Chapter Text
It was a pretty bad situation, but Zim supposed it could be worse. Oh yes, it could definitely be worse. He's seen other soldiers imprisoned or executed for less. But it seemed the Empire has acknowledged his talent and his potential and has chosen to give him another chance to prove himself. He just had to get through one unpleasant conversation with the Control Brains, which will likely be a thorough ass-chewing (he was no stranger to those), and then he’ll be reassigned to a new job in a completely different sector.
It was supremely disappointing, he had been determined to become Irk’s best Invader, but fine. This was where his military career ended. He had a good run. He had plenty of successful missions. Sure, there were also lots of mistakes and unnecessary casualties, but things happened and perhaps if he had more competent comrades things would have been different. But this hearing wasn't about them, right now it was about him.
Zim maintained a professional bearing as the Control Brains reamed him for delaying Operation Impending Doom. It would take months to replace the Invaders he had killed. To say nothing of all the labor that would go into replacing and fixing all the military assets he destroyed.
“You will be re-encoded,” the Brains declared at last. Zim hadn’t been given an opportunity to defend any of his actions. He hadn’t expected one. There were plenty of witnesses to what happened. He had already told his side of the story to his superiors and the Tallest anyway. But the Brains had the final word on his punishment.
Zim stood at attention but was quickly jerked out of it by a cable coming down and plugging into his PAK with enough force to knock him from the platform he stood on. He grunted and went slightly limp as he was lifted right in front of the many glass eyes of the central Brain. He felt the cold disapproval of the mechanical beings, along with a chilling flow of energy from them to his PAK.
“No longer an Invader, you will be assigned to replacing the many irken lives you've destroyed over the years… as a Reproducer,” the deep voices intoned.
Zim straightened, head whipping over to look at the nearest screen as the military logo, the symbol of his profession, changed into that of an egg with antennae. “What?!” His bearing broke, a mortified expression crossing his face. “Oh, wise Brains, isn’t there any other function I could have? I’m a great cook, haha, and I can clean like no one’s business…”
He let out another grunt as he was thrown roughly back onto the platform, the cable detaching from him.
“Our decision is final. This is a job you will be unable to fail at. You will serve your empire well, Reproducer Zim.”
Zim shuddered at the title.
“If you are brought before us again under these same circumstances, we will not be so merciful.” With that, the Brains fell silent and the glow dimmed from their eyes. He pushed himself up onto his knees and sat there, staring into nothing as he tried to process this. Of all the duties he could have received…
Red let out a whistle. “Well. Reproducer. Was not expecting that.”
“Hopefully whatever’s wrong with him isn’t genetic,” Purple said.
“Yeah. Insanity aside, he’s not bad-looking. He’s pretty strong for his size, clever… durable. He’s got good genes.”
“Mhm. Well, let’s get a guard to escort him to his new assignment.”
Zim looked up as Red and Purple hovered down from the platforms they had stood on. He slowly got to his feet, trying not to shake. “My Tallest, is this… a difficult job?”
“Not at all,” Red replied. “In fact it has a lot of perks! Lots of food, very good medical services, nice housing… I mean, you’re going to be responsible for bringing about new generations of smeets to serve the empire! It’s a huge honor. So you'll get some pretty cozy treatment. Not that you deserve it, but still, maybe you'll redeem yourself in this role.”
“Really the only downside is you better get used to laying eggs a lot,” Purple added.
Zim swallowed. “So uh. You think I’ll be a dam?”
“Well duh, who’s going to let a Shorter like you be a sire? Haha, no way. You’re absolutely going to be a dam.” Purple waved a guard over. “You better not screw this one up.”
“Of course not,” Zim replied. This was not the kind of job he had wanted, but he was going to do his best anyway. It was honorable. But it was also scary to think about.
The guard took him by the arm and led him away. He didn’t put up any fight, saying goodbye to his Tallest and walking with as much confidence as he could muster.
He was taken to a transport ship that flew him from Judgementia back to Irk. The trip didn’t take long and all the logistics of his reassignment were taken care of along the way. He was assigned to a specific reproduction facility and was already being waited on by the time the ship arrived.
