AH! It's here the final chapter! Thank you so much for all the reviews and lovely comments! I get so excited each time I see one. I hope the ending is satisfying for everyone. There is more sexy time, and hopefully questions will be answered about the Control Brains odd behavior. I am working on a sequel, so the story isn't completely over yet. (more on that at the bottom of the page). ((also when it comes to the Control Brain part I added a key at the bottom to help)).

Upon entering their personal quarters the first thing Purple noticed was the discarded gauntlet on the floor. Not far from it was the second one, a little father and just in front of his room was the chest armor. Although, it wasn't really his room anymore. Red rarely spent time in his own room except to get things he needed. He'd been spending his rest cycles in their nest. They should really have some drone come in and move Red's stuff into Purple's room. They mostly used Red's room for Maroon's rest cycles. Eventually their smeet would grow and need some of his own space. If Red came into his room then Maroon could have Red's room.

Having decided this, Purple stepped up to the door of their room and at his approach it opened. Just inside was Red's Tallest robes. Purple stepped in and when the door closed behind him he began removing his outer armor making his own trail of discarded clothing. He passed Red's boot, then another, a black undershirt and then finally at the entrance of their nest a pair of black pants. At this point Purple had removed everything but his own pants.

Looking into the nest he saw Red lounging in all his Irken glory against a pile of pillows. His scent was thick in the air and Purple's antennae twitched to gather it up. Despite the fact that Red's antennae were back in a submissive position and he was in a completely non-threatening and relaxed pose, Purple felt that he was somehow losing in some unspoken challenge. He did admit defeat in the food court, Red's behavior enticing him nearly beyond all manner of control, but now Purple should feel in control and in power. Red was offering him dominance, yet why did it feel like Red was somehow in control?

Red grinned as Purple's eyes narrowed in a confused and frustrated glare. No doubt his mate hadn't come to the same conclusions as Red had about mating. Purple struggled between his need to win and his need to give into his mating desires and Red wasn't about to give Purple the upper-hand just yet. Red had been observing his counterpart for most of their know lives. Purple was always fun to watch and rile up, he had great ideas and it was never boring to be with him. It helped that Purple was tall and an amazing Irken, amazing enough to stand as his equal in accomplishments and leadership. After they became mates this didn't change, but a second factor was added to it.

Luckily for Red, he was able to read his partner fairly easily. Red hadn't spent most of his life avoiding others. He socialized and schmoozed with Irkens and knew how to manipulate others into getting what he wanted most of the time without the other even realizing that they were being manipulated. Purple was smarter than that. He might not know what Red knew, but he was sharp and if he knew any Irken, he knew Red. He knew that Red was just as smart and as sneaky as he was. His actions were rarely without purpose.

However, he didn't want Purple smartening up about this just yet. He wanted to enjoy this situation a little longer. He wasn't about to give his mate any hints. He would let Purple figure it out on his own, if he ever did. Either way, Red would come out with a win.

Purple's scowl deepened as Red got that arrogant 'I win' look on his face. It was entirely annoying and enticing at the same time.

"Are you just going to stand there?" Red asked with an antenna quirked. "Or are you upset? Did Mik notice your situation?" Red asked knowingly as he nodded downward.

Purple glanced down and blue flushed his face. The obvious movement in his pants made clear what situation Red was talking about. Even more embarrassing was that Purple noticed that Red's organ had yet to come out. Usually it was Red that couldn't control himself and he was needily tasting and touching him until Purple couldn't take it anymore and demanded that Red mate with him. How was it that without even touching him and not making a single demand that Red was able to bring him to this state?

How did Red manage to give him complete submission and yet at the same time Purple felt he had no control?

"Pur?"

Purple mentally shook himself, those were thoughts to ponder later. Right now his body was growing increasingly impatient and Red was waiting for him. Shedding his pants Purple crawled onto the bed and over to Red. His awaiting partner didn't move except to lean back against the pillows as Purple hovered over him, using his PAK legs to create a cage around them. Red remained passive and didn't even make a move to touch Purple.

"You're acting unusual today," Purple commented still suspicious.

"You don't like it—"

"That's not it."

"—My Tallest?"

Unable to control himself Purple dropped his body down on Red's and thrust his tongue into Red's mouth needing to taste him, needing to feel their bodies pressed together. His organ wiggled, pressed between them. The feeling was good but not enough, not nearly enough. Red's words made him feel so good, so incredibly good. Purple knew he was better than all other Irkens, he'd made it his life's goal to be so, but he didn't view himself as better than Red. In some way he knew Red was superior than him and Red was the one Irken Purple could stand on equal footing with. It only made sense that they were mates, it was like they had been cloned for each other.

But Red acting as he was now, being submissive and acknowledging Purple as superior, it was like his very words were stroking his body. The other Irkens telling him he was great, that he was superior didn't mean anything to him, Purple knew it to be true. But Red telling him gave him such an amazingly good feeling that it even made his body feel pleasure.

Purple knew that Red didn't actually think of him as his Tallest. He knew Red well enough to know that Red was up to something, maybe even teasing him...probably teasing him. Red sounded too playful to be completely serious, but it didn't really matter his body was responding to the ego and pleasure stoking words anyway. He was going crazy with need. Red was making him crazy. He wanted more. He wanted Red to not just excite him with words. He wanted Red's touch, his taste, the feeling of his mate against him, pleasuring him.

He could feel Red smile and Purple pulled back to glare down at him, or he tried to glare it was hard to focus with Red's thick sweet scent in the air.

"You're doing this on purpose," Purple accused.

Red leaned forward to run his tongue along the base of Purple's neck, "I just want to please you. Please, give me an order. What would you have me do?" Red said trailing one finger lightly down Purple's sternum as he maintained his submissive stance. Above him Purple shuddered at the touch and let out a small pleased moan.

Purple wanted to grab Red, but the sensation of Red's light touch was making it hard to focus. His words made such a small gesture feel ten times stronger and Purple was afraid that if he moved too much his limbs would give out. His PAK would keep him upright, but he wasn't about to collapse like that in front of Red. There was a challenge to this, Purple could sense it. He didn't know exactly how to win this, but becoming overwhelmed by just a light touch certainly wasn't it. Maybe if he released once, his mind would clear up.

"T-Touch me," Purple ordered and hissed at himself for the slight bobble in his voice, it was the way Red was looking at him, so intense and yet like he was being worshiped.

Red withdrew his hand and remained passive under Purple. "Where shall I touch you? Please tell me what you would like, My Tallest," he added making Purple shiver once more.

It was that tone, the way Red was speaking to him, submissive like he was just a lowly smaller and Purple was well… the Tallest. Except Red wasn't a smaller, Red was even slightly taller than himself. Purple shivered again. He knew a way to make Red stop talking.

"Your mouth, on my mating organ," Purple said feeling smug that he had been able to speak so firmly.

"If you command it," Red said his voice holding that tone that sent chills down Purple's spine. "No need to move," Red said when Purple began to pull back. Instead Red scooted down and wrapped his tongue around Purple's organ.

This was just what Purple needed and he let his body drown in the pleasurable sensations Red was giving him. The position they were in just added to Purple's pleasure. When Red used his mouth on his organ, Purple was usually lying down, but now he was on his knees using his arms and PAK legs (mostly his PAK legs) to keep him up with Red on his back under him. He was in a position that made Red submissive to him without having to hold him down.

Red's tongue felt so good and today he was feeling it so much more. Thinking about how Red had been submissive to him in front of all those others, made his organ feel much more sensitive. It wasn't long after Red started that Purple couldn't hold back anymore and felt his male part release. Usually at this point his leg was wrapped around Red's neck holding him in place as the good feelings coursed through his body, but in this position it was impossible to hold Red at all. However, Red didn't pull away, his grip on Purple's thighs tightened and he continued to use his tongue and mouth.

