deercountry | I used to look up at space with hope and wonder in my eyes

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I used to look up at space with hope and wonder in my eyes

Who: Zib, and possibly you? (Some threads closed, some open)
What: Event shenanigans in the form of paranoia and memories about aliens trying to kill you
When: Throughout the month of December
Where: Around Disaster House, or walking around on his own about the city and beaches

Content Warnings: paranoia, obsession, descriptions of cartoon violence, descriptions of more horrifying alien body horror violence, mention of parental neglect, mention of murder, identity issues, insults involving one's sanity, etc. will add more if they come up in a thread.

also, hit me up with pm or plurk if you want a starter of your own rather than one of the open prompts

Winter Mourning / outside Disaster House

Zib is not quite an official resident of the Disaster House, but his ship is currently here on their property while he figures out how to try to fix it and get it running properly again. And his friends had been nice enough to let him sleep on a couch instead of sleeping outside upon discovering that he... did not have a house he had any plans of staying at until this issue was resolved.

So not quite going full-hobo like he was since arriving, he's been in a rather good mood despite the ship crash. For the first time he can ever remember in his life, there are actually people he can think of as his friends that are willing to have his back, and it's gotten him thinking that maybe there are more things to find about this place to appreciate. Instead of, you know, attempting to run away and off this planet as soon as possible.

So once he hears about a Trench tradition to gather some bones together to create a decoration, he does just that, setting it against the outside of his ship in the driveway of the Disaster House for the time being. Maybe it will be a good luck charm--something to keep him going and hope that his ship will be repaired again soon.

Except... it glows, and touching it suddenly brings Zib and anyone else who may have come upon it into his memories. And there are two things that will become very quickly apparent to anyone upon finding themselves in this memory, regardless of which one it is.

The first thing is, Dib is very much human. Far more human looking in his past memories than he has ever looked since arriving in Trench despite attempts to disguise otherwise. The Dib of the past has normal skin complexion, proper ears and nose, and isn't wearing a ratty hood to hide the back of their head. Their glasses don't have a chip in them, and for all intents and purposes, they look like a normal child.

The second thing is that all of his memories seem to revolve around a central target: a small green alien named Zim. Even in memories where Zim is wearing a disguise, it's easy to tell that it's still the same person due to how tacky and lame the disguise is. No matter what form he's in, he is present in every memory of Dib's that can be brought forth when touching the antler decoration he made. Sometimes, it even feels like there's a sudden moment where you are seeing things from Zim's perspective rather than Dib's, before cutting back to seeing it from Dib's if you are unfortunate enough to get one of those type of memory journeys here rather than experiencing it as a third party.

Which begs the question of whose memories you are actually seeing in some regard, doesn't it?

As a result, you may end up finding yourself in one of the following:

A. The day these two first met and their rivalry began, from the look of things. It's... it sure is a lot! It seems like while Dib has been a nice enough guy here in Trench, he holds no such kindness toward Zim from the second they met.

B. One of, if not many, numerous ridiculous fights that these two have had since then. Dib finds out that Zim has an allergy to meat and throws baloney at him in the school cafeteria, Zim retaliates via injecting Dib with a method to turn him into baloney. Dib points out that a nurse might find it odd that Zim doesn't have human organs, Zim retaliates via stealing everyone's organs, including Dib's lungs. They chase, shoot, throw things at each other, yell about how they are going to defeat the other, and so on in a constant cycle of battles and escalating over the most riduculous shit, even if, arguably, Dib does have a point that letting Zim win could hurt the Earth even with the stupidest of schemes. Either way, Dib sure does get hurt a lot in his pursuit of saving the Earth.

Which one of these dumb fights did you get suckered into having to bear witness to? Will there ever be a day where this ongoing cycle ends?

C. The answer to that, dear friends, is yes. And unlike the downright ridiculous fights and sometimes laws of physics and logic getting thrown out the nearest window, the rivalry ends rather simple and brutal. There's no lead up to what caused this particular fight, as if Dib himself no longer remembers what was so different this time. It just starts with Dib, standing over Zim's body, the other bleeding out a bright pink fluid onto the floor of his lab. The little backpack thing that Zim wears has been torn from his back, lying in a mess of broken wires a few feet away.

And Dib stands there with pink blood on his hands, and for a moment, he actually looks confused by this outcome. He attempts to prod Zim's body, call his name... but Zim doesn't answer, and continues to remain lifeless on the floor. Dib looks down at his hands covered in thick pink alien blood, and just... stares, begins talking to himself.

"I... I did it? I actually did it... I actually beat him this time? That's... that's a good thing, so..."

