[eternal-star-rogue]

[prev post]<==

@comms-exe

Thankfully since the Delphina was an older ship, one that was technically classified as vintage, it was built to be incredibly sturdy. However that meant that its ability to tank an impact meant there was little in the way of shock absorption, meaning it was generally classified as unsafe for passengers, as they would be likely to sustain far worse injuries than if they were crashed in a modern ship, one that was designed to crumple and fall apart on impact and take the full brunt of the force, leaving its passengers relatively safe.

Shockingly The Delphina would still be able to fly, however it would be a nearly Sisyphean task to repair it, especially considering the back doors and the airlock and been blasted open and melted by that grenade.

Ellie lay unconscious under a panel of the Delphina’s blue metal siding, bleeding from a cut where she’d been hit in the head. She otherwise didn’t appear to have any other external injuries.

There was a loud banging sound within the Delphina as THORse bashed open the fuel hatch and leapt out of the Delphina unscathed, with an unconscious zipper dangling limply from her mouth like pitiful newborn kitten. Her pink blood was quickly soaking into her hoodie, having a piece of metal stuck in her left side like shrapnel.  THORse nervously neighed around her mouthful of Zipper, and trotted over to Comms, looking around nervously as the sound of the fish-folk grew ever closer….

[comms-exe]

Comms eyed THORse warily, still unsure of her… But seeing how she gently carried Zipper made them trust her a bit more.

“We cannot fight that many head on,” Comms said, looking back toward the tunnel. They weren’t sure if THORse understood speech, but saying it out loud felt right. “We need to get into the city before they see us - maybe they’ll believe the ship was abandoned and won’t realize we’re here.”

Comms dropped back into the ship, marching hastily past THORse and back over to the pile they’d crawled out of. They pushed some scrap aside to uncover Ellie, pointing at her and hoping THORse would get the message to pick her up as well.

PFLAP PFLAP PFLAP

“They’re closing in,” Comms antennae flicked wildly. “Time to go.”

[eternal-star-rogue]

THORse had been born, raised, and trained as a war-horse. Before she’d ever found her way to Zim’s Base, she’d spent a large majority of her life out on the battlefield and had seen her fair share of war and all its ugliness. 

THORse was smarter than the average horse. She looked down at Ellie, realizing she too was injured and unconscious. She gently laid Zipper down and picked Ellie up, draping her over her back and picked up Zipper again, also gently laying her on her back. THORse snorted in alarm as she heard the approaching of enemies coming ever closer. 

Perhaps for most it would be ridiculous to speak to a horse as if it had a human-level of understanding, but Comms was apparently delightfully oblivious to such things. THORse turned towards them and picked them up too, hefting him onto her back, and quickly trotted around the ship to take cover behind it.

THORse looked all around at this strange new environment, and quickly made her way into the Hangar, weaving around the meek amount of ships and escape pods collected by the fish-folk. She snorted and ducked around a corner as two of the fish-folk ran into the hangar-room and looked around for a few moments before running off. She was well understood that this had become a perilous stealth mission. 

THORse craned her neck around to look at Comms, waiting for them to direct which way to go. 

[comms-exe]

There was no time for Comms to freak out about being hefted onto THORse - the aliens were right on top of them. They gripped her mane as she trotted around a corner, bouncing heavily on her back… This would take a little getting used to.

The vantage point they got from up there was an unexpected advantage, though. They shakily stood on her back, trying to be mindful of the heels of their boots, and peered over the wreckage.

A large group of… Calculating… 13 visible aliens marched out of the tunnel, peering into the Delphina’s wreckage and grumbling loudly to each other, their scaled glinting in the low light wherever they weren’t scarred over. Comms could hear a few clambering into the ship.

Hmm… Definitely too many of them to be able to sneak behind and slip into the tunnel they came from.

Comms slipped back down, knotting his hands in THORse’s mane again and surveying the area. There was another tunnel ahead, further left, with nobody around it. No guarantee it would take them where they needed to go, though…

A loud crash inside the ship and a shout of growls pushed Comms into a decision. No time to calculate, gotta move. They pointed forward to the tunnel on the left, leaning up THORse’s neck and whispering.

“Go there!”

…Then spun around, so they sat backward. Gotta make sure nobody snuck up on them from behind.

[eternal-star-rogue]

THORse flicked her ears and looked in the direction Comms was pointing she stamped her hoof and snorted determinedly, and slowly trotted in that direction. She glanced over her back at Comms as they turned around on her back and sat perched on her hips, keeping a look out from behind. What a strange one.

Ellie stirred a little as she was jostling around ever so slightly on THORse’s back as she trotted along. 

“Nnng….” Ellie grunted in pain and raised her head to look around dazedly. Ugh why did everything hurt so bad….? She raised her hand up to her head to rub her forehead, hoping to help her headache, and pulled her hand away in alarm as it was sticky with warm blood. 

“Ssshhhhiiit…” Ellie mumbled groggily, as she started to come to a little more. “Did we crash?” She asked in a raspy tone to no one in particular as she tried to get up. She quickly realized that her back hurt, and squirming around on a moving horse was not the best idea. 

[comms-exe]

“Y-Ye-es,” Comms stammered, glancing over their shoulder at Ellie as they bounced clumsily on THORse’s back.

They weren’t the most subtle group, what with the massive armored horse and all, but thankfully the fish people were so preoccupied with tearing through the Delphina’s wreckage that they weren’t noticed.

The dusky sky disappeared from view as they slipped into the tunnel.

There were no lights inside and it was eerily quiet, the silence only intermittently broken by distant clanging that echoed from further in. Comms scanned their surroundings, thankful that THORse had slowed to a walk… they were starting to get dizzy from the bouncing.

“…This tunnel seems to be abandoned,” They noted, judging by the amount of dust that covered piles of seemingly discarded trash.

Trash…

Comms spun around to face Ellie, accidentally flicking THORse’s tail with their boot and earning an annoyed snort for it.

“This may be good!” They muttered, trying to keep their voice down. “The prison is built into the walls of the fish-people’s garbage pit. Maybe this tunnel is connected…”

[eternal-star-rogue]

[prev post]<==

@comms-exe

Thankfully since the Delphina was an older ship, one that was technically classified as vintage, it was built to be incredibly sturdy. However that meant that its ability to tank an impact meant there was little in the way of shock absorption, meaning it was generally classified as unsafe for passengers, as they would be likely to sustain far worse injuries than if they were crashed in a modern ship, one that was designed to crumple and fall apart on impact and take the full brunt of the force, leaving its passengers relatively safe.

Shockingly The Delphina would still be able to fly, however it would be a nearly Sisyphean task to repair it, especially considering the back doors and the airlock and been blasted open and melted by that grenade.

Ellie lay unconscious under a panel of the Delphina’s blue metal siding, bleeding from a cut where she’d been hit in the head. She otherwise didn’t appear to have any other external injuries.

There was a loud banging sound within the Delphina as THORse bashed open the fuel hatch and leapt out of the Delphina unscathed, with an unconscious zipper dangling limply from her mouth like pitiful newborn kitten. Her pink blood was quickly soaking into her hoodie, having a piece of metal stuck in her left side like shrapnel.  THORse nervously neighed around her mouthful of Zipper, and trotted over to Comms, looking around nervously as the sound of the fish-folk grew ever closer….

[comms-exe]

Comms eyed THORse warily, still unsure of her… But seeing how she gently carried Zipper made them trust her a bit more.

“We cannot fight that many head on,” Comms said, looking back toward the tunnel. They weren’t sure if THORse understood speech, but saying it out loud felt right. “We need to get into the city before they see us - maybe they’ll believe the ship was abandoned and won’t realize we’re here.”

Comms dropped back into the ship, marching hastily past THORse and back over to the pile they’d crawled out of. They pushed some scrap aside to uncover Ellie, pointing at her and hoping THORse would get the message to pick her up as well.

PFLAP PFLAP PFLAP

“They’re closing in,” Comms antennae flicked wildly. “Time to go.”

[eternal-star-rogue]

THORse had been born, raised, and trained as a war-horse. Before she’d ever found her way to Zim’s Base, she’d spent a large majority of her life out on the battlefield and had seen her fair share of war and all its ugliness. 

THORse was smarter than the average horse. She looked down at Ellie, realizing she too was injured and unconscious. She gently laid Zipper down and picked Ellie up, draping her over her back and picked up Zipper again, also gently laying her on her back. THORse snorted in alarm as she heard the approaching of enemies coming ever closer. 

Perhaps for most it would be ridiculous to speak to a horse as if it had a human-level of understanding, but Comms was apparently delightfully oblivious to such things. THORse turned towards them and picked them up too, hefting him onto her back, and quickly trotted around the ship to take cover behind it.

THORse looked all around at this strange new environment, and quickly made her way into the Hangar, weaving around the meek amount of ships and escape pods collected by the fish-folk. She snorted and ducked around a corner as two of the fish-folk ran into the hangar-room and looked around for a few moments before running off. She was well understood that this had become a perilous stealth mission. 

THORse craned her neck around to look at Comms, waiting for them to direct which way to go. 

[comms-exe]

There was no time for Comms to freak out about being hefted onto THORse - the aliens were right on top of them. They gripped her mane as she trotted around a corner, bouncing heavily on her back… This would take a little getting used to.

The vantage point they got from up there was an unexpected advantage, though. They shakily stood on her back, trying to be mindful of the heels of their boots, and peered over the wreckage.

A large group of… Calculating… 13 visible aliens marched out of the tunnel, peering into the Delphina’s wreckage and grumbling loudly to each other, their scaled glinting in the low light wherever they weren’t scarred over. Comms could hear a few clambering into the ship.

Hmm… Definitely too many of them to be able to sneak behind and slip into the tunnel they came from.

Comms slipped back down, knotting his hands in THORse’s mane again and surveying the area. There was another tunnel ahead, further left, with nobody around it. No guarantee it would take them where they needed to go, though…

A loud crash inside the ship and a shout of growls pushed Comms into a decision. No time to calculate, gotta move. They pointed forward to the tunnel on the left, leaning up THORse’s neck and whispering.

“Go there!”

…Then spun around, so they sat backward. Gotta make sure nobody snuck up on them from behind.

