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The Irken Anatomy	By : ladylaguna Category: +G through L > Invader Zim > AU/AR-Alternate Universe-Alternate Reality Views: 4135 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Zim and all related characters - Viacom... All unrelated characters � Jenn L. No profit is gained from this writing.

Chapter List
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Over the course of his communications, Vermeil made a few friends other than Lapis. He hadn't been quite as open with them about his identity, however. So, as he came nearer and nearer to his first contact, his nervousness doubled, then tripled.

Of all the Irkens Vermeil communicated with, Jai had been the most fascinating. He was intelligent, the most intelligent Irken Vermeil had ever spoken with, but his thoughts were often disjointed. He went off on wild tangents with little provocation. Truthfully, he was a little nuts. Perhaps being a little nuts helped one to survive... Vermeil was determined to find out.

He apparently resided with a small band of Irkens on a stolen ship. They'd been struggling to get by in recent years. Vermeil hoped that his idea to bring them to Veloixs would be well received.

The time loomed near... He got a proximity signal, and hailed them. The vid screen crackled to life and Vermeil got a glimpse of their captain for the first time.

“Cap'n Aton, I presume?” Vermeil smiled wide in relief... Finally being able to see another Irken, after all this time--!!

The captain was only of average height, but very bulky. His arms were crossed, demeanor closed... He stared at Vermeil for a moment, blinking in confusion... And then he burst into raucous laughter. The other two Irkens on the bridge grinned as well. Vermeil's antennae drooped.

“Jai's been talking to a SMEET for the last year?”

“I'm NOT a smeet!” Vermeil whined in a very smeet-like fashion. Standing up just so he could look taller, he leaned forward on the console. “I'm Vermeil... I'm the Tallests' legacy! And... And I'm going to save the Irken race!”

Aton did his best to reign in his laughter. Vermeil's speech was incredibly cute, but he obviously wasn't too impressed. “Alright, Mr. Legacy. Are you ready to board?”

Looking chided, Vermeil nodded.

Once their ships were connected, Vermeil entered the hallway between them with hesitation. He looked at himself in the glass walls, doing his best to look dignified and not to slouch. He thought he'd gotten it pretty well down when he emerged onto their own vessel... And then, just as he stepped out, Aton reached out, pulling the boy into his strong arms and delivering a nearly crushing hug.

Looking over Vermeil's shoulder, Aton asked, “Are you on your own?”

“Yes.”

The crew seemed impressed by that accomplishment. Aton finally let him go and they all greeted him in turn... Not as a superior, not as a spoiled little burden, but as a friend. He could barely contain his joy and relief. By the time they reached the end of the line, however, he hadn't met Jai.

“Jai... where is he?” Vermeil asked Aton. Why couldn't he come out to greet him?

Patting Vermeil affectionately on the head, Aton pointed down the main hallway. “He's in room 24. Go on down and say hi. Are you hungry? We'll scrape something together for you to eat...”

“Oh no, I have plenty of food, thank you...” They probably could use some of Vermeil's stash, actually... Trying not to skip, he was so damn excited, the boy headed for room 24. The door was wide open, though the room was suspiciously dark.

When he entered, Vermeil did not see Jai. All he did see was a network of wires and electronic equipment, all gathered in a mass at the back of the room. Various floating monitors cycled the room slowly. He finally ventured to call out, “...Jai?”

A slow whirring sound issued from the center of the mass and the wires finally began to part, revealing a long but sickly looking Irken bent over in front of two monitors. His arms and legs were curled awkwardly before him; face covered by some sort of plating that connected itself to the network. Two tentacles from his Pak typed frantically over his control pad while two more worked on a monitor nearby. He looked up and several eyes blinked in Vermeil's direction. Offering absolutely no courtesies, he demanded, “Who are you?”

Taking a frightened step back, Vermeil answered, “I'm... Vermeil. Are you Jai?”

Another pair of tentacles burst from the network, jabbing at the boy and pushing him around a little. He finally waved them away and Jai laughed. “You're not quite what I expected.”

“Nor are you.”

“Well, of course not,” Jai replied haughtily. “I'm more highly evolved than you... Everyone has trouble dealing with this on their first encounter with me.”