But is it, though? What exactly happens after you've finally defeated your rival anyway?

He glances at the PAK on the floor nearby... and begins to reach out toward it...

Run Rabbit, Run / around the neighborhood and woods

[Once he realizes what the purpose of the Winter Mournings are, and as the month continues, he starts feeling sicker with paranoia. Not just towards others--did they see those memories? Are they afraid of him? Will they hurt him even if they don't know?--but also toward himself. Is he still Dib? Is he now Zim? Is he just a Zib after all, just as his alternate self had called him in that awful void?

So he distances himself. He goes back to staying outside working on his ship, exploring, and gathering supplies for his own needs rather than allowing himself to be in the physical presence of people. But that doesn't curb his paranoia--what if someone tries to attack him while he sleeps? So he builds traps all around his ship in case someone tries to touch or break into it. He keeps his hood up at all times, but prepared to lash out with a PAK leg the second he notices sudden movement. He even steals a couple of knives to keep in his closes just on the off chance someone gets past his PAK's defenses.

He isn't going to let himself be attacked. He refuses to die. He refuses to have things stolen from him.

Not again.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Fern, being from a world full of kingdoms, knows a throne room when he's in one, and this is definitely a throne room. It's all teched out, but the core throne room-y nature is still there. He'd take the time to explore this if he wasn't hearing a whole lot of nonsense going on outside, down below, and a very familiar face up here with him.

Except... this Zib looks a little different. He doesn't have his usual hood covering most of his head, instead it's replaced by - Fern isn't sure what, honestly. Some big, ominous-looking mechanical thing that looks like it's half-jammed into his head. Has he always had that thing??

He watches the scene play out, confused, only approaching after a few minutes have passed.]

Dib?

[Dib startles at the sound, and that's when four sharp PAK legs quickly spring out from that metal contraption on his head in a threatening manner. Which, likely confirms that the PAK was what he has been hiding under his trashy hood he wears in Trench, and where they sprung out of during the incident with the mushrooms.]

Who's there? This is a private room, no one should be able to get in here.

[It's said with a glance at the monitor, which... doesn't react, and he wonders why it isn't despite there being an intruder in here. It still keeps rather quiet even with Fern being in here at the moment.

Either way, this is bad, he isn't in disguise here and if they run out and tell all the Zims about it... no, he can't let that happen. No matter what.]

[Oh. Oh cool, those creepy robo-legs. That explains where those things come from, the horrible metal contraption stuck to Zib's head. Fern isn't sure if this means a fight is going to start, and part of himself really doesn't want to fight Zib. At least, not in this capacity, since they're friends and all.

He tries holding up his hands, indicating that he isn't about to attack (for once) and that he's thoroughly confused.]

Dude, I don't know! I don't even know where we are!

[Despite the placating gesture, Zib doesn't seem to be letting his guard down as he cautiously walks closer. This person doesn't sound like how a Zim normally talks, but the green color of their... foliage? Is this a Zim made out of plants? Huh.

Still, Zib isn't putting the PAK legs away anytime soon, in case of an attack.]

What is your name?

[If they say Zim, then they are definitely getting yeeted in some manner, but if not... well, maybe there's still some way to salvage this.]

Edited 2021-12-26 22:16 (UTC)

[This is weird. This is very weird. Fern has been in memories before, but the person having the memory always recognized him. He isn't totally sure what to do here, aside from trying to not start a fight (for once).]

Fern? Dude, don't you remember me? From Trench?

[Maybe he just needs his memory jogged?]

Fern? Wait...

[Not a Zim, then... but also the name is familiar sounding, and for a moment Zib is frowning. His PAK legs are no longer raised in an attacking stance, but instead sort of droop downward to dig into the ground in frustration as Zib raises a hand to his head, as if fighting a sudden headache.]

That's not right... it's only been Zims that are supposed to show up here. So if you're here too...

[He glances again at the monitor, at the lack of change to noticing Fern's presence, and finally seems to have an answer as his memory starts to catch up from where he had been so caught up in reliving the moment of this place.]

This isn't actually real, is it?

[Oh thank Glob. It takes a few seconds, but it's becoming increasingly clear that Zib is recognizing him. That's good, that's - part of him is disappointed there isn't going to be a fight, but he tries to ignore it - and he drops his hands.]

No? I don't know, I think this is just a memory.

[Probably, if that's how Trench rolls.

He glances around, frowning.]

Where are we?

[Zib takes a breath to calm himself, and thus the PAK legs are sheathed back inside of the PAK for the time being.]

This is where I live, in the control room of the highest tower overlooking the... I guess you could call this place the "Zimvoid". It's called that because... well.