[eternal-star-rogue]

[prev post]<==

@comms-exe

Thankfully since the Delphina was an older ship, one that was technically classified as vintage, it was built to be incredibly sturdy. However that meant that its ability to tank an impact meant there was little in the way of shock absorption, meaning it was generally classified as unsafe for passengers, as they would be likely to sustain far worse injuries than if they were crashed in a modern ship, one that was designed to crumple and fall apart on impact and take the full brunt of the force, leaving its passengers relatively safe.

Shockingly The Delphina would still be able to fly, however it would be a nearly Sisyphean task to repair it, especially considering the back doors and the airlock and been blasted open and melted by that grenade.

Ellie lay unconscious under a panel of the Delphina’s blue metal siding, bleeding from a cut where she’d been hit in the head. She otherwise didn’t appear to have any other external injuries.

There was a loud banging sound within the Delphina as THORse bashed open the fuel hatch and leapt out of the Delphina unscathed, with an unconscious zipper dangling limply from her mouth like pitiful newborn kitten. Her pink blood was quickly soaking into her hoodie, having a piece of metal stuck in her left side like shrapnel.  THORse nervously neighed around her mouthful of Zipper, and trotted over to Comms, looking around nervously as the sound of the fish-folk grew ever closer….

[comms-exe]

Comms eyed THORse warily, still unsure of her… But seeing how she gently carried Zipper made them trust her a bit more.

“We cannot fight that many head on,” Comms said, looking back toward the tunnel. They weren’t sure if THORse understood speech, but saying it out loud felt right. “We need to get into the city before they see us - maybe they’ll believe the ship was abandoned and won’t realize we’re here.”

Comms dropped back into the ship, marching hastily past THORse and back over to the pile they’d crawled out of. They pushed some scrap aside to uncover Ellie, pointing at her and hoping THORse would get the message to pick her up as well.

PFLAP PFLAP PFLAP

“They’re closing in,” Comms antennae flicked wildly. “Time to go.”

[eternal-star-rogue]

[prev post]<== @comms-exe

“That’s really fucking ominous Comms.” Ellie said, cautiously sipping her drink in a concerned fashion.

“And you can’t figure out what it is I’m guessing, great. Ok. Well, we’re going to need to be even more cautious going in. It could be just about anything.” Zipper said. “It’s good the Delphina isn’t an Irken ship, they probably won’t be expecting a rescue from us.”

“I have an idea.” Ellie said. “It’s pretty likely that as we get closer they’ll hail us and try to open communications, either to tell us to back off or to clarify what we’re doing. You two stay out of sight if they do that, otherwise we’re screwed if they see Irkens aboard this ship, they’ll open fire on us like no tomorrow. I’ll do all the talking and ask to come in for a landing, I’ll tell them I’m out of fuel and I almost got stranded. If all goes well we land, and we come out guns blazing. Yeah?” Ellie said looking between Comms and Zipper for their approval.

Zipper looked over at Comms. “You’re the only one who can tell us if this plan is gonna work or not. We have no idea what these people are like or what this place is like either. We don’t know what to expect. Will the Delphina’s translator even pick up their language?”

[comms-exe]

Comms mulled it over for a moment, scratching their chin.

“They may not have fuel to spare, seeing as they work mostly with scraps…” Comms considered, tilting their head. “However… they may allow us to land regardless… with the intent to rob us.”

Comms hopped off their chair and walked over to the Delphina’s windshield, looking out at the small rock growing steadily closer.

“…Which means they’ll likely storm the ship the moment we open the doors.”

They turned and leaned against the control panel, scanning the ship and running scenario calculations. These aliens weren’t weak, if they all ran inside it would be impossible to break through them…

It was a little harder to focus than before, what with the new sentience clouding their thoughts. They dug the heels of their hands into their eyes, trying to rub away irrelevant thoughts. It wasn’t a great idea, though, because now their eyelids felt sticky from the leftover sugar on their gloves. Maybe they should’ve saved the candy for later…

Wait.

They spun around to look at the side of the ship. A few stray wrappers lay on the floor next to a chute.

The trash chute.

Comms whipped back around to address the room, first pointing at Ellie.

“You must defend the ship,” they spoke with authority, but it was just the robotic stiffness coming through. “With the THORse. They will likely swarm the door, making it impossible to pass. Which is why…”

They spun to point at Zipper now.

“You and I will slip out through the trash chute.”

[eternal-star-rogue]

Zipper and Ellie shared a look as Comms took charge. His plan was sound to them, and they both nodded in agreement.

“Right then. I’ll set up the portable turrets by the loading dock door. We have 20 minutes before we exit warp-speed and come within range of these guys. So we better prepare and FAST.” Ellie said determinedly. 

“I’ll unstrap THORse and get her armor properly secured.” Zipper said, walking over to the platform and pulling a carrot out of her backpack and cooing gently to THORse. 

“Who’s a good girl?” Zipper cooed. “Are you ready to kill, murder, and maim? Yes you are, you are!” Zipper nuzzled THORse as she began fiddling with the armor straps.

“Ok Comms.” Ellie said, gently tapping his shoulder. “Let’s maybe go down to storage and get you some clean clothes and a protective cap for your pak. And some weaponry of course. We can set up the turrets together while we’re at it.”

[comms-exe]

Comms warily watched Zipper prepare THORse - they still weren’t entirely trusting of the massive horse yet.

They shifted their focus to Ellie as she approached, nodding and following after her towards the storage bay.

The bay walls were lined with various pieces of equipment, most Comms was unfamiliar with. They did spot the nails of their brass knuckles sticking up from one of the shelves, though, and padded over to grab them. They noticed what they assumed to be the PAK shells on one of the other shelves as they passed.

“Those will not fit on mine unless we can make two holes in them,” they noted, testing their grip on the brass knuckles and turning to show Ellie their PAK - the two problematic antennae sticking off of it blinked innocently.

[eternal-star-rogue]

“Hmmmm. I could use a steel cutter real quick… Zipper taught me how. But first the turrets!” Ellie said, scrambling on top of the crates, and prying them open.

“The fresh clothes should be in those suitcases over there.” Ellie said, pointing over in the far corner to the left before grappling with a turret and wiggling it out if the crate by herself.

“OH THATS RIGHT!” Ellie said suddenly, perking up and getting distracted from pulling out the second turret.

“There should be force-field enhanced shield somewhere in all this mess too. Zipper made it herself! It also has a laser pointer built into it for some reason.” Ellie said, and then turned her attention back to dragging the second turret along the floor up to the back door.

[comms-exe]

Comms changed first, figuring out how to put the clothes on based on how the ones they were wearing came off, then set off searching for the shield.

They didn’t have a clue what it looked like, but once they spotted it propped up in a corner it was pretty obvious.

“This?” Comms asked, picking the thing up to show it. They felt a little button click on the handle and looked up. A little red dot shone on the ceiling.

[eternal-star-rogue]

Ellie heard the high pitched and drawn out ping sound that quickly escalated in volume as Comms mistakenly picked up one of Zipper’s dragon-grenades, the red laser-light pointing upwards into the ceiling. She whipped her head around, eyes wide and nearly bugging out of her skull. 

“COMMS NO!” Ellie hollered and dove into him, letting go of the turret she’d been grappling with. She slammed into Comms, rolling around so she landed on her back to shield him from hitting the metal floors of the Delphina, while simultaneously kicking the massive pak-sized grenade away. 

Unfortunately the grenade rolled in front of the activated turrets and in an instant they lit it up, blasting it with bullets, it was like slow motion for Ellie, and she quickly flipped herself over and covered Comms protectively. 

****

Zipper was unstrapping THORse and securing her armor when she heard Ellie hollering in a tone that conveyed one emotion only. Abject Terror. Her antennae flicked all the way forward and she started for the storage-bay. 

“ELLIE-“ Zipper yelled, but before she could finish talking or even making her way to the storage-bay she was thrown off her feet as the entire Delphina lurched violently as the grenade set off. 

A bright pearlescent beam of white light blasted the back doors of the Delphina open and sent it spiraling out of its warp-path of travel, and violently crashing into the designated meteor. 

[comms-exe]

Well. This definitely wasn’t the intended entrance, but now that they were here there was nothing else to do but work with it.

A little dizzy, Comms pushed their way out from under Ellie and the debris that covered them and tried to assess the situation. The ship was completely ruined - gaps riddled the hull where the metal had shattered or been crushed, letting evening light filter into the wreckage. Guess the asteroid was drifting away from the nearby star.

Comms clambered up a pile of of debris to peer outside, waving away the smoke obscuring their view.

They’d crashed barely outside of the colony. A rocky wasteland stretched out south, and the “city” lay just in front of them. Large, jagged buildings rose into the dusky skyline. Their mismatched sheet metal siding creaked precariously in the breeze and contrasted starkly with the dirty gray hue of the asteroid’s amateurishly-made synthetic atmosphere.

Comms wasn’t sure where exactly they were, but one of the buildings poking out in the distance looked familiar. The hangar.

…The pit was just beyond there.

They just about took off on their own, but stopped short when they heard a horde of faint pflap pflap pflap noises quickly approaching from a nearby tunnel that led into the city.

Definitely a ton of fish-guys by the sound of the stomping.

“They’re coming,” Comms called back into the wreckage of the Delphina. If anyone else was still alive, they needed to leave now if they wanted to stay that way.

[eternal-star-rogue]

[prev post]<== @comms-exe

“That’s really fucking ominous Comms.” Ellie said, cautiously sipping her drink in a concerned fashion.

“And you can’t figure out what it is I’m guessing, great. Ok. Well, we’re going to need to be even more cautious going in. It could be just about anything.” Zipper said. “It’s good the Delphina isn’t an Irken ship, they probably won’t be expecting a rescue from us.”

“I have an idea.” Ellie said. “It’s pretty likely that as we get closer they’ll hail us and try to open communications, either to tell us to back off or to clarify what we’re doing. You two stay out of sight if they do that, otherwise we’re screwed if they see Irkens aboard this ship, they’ll open fire on us like no tomorrow. I’ll do all the talking and ask to come in for a landing, I’ll tell them I’m out of fuel and I almost got stranded. If all goes well we land, and we come out guns blazing. Yeah?” Ellie said looking between Comms and Zipper for their approval.