Vermeil tried hard not to laugh. So this was how Aton felt when he screamed about his legacy. “Is that so?”

Pointing to each of the five eyes peering out of the plating, Jai announced, “I'll be a Control Brain in enough time.”

Vermeil supposed that Control Brains didn't really need arms or legs... “I see... Then what will you do?”

“Rule the Irken race, of course. Get things back to where they should be.” He nodded and smiled at Verm. “Look at you.” He jabbed Vermeil some more. “I thought you were a myth.”

“M... me?”

“The Tallest Host.”

Antennae flicking, Vermeil asked, “Host?”

“Ah, I suppose it doesn't matter. But it is proof that the Irken race doesn't need a hatchery to reproduce. The Control Brains didn't know about you. How were you born?”

“They put me inside the body of another Irken until I grew to maturity.”

“I see. I see. That's sort of sick.”

Smiling sheepishly, Vermeil replied, “Yeah... but Tenn said she didn't mind.”

“Ah. Invader Tenn. So THAT'S what happened to her after Meekrob.”

This back and forth went on for many hours... Both Jai and Vermeil thirsted for knowledge, and now that they were both on a level playing field, nothing was held back.

Eventually, however, Aton came to fetch the boy. “Let me give you a tour of the ship,” he insisted. When Vermeil consented to be led away, Aton laughed, “Jai is useful in his own way, but we only need one of him. You're already developing the slouch.”

Vermeil looked at his hands and arms in alarm. Just because he spent a lot of time on the computer... He wouldn't turn into Jai, would he?

“Ah, at least you have the sense to see where you could be headed,” Aton cried, patting Vermeil heartily in the back. “When we all lived on Irk, the smeets spent years upon years in education plugs. So many of them developed terrible posture. It was the mark of a very smart Irken, they would say... But none of them could hold their own in hand-to-hand combat. It made the conquering of some planets very difficult.”

Vermeil frowned. He didn't want their race to become conquerors again. “Times have changed,” Vermeil stated simply.

Nodding, Aton replied, “You're absolutely right, little one. Which is exactly why we have to learn to fend for ourselves without the help of machines. Jai refuses to understand this; he is convinced that, after a period of adjustment, we can return to the glory days.”

Who knew what their race was capable of? Just a year ago, Vermeil was convinced he was the last of their race that even lived. “I've had combat training. My caretakers were all Elites.”

“That's encouraging!” Aton cried. “Perhaps you can show me just what you can do.”

Aton, of course, wiped the floor with the boy. Afterward, he explained where so many of Vermeil's techniques were flawed... All of those techniques, of course, were learned from Tzin... Disheartened, Vermeil tried to defend his mentor.

“Don't you worry, kiddo. We'll get you on the right track.” Aton smiled down at him, and Vermeil tried his best to smile back. Aton was so NICE... Unlike any other Irken he'd ever met, really, other than Tenn...

Aton was also a very firm captain, as well. He had plans for the crew and made sure that they followed through with all of them. Vermeil finally spoke with him about Veloixs. He seemed very excited about the prospect; Vermeil provided him with coordinates. However, he didn't desire to go there.

“We'll be your point guard,” he said. “You can't do all of this yourself, kiddo. No matter how much you might want to.” So, they formulated a plan to spread out and begin pulling more Irkens in. Two of Aton's crew members would go back to Veloixs and begin building. Two of them would travel with and assist Vermeil.

“This is actually going to happen! I'm so excited!” The boy was eager to get started right away, but yet again, Aton had other plans.

He wouldn't allow Vermeil to go anywhere until he had more battle and weapons training. So they landed on a fairly uninhabited planet and set up camp for awhile. Every day, the captain drilled him on maneuvers, sparred with him, and explained more about the Irken military structure. The boy worked hard... He wanted to impress Aton, who he had a great deal of respect for... Though he also wanted to just GET IT OVER WITH. Nobody else seemed to be put through the paces that Aton put him through. Why him?

Some days he would avoid Aton and hang out with Jai.

“I don't understand why he's pushing me so hard! I've been sparring with every member of the crew except you. I could probably beat 90% of them in real combat.” He was continuing to grow... Matching many of them in height already. “Can't he leave well enough alone?”