Zim was annoyed that the guard kept a grip on his arm on the way outside, but luckily the two people that greeted him outside the facility seemed polite.
“Zim!” the taller employee said. “How nice to have you here, we’ve been needing a new Reproducer. I’m Kilo, the manager of this facility. This here is Jaz, my second in command. She maintains the schedule of everyone assigned here and makes sure all our Reproducers perform their duties during the best possible time to produce healthy, bountiful litters. So, how much do you know about this job?”
Zim made a face and his guard gave him a jab to prompt him to speak. “It’s pretty straightforward. The Empire needs a steady birth rate. Reproducers provide smeets. A sire is matched to a dam because consistent matches ensure higher fertility, mating occurs until the dam’s eggs are fertilized, and they lay them after a few days. Eggs are taken to a different facility to be incubated and hatched and the smeets are given PAKs and assigned functions. After a recovery period, the dam begins mating again.”
“That’s a pretty accurate summary.” Kilo motioned to the guard. “You can head out, we can take him from here.”
“Sir, it’s my duty to inform you this individual is ex-military and very dangerous,” the guard replied.
“Ah, we’ve reviewed his files, he’s not too dangerous. Reckless, perhaps, but he has a drive to serve his empire and we can use that. Trust me, we can handle him. You’re dismissed.”
The guard let go of Zim and walked away.
Kilo and Jaz waited until the guard was back in the ship and leaving, then Jaz groaned and covered her face. “Ugh, can’t believe this is what we’re going to have to deal with…”
Kilo turned to her, grasping her shoulder. “Now, Jaz, don’t be rude to our new employee.”
“I’m sorry, but this!” Jaz pointed at Zim with a scowl, “Is gonna be a nightmare! This is Zim. He’s single-handedly caused our race more trouble than any alien species we’ve gone to war with! He’s worse than a plague! You saw what he did at the beginning of Operation Impending Doom! And we have to match a sire to him?”
Zim growled. “Well it’s not like I want to do this job either!”
“Regardless, you were assigned to us,” Kilo said firmly. “So, Jaz, we will match him. You know we have a sire who’s been waiting.”
“Yeah and we know how awkward he is… watch him refuse.”
“He won’t refuse. And Zim.” Kilo gave Zim a piercing look. He had crimson eyes, Zim noted. Quite a rare color. “You’ve been given another chance to serve your empire. So I expect you to be on your best behavior. Now come along, I’ll give you the tour.”
Zim sighed and followed him inside. Jaz trailed along toward the side, mumbling to herself as she worked on a tablet, seemingly organizing something.
The facility seemed nice. It was spacious and had lots of windows. There were only a couple floors but it sprawled out rather far. There were plenty of elevators.
Kilo explained that there were two halves to the building, and on the second floor of each half, the sires and dams were housed separately from each other. When in their recovery time or waiting to lay eggs, the dams were free to relax, entertain themselves, visit the various restaurants, and otherwise pass their time. Likewise, the sires could also pursue leisure activities when waiting to mate again. But this was all done in their own halves of the building. They did not see their partners outside of mating.
“Seems lonely,” Zim commented.
“It’s not lonely at all, the dams can all hang out with each other, there’s plenty of common areas,” Kilo explained. “Same with the sires, they’ve got plenty of friends. Now, the first floor…”
He went on to explain that the first floor was where medical facilities and administrative offices were. Eggs were taken down there to be examined, labeled, and put into special incubator tubes to be sent to hatching facilities. The first floor was also where supplies came in for the inhabitants of the building.
There was also a small field outside the building on either side, with flowers and benches if one wanted to take a walk and get some fresh air.
Zim didn’t really see many people as they walked around, though. Mostly he saw employees, identifiable by their lilac coats that looked somewhat like scrubs.
When he brought this up, Kilo said that they had done most of their walking up until now through administrative areas. Now he would take Zim to see the dam side of the building and show him his room.
Jaz ended up stepping away to go back to her office, leaving Kilo and Zim to walk alone.
“Jaz seems stressed,” Zim commented once far enough away.
“Managing the schedule is a difficult task,” Kilo replied. “She has a lot on her mind at all times. But she does very good work.”
