#for knowledge

Goemon's traded one child hungry for knowledge for another.

< part 18 - part 20 >

Masterlist

Also Timelapse under the cut!

When tired/dissociative/high, I can get what I call metathoughts; Thoughts on the other thoughts I'm having without interrupting them - sometimes with multiple layers of this kind of recursive thinking, and sometimes with the "perspective" of the main thoughts switching to the metathoughts, turning the original into this kind of far away stream of ideas that's being thrust onto me by an outside force before I re-realize that they're my own

Thirsty (for Knowledge) Thursday

This here Tumblr Blog has been under construction for some time (likely always will be), and one of the things I finally got around to doing is creating a page: For Writers. I've been hoarding bookmarks and resources since I started writing back in November (most of them exclusive to Tumblr), and have finally compiled a bunch of them into one place. Below is the Index for the page (and the sister Google Doc does the clicky jump to sections for you) to give you an idea of what to expect:

Index:

Writing Advice - The Important Stuff│General Advice│Grammar and Punctuation│Storytelling│World Building│Characterisation│Writing Romance│Trope Specifics│Editing│Masterlists│Writers Toolkit

How to AO3 - Author Guides│User Guides

Fandom Culture - Fandom Etiquette│Legalities│Themes and Events

Inuyasha Fandom Specific - Useful Resources│Inuyasha Events│Fanart Sources

Very Useful Links

Access the 'For Writers' Page Here. Access the Google Doc Here.

(2300 words 😂)

The Doctor paced around the control room of the Massive, while the Tallest were tucked away sleeping off the junk food and drugs they had been fed that day. The two color-coded idiots made short work of those snacks and just as the good Doctor had hoped, they slept like rocks, trusting the Doctor to take care of all the boring parts of being the Tallest himself. That thought made him smile, knowing he had the leaders of the entire Irken race under his thumb. He just needed the Control Brains to lower their guard and finally, he can claim what he believed was rightfully his. He stopped when he was approached by a smaller Irken scientist and handed him a vanilla envelope. 

"The blueprints you requested, Doctor."

"Yes, you may leave." The doctor didn't even bother with thanking the Irken.

The smaller left the room and the doctor strolled his way to his quarters and sat the envelope on his desk before setting up his workbench. He had been making spares of the collar just in case one of those 'inconveniences' happened. Zim was known for his copious amount of luck. 

He opened his envelope and got to work. He reached behind himself and pulled off his PAC with a soft pop and got to work on it. At first, the only thing the Doctor could feel was the white-hot spinal pain that came with detaching a PAC however, from extensive, painful training of his mind and boy the Doctor was pretty much immune to the pain. It felt more like a soft pinch now.

This was something he had been working on for a while. Imagine an Irken without the confines of a PAC. He could keep his vast intellect and wouldn't even have to worry about some vial creature removing his PAC and dragging him to his knees. He started slowly at first, just giving himself more and more time to be any from his PAC. This testing went straight under the Control Brains noses and for good reason. The Doctor wasn't stupid he knew the Control Brains could just shut off his PAC as soon as they spotted defiance. Of course, they couldn't put him on withdrawal simply because he doesn't take those damned pills. After all, the maker of those wonder drugs wasn't going to start taking them himself.

So, he deduced if he made it so his body could survive without the PAC then he'd be the most dangerous Irken alive. So the Doctor got to work, he spread out the blueprints and gathered the tools he needed and prepared himself for a long night. After all, he only had 30 minutes until he'd expire without the PAC. 

Zim sat undisturbed for a moment trying to think of the right words to start with.

"Well... the dreams started about two earth weeks ago. Which was weird from the beginning because Irkens don't typically sleep, let alone dream." Zim fondled with his hands for a moment and looked down at the grass below them.

The two had moved outside where the sun was just starting to rise. There was a cool breeze in the air and the sounds of animals surrounded the two, the day was perfect.

Dib made a mental note about Zim's nervousness.

"So what exactly are the dreams about ZIm?"

Zim paused.

"For some reason, I don't think... I don't think they're just dreams. They felt so real and they don't feel like dreams. It's like I'm seeing things that have actually have happened. As if I was peering into memories, but they... couldn't be memories because I don't remember doing any of it!"