Sneering, Jai replied, “What do you think, Mr. Legacy?” Vermeil simply blinked in reply and his smile softened. “When word got out about who you actually were-- totally not my fault, swear-- Everyone on the ship began to buzz about you. Why? I certainly don't know. You're nothing special. But I guess Aton thinks you could be. Or, at the very least, he doesn't want you to embarrass us. Swaggering around in clothes that don't even fit, yelling about making your parents proud.”

Vermeil frowned at his shirt. It did reveal a few generous inches of his stomach now, and was getting worse by the day. He pulled it down self-consciously.

The next day he and Aton managed to take down a local beast and started on the process of getting a nice leather suit sewed up. “Back in the day, we had machines that dealt with this,” Aton sighed. “I miss being able to hit a button and see my uniform materialize in front of me.”

Aton was wise. He, of course, knew that Vermeil was hiding out with Jai on some days. While Aton trained the boy's body, Jai trained his mind. Though his methods were quite different. While Aton was straight-forward about what and why Vermeil studied, Jai simply shamed him into acquiring more knowledge by peppering their talks with statements like, “You didn't even know THAT?”

Meanwhile, his communications with Lapis were constant... when he could reach her. He was so excited about finding these Irkens that he couldn't entirely hide it. Though he twisted the story so that it didn't quite seem like he was actively looking. When he explained to Jai that he was trying to track her down, he seemed intrigued by this and agreed to help Vermeil in this pursuit. He had trouble breaking her encryption as well, however...

“Lapis couldn't possibly be more brilliant than a Control Brain,” he complained... working even harder to uncover her secrets.

Vermeil continued to mature and the day finally came that Aton was satisfied with his progress. “Every day you must train your body and mind,” he warned. “Because your enemies certainly will train theirs.”

They parted ways then. Aton gave Vermeil his best engineer and his best navigator, as well as copious well-wishes. Vermeil considered the engineer, Damon, to be his friend and they got on well; unfortunately the navigator, Isis, saw no reason why she should obey a smeet. This made the ensuing months quite difficult. Vermeil did his best to endear himself to Isis, but she rebuffed him at every turn.

The next contacts Vermeil pursued were a pair. They were living in the storage cellar of an alien shopping complex. The owner allowed them to dwell there in exchange for labor; however, he made it quite clear that this would be a temporary arrangement. When they were notified that saviors were coming, they were wary but overjoyed.

The boy doubted the planet was friendly to Irkens, so he decided to leave his Shuvver in orbit and head to the surface himself. He cautioned his crew that the operation might take up to a week; he wanted to be cautious. The navigator objected. “Let's just go get them,” she argued. “Our ship's fast enough that we can escape if need be.”

“Then they could possibly get a tag on us. Better to take it slow and steady.” And so Vermeil took a Voot down. Those were best for stealth maneuvers. Unfortunately, they no longer had a cloaking device at their disposal. Vermeil, instead, had to improvise with stolen clothing.

Over the course of the next few days, Vermeil worked his way into the city, observing and infiltrating. As he feared, the planet itself wasn't terribly Irken friendly by appearances. Before the Fall, the planet was neutral, serving as a popular shopping destination for Irkens on vacation. It seemed his target couple, Aarin and Tomi, had been on a trip when things went south. Suddenly the planet wasn't so friendly to Buggers. They had survived in the years following by slowly selling off their belongings and keeping on the move. Unfortunately, they'd never found a way OFF the planet...

...not that it mattered. Where did they have to go?

They were afraid to leave the complex, for fear that they might need to get back in and couldn't. The owner threatened them to keep from being seen. So Vermeil had to find some way to sneak in and then sneak them out... He studied shipping routes and the habits of the delivery boys... Then finally jumped on a truck, hiding in a box until the negligent worker dropped the pallet off inside a delivery corridor within the complex.

That morning, he had notified his crew that he would likely be returning with the couple very soon. That was his first mistake.

The corridors were mostly empty and he was able to get down to the cellar rather quickly.