“I see. It’s good you have her, then.”
“Yeah, we’d be in hot water without her. So, let’s go up to the second floor…”
They got in an elevator and went up. They were near the center of the building, which seemed to be a neutral area.
“The tiles on the floor tell you which half you’re in,” Kilo said, gesturing. “This white means you’re in the transition area, where you can get down to the first floor. To this side, the green? This is the dam side. And over here, where you see pink? Sires.”
“I see.” Zim nodded as he looked between the areas. They were identical from what he could see, besides the floor.
“The white zone is also where the meeting rooms are,” Kilo said. “They’re pretty simple. Each is identical though you’ll be assigned the same one most of the time for consistency. You and your sire will be told to meet, you’ll go to your room, mate, and stay there until you are with eggs. Then you separate to your respective housing units. There’s a door on each side for this. Let me show you.” He stepped over toward the green side of the building and led Zim down a hallway.
This seemed straightforward but Zim was nonetheless nervous. Meeting and mating with some stranger? Producing eggs? It seemed so foreign.
“Out of curiosity, I was told that as a military irken, I was sterile,” Zim said. “Can I even produce eggs?”
“When you had your military assignment, you were sterile. Your PAK would have prevented ovulation and kept your sex hormones too low for you to notice them. But now that you’ve been re-encoded to be a Reproducer, your PAK will be allowing you to become fertile. Your hormones will build up to their natural levels. Though you may need a few days to fully adjust. Your body will feel very… new to you, no doubt.”
Zim scoffed. “I doubt it’ll be that much of a change.”
“You’d be surprised.” Kilo showed him one of the meeting rooms. “Here, see? These are all numbered. When you get a number, you go in and meet your partner.” He opened the door. It led into a small but cozy bedroom. There was a circular bed with plush covers in the center. Another door was on the opposite side of the room. “These rooms are monitored to make sure your partner doesn’t abuse you. Just video during normal activities, we don’t listen to anything you’re saying unless we have reason to.”
“What?!” Zim’s antennae jolted up. “You mean not only do I have to mate, I’m gonna be watched?!”
“It’s for the safety of all our Reproducers. Especially newcomers. But once we know you and your partner are getting along, we won’t watch you the entire time. We tend to just have some techs flip through the different rooms every so often, make sure things are proceeding smoothly. Trust me, you won’t even notice the cameras.”
Zim gave the room a suspicious examination and couldn’t find any cameras. Still, he didn’t like the thought of being watched.
Kilo hummed and invited him in, closing the door behind him. “So, do you have any experience?”
“What? In mating? Ugh, no, irken soldiers are far too busy for such things.”
“True but I know some of you would experiment when you got the chance. Maybe not you specifically but you aren’t the first ex-military we’ve gotten. But alright, you’re inexperienced then. In that case, I’ll show you what you’ll be expected to do.”
“I think it’s pretty clear,” Zim muttered.
Kilo walked behind him and gave him a push toward the bed. “I always give newcomers a hands on demonstration.”
Zim hesitated, turning to face the other. “Isn’t there an online training or something I could do instead?”
“Relax, this is the best way for you to learn. Some things just can’t be learned through a computer screen.” Kilo kept encouraging him toward the bed, but there was a certain firmness about his pushes, an assertiveness that Zim found difficult to refuse.
Next thing Zim knew, he was falling onto his butt on the bed, and he had to throw his elbows out to catch himself.
He shifted and tried to sit up, only for Kilo to move between his knees, one hand coming down on his chest and holding him there, the other hand going to Zim’s leg. He caressed down it until he reached his boot, which he unzipped and then tugged off.
Zim’s heart started beating hard, claws clenching. “What are you doing?”
“You’ll need to be undressed for this,” Kilo said casually as he pulled Zim’s other boot off, dropping both to the floor. “When it’s that time, you’ll come here in one of the robes you will be provided. Your sire will have one too. Once in here, you will both disrobe.” He swiftly unfastened Zim’s pants and pulled them down and off. “Though for the sake of our demonstration here, we’ll only partly undress.” His hands went to his own fly, unzipping and opening it.