Zipper looked over at Comms. “You’re the only one who can tell us if this plan is gonna work or not. We have no idea what these people are like or what this place is like either. We don’t know what to expect. Will the Delphina’s translator even pick up their language?”

[comms-exe]

Comms mulled it over for a moment, scratching their chin.

“They may not have fuel to spare, seeing as they work mostly with scraps…” Comms considered, tilting their head. “However… they may allow us to land regardless… with the intent to rob us.”

Comms hopped off their chair and walked over to the Delphina’s windshield, looking out at the small rock growing steadily closer.

“…Which means they’ll likely storm the ship the moment we open the doors.”

They turned and leaned against the control panel, scanning the ship and running scenario calculations. These aliens weren’t weak, if they all ran inside it would be impossible to break through them…

It was a little harder to focus than before, what with the new sentience clouding their thoughts. They dug the heels of their hands into their eyes, trying to rub away irrelevant thoughts. It wasn’t a great idea, though, because now their eyelids felt sticky from the leftover sugar on their gloves. Maybe they should’ve saved the candy for later…

Wait.

They spun around to look at the side of the ship. A few stray wrappers lay on the floor next to a chute.

The trash chute.

Comms whipped back around to address the room, first pointing at Ellie.

“You must defend the ship,” they spoke with authority, but it was just the robotic stiffness coming through. “With the THORse. They will likely swarm the door, making it impossible to pass. Which is why…”

They spun to point at Zipper now.

“You and I will slip out through the trash chute.”

[eternal-star-rogue]

Zipper and Ellie shared a look as Comms took charge. His plan was sound to them, and they both nodded in agreement.

“Right then. I’ll set up the portable turrets by the loading dock door. We have 20 minutes before we exit warp-speed and come within range of these guys. So we better prepare and FAST.” Ellie said determinedly. 

“I’ll unstrap THORse and get her armor properly secured.” Zipper said, walking over to the platform and pulling a carrot out of her backpack and cooing gently to THORse. 

“Who’s a good girl?” Zipper cooed. “Are you ready to kill, murder, and maim? Yes you are, you are!” Zipper nuzzled THORse as she began fiddling with the armor straps.

“Ok Comms.” Ellie said, gently tapping his shoulder. “Let’s maybe go down to storage and get you some clean clothes and a protective cap for your pak. And some weaponry of course. We can set up the turrets together while we’re at it.”

[comms-exe]

Comms warily watched Zipper prepare THORse - they still weren’t entirely trusting of the massive horse yet.

They shifted their focus to Ellie as she approached, nodding and following after her towards the storage bay.

The bay walls were lined with various pieces of equipment, most Comms was unfamiliar with. They did spot the nails of their brass knuckles sticking up from one of the shelves, though, and padded over to grab them. They noticed what they assumed to be the PAK shells on one of the other shelves as they passed.

“Those will not fit on mine unless we can make two holes in them,” they noted, testing their grip on the brass knuckles and turning to show Ellie their PAK - the two problematic antennae sticking off of it blinked innocently.

[eternal-star-rogue]

“Hmmmm. I could use a steel cutter real quick… Zipper taught me how. But first the turrets!” Ellie said, scrambling on top of the crates, and prying them open.

“The fresh clothes should be in those suitcases over there.” Ellie said, pointing over in the far corner to the left before grappling with a turret and wiggling it out if the crate by herself.

“OH THATS RIGHT!” Ellie said suddenly, perking up and getting distracted from pulling out the second turret.

“There should be force-field enhanced shield somewhere in all this mess too. Zipper made it herself! It also has a laser pointer built into it for some reason.” Ellie said, and then turned her attention back to dragging the second turret along the floor up to the back door.

[comms-exe]

Comms changed first, figuring out how to put the clothes on based on how the ones they were wearing came off, then set off searching for the shield.

They didn’t have a clue what it looked like, but once they spotted it propped up in a corner it was pretty obvious.

“This?” Comms asked, picking the thing up to show it. They felt a little button click on the handle and looked up. A little red dot shone on the ceiling.

[eternal-star-rogue]

[prev post]<== @comms-exe

“That’s really fucking ominous Comms.” Ellie said, cautiously sipping her drink in a concerned fashion.

“And you can’t figure out what it is I’m guessing, great. Ok. Well, we’re going to need to be even more cautious going in. It could be just about anything.” Zipper said. “It’s good the Delphina isn’t an Irken ship, they probably won’t be expecting a rescue from us.”

“I have an idea.” Ellie said. “It’s pretty likely that as we get closer they’ll hail us and try to open communications, either to tell us to back off or to clarify what we’re doing. You two stay out of sight if they do that, otherwise we’re screwed if they see Irkens aboard this ship, they’ll open fire on us like no tomorrow. I’ll do all the talking and ask to come in for a landing, I’ll tell them I’m out of fuel and I almost got stranded. If all goes well we land, and we come out guns blazing. Yeah?” Ellie said looking between Comms and Zipper for their approval.

Zipper looked over at Comms. “You’re the only one who can tell us if this plan is gonna work or not. We have no idea what these people are like or what this place is like either. We don’t know what to expect. Will the Delphina’s translator even pick up their language?”

[comms-exe]

Comms mulled it over for a moment, scratching their chin.

“They may not have fuel to spare, seeing as they work mostly with scraps…” Comms considered, tilting their head. “However… they may allow us to land regardless… with the intent to rob us.”

Comms hopped off their chair and walked over to the Delphina’s windshield, looking out at the small rock growing steadily closer.

“…Which means they’ll likely storm the ship the moment we open the doors.”

They turned and leaned against the control panel, scanning the ship and running scenario calculations. These aliens weren’t weak, if they all ran inside it would be impossible to break through them…

It was a little harder to focus than before, what with the new sentience clouding their thoughts. They dug the heels of their hands into their eyes, trying to rub away irrelevant thoughts. It wasn’t a great idea, though, because now their eyelids felt sticky from the leftover sugar on their gloves. Maybe they should’ve saved the candy for later…

Wait.

They spun around to look at the side of the ship. A few stray wrappers lay on the floor next to a chute.

The trash chute.

Comms whipped back around to address the room, first pointing at Ellie.

“You must defend the ship,” they spoke with authority, but it was just the robotic stiffness coming through. “With the THORse. They will likely swarm the door, making it impossible to pass. Which is why…”

They spun to point at Zipper now.

“You and I will slip out through the trash chute.”

[eternal-star-rogue]

Zipper and Ellie shared a look as Comms took charge. His plan was sound to them, and they both nodded in agreement.

“Right then. I’ll set up the portable turrets by the loading dock door. We have 20 minutes before we exit warp-speed and come within range of these guys. So we better prepare and FAST.” Ellie said determinedly. 

“I’ll unstrap THORse and get her armor properly secured.” Zipper said, walking over to the platform and pulling a carrot out of her backpack and cooing gently to THORse. 

“Who’s a good girl?” Zipper cooed. “Are you ready to kill, murder, and maim? Yes you are, you are!” Zipper nuzzled THORse as she began fiddling with the armor straps.

“Ok Comms.” Ellie said, gently tapping his shoulder. “Let’s maybe go down to storage and get you some clean clothes and a protective cap for your pak. And some weaponry of course. We can set up the turrets together while we’re at it.”

[comms-exe]

Comms warily watched Zipper prepare THORse - they still weren’t entirely trusting of the massive horse yet.

They shifted their focus to Ellie as she approached, nodding and following after her towards the storage bay.

The bay walls were lined with various pieces of equipment, most Comms was unfamiliar with. They did spot the nails of their brass knuckles sticking up from one of the shelves, though, and padded over to grab them. They noticed what they assumed to be the PAK shells on one of the other shelves as they passed.

“Those will not fit on mine unless we can make two holes in them,” they noted, testing their grip on the brass knuckles and turning to show Ellie their PAK - the two problematic antennae sticking off of it blinked innocently.

[eternal-star-rogue]

[prev post]<== @comms-exe

“That’s really fucking ominous Comms.” Ellie said, cautiously sipping her drink in a concerned fashion.

“And you can’t figure out what it is I’m guessing, great. Ok. Well, we’re going to need to be even more cautious going in. It could be just about anything.” Zipper said. “It’s good the Delphina isn’t an Irken ship, they probably won’t be expecting a rescue from us.”

“I have an idea.” Ellie said. “It’s pretty likely that as we get closer they’ll hail us and try to open communications, either to tell us to back off or to clarify what we’re doing. You two stay out of sight if they do that, otherwise we’re screwed if they see Irkens aboard this ship, they’ll open fire on us like no tomorrow. I’ll do all the talking and ask to come in for a landing, I’ll tell them I’m out of fuel and I almost got stranded. If all goes well we land, and we come out guns blazing. Yeah?” Ellie said looking between Comms and Zipper for their approval.

Zipper looked over at Comms. “You’re the only one who can tell us if this plan is gonna work or not. We have no idea what these people are like or what this place is like either. We don’t know what to expect. Will the Delphina’s translator even pick up their language?”

[comms-exe]

Comms mulled it over for a moment, scratching their chin.

“They may not have fuel to spare, seeing as they work mostly with scraps…” Comms considered, tilting their head. “However… they may allow us to land regardless… with the intent to rob us.”

Comms hopped off their chair and walked over to the Delphina’s windshield, looking out at the small rock growing steadily closer.

“…Which means they’ll likely storm the ship the moment we open the doors.”

They turned and leaned against the control panel, scanning the ship and running scenario calculations. These aliens weren’t weak, if they all ran inside it would be impossible to break through them…

It was a little harder to focus than before, what with the new sentience clouding their thoughts. They dug the heels of their hands into their eyes, trying to rub away irrelevant thoughts. It wasn’t a great idea, though, because now their eyelids felt sticky from the leftover sugar on their gloves. Maybe they should’ve saved the candy for later…

Wait.

They spun around to look at the side of the ship. A few stray wrappers lay on the floor next to a chute.

The trash chute.

Comms whipped back around to address the room, first pointing at Ellie.

“You must defend the ship,” they spoke with authority, but it was just the robotic stiffness coming through. “With the THORse. They will likely swarm the door, making it impossible to pass. Which is why…”

They spun to point at Zipper now.