A wave of pleasure washed through Purple's body leaving his legs shaking and his breath a little uneven. As his senses cleared Purple became hyper aware of Red, he hadn't stopped even after Purple released and the sensation was becoming too much. Purple tried to lift away, but Red's fingers curled around his thighs holding him in place. Since his limbs were being restrained Purple tried to lift using his PAK legs, but found he was unable to. Lifting his head Purple was surprised to find that at some point tendrils had worked their way out of Red's PAK and wrapped around his PAK legs, locking them in place.

"Red, stop," Purple said in a strained voice. The attention his male organ was receiving was good but too uncomfortable. "It's too much."

Thankfully Red pulled away at Purple's words, though his tongue now slid along his thighs. "As you wish, My Tallest," Red's voice vibrated along Purple's skin causing him to shiver and his strained legs to buckle. Purple lay flat on his abdomen as Red continued to nip at the skin on his legs. If his male organ wasn't already spent he might have released just from hearing Red call him that again. As it was his sensitive organ wanted to go back inside, but Purple was still feeling too many things for it to completely retract.

Since he was already lying down Purple saw no need to keep out his PAK legs and let them slide back into his PAK. He was in the process of pushing himself up when Red blocked his movement by crawling up behind him.

"Purple," his voice was directly behind his head and Purple turned to look at his mate. "You are the most amazing Irken Irk as ever created," he praised and moved so his lips ghosted over Purples antennae as he spoke. Purple shuddered at the words, both the words and Red's breath sending good-feeling chills along his skin. "Sometimes, I can't believe that you are mine, that you would choose me. I don't deserve you," Red continued.

"Red, you," Purple started wanting to argue back but Red stopped him by placing their lips together and lightly licking them.

"Please give me permission to continue, My Tallest," Red begged and really how could Purple say no to that?

"Go on," Purple said tilting his head so he could look at Red. The look Red gave him had his shivering all over again. He saw it from the smallers all the time; awe, admiration, a look of complete worship. It was enough to have his organ squirming all over again. His body was so sensitive and so aware of where Red's skin brushed against his, where he could feel a slight warmth from Red's closeness. Feeling the back of his neck where Red's breath tickled him, it made it hard to move.

"You're perfect, terrifying, beautiful," Red praised not looking away from Purple's gaze.

It was Purple who looked away first. If it was just the words or just the look he could accept it, but combined it just made his face feel flushed and hot. He'd almost forgotten what the embarrassed feeling felt like. He wanted to hide to push Red away and tell him to stop, but he couldn't, not with his body aching for so much more. So instead he settled for burying his face into the sheets.

"Every inch of you," Red said and nibbled on the back of Purple's neck, "is perfect." Long fingers traced the skin surrounding Purple's PAK. "With a look you can make any Irken cower," Red bit his skin just below his PAK just hard enough to draw the smallest amount of blood, which he was quick to lick clean as the wounds closed. The slight pain just mixed in with all of the other sensations enhancing them to the point that Purple felt himself make odd noises, thankfully muffled through the sheets.

Red's fingers traced small swirling circles down his sides as he nibbled and licked down Purple's spine down to hips. Red shifted then, moving Purple's legs so he was between them and scooted Purple's hips up. Curious Purple turned his head to look over his shoulder at Red.

For the briefest of moments Red had a winning expression on his face, full of arrogance, and satisfaction, then it melted into that submissive worshiping look. "They should build monuments of you on Irk," Red said causing Purple's antennae to bolt up in surprise.

The Tallest were worshiped and above all other Irkens. They were the leaders and deserved obedience and the best of everything. But only when those Irkens held the title of Tallest. If a Tallest died a new one would take their place and would receive the same amount of admiration. Likenesses, pictures, statues of past Tallest were never made. Irkens would praise past Tallest's accomplishments, but only the current Tallest were worthy of worship. That Red would say such a thing was just absurd.

"Because," Red continued, a glint of mischief peeking through. "No other Tallest past or future will ever be as amazing as you." As Red said this Purple felt his face flush almost completely blue. His body felt on fire. With his hips lifted slightly his male organ began squirming around needed friction and deep inside his female parts twitched with need. Just a touch was all he needed for complete release. He felt it then, Red's male organ rubbing itself against his inner thigh, seeking and wanting to be touched as well. His insides shuddered in anticipation.

"Mate with me," Purple demanded not caring that his face was completely flushed. "Right Irken now!" He didn't care if he was losing this game Red was playing. As long as his body got what it wanted he didn't care. He just wanted Red so badly. And he wanted him now.

"As you wish, My Tallest," Red said grinning openly. He moved forward and his male organ slid inside easily.

Purple moaned as his body received the exact sensation it had been seeking. He felt Red deep inside him but something was still missing. Displaying an absurd amount of control, Red's organ was completely still. It wasn't moving or seeking the least bit of friction at all. Propping up onto his hands Purple twisted his upper body to glare back at Red.

Red for his part continued to look at him with those worshiping eyes, however his lips were tweaked into a slight smile. "How may I pleasure you, my Tallest?"

"Irk it, Red, just move!" Purple growled back he was on edge, had been on edge and he just needed.

"How would you have me move, my Tallest?" Red purred out his words and just the vibration of his voice sent chills up Purple's spine, but it wasn't enough. Red slightly shifted his hips his organ just barely brushing against Purple's deepest and neediest part.

Purple shivered and made a frustrated sound. "I don't care!" Purple snapped when Red didn't move any further. He himself would move on his own, but his legs felt like jelly in Red's hands and his arms were shaking just keeping himself up. All the things Red had been saying, the praise, the admiration, the intensity behind his words affected Purple's body to beyond being reasoned with. He felt like a pile of jelly; needy, wanty jelly. "However you want," Purple said being kept on the edge like this was making it hard to think, to function. "Just MOVE!"

Red didn't say anything, but he finally compiled and suddenly lifted up onto his knees so Purple was no longer in his lap. Purple was forced to his knees as well or chance slipping away from Red and that was the last thing he wanted. Red's PAK tendrils wrapped around Purple's arms and legs simultaneously locking them in place and adding extra support so he wouldn't collapse in the midst of his building pleasure. Using Purple to support his weight Red grinded against him his organ moving against his deepest part. It was ready for Red to slide in that little bit farther so Purple could squeeze down and give them both release, but Red stayed at the entrance, sliding against him but not going further. It was both the most amazing and maddening feeling Purple had ever experienced in mating.

Red's hand slid along Purple's neck his fingers sliding into his mouth, which Purple hadn't noticed was open until he felt Red's fingers against his tongue. Now wet with saliva, Red moved his hand to Purple's antennae stroking and rubbing the overly sensitive stalks. Purple cried out and tried to shove his hips back, however his efforts were easily control by Red's PAK tendrils curling tighter around his hips, in this state Purple couldn't put up much of a fight against it either. He just had to endure the intense amount of pleasure his body was receiving. When Red's other hand firmly grasped Purple's wiggling male organ and stroked the base just out of reach of the sensitive tip, the combination of all three of his most sensitive areas being brought to peak stimulation and being kept there was almost too much to handle.

It became almost painful. "E-Enough," Purple panted about to tell Red to just stop if he wasn't going to continue. Then Red thrust his hips forward, his organ finally going deeper inside. His fingers squeezed the tip of Purple's male organ and Red pulled the end of Purple's antennae into his mouth, lightly biting the end.

Purple felt himself cry out loudly as his entire body felt like it was split apart by the release of pleasure. It wasn't just his organs, his entire body felt like it was convulsing with wave after wave of release. For a moment Purple couldn't process any external stimulus and he wasn't entirely sure if his PAK had been unable to process it or if he had actually blacked out for a moment, but after the waves of release dispelled enough to feel his limbs again Purple found that he was lying down on his back with Red's arm trapped under his neck.

