but knew that their society would crumble if Irkens thought they could create their own smeets.
Zim didn't have the chance to answer. He let out a loud cry as he pushed the smeet down from where it had placed itself during the past hours and days. He felt liquid spill out over his thighs, even more than had just been slowly leaking out previously.
When Zim finally relaxed after the first push he heard Kruns tell him he was doing great; it wouldn't be long now until it was out of Zim completely. Zim just nodded and waited for his next chance to push it out.
After quite a few pushes Zim was starting to think the entire exercise was pointless. It would never leave him, and he'd be stuck with it forever. He felt another push coming along and braced himself for it. He would make this thing leave him now!
This time when he pushed it he felt even worse. There was more than just the normal pain, this was a pain of being stretched out further than he could handle. He choked out as he pushed it; he couldn't even scream, all he could do was try not to suffocate. He felt some hands on his head, and they were steadying him, making him feel like he wasn't about to drown.
'It's crowned!' Zim heard Kruns shout, and wondered what he was so happy about. This stupid disease was tearing him apart.
'It's nearly over, Zim.' Kruns was very happy, 'just two or three more pushes and it'll be out of you.'
Zim nodded. He was exhausted, and just wanted it to leave him as soon as possible. He could get it out in one push.
Three more pushes later Zim collapsed down onto the bench. He vaguely saw Kruns lift something small and green from between his legs and move off to the other side of the room. It seemed to be moving, but Zim didn't care, it wasn't his problem anymore.
'How is it, sir?' One of the drones asked.
'Shows no signs of physical defection, however, when we get a PAK on it, we'll see about mental defects.'
'Yes, sir.' The drone said. 'What should we do about the patient?'
'Take him back to his room and let him recover.'
'Yes, sir.' The drone turned back to Zim, and touched buttons allowing the bench to hover in front of him.
Zim looked back as he left the room. He could just make out the small green something in Kruns' arms, with its big purple blotches that looked like eyes. Zim might've thought that it was a smeet, but the thought didn't bother him for long. It wasn't his problem anymore.
-- - - -----
19 Word pages, nearly 8,400 words. That is very long.