Not a Monster Anymore (Double Crossed Book 2)

Chapter 15

This chapter contains dark themes! If you are sensitive to gore, or suicidal themes, do NOT read this chapter!

(Dib's P.O.V)

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I pace my room for a few minutes, though it's so small that I'm basically just walking around in circles. It gets tiring after awhile, so I plop down at my computer, sighing as I click- probably too hard- into my message inbox, mouse hovering over the anonymous message I'd seen just a month ago. It feels like forever, though.

Still nearly blinded with rage, I click into the message, not thinking much of it. Probably some sort of marketer trying to sell me a useless product, but at least it'll give me background noise. I let it play and turn to the journal, deciding to read the entries with the titles I'd already translated. No reason why I can't just learn more about the Irkens, right?

I pretty much ignore the message entirely as I flip to a random page: Control Brains. One of the entries that hadn't been so crystal clear with it's title.

After translation, I read: Control Brains are at the top of the hierarchy (see pg 1) of the Irken empire. The Tallest (see pg 5) run the day-to-day business, yes, but Control Brains are the true rulers. They can reprogram Irkens by connecting wires to their Paks (see pg 12) and altering the data inside to switch their objectives and duties. This power also allows them to access and display an Irkens memories if needed for a trial (see pg 7). Control Brains see everything.

The last sentence sends a small chill down my spine, but something else catches my attention: the numbers. See page this and see page that. No one would need that for their own journal. This was meant to be read by someone else. Maybe it was even intended to be read by an alien species. Well, alien to the Irkens of course. It should've occurred to me earlier; who needs a journal about it's own species? Much less a species whose memories are installed in them at birth?

I push the thought away, instead turning back to the computer, where the message is still playing. The shadows of the creatures seem very familiar, though...

Wait. I'd definitely seen them before. Zim's leaders! The Tallest! I recognize them from when I'd followed Gir into Zim's base to watch a call. But why did they send a message to my computer? Unless... This was the anonymous message that Zim had received, and they had merely sent it to all the devices in the base. But how could Zim not know it was them?

The obvious answer? He... probably did.

The realization hits me in the chest, even though I knew he was after something. It said so in the journal; Irkens would kill for their goals. And now I know that Zim is still after Earth. Ugh, how could I be so stupid?

Shutting off the message, I stand up, my chair rolling behind me as I storm out the door and into the chute. With luck, Zim is still upstairs. And when I reach the top, my thought is confirmed; he's right on the couch.

"Zim," I growl, and he looks up, looking kind of helpless, maybe a bit scared. I ignore it. "I just saw the 'anonymous message' from awhile ago." I use the air quotes around the words, of course knowing that he knew well what the message was about.

"What?" he asks, pushing himself up a little bit. "I... you sound... mad," he says, flinching a bit, almost like he expects me to hit him. To be honest, I'm not that far off.

"No shit I'm mad," I yell. Zim recoils. Gir, who is sitting next to Zim, hops off the couch and runs to the kitchen chute. "You fucking lied to me, even more than I thought!"

"I've..." Zim stutters, then looks me square in the face. "I've told you nothing but the truth."

"Bullshit. You knew exactly what that message was, and you went back there because they're more important to you than I am. I-"