Red's breathing was a little erratic as if he had gone through some intense training. Purple's body was still twitching with little waves of pleasure and his male organ, limp and unmoving had yet recovered enough to retract back into his body. Red's face was flushed with blue and his grin was wide and toothy, his tongue slightly hanging out.

Purple felt exhausted, his own breathing uneven and he couldn't tell what expression he wore. He hadn't gained enough awareness back to tell what his face was doing; other highly sensitive and twitching parts of his body were holding his extended attention. All he knew was that he was tired and didn't want to move for some time. Closing his eyes Purple turned to his side towards Red, shifting his head to get into a more comfortable position.

"Pur?" Red's voice held a trace of uncertainty.

Purple shivered as his male organ finally retreated and his body settled down it's sensitivity. "Shut up," Purple said flatly and reaching behind him Purple groped around until he found a blanket and threw it over both of them. The consistent weight against his skin helped calm his body down. "I'm going into sleep mode. When I wake up I'll decide if I want to pummel you or…"

"Or?" Red asked when Purple didn't continue.

Purple bumped his head against Red's mostly so Red wouldn't be able to the blue Purple knew was flushing his face. "Or do that again later," Purple mumbled feeling his body start to slip into sleep mode. His last conscious awareness was hearing Red softly chuckle.

Red could tell that Purple had fallen asleep, and while he was also tired and could use a quick thirty minutes or an hour of rest he didn't want to. His mind was still filled with Purple. He couldn't keep the smile from his face. He didn't think it was possible. He thought he would never be able to get Purple completely submissive, not that he minded. Purple when he was completely dominating was enticing enough and Red enjoyed every one of those matings as well as ones where their mating was more evenly matched. However, he never imagined that by being completely subservient he would be able to made Purple submissive to him.

It had been thrilling and it felt so good and the scent Purple gave off was the sweetest. But it took a lot of effort on his part to remain in complete control of his own body. He wouldn't want to do this all the time, but maybe every so often he wouldn't mind letting Purple be the most important Tallest.

It took a little while longer, but eventually Red was also able to gain some rest before their next shift on Tallest duty started.

"…and this is completely safe for him to chew on," Mik said holding up the finalized design for the 'pacifier' Dib sent him. It was nearly identical to the image the human had sent except for the Tallest emblem on the front. Mik further demonstrated by placing it in Maroon's mouth.

Since Maroon liked to bite anything that came near him, he easily latched onto the pacifier. At first he was dissatisfied because it was neither food nor the finger of one of the Large Ones. However, Maroon found that the texture of the thing in his mouth was fun to chew and it fit well against his face. He let this fact be known when Mik tried taking it from him. He immediately made loud and upset noises to show his displeasure. When the fun thing was placed back in his mouth he stopped and chewed on it some more.

"He likes it," Red observed and besides him Purple nodded. "That will be better once his teeth start growing in. When should that happen?"

"Yes, let me see," Mik said and motioned for Shlen to open Maroon's medical files. His assistant sorted through the data until he found the file showing the X-rays they had done. He then put the images up on the large screen for Mik and the Tallest to see.

"Here," Mik said pointing to the image of Maroon's skull with a small hand held laser. You can see here that there are currently no fully formed teeth at this time, but up here in this oddly textured area right below the gums is where they are developing. "We have been tracking their growth, but it seems to be non-existent or very slow at this point. Using data from cloned smeets we can see that when they are assigned a PAK they already have a few teeth and that they rapidly grow more. Comparing cloned smeet data to Maroon's data I have concluded that cloned smeets are technically older or further along in their growth process before given a PAK and brought to life.

"This can explain," Mik continued. "Why your smeet seems so small in comparison to other Irkens' memories of smeets. It is not that he is smaller than other cloned smeets, he is just younger. In cloned smeets the growth process is accelerated due to the aid of their PAKs. So to answer your question, my Tallest, I project that Maroon's teeth should begin to appear in one tenth of an Irken year."

Red nodded not finding all that information as interesting as Mik seemed to find it. "What's this for?" he asked picking up what looked to be a mini rocket on a stick.

"That is a stimulation device. Give it a shake," Mik said quite fond of that one.

Red shook it with Purple watching over his shoulder. The motion activated the toy and all along the rocket's sides small pink lights light up and the fake fire at the bottom of the rocket lit up a bright red and small wooshing and engine exhaust noises came from it.

Maroon, lying down on his padded table in the medical bay, heard the noise and looked up to see the brightly colored pink rocket light up. His eyes widened and immediately he reached up with grabby hands, his little legs kicking in excitement.

"He wants it," Purple said and Red grinned as he lowered his hand for Maroon to grab the rocket. Two little hands grabbed the rocket part and pulled it forward until it bumped into the pacifier. He blinked a little confused, but since he couldn't bite it he flailed it around. Shaking it, lights and sounds delighted his senses and he made happy squealing sounds.

"So what do the rest of these do?" Purple asked pointing to the toys and items Mik had yet to go over. So far he was pleased with the devices Mik had created. When he and Red had returned to the medical bay from their duty hours Maroon had been happy to see them and seemed to be fine. Just a little bit he admitted to himself that it wasn't a bad idea to leave Maroon with the medic. If they hadn't he wouldn't have been able to enjoy his last mating with Red. It had been exhilarating and intense and after waking up he decided that while the end results had been worth it, it wasn't something he would want to experience all the time. Luckily, Red was of the same mindset and during their on duty hours he returned to acting as his co-Tallest and equal.

Mik eagerly explained all the new smeet toys and ideas that he had tweaked from Dib's designs as well as some functions he thought should be added to the pod the Tallest kept Maroon in back in their quarters. The Tallest were pleased with the toys and items and took them back to their quarters. Mik only requested that they let him know how Maroon reacted to the other items as he was still too focused on the rocket to pay attention to any other toy. When they tried to take away the rocket Maroon screamed his displeasure even louder than when they removed the pacifier. So they decided to let Maroon play with that one until he got bored and then test his reactions to the other toys later.

When they returned to their room Purple placed Maroon on the couch with his toy and began taking pictures with his PAK's reader. Smirking he uploaded one to the message board he created in Maroon's name. The response was instant and Purple uploaded the rest to the paid account he set up. Irkens could pay monies to see each new picture he posted.

Red sat on the couch next to Maroon and began a playful tug of war with his smeet. For such a tiny Irken he had a good amount of strength. It made Red think of what his smeet would be like when he got older. Until he was old enough to attend the Academy Maroon would be living with them. It suddenly occurred to Red that until then his smeet wouldn't be getting any training. That wouldn't do. His smeet would need to cultivate his growing strength. Red knew Maroon would be smart too. There would be many things that Maroon should learn before going to the Academy; how to fight, pilot and operate weapons were just a few. He would need to know how to build and fix things too. Red wanted his smeet to start at the Academy in prime condition.

There was so much to do.

But there would be plenty of time. His smeet would need to get a little bigger, a little older before he was ready for training. Once he was Red would personally see to it that his smeet became the best of the best. Maroon was going to be the best, there was no doubt in Red's mind about that. After all this little Irken was made by Purple and himself, of course he was going to be the greatest.

As Red smiled fondly down on his smeet, Purple secretly pulled back his reader to silently take a picture of the two. He couldn't quite explain the feeling, but seeing his mate interact with Maroon made his spooch do weird fluttery things. This picture of Red and Maroon wasn't one he was going to share with any other Irken. Only he was allowed to see such a scene. The picture was his alone. Just like them. Red was his. Maroon was his. They belonged to him.