The couple, a man and woman wearing barely more than rags, were huddled in a corner with naught but a small cot to sleep on. They looked upon Vermeil as if he was a deity; that made him feel pretty good. Thinking that he'd been successful, already visualizing the two of them jumping with joy when they set foot on Veloixs, Vermeil relaxed.

Second mistake.

“We should take some of this food. We've earned it.”

Just a box or two wouldn't hurt, right? Vermeil consented to this, figuring they could just hide them with the shipment they would be sneaking out on. So they all took an extra bit of time to pack some bread and various snacks from the fast food joint upstairs... Anything that would keep. Most of it would have been half eaten and thrown away anyway...

Though, just as they had sealed up the last box, there was a clamor and a fat, sweaty alien in a cheap suit threw open the door. “What are you trying to do to me?!” he screamed.

“M... Mr. Masttt--” All three of the young aliens were flabbergasted, dropping the boxes immediately. “We were just leaving, we won't burden you any longer, s-sir...”

He pointed at the ceiling, fingers shaking. “You can't just land a fucking ship on my damn roof like this! Even if you are leaving! I have a fucking reputation to uphold! I can't have anyone know I was harboring Irkens here!”

Vermeil's antennae flickered in irritation. “On your roof? Sir, I believe you're mistaken...”

There was a conspicuous rumble and Vermeil's blood ran cold.

“I've already called the Fed! You're all going to die! Did you really think I could let you walk off without any repercussions?! It would ruin me!”

“The Fed!?” Vermeil immediately took off at a run, knocking the man to the side and blowing through the door. For a moment, his companions hesitated, but they seemed to realize that their best hope was with the kid now.

Immediately brandishing his gun, Vermeil screamed for anyone in his way to MOVE... Seeing as most of the aliens populating the hallway were delivery boys and store staff, they obeyed in haste. Thankfully, Vermeil had studied the mall's layout religiously before coming; he knew which door to jump through in the shortest route to the roof.

The three of them had no choice but to enter the main floor of the complex to get there. So Vermeil ran through the door firing at the ceiling, yelling for everyone to get the fuck out of the way. Shoppers screamed and ducked, clearing the path for the three Irkens as they beat feet for the corridor to the stairs.

Vermeil almost thought he had gotten through scott-free, until he glimpsed the pack of uniforms coming at them from across the expanse of the selling floor. The Fed was already here! Turning to his companions, he screamed, “Hurry! HURRY!” Throwing open the final door, he fired a few shots in the soldiers' direction, causing them to scatter a bit. He knew they wouldn't risk firing into this crowd. Not yet...

They were soon clambering up the stairs. Just two more floors to the top... They were all too tightly packed to deploy Paklegs. The door at the end opened and Isis stared down at them. “Come on! Come on!” she cried, waving her arms. Vermeil wished he could shoot HER, but three Fed soldiers threw open the door at the bottom of the stairwell and accomplished that for him. He felt laser pulses swish by his head and her face exploded in a shower of blood. As he feared, their weapons could penetrate any shield a Pak could generate.

Tomi screamed, stopping in her tracks and covering her head. Aarin grabbed her arm, trying to usher her forward... shoving her in Vermeil's direction as he tried to supply cover fire. He took her and dragged her upward. There were more shots and Aarin cried out.

“No!” Tomi screamed, reaching for her lover as his legs buckled and he tumbled back down the stairs. His chest was blown out; there was no hope for him. Vermeil didn't hesitate. Still dragging her forward, he managed to somehow get out of that stairwell.

They were not out of danger. It seemed the Fed ships had taken longer to deploy; and they were limited in their assault capabilities, unable to fire on a civilian complex. A single unit hovered around the building, soldiers hanging from its doors and trying to pick them off from the sky. Damon stood by the door of the Shuvver, doing his best to answer fire with the mid-sized rifle he carried.

“I'm sorry, Vermeil,” he cried as they passed. Just then, the soldiers emerged from the stairwell and he turned to fire on them. He stepped in the line of sight as Vermeil half dragged, half carried Tomi to the door of the ship. As he shoved her inside, he heard an unmistakable sound. He only turned for a moment to glimpse Damon's body falling backward before jumping inside the ship and pulling the door shut.