Zim held his head in his hands and sighed, he was confused and upset. Why wasn't anything easy?

Dib nodded and patted Zim on his PAC lightly, trying his best to comfort the alien, because for some reason Dib felt obligated to.

"It's ok Zim." Dib paused trying to choose his words carefully.

"Maybe there is something that is making you forget?"

"But what could that possibly be?!" Zim growled in frustration.

"Zim, look, why don't you just tell me about the dream? What exactly is going on?"

Zim went back to fiddling with his claws again.

"The first dream I had wasn't a dream. It was, what you humans call a nightmare. My skin had turned white and my Tallest were yelling me and I couldn't stop throwing up." Zim looked like he was about to cry from the memory alone as he covered his face with his hands.

"It was horrible!"

Dib sat next Zim and gently rubbed his lower back.

"Hey, it's ok to remember Zim. It's ok."

Dib had half expected Zim to lash out and yell at Dib for touching him. So when Zim actually leaned into his touch Dib almost flinched. The alien was actually LEANING on him and actually finding his presence comforting rather the paranoia the two always seemed to radiate to each other.

"It's alright, you don't have to keep going if you don't want to." The human smiled a bit.

Zim wiped his magenta eyes and shook his head.

"No, I... I need to get this off, my spooch human."

"The second dream was the first 'memory' I guess." Zim used air quotes around the word memory though with his two fingers it was a little awkward looking.

"I was being held down by a group of Irkens they were demanding that I take my medication. I couldn't control my actions or words. It was as if someone else was making my decisions for me and I was just a spectator."

Dib flinched, he knew what that was like.

Zim continued on.

"I fought them and managed to get out of their grips. When this Taller Irken tried to stick a needle in Zim's neck! I fought and ran to the door and I was grabbed." Zim held his arms and let out a shaky laugh.

"It's so strange the Irkens to grab me were my Tallests. But that can't be the case. They wouldn't hold me against my will. I know that! Right?" Zim's voice went from confident to uncertainty.

He was shaking as he recalled his dreams. Each one was so strange and intriguing though Dib could tell how horrified Zim was by them. Then Zim got to the part about Skoodge and Dib froze, Zim wasn't even looking at him at the moment, he was too focused on the grass.

"He spoke as if we were... you know, a thing."

"A thing?" Dib was confused. Dib may have not had many encounters with the alien, but as far as he knew that Zim despised the guy. How could they have been a thing? But then again Tak's ship did say Zim was very different back then. Still, Dib could help the pang of jealousy that erupted from his chest.

"He was holding me and telling me everything was going to be alright and yet it didn't feel that way. Then Irken soldiers burst in, including that Doctor from before. They pinned us down and forced poor Skoodge to take the medication." Zim didn't notice the poor he added in, Dib, however, did.

"He called me his commander. He told me he needed me to complete the mission."

"Mission? What mission?"

"We were going to topple the Irken government."

Hearing the words come out of his mouth sent a shiver down Zim's spine.

"It feels so wrong and yet I feel so justified."

Dib nodded along.

"The last dream I had was the longest since. It was so real, I can still see it happening like it was yesterday. We were breaking inside the Control Brains secret base. Skoodge, 19 other troops and I were all in an Irken carrier. We got inside the base and blew up a few things and hid. Turns out there he was that same damned Doctor was there he had captured some of the crew and-and..."

Zim kneeled over and threw up. His head was ringing and he could feel his lips foaming.

Dib was at his side immediately helping Zim. From the looks of it, Zim was having a seizure so Dib tried his best to make him comfortable. The human laid a blanket down and sat the Irken in his side so his airways wouldn't block up. He backed up to give the alien some space and sat with the shaking alien and hoped he'd be ok.

The Irken convulsed on the blanket for what felt like hours but according to Dib's phone, it was only a few minutes.

Finally, Zim stops shaking and Dib lets out a breath he realizes he was holding onto for a while.

"What... what's going on?"

Dib could stop himself from hugging the alien.

"You had me worried you space freak!"

Zim shook his head his vision was a little fuzzy.

"W-what's going on?"

Dib pulled back with his hands still on the alien's shoulders.