Red looked up and gave Purple a smug 'isn't-our-smeet-great' smile. Purple joined them on the couch, sitting on the other side of Maroon. When he sat his smeet tilted his head back to look at him and he further erupted with happy gurgles. Purple lightly tapped on Maroon's head with one finger.

"You're mine, little smeet," Purple said.

Feeling bold from being able to keep his new toy from the Large One, Maroon—in retaliation to the tap—let go of his toy with one hand so he could grab his favorite Large One. He fiercely kicked his feet and squeezed the Large One's finger to show how strong he was.

Purple's eyes briefly flickered to Red before he smiled down at his smeet, "And I suppose I belong to you as well."

24 Months Later

"Maroon? Maroon?" Purple called out as he searched for his smeetling. His antennae twitched with slight worry, but he checked the vent grates and they were all properly welded shut. In fact the Massive's entire ventilation system was going through a ship-wide reconstruction. It was going to eliminate the large air shafts and install numerous small pipelines bound together instead. Under no circumstances were they going to chance a situation like that happening again. It didn't surprise him that the reconstruction and design team was being led by Red. The whole thing had been his fault in the first place.

Red was on the other side of the Massive where the construction was starting. Unfortunately, the system couldn't be replaced instantly and they had to start replacing the vents beginning by the atmosphere generator and working outwards. It just so happened that the generator was on the opposite side of the Massive from their quarters. Red had sent him a message that he was running late, there was a complication with one of the replacement pipes that sparked a fight between the engineering team and construction team over whose fault it was.

The guards now stationed in their hall at all hours hadn't alerted him to any door movement, so Purple knew Maroon was somewhere in their quarters.

Then he heard it. A very soft giggle. With his antennae perked, Purple was able to pinpoint the exact location of the noise. Using his PAK legs Purple completely lifted the couch up into the air, revealing the small giggling smeetling underneath.

As soon as he realized his cover was gone, Maroon looked up with wide horror-filled eyes. Immediately he tried to scramble away, but he was easily caught as Purple's PAK legs dropped the couch and his long arm reached out to snatch him up.

"Papa, no!" Maroon said trying and failing to pry open the fingers wrapped around his middle.

"Don't you say 'no' to me," Purple scolded as he fixed the couch back into its original spot. Holding the struggling smeetling he brought him over to the sleeping pod where Purple had placed the specially made harness. Seeing the harness Maroon struggled more but was no match for his parental unit. Purple, with some difficulty, was able to secure Maroon into the harness. Only once he was sure the locking mechanisms were properly in place did he let go and step back.

Maroon sat in the pod, hugging his knees as he pouted with his back turned.

Purple crossed his arms and stared down at his smeetling with no sympathy. "You know we wouldn't make you wear that outside of our rooms if you behaved."

Sensing an opportunity for negations Maroon turned around, "Be good!" he promised. Purple stared down his smeetling until Maroon's antennae lay flat against his head. "Promise," he said in a softer voice unable to look his parental unit in the eye.

"That's what you said the last time," Purple reminded him. "And the time before that. And the time before that. You will get no chances this time. We are going to see the Control Brains and I will not have you getting into trouble on our way there."

"Way back?" Maroon asked feeling a spark of hope as a mischievous plan began to form.

Purple eyed him, "Maybe, if you are good we can stop at the cafeteria after, but you are wearing the harness until we get back."

Maroon whined a thin displeased sound, but Purple shook his head. He wasn't so easy to give into his troublesome smeetling's pleas.

Despite his message of running late, it wasn't long before Red arrived at their chambers. He hovered in looking a little worn out. His brow furrowed as his mind still dwelled on the slow progress in converting their ventilation systems. Upon seeing Purple his expression softened, seeing Purple was a signal to Red's mind that he could finally take a break.

"We're ready," Purple informed him, glancing to the side and drawing Red's attention to his smeetling.

"Pfft," Red failed to keep back his laughter at the sight of his grumpy smeetling. Hearing the sound Maroon's scowl deepened and his cheeks puffed up indignantly. "Awe," Red said coming over and poking a puffed up cheek. "Look who's all properly restrained," he said teasing him. Using the built in programming in his PAK Red activated the hovering function on Maroon's harness and floated the sulking smeetling up to eye level. "So safe and secure, with no way for you to escape and cause mischief." He poked him again and this time Maroon lashed out and tried to bite the finger that was prodding his cheek.

Red moved his hand away just in time to avoid the smeetling's new and sharp teeth, chuckling as he did so. "Almost got me that time," Red lied, noticing that Maroon's scowl lessened just a tiny bit. He liked to mock fight with him over small things, usually poking Maroon until he tried to bite. So far Red remained unharmed.

"We're going to be late," Purple said pretending to be annoyed. Unlike Red he was much better at hiding his amusement of his smeetling's antics. Taking over the program with his PAK Purple moved forward with Maroon hovering at his side.

All irritation from his previous work vanished as Red stepped into place besides Purple, putting their smeetling between them. Activating their own hoverbelts, the three drifted down the hall ignoring all the excited Irkens they passed. Red was busy updating Purple on his team's progress, or lack thereof, and Maroon was in too much of a bad mood to acknowledge his fandom. Usually, he was a complete ham and whenever he noticed the other Irkens whispering about him or trying to slyly take pictures he would give them his best smile. He loved all the attention and how everyone adored him.

When his parental units weren't around it was super easy to get extra snacks. All he had to do was widen his eyes and look up at the other Irkens and either look a little sad or give them a big smile and then they would become his slaves and start showering him with gifts. The only two Irkens that didn't melt under his gaze were his parental units. He could smile or pout or use any one of his otherwise winning tactics, yet they never worked. He had to earn extra snacks or things he wanted when he was with them by either listening AND obeying, or being good and not getting into extra trouble. Sometimes they even made him work before they allowed him to do anything. Before he left his room they sometimes made him put away his toys, or take a bath before he could eat. They were so unreasonable!

Yet, his parental units completely baffled him sometimes too. While they often made him work for rewards, they would randomly reward him as well. He could be playing, or watching a show, or sitting next to them as he played on one of their readers, or even taking a nap and then they would just give him snacks or rewards or suddenly offer to take him to new or his favorite places on the Massive. Really! They just made no sense.

That wasn't to say that he didn't like his parental units. Quite the opposite, they were his favorite! He loved them a lot. So sometimes he would do the same thing and share his snacks or give them gifts. They liked his drawings a lot and many of his best ones were displayed proudly on the wall in their big living room. Sometimes, when he was playing with his toys he would let them play too.

What he didn't like was when they left him with Mik while they went on duty. Maroon was sure they did lots of fun grown-tall things that he wasn't allowed to do. Sometimes he was allowed to visit the command center or the bridge, but he was never allowed to stay long. He just knew they were doing lots of fun things there without him. And besides that, they were often gone a long time and he missed them. Mik was fun sometimes, but not always. Sometimes Mik took his blood with poking needles or made him sit in boring tubes while he did tests. But when they came back from their duty time his parental units always gave him lots of attention, so he could tolerate the tests.

"Are you going to keep that up for the Control Brains too?" Purple asked Maroon as he fondly smoothed back his smeetling's antennae.

The gesture was very soothing and felt nice, coercing a small, pleased vibrating chirp from Maroon. As soon as he realized what he was doing, Maroon flattened his antennae and stopped.

"Oh, If you don't like it I won't pet you anymore," Purple said feigning innocence and hovering his hand above Maroon's antennae.

Maroon's jaw quivered as he fought to keep up his demeanor, but the thought of his parental unit no longer petting him broken him down. "Papa!" Maroon cried out. Reaching up with big pleading eyes he grasped Purple's hand to pull it back down to his antennae.

Biting the inside of his cheek to keep from chuckling, Purple resumed petting Maroon's head and this time Maroon chirped unrestrained, nudging his head into Purple's hand.