“You and I will slip out through the trash chute.”

[eternal-star-rogue]

prev post<== @comms-exe

Zipper cackled loudly as she watched Comms absolutely obliterate the gushers with all the wild fervor of a rabid dog gone mad, remembering fondly that she’d had just about the same reaction to having Dib’s freeze-dried darkside skittles for the first time.

Ellie grimaced at the mess they would have to clean up, but was happy all the same to hear Zipper’s laugh. She was happy that Comms could provide a good distraction for the time being. What was to come, would be a difficult thing to bare, in more ways than one.

Ellie glanced over at the destination-timer on the autopilot screen as Zipper continued to laugh in the background and hand Comms the Oreos excitedly. They had one hour before they reached “The Asteroid.” She sighed, hating to cut the fun short.

“Hey guys, we’re almost there.” Ellie said, turning to look at Comms. “Do we know what race of “alien” we’re going up against here?” She asked, mentally kicking herself for not having asked that question earlier.

[comms-exe]

Comms turned toward her, finally managing to swallow their last bite.

“I do not know anything about them aside from visual observations I made when escaping,” they said. “Their weapons are not competently made, but they swing them with enough force that they’re dangerous regardless. They seemed somewhat clumsy, but they move in groups and find strength in numbers. Becoming surrounded would be very bad. They’re also very…”

They ran their hand along the back of their head, grazing over a mostly-healed burn.

“…Wet.”

[eternal-star-rogue]

Zipper and Ellie listened intently to Comms and then shared a look.

“Can you.. describe what they look like? Or do you know their species name at all?” Zipper asked quietly, setting her drink down.

[comms-exe]

“Hmm… Oh! My creator did say this about them at one point…” Comms’ face went blank and he was silent for a moment, then an awful sound like a crunchy record scratch blared from his unmoving mouth, followed right after by a familiar voice.

“Stupid fucking fish people of course they’re fucking fish how fucking poetic-“

Comms closed their mouth then and the recording of Zim cut off. Comms grinned expectantly.

“Is that helpful?”

[eternal-star-rogue]

Zipper flinched at hearing Zim’s voice, and tensed up, a distressed look spreading across her face.

Ellie reached her hand out to take Zipper’s but retracted it quickly when Zipper got up and whirled around, walking over to the Delphina’s Database Computer and typing like mad.

Ellie looked back over at Comms and shrugged, completely lost.

“Fish fish fish fish…. Hmmm fish… fish people fish people fish people…” Zipper hummed to herself, typing away and lost in thought.

“Krug’s species? No too shark like.. could be close though… no wait their planet is safe from The Irken Armada… Matsuri? No.. no… jellyfish not FISH.” Zipper continued to rant and mumble to herself as she searched for results. “Amphibasius? No no they went extinct thousands upon thousands of years ago… Trerofinas? Maybe… ok put em in the maybe category. Lamnperias? Potentially… Anglemhoras, put it in maybe.. oh that one might be it, that looks like a real winner…” Zipper mumbled on and on for several minutes.

Ellie looked over at Comms and gave him a thumbs up. “Don’t worry bud you did good.” She said quietly, since Zipper had forgotten to tell him so.

“OKAY!” Zipper said loudly and turned the monitor to face Comms, a small collection of photos arranged on the screen just for him to choose from.

“Which one of these guys has Zim?” Zipper asked.

[comms-exe]

Comms scanned all the different species, focusing as they flipped through them but also fascinated by just how many fish-like aliens there apparently were.

They snapped out of their reverie when their eyes fell on one they recognized.

“This one,” they tapped the screen, enlarging the photo.

“They looked like this!”

[eternal-star-rogue]

“Hmmmmm.” Zipper growled quietly to herself. “I figured they might’ve been it. It made intergalactic news about seven years ago when Invader Sneakyonfoota took down their entire planet for the Armada.”

At that Ellie burst out laughing at the worst possible moment. “BAHAHAHAHAH! WHAT?! WHAT KINDA NAME IS SNEAKY ON FOOTA? ARE YOU BEING DEADASS WITH ME RIGHT NOW?”

“Well… he did choose that name himself apparently.” Zipper said.

“ANYWAYS.” Zipper said shaking her head to clear her thoughts. “It’s no wonder they have a grudge against irkens. The Armada is responsible for almost wiping them out entirely and destroying their planet, leaving whats left of them to just… drift out in space. Alone… destined to rot away and die out….” Zipper trailed off, her antennae dropping as a somber look spread across her face. She’d come out here to beat these people to a pulp, even kill if she had to. Would that accomplish anything other than making irkens even more of a monster in their eyes????

[comms-exe]

Comms listened quietly, nodding along as Zipper spoke, until all of a sudden they stiffened and sat straight up, antennae flicking.

“We are almost there,” they said seriously, any personality that had been growing in their voice was replaced again by robotic stiffness. “I am picking up their signals.”

Comms antennae continued moving around, like an insect trying to feel out its surroundings. A vaguely confused look crossed their face.

“There’s one I do not recognize. It was not online when I left here,” They tried to zero in and figure out what it might be, but it was no use. They shook their head. “We must exercise caution.”

[eternal-star-rogue]

prev post<== @comms-exe

Zipper cackled loudly as she watched Comms absolutely obliterate the gushers with all the wild fervor of a rabid dog gone mad, remembering fondly that she’d had just about the same reaction to having Dib’s freeze-dried darkside skittles for the first time.

Ellie grimaced at the mess they would have to clean up, but was happy all the same to hear Zipper’s laugh. She was happy that Comms could provide a good distraction for the time being. What was to come, would be a difficult thing to bare, in more ways than one.

Ellie glanced over at the destination-timer on the autopilot screen as Zipper continued to laugh in the background and hand Comms the Oreos excitedly. They had one hour before they reached “The Asteroid.” She sighed, hating to cut the fun short.

“Hey guys, we’re almost there.” Ellie said, turning to look at Comms. “Do we know what race of “alien” we’re going up against here?” She asked, mentally kicking herself for not having asked that question earlier.

[comms-exe]

Comms turned toward her, finally managing to swallow their last bite.

“I do not know anything about them aside from visual observations I made when escaping,” they said. “Their weapons are not competently made, but they swing them with enough force that they’re dangerous regardless. They seemed somewhat clumsy, but they move in groups and find strength in numbers. Becoming surrounded would be very bad. They’re also very…”

They ran their hand along the back of their head, grazing over a mostly-healed burn.

“…Wet.”

[eternal-star-rogue]

Zipper and Ellie listened intently to Comms and then shared a look.

“Can you.. describe what they look like? Or do you know their species name at all?” Zipper asked quietly, setting her drink down.

[comms-exe]

“Hmm… Oh! My creator did say this about them at one point…” Comms’ face went blank and he was silent for a moment, then an awful sound like a crunchy record scratch blared from his unmoving mouth, followed right after by a familiar voice.

“Stupid fucking fish people of course they’re fucking fish how fucking poetic-“

Comms closed their mouth then and the recording of Zim cut off. Comms grinned expectantly.

“Is that helpful?”

[eternal-star-rogue]

Zipper flinched at hearing Zim’s voice, and tensed up, a distressed look spreading across her face.

Ellie reached her hand out to take Zipper’s but retracted it quickly when Zipper got up and whirled around, walking over to the Delphina’s Database Computer and typing like mad.

Ellie looked back over at Comms and shrugged, completely lost.

“Fish fish fish fish…. Hmmm fish… fish people fish people fish people…” Zipper hummed to herself, typing away and lost in thought.

“Krug’s species? No too shark like.. could be close though… no wait their planet is safe from The Irken Armada… Matsuri? No.. no… jellyfish not FISH.” Zipper continued to rant and mumble to herself as she searched for results. “Amphibasius? No no they went extinct thousands upon thousands of years ago… Trerofinas? Maybe… ok put em in the maybe category. Lamnperias? Potentially… Anglemhoras, put it in maybe.. oh that one might be it, that looks like a real winner…” Zipper mumbled on and on for several minutes.

Ellie looked over at Comms and gave him a thumbs up. “Don’t worry bud you did good.” She said quietly, since Zipper had forgotten to tell him so.

“OKAY!” Zipper said loudly and turned the monitor to face Comms, a small collection of photos arranged on the screen just for him to choose from.

“Which one of these guys has Zim?” Zipper asked.

[comms-exe]

Comms scanned all the different species, focusing as they flipped through them but also fascinated by just how many fish-like aliens there apparently were.

They snapped out of their reverie when their eyes fell on one they recognized.

“This one,” they tapped the screen, enlarging the photo.

“They looked like this!”

[eternal-star-rogue]

prev post<== @comms-exe

Zipper cackled loudly as she watched Comms absolutely obliterate the gushers with all the wild fervor of a rabid dog gone mad, remembering fondly that she’d had just about the same reaction to having Dib’s freeze-dried darkside skittles for the first time.

Ellie grimaced at the mess they would have to clean up, but was happy all the same to hear Zipper’s laugh. She was happy that Comms could provide a good distraction for the time being. What was to come, would be a difficult thing to bare, in more ways than one.

Ellie glanced over at the destination-timer on the autopilot screen as Zipper continued to laugh in the background and hand Comms the Oreos excitedly. They had one hour before they reached “The Asteroid.” She sighed, hating to cut the fun short.

“Hey guys, we’re almost there.” Ellie said, turning to look at Comms. “Do we know what race of “alien” we’re going up against here?” She asked, mentally kicking herself for not having asked that question earlier.

[comms-exe]

Comms turned toward her, finally managing to swallow their last bite.

“I do not know anything about them aside from visual observations I made when escaping,” they said. “Their weapons are not competently made, but they swing them with enough force that they’re dangerous regardless. They seemed somewhat clumsy, but they move in groups and find strength in numbers. Becoming surrounded would be very bad. They’re also very…”

They ran their hand along the back of their head, grazing over a mostly-healed burn.

“…Wet.”

[eternal-star-rogue]

Zipper and Ellie listened intently to Comms and then shared a look.

“Can you.. describe what they look like? Or do you know their species name at all?” Zipper asked quietly, setting her drink down.