[He gestures to the window outside where a bunch of multiple copies of Zims can be heard shouting and laughing.]

There are tears in the fabric of time and space that pulls in any alternate universe version of the alien "Zim" into this place that dare to get close enough to the tears. There hasn't been a way for them to go back to their own universes, so... they're stuck here with me, who is the only one of my kind by comparison.

[The longer Fern looks, he will be able to see that this does indeed seem to be a void as opposed to just an empty horizon: there are no stars in the sky. They've been replaced by what looks like something tore space apart with it's claws and created multiple glowing holes.

And because they are near the top of the tower, the highest building in this place, Fern will also be able to see the very edge of where this planet ends. In the distance, there's a very noticeable drop off point of broken concrete that taking one step off of would drop you into pure nothingness.]

[A tower. Okay, that makes sense, but it's a tower in a creepy place that reminds him of the place outside of every universe, where Prismo's room is located. It's creepy and kind of ominous. Not quite space - close, more like space-adjacent, but with something inherently wrong about it.

With the PAK legs retreating Fern relaxes, turning back to the windows to look out them at their surroundings. Down at the Zims who, even for him, seem weird and gross. He frowns at this.]

Oh. Yeesh, no offense, but this place sucks a lot.

[His voice grows soft, more concerned as he continues.]

How long were you stuck here for?

Six months... I think. Time no longer exists in this realm so it's entirely possible it has been a lot longer or shorter than that. I just try to count days based on whenever I fall asleep and then wake up again.

[And given how bad Dib's sleeping habits are... this is not really an accurate metric he should be using here.]

[Fern makes an unimpressed noise at that answer. Yeah, he knows science types and how little value they place on sleep, so he doubts that's a good estimation of how much time has passed. Which makes it even worse, honestly - he knows what it's like to be trapped, cut off from the rest of the world, essentially only yourself for company. There are those Zims below, but he knows they don't count.

He reaches up, running a hand through his hair.]

That's really messed up, man. [Of course, probably not as messed up as the thing he's going to ask about next. He doesn't want to, because he knows the answer isn't good, but he can't very well just leave it alone.]

What's with the - [He gestures at Zib's head, indicating the PAK.] - that thing?

Oh, that...

[He touches his PAK with a frown, before he speaks.]

It's called a "PAK"... it's, um, exactly what it sounds like. It functions like a container for a second cybernetic brain that connects to the fleshy one, and contains all knowledge and statistics available to the Irken race. It can also hold various inventions and weapons inside it as well.

[Uh. Well. That's definitely a thing.

Fern just kind of stares a little. He's seen a lot of weird stuff in his life, and he's adding this to the list.]

And it's... stuck to your head? [This is concerning, Zib. Very concerning!!] Do you need help getting it off?

No!

[It's a quick and loud shout, hands going up to his PAK as if guarding it, just in case Fern actually tries to reach out and tear it off. When he realizes how frantic that sounded, he coughs and tries to cover it up.]

I-I mean... I need it. So... don't worry about it. It's fine where it is.

[Uh-huh, sure Zib...]

[That reaction is sharp enough that Fern is tensing up, clenching his hands into fists. He wasn't expecting that, and it's mildly concerning, to say the least.]

Um. [He should let it go he should reeeaaaally make like Elsa and let it go - ]

You sure about that?

Yes. Very sure. I might even die without it if it comes off here.

[Which is... probably a thing that should be avoided? Unless Zib is just being overdramatic here, which could very easily be the case.

He looks like he wants to say something else, but an automated voice suddenly speaks up from his computer.]

"Number #1, our scanners indicate the newly designated Zim Number #100 is now standing outside of your chamber with Number #2."

... Should I be concerned about that?

"It sounds like Number #2 is giving the usual welcome speech about how great and amazing you are, sir."

Ah. Then... keep letting him do that, I guess?

"Understood."

[The voice goes away, before Zib turns to Fern as he sheepishly shrugs.]

The other reason I can't remove it yet is because it helps them think I'm actually one of them as far as their own tech can tell. Among other things I've told them to keep them from thinking about breaking down the door because I'm "working on something to benefit us all and it won't go well if I'm interrupted"...

[Not that they would have a lot of luck breaking down the door anyway, as Fern will see that the door to Zib's room appears to be made of an energy field that will zap anything that touches it. It doesn't look like Zib and Fern can be seen by anyone on the other side either, but if you squint, you can see that it does look like there are two Zims standing close to the door talking. They also have those PAK devices as well like Zib's, albeit theirs are attached to their back instead of to the head.]