"You had what appeared to be a seizure, Zim."

"A seizure?"

The human nodded and resumed his position of hugging the freak. Before he could realize what he was doing however, Zim hugged him back. The shorter of the two whimpered.

"I don't know what's going on with my body Dib-beast. This has never happened to Zim before." Zim let out a sob and dug his face in Dib's shoulder.

Dib gently rubbed the alien's head in an attempt to comfort him.

"Hey, it's ok Zim. I'm sure it'll before soon. Maybe you're just sick?" Dib knew he was lying and yet he couldn't bring himself to tell Zim about the harmful pills.

After all, Zim still believed that he needed the pills, that they made him better not worse. Those pills came from his Tallest and his Tallest were his gods. Actually attempting to get it through Zim's head the magical pills sent from his almighty Tallest were actually intelligence damping tablets of brain destruction would shatter his world view and Dib couldn't decide if that was a good thing. 

Dib was snapped from his inner turmoil when Zim had flicked him in the nose.

"Hello? Dib stop ignoring Zim!"

"Oh sorry Zim. I was just deep in thought." Dib smiled trying to play it off.

Zim shook his head and stood up, leaving Dib's grip.

"So uh what human activities are we doing today?"

Dib stood up.

"You know Zim if I didn't know any better, I'd say you actually enjoy doing these outdoor things." The human couldn't help but smirk when Zim made that face he makes when he's being called out. The one where his antennae stand up on end and his eyes go wide.

"Zim does not! I just don't want to sit in the filthy dirt all day like you filthy pigs."

Dib let out a short laugh, Zim never ceases to amuse.

"We could play a game." Dib sat down on his log.

Zim perked at that.

"A game?"

"Yeah. Like 20 questions or something."

"What's 20 questions?" Zim sat on his rock apparently awfully interested in the game.

"Well one us comes up with with an object or a person while the other asks 20 questions to try to figure out what it is."

"Oh, Zim understands."

"Alright, I'll come up with the object you ask the questions."

Zim nods.

"Ok. What is it?" Zim asks.

"Dib couldn't help but giggle.

"No Zim they can only be yes or no questions."

"Oh ok. Is it stupid?"

"No."

"WRONG all Earth things are stupid!"

Dib pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Just kidding."

Dib looked up his eyes wide. Did Zim just joke?

Zim sat across from him a wide smile and a playful look on his face.

"R-really?"

"Well most things are but after these past few days..." Zim playfull look went to a timid one as his antennae lowered just a bit.

"I'm not so sure." Zim rubbed his arm looking very nervous. Dib then decided that this, THIS was the cutest thing he's ever seen in his whole life. Zim cross legged looking nervously at the floor after calling him smart.

Dib smiled.

"You still got 19 more questions, Zim."

Zim nodded.

"Alright. Does it smell?"

"No, it has no scent we know of."

"Is it big?"

"Yes very very big."

"Does it have holes?"

"Well more like craters really."

"Does it have a face?"

"Some say it does so you can count that a yes."

"Does it shine?"

"Yes."

"Can it be seen day or night?"

"Yeah but only on special occasions."

"Do people question it?"

"Yes, all the time."

"Do people question it origin?"

"Some do though we're pretty sure where it came from."

"Does the face have eyes?"

"Yeah, Zim."

"What about a mouth?"

"Yes."

"And a nose."

"Yeah, you really are milking these questions huh."

"Is it ugly?"

"No, some say it's quite beautiful."

"Did it come from the earth."

"Some speculate."

"Is it bright?"

"Very."

"Do people love it?"

"Some do."

"Has it been touched by humans?"

"Yes but only twice."

"Ok, I think I know what it is."

"Go on Zim."

"Is it your head."

"W-what?!"

Zim fell off his rock laughing.

"The heck Zim?!"

Zim laid in the grass with a soft smile on his face. From where Dib sat he could see the relaxation on Zim's face.

"Is it the moon."

Dib anger diminished and he couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah, it was the moon."

Zim hummed in approval.

"Ok, my turn."

"Is it my head?"

Zim sat up with a look of disbelief.

"How did you know?"

Dib pushed Zim down and laid next to him.