[comms-exe]

“Hmm… Oh! My creator did say this about them at one point…” Comms’ face went blank and he was silent for a moment, then an awful sound like a crunchy record scratch blared from his unmoving mouth, followed right after by a familiar voice.

“Stupid fucking fish people of course they’re fucking fish how fucking poetic-“

Comms closed their mouth then and the recording of Zim cut off. Comms grinned expectantly.

“Is that helpful?”

[eternal-star-rogue]

prev post<== @comms-exe

Zipper cackled loudly as she watched Comms absolutely obliterate the gushers with all the wild fervor of a rabid dog gone mad, remembering fondly that she’d had just about the same reaction to having Dib’s freeze-dried darkside skittles for the first time.

Ellie grimaced at the mess they would have to clean up, but was happy all the same to hear Zipper’s laugh. She was happy that Comms could provide a good distraction for the time being. What was to come, would be a difficult thing to bare, in more ways than one.

Ellie glanced over at the destination-timer on the autopilot screen as Zipper continued to laugh in the background and hand Comms the Oreos excitedly. They had one hour before they reached “The Asteroid.” She sighed, hating to cut the fun short.

“Hey guys, we’re almost there.” Ellie said, turning to look at Comms. “Do we know what race of “alien” we’re going up against here?” She asked, mentally kicking herself for not having asked that question earlier.

[comms-exe]

Comms turned toward her, finally managing to swallow their last bite.

“I do not know anything about them aside from visual observations I made when escaping,” they said. “Their weapons are not competently made, but they swing them with enough force that they’re dangerous regardless. They seemed somewhat clumsy, but they move in groups and find strength in numbers. Becoming surrounded would be very bad. They’re also very…”

They ran their hand along the back of their head, grazing over a mostly-healed burn.

“…Wet.”

[eternal-star-rogue]

Prev Post<== @comms-exe

“Wait wha-“ Zipper didn’t even get to finish that thought as Comms seemingly turned himself off and Zim’s body slumped over. Zipper and Ellie stared at him for a moment and then shared a look.

“Is he like… okayyyy??? He’s not dead right?” Ellie asked, nervously scratching the back of her neck in confusion.

“I don’t think he ever was ok to begin with, ah but no. He’s not dead. I’m not sure if he’s conscious or not though. One things for sure, he’s technically not a person. Zim probably didn’t have the time to make him into one, but I’m gonna change that reeeaaal quick.” Zipper said as she rolled the sleeves of her hoodie up. 

“Riiiight.” Ellie said, somewhat lost on what Zipper meant entirely. She started rifling through the case of medical supplies and pulled out a wound-disinfectant and some cotton balls and began cleaning Comms/Zim’s wounds. 

Zipper set herself to work, unbuckling Comms and laying Zim’s body gingerly down on the floor on his stomach. It was then she realized how much she’d grown in comparison to Zim. She was taller than him now, by at least a half foot or so. He wouldn’t like that very much….

Zipper shook her head and got out her tools and began carefully taking what was technically Comms themself apart piece by piece. Processors and cables and computer chips and wires and plugs and all sorts of little data crystals and usbs all strung together and held in place by a couple shabby outer-shell pieces of scrap metal, with… wait what the-

“Ellie holy fuck there’s a load bearing juice box in the middle of all this mess. If I pull it out he’s all just gonna fall to pieces.” Zipper said, pointing at the box with a mini extendable flashlight.

Ellie stopped stitching together the gash on the back of Comms/Zim’s head and glanced over. “Is it… is it even like doing anything other than holding stuff together?”

“No it’s not it’s- wait oh my god look. There’s a message written on it. It’s in Morse code.” Zipper exclaimed.

“Oh shit what’s it say?” Ellie said, going back to stitching Comms up, not taking her eye off her work for a second. 

Zipper squinted as she tried to read the juice box through the tangled mess and was silent for a few moments until she burst out laughing and cackling, almost scaring Ellie into messing up her stitches.

“BAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAHH, It says, ahahah, it say “pieces of shit all they’ve given me is expired prune juice, fuck them and fuck their juice.” Zipper had to put her tools down for a minute as she laughed. “Oh man, yup. Yeah that’s Zim alright.” 

Ellie rolled her eyes and shook her head, but she was smiling ever so slightly. It was good to hear Zipper laugh at least. 

“Alright, let’s get you fixed up Comms.” Zipper said, carefully removing the juice box and beginning to piece together a more solidly built “pak” for him. She worked tirelessly for hours, even pulling out a few components of her own pak that she didn’t desperately need just to help Comms be more efficient. She felt bad for the circumstances of his “birth” and the lack of personhood he had. Perhaps when this was all over, she could make a robotic body for him to inhabit, or perhaps Zim would clone an Irken body for him. Anything that is given even the resemblance of life, deserves to live it in full. That’s what Zipper believed anyways. 

Zipper sighed, wiping the sweat off her forehead and wiping her oily scuffed up hands on her hoodie. She turned the pain sensing inhibitor all the way down to 2%. Any higher and Comms would wake up screaming in agony from the amount of pain he’d be in. Especially with those wounds that were now very VERY slowly healing and regenerating. Thank goodness Ellie had used the dissolvable stitching wire, otherwise those sutures would fuse into Zim’s skin and he’d have to rip them out. 

“Ok now how do we uh… turn you back on… I actually didn’t see a button of any kind so I’m really hoping you have an automatic startup system.” Zipper said more to herself than anyone. 

[comms-exe]

Comms' auditory sensor detected the words "turn" and "on" used in the same sentence, and with a puff of smoke and a hum, he began booting up.

Yellow light flickered back into his eyes and the little baubles sticking off the tiny antennae of his now-improved PAK. It took a couple seconds to get fully online, but after a bit of sputtering he regained enough control to push himself up, sitting on the floor. "...Ow! Ow? Ow! Ow? Ow! Ow?" He started flinching at nothing, seemed utterly confused at himself for it, then confused about feeling confused, then flinched again. Over and over.

2% on the pain receptors was good, but it was still new to him. Feeling anything was new to him. Ah... sentience.

He looked wide-eyed around the cabin, as if seeing it for the first time. His gaze fell on THORse, then, and a few beads of sweat started forming on his healing forehead. She was standing calmly on her platform, perfectly behaved, but the sight of her? To newly sentient Comms, whose only prior knowledge of her was that she kicked a tree in half, no hesitation? Oh. Horror.

[eternal-star-rogue]

“Whoa whoa hey, easy Comms. How are you feeling?” Zipper asked gently, sitting down cross legged. “Maybe I should turn the pain reception down to 1.5%? 2% is still way lower than normal but I didn’t want you to feel all those wounds so intensely.”

Zipper caught Comms gazing at THORse in abject horror, as if the horse would rampage at any moment and start crushing everyone and everything with her hooves, take control of the ship, crash it into a hospital, and rampage through the hospital. “And hey, it’s ok. She won’t hurt you. THORse is a good girl. She only kills on command.”

[comms-exe]

“Oh,” They murmured. A little reassured by that, they pushed themself up and sat back down in their seat, just sort of taking in all this new informatio- emotion, that ran through them.

Their posture wasn’t absolutely perfect anymore, and their voice seemed to have a little more… depth to it. Ghosts of different expressions flit across their face as they continued to look around at everything, not obvious but definitely there where before they’d been perpetually stonefaced.

The sight of distant stars and galaxies through the ship’s windows caught his eyes and he stared at them silently for a while, pulled to by a feeling he didn’t know how to name.

A quiet plap caught his attention, though, and he looked down to figure out what made it. A bunch of little… water droplets? Were dripping down onto their shirt, making the plap sound when they hit the latex.

They looked up at the ceiling and didn’t see anything, but surely there must be a leak somewhere?

“Does your ship have faulty fire extinguishers?” He looked over at Zipper as he asked, clueless to the veritable flood of tears absolutely pouring down his face.

[eternal-star-rogue]

Zipper smiled slightly as tears started flooding down Comms’ face just as soon as he looked out into the deep wide depths of space.

“You’re crying buddy.” Zipper said. “That happens when you feel any emotion, or rather when you feel too much of it to handle all at once. Most of the time when people cry they’re sad, but you can cry from getting angry, or frustrated, or even from being happy too. Crying helps relieve some of that excess emotion, helps you calm down too. It’s good for you. You’re probably gonna cry a lot for awhile.”

Ellie was sitting in the Pilot’s Seat having taken the wheel and turning the auto pilot off for awhile.

“Hey Comms.” Ellie said, turning her head to take quick glances at him and then back into the expanse of space before them. “I bet you’ve probably never eaten or drank anything before huh? You gotta stay hydrated if you’re gonna cry a lot. So we’re stopping at Starboard’s Stop and Go to get drinks.”

[comms-exe]

“Oh,” Comms blinked, wiping the last few tears off on their glove and staring at them in fascination. “Interesting…”

They looked over to Ellie at her mention of stopping for drinks.

“No, I have not consumed anything since taking control of this body,” they confirmed, but began fiddling with the seams on their gloves. “But the mission is more important, we must complete it as soon as possible!”

Now that it was on their mind, though, they realized just how dry their mouth was and how lethargic they felt. They hadn’t noticed before since they couldn’t feel anything.

“…As long as we are quick,” they amended. It made logical sense, they rationalized. They couldn’t fight in top form if they were dehydrated. They definitely didn’t just really want to try a drink. Definitely 100% purely logical reasoning.

[eternal-star-rogue]

“Good cause we’re already here.” Ellie said cheerfully, pulling into the “drive thru”.

Zipper turned back to Comms excitedly. “So, while we’re waiting in the drive thru, I gotta tell you, I copied my extensive knowledge of weapons making and handling, and downloaded it into an extra file just for you, so you should practically be an expert on weapons of all kinds now.” Zipper said, happily fidgeting with her claws. “Plus I also downloaded a mega file of every single song that’s ever been produced on earth so you can listen to various different music genres for the first time ever. Since it’s downloaded in your “pak” it basically plays in your head and not out loud.”

Ellie pulled out of the drive thru and kicked the ship back into high gear on autopilot, reactivating the warp-drive at max speed. 

“Wait what?! I didn’t even get to order.” Zipper complained, turning to look over at Ellie who was hopping out of the pilot seat.

“Oh relax, I know what you like. Besides you get the same thing every time.” Ellie said, handing her the sourest and most sugary drink known to the galaxy. 