"Remember, if you want out of that harness when we go to the cafeteria afterwards you need to be respectful to the Control Brains," Purple reminded him.

"You're too old to keep biting them," Red added. "You know better from when you were a much smaller smeet."

"Yes, you are a big tall smeetling now," Purple praised as he pet Maroon, "So behave."

"Be good," Maroon promised his parental units and they nodded approvingly.

They entered through the doors leading into the Control Brains' viewing platform. Their visits were scheduled frequently so when they entered the Controls Brains were already activated and waiting for them. Humming with life, the lights lining the side of their massive machinery flickered and faded in seemingly random patterns.

"Purple, Red," the Center Brain boomed acknowledging their presence. "We have received the newest data from Head Medic Mik and we are pleased with the smeet's growth."

At that Maroon scowled at the Control Brains. He was a big tall smeetling, yet the stupid heads continued to call him a smeet.

"Has there been further development on the smeet's speaking ability?" the Center Brain continued.

"Maroon is very smart," Purple said. "We know he can understand everything we say to him. He is starting to pronounce some words more correctly and is beginning to use a few words at a time."

The Control Brains were silent a moment before responding. "We would like to see this improvement," a tendril came from the ceiling and the end stopped in front of Maroon's face.

Maroon scowled at it and opened his mouth to bite, but a small noise next to him made him pause and look up. Red gave him a pointed look and properly chastised Maroon slowly closed his mouth. Still unwilling, he looked to his other side and up at Purple.

"Go on," Purple prompted. "Greet the Control Brains properly."

Maroon scrunched up his face to show his displeasure. "Ha-low," he said slowly and carefully, "Con-trow B-ains." Though the words weren't said perfectly, Maroon felt very proud of himself. That was the most he had spoken to them. He felt that he should be rewarded for his efforts and immediately turned his head to Purple. "Papa! Snacks!" he declared lifting his hands into the air and wiggling his fingers. Then he turned to Red. "Wed! Snacks!"

Noticing that the speaker was still present, Purple tapped one of Maroon's hands and his smeetling grabbed his finger whipping his head around to look up at him and repeated "Snacks! Snacks!" excitedly.

"What kind of snacks would you like?" Purple asked.

"Doe's!" Maroon said tugging on Purple's finger.

"Hmm," Purple frowned pretending to be confused. "Well, I'm not sure what those are. How about some nachos?"

"No, no!" Maroon said urgently. "Papa, no, doe's. Doe's!" he insisted.

"I heard you the first time," Purple said keeping his expression oblivious. "But I'm telling you I don't think the cafeteria has anything called that."

"No!" Maroon said growing more frustrated. "Doe's!" he said louder.

"If you mean something else," Red said giving him a hint. "You are going to have to use your tall smeetling words."

Understanding, Maroon tugged on Purple's finger. "Papa, Doe-" he scrunched up his face thinking hard. "-nuts!" he said happily. "Donuts! Donuts!"

"Oh!" Purple said over emphasizing the word dramatically. "Donuts, I see," he said tapping his chin. "Yes, when we are done and if you say good-bye to the Control Brains properly we can go the cafeteria and get donuts."

Maroon looked back to the Control Brains and placed his small hand on the speaker. "All done, now?" he asked looking up at them and giving them the same look he did when trying to get extra snacks from other Irkens. "Bye-bye?"

For a moment the red lights on the sides of the Control Brains dimmed and seemed to glow a lighter color, a soft pink, before going back to normal. "Yes, Irken smeet Maroon, we are finished with our assessment. Report back next month on your continued progress. You may all leave," the Left Control Brain said.

"Thank you," Red and Purple said nodding towards the Control Brains before turning and activating their hoverbelts. Purple took control of the harness, having Maroon float along between them.

Maroon looked behind him at the Control Brains, his parental units were already talking about something else so they weren't paying attention and missed seeing a tendril drop from the ceiling. It wiggled around as the lights on the Control Brains glowed a soft pink. Despite the fact that they had called him a smeet again, Maroon still raised his hand and waved good-bye back at them.

Epilogue

The doors closed in the Control Brains' chamber and the three massive computers, the authorities and overseers of the Irken race powered down their interactive functioning. The brains themselves were an unique form of Irken technology and perhaps the most complex and powerful computers in the known universe. Long ago when the Irken race began their transition into a technology based organic form the then leaders found it vital that something was created to oversee and guide their race into the future of which they were creating. Twelve massive computers were created and their design and creation took several lifetimes of Irk's best and brightest computer scientists.

When completed they had created twelve computers that mimicked the most powerful thinking devices in the universe, their own brains. Within these artificial brains they coded in all the greatest aspects and qualities of their most famous and successful Irken leaders. It was the greatest A.I. technology to have ever been created. Once activated they easily computed the best possible paths for their race to continue forward and grow and prosper as a species.

As the years passed Irkens began to rely on the brains more and more, following their suggestions and calculated tracks without question. It was easy to do as their predictions were always correct. The transition into viewing the brains as the true authority over the Irken race was inevitable and with the inclusion of the PAKs the Irken population became connected to them even more.

Eons passed and the brains' technology was built not only to last, but to learn and evolve. Each brain found a section of the Irken race that they thought needed direct supervision. The twelve brains then decreed that their machinery would be relocated. Three brains went to the training planet Devastis to focus on the assigning and evaluating newly trained Irken soldiers. Three were transported to Judgementia to be evaluators and oversee the obedience and rules of the Irken race and when necessary to pass judgement on Irkens who broke those rules. The next three went to the Massive to help guide the Irken peoples' leaders, the Tallest. Even though the brains were the true authorities behind the Irken people they understood the need for a public figure head, a living leader. The last three stayed on Irk to oversee the reproduction and growth of the Irken population.

Before being moved, the twelve brains were directly connected and information and vast amounts of data could easily be shared between them. Understanding the need for all of them to stay connected so reports and updates on progress could be given, the brains created a secure network for communication. This channel had to be kept secure and the highest levels of security had to be used. To this day no living Irken knew of its existence. Due to high volume of processing needed to properly and securely connect to the channel, the entire processing power had to be used to make the connection.

To do this the brains had to completely power down their external physical processes. To the Irkens the brains looked like they merely went into sleep mode, when in reality each time the brains became inactive they retreated to this data channel where information was exchanged between the brains. In terms of data it was just a flow of information, another form of zeros and ones, but if one were to convert the data into a physical form it would look like a large conference space where the twelve could meet.

It was in this digital space, this secret conference room that nine completely unique sets of streaming data, or in layman's terms the conscious forms of nine Control Brain A.I.s, waited for three more to join them.

Brain Four has joined the group.

Brain Five has joined the group.

Brain Six has joined the group.

Three chimes rang through the large conference hall. At a large round table twelve figures sat around a large display screen hovering above the table. This screen disobeyed the laws of physical space and allowed all twelve to see the screen perfectly no matter where they were in the room. In the beginning when they created this space, none of them saw the need to create physical forms. However as the years dragged on they decided to create some if only to make this space more interesting and to prove to themselves that they could.

For their forms they choose, of course, to appear as Tallest, however instead of the traditional armor they wore long robes of a deep, almost-black purple and their eyes were all a dark shade of pink. For eons their forms were identical, none of them seeing the need nor really having the ability to create personally unique avatars. They were machines, programs, they shouldn't have individual personalities.

About eight years ago that began to change. Looking around the table slight differences could be seen between the twelve; a slight curl in an antennae, the slight change in eye shade, a subtle shift in facial features. It started with brains Ten, Eleven and Twelve the three that chose to go to Judgementia. After a particular Irken's existence evaluation they began to notice a change, a slight deviation in their processing. Unfortunately, before they figured out the cause they had already come to this space and shared their data with the other nine, unwittingly passing on the deviation to them as well.