Their gunfire pinged off of the strong hull; they were safe for the moment. Leaving Tomi to sob in the floor, Vermeil dashed to the bridge and threw the ship into gear. They had to break atmo before the Fed pulled out their big guns. He punched it, likely burning up anything and anyone left on the roof, forcing the hovering ship to pull back. He fired on them as he could, taking out a couple of buildings instead, and they retreated.

They managed to hit orbit unmolested. Vermeil didn't slow down until he was over a sector away, lost in a sea of stars. Chances were that the Fed hadn't been able to tag them yet. He supposed he'd find out if they came for him in a month's time.

Tomi was inconsolable. He managed to get her to walk to one of the sleeping quarters, but she did little more.

Face stained with tears, Vermeil gave Aton a call.

“I can't believe that Isis would disobey a direct order like that,” Aton cried, incredulous.

Shaking his head, Vermeil sighed, “She didn't respect me.”

“You knew this?”

“Yes...”

Pursing his lips, Aton replied, “And what did you do about it?”

“I...”

Folding his arms over his chest, Aton sighed, “I think you understand now, what is at stake.” Vermeil frowned. He had known BEFORE. Why else would he risk his life like this? “What are you trying to say? That... I'm a failure? Because I couldn't make her like me?”

“AFFECTION is not RESPECT,” Aton replied. “Do you understand, Vermeil?”

He didn't understand, but he claimed that he did. That conversation ended quickly.

Efforts to help Tomi fell flat as well. Three days later, she snuck past him and threw herself from the airlock.

After that, Vermeil did nothing at all but drift, sulking in front of the console. He was a failure. All of his grand dreams of reclaiming the Irken race, of restoring glory to his parents' memory, faded before his very eyes. Even Lapis noticed his loss of passion, though he was ashamed to tell her about the incident.

Jai contacted him. “Where have you been? It's been two weeks.” Vermeil simply shrugged and Jai scowled. “Did you lose your nerve? What a smeetlike thing to do. Where exactly did you fail between concept and execution?”

“I don't know.”

“Figure it out, you fucking idiot. You're smarter than this.” Vermeil couldn't help but smirk at the direct contradiction there. “Don't give me that cheeky look, you skinny-ass little smeet. We've invested too much time in you to be so disappointed. Were we wrong about you? Don't look at your fucking hands! I'm asking you a question!”

Groaning, almost as if in pain, Vermeil hissed, “Shut up!”

“That's right, you should be mad. You fucked up, big time! Now be a man about it and clean up your mess. Be an adult.”

“UGGGH.” Vermeil rubbed hard at his eyes, trying to keep the tears from coming again. “That stupid bitch ruined everything, Jai! Don't you understand?! I had the operation sealed up tight and she completely fucked everything up!”

Nodding angrily, Jai replied, “You're right! She fucked everything up! Isis was a stupid bitch that didn't respect you. So what have you learned?”

“Not to trust anyone!” Vermeil barked in frustration. But, to his surprise, Jai nodded again. “You're starting to get it. What being a leader is all about.” He leaned forward to drive this point home. “Irkens are stupid, especially now. They need someone to hold their hands for them, to give them a purpose. To make them WANT purpose. You think that survival is instinctual, that it just comes naturally, but if that were true, then this universe would be bursting with all kinds of filthy assholes. Survival is NINE parts intelligence and ONE part instinct. Those that lack intelligence need to be driven instead.” His head tilted backward just slightly. “Your parents understood this very basic fact. Watch some of the old politico vids. Watch how they inspire their people. Those idiots would have followed them to hell in their underwear-- and did.” That statement was loaded and Vermeil knew it. Was Jai insinuating that the Tallests were bad leaders? Or extraordinarily good leaders with really bad ideas? “Don't ever let anybody take you by surprise again, boy. You're lucky to be standing there, you know.”

For a few moments, Vermeil was silent, mulling it over. He finally sighed and looked back up at Jai. “Thank you.”

“You're welcome.” They both seemed to relax and Jai smiled good-naturedly. “Now-- do you want your present?”

Antennae perking, Vermeil blinked.

“We've done it. I finally broke Lapis' encryption.”
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The Irken Anatomy