“Oh alright whatever, fair enough.” Zipper said, her pouty expression disappearing as she happily sipped her ungodly concoction. 

Ellie handed Comms a simple fruit-juice, making sure they held it firmly with both his hands. She smiled slightly and pointed to herself as she sipped her own drink, trying to show them how.

[comms-exe]

Comms nodded along, mentally flipping through the files as Zipper mentioned them, unzipping the weaponry info file and making a note to go through the music one later.

His PAK whirred a bit as it dealt with the sizable file, but Comms sat unbothered and went over the information as it flooded into his mind.

Going from not knowing something to suddenly just knowing it without having to read or be told about it may have been a weird experience for someone else, but for Comms it was no stranger than installing a program onto a computer and running it.

He snapped out of it as Ellie approached and carefully took the juice from her, watched, then mirrored her, trying to be careful not to choke.

He almost did choke anyway, though, because his mind was so fucking blown he briefly transcended this mortal plane.

“WHAT IS THIS?” he shouted, waving the cup in Ellie’s face. He had to know. So he could get more. So much more. Over and over. Forever.

[eternal-star-rogue]

Zipper snickered in the background and THORse looked over at Comms more intrigued than startled, and Ellie just smiled and laughed a little.

“It’s juice Comms, and it’s tropical flavored too.” Ellie said. “Oh man, if we got drinks we better bust out the Oreos. Do we still got the birthday cake flavored ones hiding around here?” Ellie asked Zipper.

Zipper grinned wildly and nodded. She got up and hooked her claws under the upholstery of the pilot’s seat and grappled with it for a minute until there was a metallic click sound and the bottom part of the seat folded up revealing a secret compartment underneath.

Zipper pulled out the Oreos, cheezits, beef jerky, and fruit gushers and slid them across the floor towards Comms and Ellie as she closed the seat down.

[comms-exe]

The gushers called to Comms like a siren to a sailor.

He gingerly took the packet, turning it around in his hands for a bit before he figured out how to tear it open, then hesitantly bit down on one.

What ensued could only be described as a massacre.

That first taste was all it took to have Comms pouring the rest into his mouth, chewing like an alligator. Apparently that wasn’t enough, though, because he then snatched his juice up from where he’d set it and waterfalled almost all the rest of it into his mouth, all while grabbing frantically at another pack of gushers.

Somewhere in the midst of all this he must have forgotten that he had to keep his mouth shut and swallow or everything would fall out, though, because holy fuck. He was so

so

sticky

[eternal-star-rogue]

Prev Post<== @comms-exe

“Wait wha-“ Zipper didn’t even get to finish that thought as Comms seemingly turned himself off and Zim’s body slumped over. Zipper and Ellie stared at him for a moment and then shared a look.

“Is he like… okayyyy??? He’s not dead right?” Ellie asked, nervously scratching the back of her neck in confusion.

“I don’t think he ever was ok to begin with, ah but no. He’s not dead. I’m not sure if he’s conscious or not though. One things for sure, he’s technically not a person. Zim probably didn’t have the time to make him into one, but I’m gonna change that reeeaaal quick.” Zipper said as she rolled the sleeves of her hoodie up. 

“Riiiight.” Ellie said, somewhat lost on what Zipper meant entirely. She started rifling through the case of medical supplies and pulled out a wound-disinfectant and some cotton balls and began cleaning Comms/Zim’s wounds. 

Zipper set herself to work, unbuckling Comms and laying Zim’s body gingerly down on the floor on his stomach. It was then she realized how much she’d grown in comparison to Zim. She was taller than him now, by at least a half foot or so. He wouldn’t like that very much….

Zipper shook her head and got out her tools and began carefully taking what was technically Comms themself apart piece by piece. Processors and cables and computer chips and wires and plugs and all sorts of little data crystals and usbs all strung together and held in place by a couple shabby outer-shell pieces of scrap metal, with… wait what the-

“Ellie holy fuck there’s a load bearing juice box in the middle of all this mess. If I pull it out he’s all just gonna fall to pieces.” Zipper said, pointing at the box with a mini extendable flashlight.

Ellie stopped stitching together the gash on the back of Comms/Zim’s head and glanced over. “Is it… is it even like doing anything other than holding stuff together?”

“No it’s not it’s- wait oh my god look. There’s a message written on it. It’s in Morse code.” Zipper exclaimed.

“Oh shit what’s it say?” Ellie said, going back to stitching Comms up, not taking her eye off her work for a second. 

Zipper squinted as she tried to read the juice box through the tangled mess and was silent for a few moments until she burst out laughing and cackling, almost scaring Ellie into messing up her stitches.

“BAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAHH, It says, ahahah, it say “pieces of shit all they’ve given me is expired prune juice, fuck them and fuck their juice.” Zipper had to put her tools down for a minute as she laughed. “Oh man, yup. Yeah that’s Zim alright.” 

Ellie rolled her eyes and shook her head, but she was smiling ever so slightly. It was good to hear Zipper laugh at least. 

“Alright, let’s get you fixed up Comms.” Zipper said, carefully removing the juice box and beginning to piece together a more solidly built “pak” for him. She worked tirelessly for hours, even pulling out a few components of her own pak that she didn’t desperately need just to help Comms be more efficient. She felt bad for the circumstances of his “birth” and the lack of personhood he had. Perhaps when this was all over, she could make a robotic body for him to inhabit, or perhaps Zim would clone an Irken body for him. Anything that is given even the resemblance of life, deserves to live it in full. That’s what Zipper believed anyways. 

Zipper sighed, wiping the sweat off her forehead and wiping her oily scuffed up hands on her hoodie. She turned the pain sensing inhibitor all the way down to 2%. Any higher and Comms would wake up screaming in agony from the amount of pain he’d be in. Especially with those wounds that were now very VERY slowly healing and regenerating. Thank goodness Ellie had used the dissolvable stitching wire, otherwise those sutures would fuse into Zim’s skin and he’d have to rip them out. 

“Ok now how do we uh… turn you back on… I actually didn’t see a button of any kind so I’m really hoping you have an automatic startup system.” Zipper said more to herself than anyone. 

[comms-exe]

Comms' auditory sensor detected the words "turn" and "on" used in the same sentence, and with a puff of smoke and a hum, he began booting up.

Yellow light flickered back into his eyes and the little baubles sticking off the tiny antennae of his now-improved PAK. It took a couple seconds to get fully online, but after a bit of sputtering he regained enough control to push himself up, sitting on the floor. "...Ow! Ow? Ow! Ow? Ow! Ow?" He started flinching at nothing, seemed utterly confused at himself for it, then confused about feeling confused, then flinched again. Over and over.

2% on the pain receptors was good, but it was still new to him. Feeling anything was new to him. Ah... sentience.

He looked wide-eyed around the cabin, as if seeing it for the first time. His gaze fell on THORse, then, and a few beads of sweat started forming on his healing forehead. She was standing calmly on her platform, perfectly behaved, but the sight of her? To newly sentient Comms, whose only prior knowledge of her was that she kicked a tree in half, no hesitation? Oh. Horror.

[eternal-star-rogue]

“Whoa whoa hey, easy Comms. How are you feeling?” Zipper asked gently, sitting down cross legged. “Maybe I should turn the pain reception down to 1.5%? 2% is still way lower than normal but I didn’t want you to feel all those wounds so intensely.”

Zipper caught Comms gazing at THORse in abject horror, as if the horse would rampage at any moment and start crushing everyone and everything with her hooves, take control of the ship, crash it into a hospital, and rampage through the hospital. “And hey, it’s ok. She won’t hurt you. THORse is a good girl. She only kills on command.”

[comms-exe]

“Oh,” They murmured. A little reassured by that, they pushed themself up and sat back down in their seat, just sort of taking in all this new informatio- emotion, that ran through them.

Their posture wasn’t absolutely perfect anymore, and their voice seemed to have a little more… depth to it. Ghosts of different expressions flit across their face as they continued to look around at everything, not obvious but definitely there where before they’d been perpetually stonefaced.

The sight of distant stars and galaxies through the ship’s windows caught his eyes and he stared at them silently for a while, pulled to by a feeling he didn’t know how to name.

A quiet plap caught his attention, though, and he looked down to figure out what made it. A bunch of little… water droplets? Were dripping down onto their shirt, making the plap sound when they hit the latex.

They looked up at the ceiling and didn’t see anything, but surely there must be a leak somewhere?

“Does your ship have faulty fire extinguishers?” He looked over at Zipper as he asked, clueless to the veritable flood of tears absolutely pouring down his face.

[eternal-star-rogue]

Zipper smiled slightly as tears started flooding down Comms’ face just as soon as he looked out into the deep wide depths of space.

“You’re crying buddy.” Zipper said. “That happens when you feel any emotion, or rather when you feel too much of it to handle all at once. Most of the time when people cry they’re sad, but you can cry from getting angry, or frustrated, or even from being happy too. Crying helps relieve some of that excess emotion, helps you calm down too. It’s good for you. You’re probably gonna cry a lot for awhile.”

Ellie was sitting in the Pilot’s Seat having taken the wheel and turning the auto pilot off for awhile.

“Hey Comms.” Ellie said, turning her head to take quick glances at him and then back into the expanse of space before them. “I bet you’ve probably never eaten or drank anything before huh? You gotta stay hydrated if you’re gonna cry a lot. So we’re stopping at Starboard’s Stop and Go to get drinks.”

[comms-exe]

“Oh,” Comms blinked, wiping the last few tears off on their glove and staring at them in fascination. “Interesting…”

They looked over to Ellie at her mention of stopping for drinks.

“No, I have not consumed anything since taking control of this body,” they confirmed, but began fiddling with the seams on their gloves. “But the mission is more important, we must complete it as soon as possible!”

Now that it was on their mind, though, they realized just how dry their mouth was and how lethargic they felt. They hadn’t noticed before since they couldn’t feel anything.

“…As long as we are quick,” they amended. It made logical sense, they rationalized. They couldn’t fight in top form if they were dehydrated. They definitely didn’t just really want to try a drink. Definitely 100% purely logical reasoning.

[eternal-star-rogue]

“Good cause we’re already here.” Ellie said cheerfully, pulling into the “drive thru”.