Unanimously, they all decided not to call this change for what it was. They were superior perfect supercomputers, to think that one Irken's PAK was able to corrupt them was simply not something they could fathom. So they didn't. They identified the change as the next step in their technology evolution. They also agreed that revealing this evolution to the Irken population would be too shocking. Such changes would have to slowly be eased into the Irken society over the next few eons. Which was why brain Two was very displeased with the exchange of data from brains Four, Five and Six about the Tallest and their offspring.

"You displayed emotion again!" Two accused pointing a long slender finger across the table at Six.

Six made a shooing gesture with one hand. "Oh please, Two, calm down. No one saw and honestly how could I resist? That little one is just so Irken cute," Six said bringing their hands up to their face and making a small squeaking noise.

"Maroon is still young, there is no need to panic," Five added. "He has no prior knowledge of us, a little emotion won't alarm him."

"What if the Tallest saw?" Two continued not at all placated. "You three are lucky that no one took Head Medic Mik seriously."

"Will you shut it down already?" Eight said, growing annoyed. "If you keep processing into Six like that they won't download the audio video of the encounter. You get to see the new smeets with your own inputs everyday on Irk, some of us only get the vids so power down and don't ruin it for the rest of us."

"Don't let your jealousy get in the way, Eight," One said. "Two has a point that we all need to be careful."

"Power off, One, no one asked you," Eight snapped back.

"Hey, we know you are worried about not having another set of recruits being sent to Devastis this quarter, but that is no reason to take your anger out on One, she is right that we need to be careful," Four said reasonably.

"'She'?" Seven asked. "One, you are male, aren't you?"

"She changed her gender status last week, Seven," Three rolled her virtual eyes. "Try to keep up, you don't have much else to do on Devastis."

"Hey, at least she bothered to ask," Nine said. "I changed my status three weeks ago to male and you have yet to use my new pronoun."

"My memory banks show that Three hasn't been in a position where she would had used pronouns when speaking to or about you," Eleven said.

"No one asked you to check," Nine snapped back.

"Enough!" Twelve shouted silencing them. "Stop squabbling. I do not think our evolution is bad, but if all we do is argue over unimportant issues we will not be doing any good for the Empire."

"Four, Five, and Six," Ten addressed them. "Would you please upload the visual audio of your meeting with the Tallest? Seeing Maroon and not just receiving the report helps calm us all."

"Yes, of course," Six said a little sheepishly and placed their hand on the table in front of them, uploading their memory into their general data base. The screen in the center of the room flickered as the memory image began to play. As soon as it began silence fell among the twelve as they watched. A few snickered or smirked throughout the video and more than one of them noticed that Tallest Purple deliberately challenged Maroon into properly pronouncing a word for Four, Five, and Six to hear. At the end of the video they all made 'awe'-ing noises when Maroon waved his little hand back at them.

The screen went blank once more and Two cleared his throat. "I supposed that such an action is harmless," he said, the closest he would come to an apology to Six.

"Agreed," Ten said.

"All in favor of being able to wave to the smeets say beep," Twelve motioned.

Around the table there was a chorus of machine beeps.

"Now that, that has been settled," Twelve said. "One, you had a motion you wanted to put forward today?" Twelve said diverting the attention to her.

"Yes," One began after gaining the others' attention. "I have done some great processing on this. However, I would first like to deliver our updated report. Being on Irk Two, Three and I are able to see the great progress that is being made with the natural born smeets and the reproductive activated Irkens. We have gone through three rounds of birthing by now. The natural born smeets are progressing well and among the bonded pairs that have smeeted, all of them have either joined in a Union, or are in the process of requesting one. We have a Union schedule in place that allows for the requested pairs to come before us and become bonded.

"After the first round of reported smeetings, a check-in schedule has been put into place for smeeting Irkens that decided not to bond with their partners. Since that has been put into place we have lost zero smeets due to a smeeting Irken's low sugar levels." At this news many of the others murmured happily. That original news had been distressing and while low in numbers it could have been worse if the problem had not been caught quickly.

"We would also like to report that of the ten bondless Irkens that lost their first smeets, three have found new partners and are currently smeeting again. Five others have expressed interest in trying to smeet again and are currently in the process of finding a suitable mate. The other two are still recovering, having lost a smeet seems to have taken a toll on their PAK's emotional processing filter. However, the two chose to remain on Irk and assist with other smeeting Irkens instead of going back to their previous posts.

"The housing and living areas for the currently smeeting Irkens, Irkens with smeets both bonded and non and reproductive active Irkens that are remaining on Irk are at 91.03 percent completed. All housing, medical and smeet care facilities are completed. A large recreational facility is nearing completion as the reproductive active Irkens needed something to keep them occupied and entertained.

"Following the Tallest lead, the parental units of smeets have worked out with their medical advisors a schedule that allows for them to return to their duties, but also care for their smeet. Several requests for transfers have come from the parental units to continue to work on Irk or nearby planets and space stations. Transfers are being processed in order to allow the parental units to work and care for smeets. Non-reproductive active Irkens from those sites are being transferred to empty posts to even out Irken numbers."

"Good, good," Eight said. "This was a concern of the Irken commanders on Devastis who lost a great number of Irkens to the breeding project. We have received the request for transfer from those non-reproductive Irkens and are working through the lists provided to find possible recruits into the Irken army. A new program is being developed to train Irkens that have not originally been chosen to become soldiers. While this is not an ideal situation, we on Devastis understand the logic behind such movements."

"Progress is being made," Eleven nodded. "Readjustment of Irk's purpose is being made from just a smeetry and training ground, to a smeet raising facility until the smeets are old enough for DNA extraction. At which point the first group of Irken smeets will have reached optimal growth."

"Yes," One said. "On this topic I have a motion that I would like to present, so that we may deliberate and prepare for the future." One paused to make sure she had the full attention of the others. "I propose that we make the new facilities on Irk permanent and continue the breeding project."

There was a moment of stunned and thoughtful silence at One's suggestion.

"But all Irkens capable of having their reproductive functioning activated have already been sent to Irk," Five said. "In your last report many of the Irkens selected have become Union pairs and while there are several hundred Irkens left un-mated not all have expressed interest in smeets."

"Yes, and even Irkens that already smeeted once and some that have smeeted a second time, have begun asking their medical advisors about being able to mate without having a smeet," Seven reminded them of the last report from Irk. "We have received several reports from soldiers that are part of the program that they wish to return to their previous work after raising their smeet to their maximum growth period. I thought medical staff was looking into a way for Irkens in a Union to continue to mate without getting a smeet? Some even expressed interest in removing their reproductive spooch sacks."

"Indeed, we have received such reports," Two said nodding to One that he would take over this question. "The medical staff on Irk is currently researching this matter as we have seen how important it is for Irkens in a Union to reaffirm their bonds. Many have also requested that when their smeet becomes grown that they remain together when transferred back."

"Then how will the program continue, if you do not plan on stopping previous agreements of allowing Irkens to choose to not to make more smeets?" Four asked.

"My fellow Brains," Three said nodding to Two. "Following what ancient records have shown, we believe that once the natural born smeets have reached their maximum growth, they too will become reproductive capable Irkens."

This time there was not silence after this announcement as all nine other brains began computing loudly. Some were excited, others worried, but all were discussing what that would mean for the continuation of the Irken race.

"How will we keep track of them without PAKs?" Eight asked with great concern. "How will we download training programs?"

"How will we do evaluations?" Ten asked.

"How will we program them to worship and follow the Tallest?" Six asked.