[Fern opens his mouth, then closes it. Okay, yeah, the PAK thing doesn't seem great but him dying would be even worse. He nods, not going to push Zib on the subject when it's obviously a serious matter.

He starts at the robotic voice, looking around before focusing on the computer. That's a whole thing, huh? It feels like he's walked into the middle of a big drama without any of the backstory. Zib's explanation helps out a little, at least. It sounds like the kid's gotten into kiiiind of a huge mess and he's making the best of it - namely, he's doing his best to not get utterly mauled to death by a bunch of horrible green aliens. Seems reasonable to him.

Fern takes a few steps towards the door, to get a better look at the Zims, eyeing their paks.]

Yeah? But that's only temporary, right? That excuse isn't gonna last forever.

Probably not, but I just need it to last long enough to finish a plan I'm working on right now that will make this whole thing a lot more bearable. In the meantime...

[He walks over to the fancy throne chair nearby and pulls out something behind it--on close inspection, it appears to be a robotic Zim costume of some kind.]

Once in a while, I'll put this on and make appearances to help keep up the illusion if they insist on meeting with me in person for something. Though, usually Two there is good at keeping the other Zims from bothering too much.

[He says with a thumb jabbed at the door where #2 and #100 are still talking outside the door. If Fern listens in closely, it sounds like #2 is telling #100 about how "Number One" is the greatest Zim of them all (to the point where honestly it sounds like he's describing a god like a cult member would) and that only a few, like Two, is granted permission to meet them after completing some sort of training program that apparently involves a lot of fire that he now directs #100 to go take part in.]

[That's... a tiny bit reassuring? Except the Zim robot costume has Fern looking rather uncertain about all of this. He raises his eyebrows, staring, keeping one ear on the conversation going on outside.

This is sounding a little less like a clever mind and a little more like a cult, and he had more than enough of cults with Deerington and the zealots in Trench.]

... They really believe in you, huh?

Yeah... well, most of them, anyway. There is a group of Zims calling themselves the Resistance that want to steal my stuff for themselves to use for their world domination plans back in their own universes once they find a way to leave this place. This building, however, is heavily guarded with Zims like Two there that are willing to fight them off if they should ever try to cause trouble for me.

[He says with a gesture at the door as Two and One Hundred are finally walking away.]

Thankfully, they usually just hang around in the market area to badmouth me. They've never actually managed to break into the building before now, so I'm not that worried. It's not like they have anyone like me helping them that would be able to plan a way for them to get past my security system.

[... Hey Fern, do you want to take a wild guess of what might happen next in this memory you've been brought into here.]

[All of this sounds very suspicious, and Fern doesn't like how casual Zib is as he explains this. Resistances are big deals, and if there's a good number of these Zims who don't want Zib in power them he's in danger.]

Are you sure you're gonna be safe? What if they find some way to get in here?

Well... even if they manage to get into the building, the laser system I have on my door here can't be removed except from this side of the room we're in, so it should be able to give me enough time to escape if I ever did need to make a run for it? But like I said, it hasn't been an issue in the entire time I've been living here, so I would be shocked if it actually did happen by now...

[But, then he frowns.]

But then, even if I did have to do that... it's not like I have anywhere else to go here. It's not like there's a lot of hiding places in this stupid void, after all. It's why I never leave this room as it's the only place I can really be alone in.

[He's listening to all of this, but at the same time he's starting to look around the room again for air vents or something. He's seen movies, he knows air vents are an impenetrable fortress's downfall!!

More seriously, he glances over at Zib as he talks, sympathetic.]

That must've been really lonely.

[Understatement of the year, but hey, he gets what it's like being trapped in one room for who knows how long by yourself.]

[There are no air vents, surprisingly. The only other immediately noticeable way into this room other than through the door is that balcony over there, but it looks like he has it set up where he can deploy a laser grid across it when he is not interested in using it. There are also appears to be a few guns that look like they would shoot anything that even tried climbing up the walls outside there.

At the statement, Zib blinks in surprise, before he looks away.]

Yeah, it was... but it's fine. There's more important things to be concerned about in this place than worrying about being lonely here...

[His computer chooses that moment to beep somewhere behind him, indicating an incoming message from someone on the lower floors. The words "strange activity noticed outside the building's gates near the Colosseum" is flashing...]

[Fern being Fern makes his way over to one of the guns, examining it and poking at it. Of course he'd be interested in the weaponry, even if he doesn't know a ton about guns.

That answer isn't totally surprising to him. There probably were more important things to worry about, but it's something Fern doesn't want to totally disregard. He knows firsthand just how bad loneliness can hurt someone. He opens his mouth to say as much, but the computer interrupts him.]

Uh, what's that?

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