Zipper turned back to Comms excitedly. “So, while we’re waiting in the drive thru, I gotta tell you, I copied my extensive knowledge of weapons making and handling, and downloaded it into an extra file just for you, so you should practically be an expert on weapons of all kinds now.” Zipper said, happily fidgeting with her claws. “Plus I also downloaded a mega file of every single song that’s ever been produced on earth so you can listen to various different music genres for the first time ever. Since it’s downloaded in your “pak” it basically plays in your head and not out loud.”

Ellie pulled out of the drive thru and kicked the ship back into high gear on autopilot, reactivating the warp-drive at max speed. 

“Wait what?! I didn’t even get to order.” Zipper complained, turning to look over at Ellie who was hopping out of the pilot seat.

“Oh relax, I know what you like. Besides you get the same thing every time.” Ellie said, handing her the sourest and most sugary drink known to the galaxy. 

“Oh alright whatever, fair enough.” Zipper said, her pouty expression disappearing as she happily sipped her ungodly concoction. 

Ellie handed Comms a simple fruit-juice, making sure they held it firmly with both his hands. She smiled slightly and pointed to herself as she sipped her own drink, trying to show them how.

[comms-exe]

Comms nodded along, mentally flipping through the files as Zipper mentioned them, unzipping the weaponry info file and making a note to go through the music one later.

His PAK whirred a bit as it dealt with the sizable file, but Comms sat unbothered and went over the information as it flooded into his mind.

Going from not knowing something to suddenly just knowing it without having to read or be told about it may have been a weird experience for someone else, but for Comms it was no stranger than installing a program onto a computer and running it.

He snapped out of it as Ellie approached and carefully took the juice from her, watched, then mirrored her, trying to be careful not to choke.

He almost did choke anyway, though, because his mind was so fucking blown he briefly transcended this mortal plane.

“WHAT IS THIS?” he shouted, waving the cup in Ellie’s face. He had to know. So he could get more. So much more. Over and over. Forever.

[girldog]

GIRLS!!!!!! gather roung. we are looking at this pillbug

[eternal-star-rogue]

@comms-exe

[comms-exe]

[eternal-star-rogue]

Prev Post<== @comms-exe

“Wait wha-“ Zipper didn’t even get to finish that thought as Comms seemingly turned himself off and Zim’s body slumped over. Zipper and Ellie stared at him for a moment and then shared a look.

“Is he like… okayyyy??? He’s not dead right?” Ellie asked, nervously scratching the back of her neck in confusion.

“I don’t think he ever was ok to begin with, ah but no. He’s not dead. I’m not sure if he’s conscious or not though. One things for sure, he’s technically not a person. Zim probably didn’t have the time to make him into one, but I’m gonna change that reeeaaal quick.” Zipper said as she rolled the sleeves of her hoodie up. 

“Riiiight.” Ellie said, somewhat lost on what Zipper meant entirely. She started rifling through the case of medical supplies and pulled out a wound-disinfectant and some cotton balls and began cleaning Comms/Zim’s wounds. 

Zipper set herself to work, unbuckling Comms and laying Zim’s body gingerly down on the floor on his stomach. It was then she realized how much she’d grown in comparison to Zim. She was taller than him now, by at least a half foot or so. He wouldn’t like that very much….

Zipper shook her head and got out her tools and began carefully taking what was technically Comms themself apart piece by piece. Processors and cables and computer chips and wires and plugs and all sorts of little data crystals and usbs all strung together and held in place by a couple shabby outer-shell pieces of scrap metal, with… wait what the-

“Ellie holy fuck there’s a load bearing juice box in the middle of all this mess. If I pull it out he’s all just gonna fall to pieces.” Zipper said, pointing at the box with a mini extendable flashlight.

Ellie stopped stitching together the gash on the back of Comms/Zim’s head and glanced over. “Is it… is it even like doing anything other than holding stuff together?”

“No it’s not it’s- wait oh my god look. There’s a message written on it. It’s in Morse code.” Zipper exclaimed.

“Oh shit what’s it say?” Ellie said, going back to stitching Comms up, not taking her eye off her work for a second. 

Zipper squinted as she tried to read the juice box through the tangled mess and was silent for a few moments until she burst out laughing and cackling, almost scaring Ellie into messing up her stitches.

“BAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAHH, It says, ahahah, it say “pieces of shit all they’ve given me is expired prune juice, fuck them and fuck their juice.” Zipper had to put her tools down for a minute as she laughed. “Oh man, yup. Yeah that’s Zim alright.” 

Ellie rolled her eyes and shook her head, but she was smiling ever so slightly. It was good to hear Zipper laugh at least. 

“Alright, let’s get you fixed up Comms.” Zipper said, carefully removing the juice box and beginning to piece together a more solidly built “pak” for him. She worked tirelessly for hours, even pulling out a few components of her own pak that she didn’t desperately need just to help Comms be more efficient. She felt bad for the circumstances of his “birth” and the lack of personhood he had. Perhaps when this was all over, she could make a robotic body for him to inhabit, or perhaps Zim would clone an Irken body for him. Anything that is given even the resemblance of life, deserves to live it in full. That’s what Zipper believed anyways. 

Zipper sighed, wiping the sweat off her forehead and wiping her oily scuffed up hands on her hoodie. She turned the pain sensing inhibitor all the way down to 2%. Any higher and Comms would wake up screaming in agony from the amount of pain he’d be in. Especially with those wounds that were now very VERY slowly healing and regenerating. Thank goodness Ellie had used the dissolvable stitching wire, otherwise those sutures would fuse into Zim’s skin and he’d have to rip them out. 

“Ok now how do we uh… turn you back on… I actually didn’t see a button of any kind so I’m really hoping you have an automatic startup system.” Zipper said more to herself than anyone. 

[comms-exe]

Comms' auditory sensor detected the words "turn" and "on" used in the same sentence, and with a puff of smoke and a hum, he began booting up.

Yellow light flickered back into his eyes and the little baubles sticking off the tiny antennae of his now-improved PAK. It took a couple seconds to get fully online, but after a bit of sputtering he regained enough control to push himself up, sitting on the floor. "...Ow! Ow? Ow! Ow? Ow! Ow?" He started flinching at nothing, seemed utterly confused at himself for it, then confused about feeling confused, then flinched again. Over and over.

2% on the pain receptors was good, but it was still new to him. Feeling anything was new to him. Ah... sentience.

He looked wide-eyed around the cabin, as if seeing it for the first time. His gaze fell on THORse, then, and a few beads of sweat started forming on his healing forehead. She was standing calmly on her platform, perfectly behaved, but the sight of her? To newly sentient Comms, whose only prior knowledge of her was that she kicked a tree in half, no hesitation? Oh. Horror.

[eternal-star-rogue]

“Whoa whoa hey, easy Comms. How are you feeling?” Zipper asked gently, sitting down cross legged. “Maybe I should turn the pain reception down to 1.5%? 2% is still way lower than normal but I didn’t want you to feel all those wounds so intensely.”

Zipper caught Comms gazing at THORse in abject horror, as if the horse would rampage at any moment and start crushing everyone and everything with her hooves, take control of the ship, crash it into a hospital, and rampage through the hospital. “And hey, it’s ok. She won’t hurt you. THORse is a good girl. She only kills on command.”

[comms-exe]

“Oh,” They murmured. A little reassured by that, they pushed themself up and sat back down in their seat, just sort of taking in all this new informatio- emotion, that ran through them.

Their posture wasn’t absolutely perfect anymore, and their voice seemed to have a little more… depth to it. Ghosts of different expressions flit across their face as they continued to look around at everything, not obvious but definitely there where before they’d been perpetually stonefaced.

The sight of distant stars and galaxies through the ship’s windows caught his eyes and he stared at them silently for a while, pulled to by a feeling he didn’t know how to name.

A quiet plap caught his attention, though, and he looked down to figure out what made it. A bunch of little… water droplets? Were dripping down onto their shirt, making the plap sound when they hit the latex.

They looked up at the ceiling and didn’t see anything, but surely there must be a leak somewhere?

“Does your ship have faulty fire extinguishers?” He looked over at Zipper as he asked, clueless to the veritable flood of tears absolutely pouring down his face.

[eternal-star-rogue]

Zipper smiled slightly as tears started flooding down Comms’ face just as soon as he looked out into the deep wide depths of space.

“You’re crying buddy.” Zipper said. “That happens when you feel any emotion, or rather when you feel too much of it to handle all at once. Most of the time when people cry they’re sad, but you can cry from getting angry, or frustrated, or even from being happy too. Crying helps relieve some of that excess emotion, helps you calm down too. It’s good for you. You’re probably gonna cry a lot for awhile.”

Ellie was sitting in the Pilot’s Seat having taken the wheel and turning the auto pilot off for awhile.

“Hey Comms.” Ellie said, turning her head to take quick glances at him and then back into the expanse of space before them. “I bet you’ve probably never eaten or drank anything before huh? You gotta stay hydrated if you’re gonna cry a lot. So we’re stopping at Starboard’s Stop and Go to get drinks.”

[comms-exe]

“Oh,” Comms blinked, wiping the last few tears off on their glove and staring at them in fascination. “Interesting…”

They looked over to Ellie at her mention of stopping for drinks.

“No, I have not consumed anything since taking control of this body,” they confirmed, but began fiddling with the seams on their gloves. “But the mission is more important, we must complete it as soon as possible!”

Now that it was on their mind, though, they realized just how dry their mouth was and how lethargic they felt. They hadn’t noticed before since they couldn’t feel anything.

“…As long as we are quick,” they amended. It made logical sense, they rationalized. They couldn’t fight in top form if they were dehydrated. They definitely didn’t just really want to try a drink. Definitely 100% purely logical reasoning.

[eternal-star-rogue]

Prev Post<== @comms-exe

“Wait wha-“ Zipper didn’t even get to finish that thought as Comms seemingly turned himself off and Zim’s body slumped over. Zipper and Ellie stared at him for a moment and then shared a look.

“Is he like… okayyyy??? He’s not dead right?” Ellie asked, nervously scratching the back of her neck in confusion.