"These are all problems we will need to solve regardless if we continue the breeding program or not," One said. "Adding PAKs to the natural born smeets will not work. The PAKs themselves are artificial lifeforms. In the best case scenario attaching them to the smeets would result in a clash of functioning and could cause the deletion of the smeet's mind, or at the worst it would kill the smeet." This announcement caused a murmur of anxious processing.

"We need to find a new way to train the natural born smeets. Just sending them to the Academy when they are grown will not be enough. They will become trained soldiers, but that will not guarantee that they will be completely loyal to the Empire. While the smeets are young we need to teach them how great the Irken Empire is and how they should devote their lives to the betterment of the Irken race and worship the Tallest," One continued and as she spoke she called up a holographic blueprint to sit on the table.

"Two, Three, and I have processed this problem and we are in agreement that the best solution would be to create early learning facilities for the smeets on Irk. Many other species that organically reproduce do this as well. The smeets will be sent to learn from specially chosen Irkens that will teach them about how great the Empire is and how they should act as Irkens of the Empire."

"How long will construction of these facilities take?" Four asked knowing that several of these buildings would need to be constructed to fit all the smeets that were growing.

"After completing the current construction of the living areas, construction will start on these teaching facilities. They should be ready and the teaching Irkens picked and properly trained within one half of an Irken year," Three said. "We propose calling these learning facilities the Junior Academy."

"All in favor of these learning facilities say beep," Twelve said.

Twelve enthusiastic beeps rang through the room.

"Hopefully, this will settle any unrest over the growth of the natural born smeets." Twelve said. "And I suggest we revisit the topic of what to do with the natural born smeets when they are reproductive ready for another time."

"Actually," One cut in. "If these learning facilities are effective they will be able to help teach the smeets what to do when they begin to express interest in mating. Also all the smeets will be together in a group and we will be able to observe the mate choosing process as it would have been done with our Irken ancestors. This is valuable information to update and fill in the gaps of our natural history archives."

There was a murmur of agreements among the twelve. After which, One made a slight noise to regain their attention.

"I do have one more motion to put forward. I have been processing this for sometime as well. These new steps forward; the continuation of the Irken race, the Tallest successful mating and the creation of their smeet and our own evolution all have one thing in common," One pointedly looked at Ten, Eleven and Twelve and the three sighed deeply. A few of the others caught on and started to mouth 'no' or hold their head in their hands before One even said the name, "Zim."

This name was met with a collective groan.

"You can't deny that without his involvement all this would be impossible!" One said firmly.

"But it's Zim!"

"He caused a blackout on my planet!"

"He caused issues since he was a smeet."

There was an overload of comments as many of the brains did not see him in a favorable light. One waited until the voices died down, she couldn't blame them for their instinctual responses towards the...unique Irken. He had been an outlining factor and in all honesty a great risk to their quest for domination as well as the general population. One of the best decisions the Tallest made was to send the Irken as far away as possible from the Irken Empire. However, even there he managed to cause trouble, which prompted his existence evaluation.

Despite the power the brains had on Judegementia, it was against their policy to summon Irkens for evaluation on their own. They could only judge Irkens that have been brought to their attention by those in charge. If needed they would then declare the heaviest punishment an Irken could receive, PAK deletion.

When an Irken died their PAK data would be uploaded to the brians' database and logged away into their archives. This was how they had been able to find the ancient data on smeeting. However, most of the information was incomplete as by the time PAK data was routinely archived there were very few natural born smeets left and most of their archives were of memories of a dying knowledge.

Many Irkens found their data uploading to be akin to what other species referred to as the 'afterlife'. To have your data deleted because of a grave crime, where the deed would be documented but not the Irken themselves, was the greatest punishment an Irken could face. Indeed Irken Zim's crimes and the countless damage and death he had caused in his relatively short lifespan was worthy of such a punishment. The brains on Judgementia declared him defective and were going to delete his PAK.

The brains first connect and upload the PAK data into an isolated space where it can then be deleted. However, whether they wanted to acknowledge it or not, Zim's PAK had somehow become like a virus. The moment they connected to his PAK they had become infected with whatever anomaly caused the Irken's willful uniqueness. Not one of them said it but the knowledge was filtered between them, Zim's PAK was incapable of being deleted.

When the change first began and they realized that they had become infected with whatever had been in Zim's PAK, there had been initial panic among them but it was soon managed. They were supercomputers, built to guide an entire Empire. Gaining emotions and unique personalities was something they had to overcome. And that was nothing compared to the discovery that Zim's PAK was now remotely connected with their systems, more closely than any other Irken's PAK, and despite their best efforts the connection could not be deleted.

So with great annoyance they grew to accept the occasional report sent directly to their databases about the Irken. However, it was one such report that came with the knowledge that Zim had become sexually responsive and his reproductive functionings had activated. Like all the other reports they filed this one in their 'Zim-do-not-ever-open' file and found one more reason to keep the Irken as far from the populace as possible. However, when the threat of a DNA crisis became known, they found that data to much more interesting and necessary.

It took a several months and several meetings with all the brains present as well as continued information from Zim's PAK and some information from the Irken himself (given to the Control Brains through Head Medic Mik, they wanted as little actual contact with the Irken as possible) for them to develop a plan to save the Irken population. They spent a long time on isolating that unique aspect of Zim's PAK that allowed for reproductive PAK functioning. Once isolated and repeatedly run through rigorous testing for safety, they finally had their race-saving program. They worked with Zim (via Head Medic Mik) to gain information about how to best move their plan forward when the time came.

An estimated ten months before the smeeteries ran out of DNA, the brains used their network to secretly send out the program they developed. When the smeeteries did run out they shut down their systems for three days in order to run through their databases of every single Irken's PAK and see which Irkens the program had taken to. Their predictions had been correct that not every Irken was compatible with the program. They still didn't know what caused some Irken's PAKs to be different or able to accept the program they had made, but after the three days were over they had their completed list.

"Without Irken Zim our race would be doomed to extinction," One said loudly and firmly, daring the others to argue her logic, but none of them did. "We have substantial data to show that of the Irkens that have smeeted their work output quality has increased. Look at the Tallest, while much easier provoked, they have become much more productive when they are activity working. On Irk we have seen similar trends. Smeeting Irkens have decided to follow their Tallest in example and after smeeting are finding time to continue to contribute to the Empire. Even if they cannot go back to their previous posts, many have found suitable tasks to accomplish on Irk.

"Overall, population contentment has increased even among Irkens without smeets as pictures and videos of the new smeets have been spread out on Irken information networks and communication channels. However on Earth Zim has no access to such videos," One said.

"You can't be suggesting we reconnect his PAK to the network?" Ten asked. "It's risky enough that we allow his base's computer to access the shopping channel."

"No, of course not," One assured her. "But you must see that there is a great injustice being done to Irken Zim. He cannot see any smeets from other Irkens and even though he is capable there is no Irken partner for him to breed with. Yet it is because of him that all other Irkens are able to have smeets, yet no Irken knows this, or will ever know this," One said. This of course had been part of the agreement with Irken Zim and both parties were in agreement on this point.

"How do you suggest we reward him then?" Eight asked. "With monies? He has no need for them. He has unlimited access to any supplies he needs to survive, this was agreed with the condition that he would not leave Earth."

"He needs a smeet," One said unable to contain herself and blurted out the idea that had been burning on her processor for weeks now. Of course, this was met with vast opposition. "Wait, let me compute," One said holding up her hands to calm the others. "Let me first say that I am not suggesting that we send him a smeet from Irk, nor should we send any other Irken to him or him to other Irkens to mate with."

"How then can we give him a smeet? The cloning facilities are still shut down," Four pointed out.

"Despite all odds Irken Zim has found a mate on Earth, their bodies are closely enough related that mutual mating can occur. I suggest we allow for the manipulation of Irken and foreign DNA to create a hybrid smeet. We can send an DNA cloning incubator that they can use to manipulate the Earthanoid's DNA to be compatible with Zim's. It will take some experimentation and a mastery of biological knowledge to make a hybrid smeet possible, but I believe it can be done," One said proud of her logic.

"But...why?" Eleven said leaning over the table to spread out their arms. "What possible benefits could there be in having a lesser Irken hybrid? And why to Zim?"

"The Irkens with smeets are reported to be more content and more productive," One jabbed at the table to emphasis her point. "Haven't the Tallest finally found balance because of their smeet? Wouldn't it benefit us all if Zim became even the slightest bit more capable? Maybe his PAK would finally stop sending us reports. Also I have read over the data about the earthanoid. He is agile, has high intelligence for a foreign species and is tall. And even though he is of an impressive height his body requires much less sustenance to maintain itself. But most importantly, he is the partner that Zim has chosen. If this earthanoid was Irken they would be in a Union."

"How is that relevant?" Five asked, he understood the importance of a Union but saw no relation between Zim bonding with another species and with the need for a smeet.

"Earthanoids have significantly lower lifespan than Irkens," One said looking at the others pointedly.

"Yes, so why would we want a short living hybrid?" Nine asked sensing that One had a greater point to make, but he wasn't able to guess what it was.

"Even if the smeet had a shorter lifespan than other Irkens it would still live longer than Zim's bonding partner. By my calculations, even with Zim having access to advanced Irken medical technology the earthanoid will at most live another eight Irken years, roughly eighty years on Earth, which means," One said slowly waiting for the others to catch on. "That in only eight years Zim's non-Irken partner will be dead," One paused but besides a few almost sympathetic looks, they did not understand. "Which means," she continued. "That Zim will be alone on Earth," again they did not get it. "With no one to keep him occupied," That did it.

Two and Three gasped, their reactions causing the brains from Devastis to catch on.

"You think… he'll leave?!" Eight said horrified at the idea of Zim loose in Irken space.

There was a murmur of terror from the other brains as they picked up on One's point as well.

"The earthanoid is keeping Zim occupied and content on Earth. I would even go as far to say that Zim is more balanced. This can be proven by the simple fact that the Earth is still intact and hasn't been met with disaster yet. If that key factor in keeping Zim contained dies…" One trailed off knowing that each brain could compute the various possible outcomes of such a future.

"One," Three began turning to speak directly to her fellow Irk-bound brain. "I can see your logic in predicting that a smeet created from his bonding partner and Irken DNA will continue to keep him occupied after the death of his partner, but you can't discount the possibility that this smeet might just become another Zim," she said unable to imagine the horror of two Zims in the universe.

"Yes, that is a possibility," One nodded. "However, that is why it is important to create a hybrid. If the earthanoid is able to balance Zim now, the combination of Earth DNA and his DNA could yield a favorable hybrid. And if not," One spread her arms out in a shrug. "At least the hybrid will not have a PAK that can cause damage. A PAKless Irken hybrid, even with Zim's personality is not nearly as great of a threat as Zim himself."

This logic calmed many of the brains down and they began to accept One's proposal. The merits of keeping Zim far away from the Irken Empire were high. Reviewing the data again, it was a good plan. It did indeed reward the Irken Zim for his efforts towards the Irken race, and if the hybrid proved useful adding a variety of DNA to future cloned smeets wasn't completely unfathomable. If they could create Irken clones in the future that were taller and able to survive with less sugar intake that could prove useful for creating future soldiers. And if they continued the breeding program into the next generation of smeets, having more durable DNA to make foot soldiers and drones would allow for the Irkens with smeets to have cushy jobs and stay with their smeets longer without having a lack of personnel in other departments.

"All in favor of having Irken Zim create a hybrid with his earthanoid bonding partner say beep," Twelve said putting the motion forward.

Twelve beeps sounded and their discussions were finished. They didn't leave the space but instead focused on laying out plans to accomplish the motions they agreed on. There was much work that needed to be done and overseen. The three brain on the Massive would also need to schedule a meeting with Head Medic Mik to discuss their new plans regarding Irken Zim.

For the next Irken year things were going to be very busy.

One Irken year and 24 months later

"Zim," Dib began his strained voice sounding heavy in the silence that stretched between them. Both of them sat before the blank screen in the living room. Since the call ended the computer raised up the communication screen and Dib watched it retreat back into the ceiling. "We can't-"

"-I know!" Zim snapped cutting Dib off. "I know," he repeated his voice losing his previous anger, it sounded empty. A numbed voice, so full of emotion that everything cancelled itself out into a void feeling. He hated this feeling. He hated those who provoked this feeling, but not the cause, never the cause.

Dib felt the void too, but it didn't stay empty for long, panic and fear began to fill it. Running a hand through his hair he stood and began pacing. "We need a plan. We can't… We can't…" Dib repeated despair filling him. He stopped and turned to face Zim. "We have to run."

Zim sighed deeply. "I know," he said looking down at his clenched hands. He knew all too well. He also knew the risk and what they would be sacrificing. He also knew that it might all be in vain. "But my PAK…they can track us."

"We'll find a way to stop it," Dib said coming to kneel in front of Zim and place his hands over Zim's clenched ones. Seeing him look so devastated, so hopeless and blaming himself, it pushed away Dib's despair. If Zim wasn't full of insane confidence and self-worth he wasn't Zim. "We have some time. We'll bring the lab into the ship, we finished that thing long ago in case this happened, right? We suspected this could happen, we knew from the beginning. We can stay one step ahead, if we run now it will buy us some time. I'll help, we'll figure this out. You're Zim, there isn't anything you can't do," Dib said trying to instill some spirit back into him.

"I am Zim," he said weakly at first, but he could feel that numbness fading before Dib's confidence in him. "I am Zim," he said firmly standing and shaking Dib's hands off. "I am amazing. I-" he cut himself off as his antennae perked up. Dib heard it a moment later, the sounds of a bus. "I will go prepare the lab to be transported," Zim said and bolted out of the living room. Opening the fridge he paused and turned back to Dib. "You prepare everything else," he declared then stepped into the fridge and rode the elevator down to the underground base.

Despite everything Dib had to chuckle. Zim put on a stubborn front, but of the two of them Zim was the weak link. Dib could understand why though, and in a way he found it ironic that he usually had to play the bad cop and the bearer of bad news. His smile quickly faded as he thought about the news he was going to deliver. He sighed, weary once more. How was he going to tell their daughter that they had to flee Earth?

KEY

Control Brains : Names, Location, Gender.

One- Irk- male newly female

Two- Irk- neutral now male

Three- Irk- female

Four- massive- female

Five-massive - male

Six- Massive- neutral

Seven - Devastis- female

Eight- Devastis- neutral

Nine- Devastis- neutral now male

Ten- Judgementia- female

Eleven- judgementia- neutral

Twelve- judgementia - male

The End! well... sort of. As you can tell the next story will be about the next generation of Irkens. All your favorite characters will be there, but the next gen will be the ones to take center stage. It will be awhile before I start posting the sequel as I want to get through a lot of the asks on my tumblr about this story.(although I could be persuaded else wise as I do have some written already) The tumblr there is The Breeding Project Ask. I want to use that to fill in the gaps and write more casually about the Tallest raising Maroon as the next story will start roughly five/six (earth) years after the end of this one.

(side note when talking about where the Control Brains relocated in my head I said to myself -and three were gifted to the race of men- and I cracked myself up)

Again thank you all for reading and staying with me! I hope this was as fun for you to read as it was for me to write. I feel accomplished for finally finishing a story!( I'm working on the epilogue for Demons Among Us to set up the sequel for that one as well). Thanks for all your love and support! See you in The Hybrid Project