“I don’t think he ever was ok to begin with, ah but no. He’s not dead. I’m not sure if he’s conscious or not though. One things for sure, he’s technically not a person. Zim probably didn’t have the time to make him into one, but I’m gonna change that reeeaaal quick.” Zipper said as she rolled the sleeves of her hoodie up. 

“Riiiight.” Ellie said, somewhat lost on what Zipper meant entirely. She started rifling through the case of medical supplies and pulled out a wound-disinfectant and some cotton balls and began cleaning Comms/Zim’s wounds. 

Zipper set herself to work, unbuckling Comms and laying Zim’s body gingerly down on the floor on his stomach. It was then she realized how much she’d grown in comparison to Zim. She was taller than him now, by at least a half foot or so. He wouldn’t like that very much….

Zipper shook her head and got out her tools and began carefully taking what was technically Comms themself apart piece by piece. Processors and cables and computer chips and wires and plugs and all sorts of little data crystals and usbs all strung together and held in place by a couple shabby outer-shell pieces of scrap metal, with… wait what the-

“Ellie holy fuck there’s a load bearing juice box in the middle of all this mess. If I pull it out he’s all just gonna fall to pieces.” Zipper said, pointing at the box with a mini extendable flashlight.

Ellie stopped stitching together the gash on the back of Comms/Zim’s head and glanced over. “Is it… is it even like doing anything other than holding stuff together?”

“No it’s not it’s- wait oh my god look. There’s a message written on it. It’s in Morse code.” Zipper exclaimed.

“Oh shit what’s it say?” Ellie said, going back to stitching Comms up, not taking her eye off her work for a second. 

Zipper squinted as she tried to read the juice box through the tangled mess and was silent for a few moments until she burst out laughing and cackling, almost scaring Ellie into messing up her stitches.

“BAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAHH, It says, ahahah, it say “pieces of shit all they’ve given me is expired prune juice, fuck them and fuck their juice.” Zipper had to put her tools down for a minute as she laughed. “Oh man, yup. Yeah that’s Zim alright.” 

Ellie rolled her eyes and shook her head, but she was smiling ever so slightly. It was good to hear Zipper laugh at least. 

“Alright, let’s get you fixed up Comms.” Zipper said, carefully removing the juice box and beginning to piece together a more solidly built “pak” for him. She worked tirelessly for hours, even pulling out a few components of her own pak that she didn’t desperately need just to help Comms be more efficient. She felt bad for the circumstances of his “birth” and the lack of personhood he had. Perhaps when this was all over, she could make a robotic body for him to inhabit, or perhaps Zim would clone an Irken body for him. Anything that is given even the resemblance of life, deserves to live it in full. That’s what Zipper believed anyways. 

Zipper sighed, wiping the sweat off her forehead and wiping her oily scuffed up hands on her hoodie. She turned the pain sensing inhibitor all the way down to 2%. Any higher and Comms would wake up screaming in agony from the amount of pain he’d be in. Especially with those wounds that were now very VERY slowly healing and regenerating. Thank goodness Ellie had used the dissolvable stitching wire, otherwise those sutures would fuse into Zim’s skin and he’d have to rip them out. 

“Ok now how do we uh… turn you back on… I actually didn’t see a button of any kind so I’m really hoping you have an automatic startup system.” Zipper said more to herself than anyone. 

[comms-exe]

Comms' auditory sensor detected the words "turn" and "on" used in the same sentence, and with a puff of smoke and a hum, he began booting up.

Yellow light flickered back into his eyes and the little baubles sticking off the tiny antennae of his now-improved PAK. It took a couple seconds to get fully online, but after a bit of sputtering he regained enough control to push himself up, sitting on the floor. "...Ow! Ow? Ow! Ow? Ow! Ow?" He started flinching at nothing, seemed utterly confused at himself for it, then confused about feeling confused, then flinched again. Over and over.

2% on the pain receptors was good, but it was still new to him. Feeling anything was new to him. Ah... sentience.

He looked wide-eyed around the cabin, as if seeing it for the first time. His gaze fell on THORse, then, and a few beads of sweat started forming on his healing forehead. She was standing calmly on her platform, perfectly behaved, but the sight of her? To newly sentient Comms, whose only prior knowledge of her was that she kicked a tree in half, no hesitation? Oh. Horror.

[eternal-star-rogue]

“Whoa whoa hey, easy Comms. How are you feeling?” Zipper asked gently, sitting down cross legged. “Maybe I should turn the pain reception down to 1.5%? 2% is still way lower than normal but I didn’t want you to feel all those wounds so intensely.”

Zipper caught Comms gazing at THORse in abject horror, as if the horse would rampage at any moment and start crushing everyone and everything with her hooves, take control of the ship, crash it into a hospital, and rampage through the hospital. “And hey, it’s ok. She won’t hurt you. THORse is a good girl. She only kills on command.”

[comms-exe]

“Oh,” They murmured. A little reassured by that, they pushed themself up and sat back down in their seat, just sort of taking in all this new informatio- emotion, that ran through them.

Their posture wasn’t absolutely perfect anymore, and their voice seemed to have a little more… depth to it. Ghosts of different expressions flit across their face as they continued to look around at everything, not obvious but definitely there where before they’d been perpetually stonefaced.

The sight of distant stars and galaxies through the ship’s windows caught his eyes and he stared at them silently for a while, pulled to by a feeling he didn’t know how to name.

A quiet plap caught his attention, though, and he looked down to figure out what made it. A bunch of little… water droplets? Were dripping down onto their shirt, making the plap sound when they hit the latex.

They looked up at the ceiling and didn’t see anything, but surely there must be a leak somewhere?

“Does your ship have faulty fire extinguishers?” He looked over at Zipper as he asked, clueless to the veritable flood of tears absolutely pouring down his face.

[eternal-star-rogue]

Prev Post<== @comms-exe

“Wait wha-“ Zipper didn’t even get to finish that thought as Comms seemingly turned himself off and Zim’s body slumped over. Zipper and Ellie stared at him for a moment and then shared a look.

“Is he like… okayyyy??? He’s not dead right?” Ellie asked, nervously scratching the back of her neck in confusion.

“I don’t think he ever was ok to begin with, ah but no. He’s not dead. I’m not sure if he’s conscious or not though. One things for sure, he’s technically not a person. Zim probably didn’t have the time to make him into one, but I’m gonna change that reeeaaal quick.” Zipper said as she rolled the sleeves of her hoodie up. 

“Riiiight.” Ellie said, somewhat lost on what Zipper meant entirely. She started rifling through the case of medical supplies and pulled out a wound-disinfectant and some cotton balls and began cleaning Comms/Zim’s wounds. 

Zipper set herself to work, unbuckling Comms and laying Zim’s body gingerly down on the floor on his stomach. It was then she realized how much she’d grown in comparison to Zim. She was taller than him now, by at least a half foot or so. He wouldn’t like that very much….

Zipper shook her head and got out her tools and began carefully taking what was technically Comms themself apart piece by piece. Processors and cables and computer chips and wires and plugs and all sorts of little data crystals and usbs all strung together and held in place by a couple shabby outer-shell pieces of scrap metal, with… wait what the-

“Ellie holy fuck there’s a load bearing juice box in the middle of all this mess. If I pull it out he’s all just gonna fall to pieces.” Zipper said, pointing at the box with a mini extendable flashlight.

Ellie stopped stitching together the gash on the back of Comms/Zim’s head and glanced over. “Is it… is it even like doing anything other than holding stuff together?”

“No it’s not it’s- wait oh my god look. There’s a message written on it. It’s in Morse code.” Zipper exclaimed.

“Oh shit what’s it say?” Ellie said, going back to stitching Comms up, not taking her eye off her work for a second. 

Zipper squinted as she tried to read the juice box through the tangled mess and was silent for a few moments until she burst out laughing and cackling, almost scaring Ellie into messing up her stitches.

“BAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAHH, It says, ahahah, it say “pieces of shit all they’ve given me is expired prune juice, fuck them and fuck their juice.” Zipper had to put her tools down for a minute as she laughed. “Oh man, yup. Yeah that’s Zim alright.” 

Ellie rolled her eyes and shook her head, but she was smiling ever so slightly. It was good to hear Zipper laugh at least. 

“Alright, let’s get you fixed up Comms.” Zipper said, carefully removing the juice box and beginning to piece together a more solidly built “pak” for him. She worked tirelessly for hours, even pulling out a few components of her own pak that she didn’t desperately need just to help Comms be more efficient. She felt bad for the circumstances of his “birth” and the lack of personhood he had. Perhaps when this was all over, she could make a robotic body for him to inhabit, or perhaps Zim would clone an Irken body for him. Anything that is given even the resemblance of life, deserves to live it in full. That’s what Zipper believed anyways. 

Zipper sighed, wiping the sweat off her forehead and wiping her oily scuffed up hands on her hoodie. She turned the pain sensing inhibitor all the way down to 2%. Any higher and Comms would wake up screaming in agony from the amount of pain he’d be in. Especially with those wounds that were now very VERY slowly healing and regenerating. Thank goodness Ellie had used the dissolvable stitching wire, otherwise those sutures would fuse into Zim’s skin and he’d have to rip them out. 

“Ok now how do we uh… turn you back on… I actually didn’t see a button of any kind so I’m really hoping you have an automatic startup system.” Zipper said more to herself than anyone. 

[comms-exe]

Comms' auditory sensor detected the words "turn" and "on" used in the same sentence, and with a puff of smoke and a hum, he began booting up.

Yellow light flickered back into his eyes and the little baubles sticking off the tiny antennae of his now-improved PAK. It took a couple seconds to get fully online, but after a bit of sputtering he regained enough control to push himself up, sitting on the floor. "...Ow! Ow? Ow! Ow? Ow! Ow?" He started flinching at nothing, seemed utterly confused at himself for it, then confused about feeling confused, then flinched again. Over and over.

2% on the pain receptors was good, but it was still new to him. Feeling anything was new to him. Ah... sentience.

He looked wide-eyed around the cabin, as if seeing it for the first time. His gaze fell on THORse, then, and a few beads of sweat started forming on his healing forehead. She was standing calmly on her platform, perfectly behaved, but the sight of her? To newly sentient Comms, whose only prior knowledge of her was that she kicked a tree in half, no hesitation? Oh. Horror.