Zim almost wanted to crawl backward away from the flushed red appendage that stretched out, its tip leaking pearly liquid and seeming to reach for him. “H-hey, this is… this really isn’t necessary,” he stammered, muscles tensing as he considered bolting for the door.
“You deserve to have a practice session before you meet your sire,” Kilo said, voice still chipper and informative, but Zim didn’t miss the devious glint in his eyes. The taller pulled him closer by the hips and Zim bit his lip as warm flesh dragged between his legs, stroking against a spot that was far more sensitive than he expected. He trembled, mewling softly when the other’s tip probed against him.
“Sir,” Zim said nervously, continuing to clench the bedspread. It felt hard to breathe suddenly.
“You want to be well-experienced to please your future mate, right?” Kilo said in a low voice. He waited, one antenna perked, for an answer.
Zim swallowed and took a few moments to get his breathing under control and tell himself to relax. This was his duty now. He was a Reproducer. He wanted to be a good one. “I do.”
“Then let me teach you.” Kilo held Zim steady and thrust into him.
“Ah!” A surprised gasp escaped him and he found his body bowing up, following the pull of Kilo's claws in his hips. It was like nothing he’s ever experienced. It was hot and rough and frightening, oddly pleasant but too nauseating for him to truly enjoy it. He kept his eyes shut, telling himself it was just nerves and he’ll get used to this, but it still made him feel violated in a way he didn't quite have words for.
“That's it, something tells me you'll be a fast learner... now listen up.” Kilo didn’t seem to notice his discomfort, or if he did, he didn’t care. He kept a calm tone as he coached Zim on what to do. There were a lot of little things. Stay relaxed. Moan if it felt good. Keep his antennae down and his chin back to show submission. Thighs apart, but his ankles could go behind his partner’s back if he desired.
Zim ended up slipping into a kind of daze partway through the lesson, an unfamiliar sensation overtaking his body and blanking out his thoughts. His body seemed to move of its own accord into the other’s thrusts, and Kilo told him he was doing great, he learned fast, this was all he needed to do when he met his sire.
Zim wasn’t sure what he said in response. Maybe he didn’t say anything. He was fading out. He just listened to what the other was saying, the words blending into a sort of drone, all while those steady movements inside him seemed to push him closer and closer to... he wasn't sure. But it felt like it was all drawing toward a peak. There had to be a resolution to this, right? He felt so hot, he could feel himself tensing, how much longer did it take?
“Stop holding back, I know you’re close, just let go,” Kilo ordered, moving a hand down between Zim’s legs to slip a couple fingers into his sheath and stroke along his retracted phallus.
That touch sent a current of pleasure through Zim’s body and he convulsed, crying out as he found himself suddenly consumed with an unfamiliar ecstasy.
“Aah!” Zim writhed underneath the other and Kilo moaned, finishing inside him. Zim bucked at the feel of cum filling him up, hips rocking into Kilo’s a few more times to keep him in place, before finally relaxing, panting as the fog in his mind started clearing.
“That’s it. And that is what you’ll do with your sire. Very good.” Kilo pulled out, taking a cloth out of his pocket and cleaning himself up before sheathing himself once more. He looked at Zim as he pulled his pants up and tilted his head when he saw him still laying there, eyes half-lidded and wet. “Zim?”
Zim gave himself a shake, suddenly feeling very sick and distraught. “Is it over?”
“Yes, you seemed to pick up what you needed to do as well as any of our other dams. So now… are you okay?”
Zim felt over parts of his body, breathing hard. He didn’t know how to explain what he was feeling right now. He just felt wrong. Tears started spilling down his cheeks and he covered his face as he tried to hide them. “Of course! I’m fine!” he shouted. His voice choked up, betraying his humiliation.
“You don’t seem fine. Talk to me. I can’t help unless I know what’s wrong. Did it hurt?”
Zim shook his head. There was no physical pain. “I don’t know why I’m crying!” he yelled in frustration. “I just feel sick and horrible all of a sudden!”
“I see.” Kilo used his cloth to clean Zim up some too, then fixed his clothing for him. “That’s normal. You just need some time to adjust. Mating can be pretty nerve-wracking the first time you do it. Best to get past this stage with me, and then you can please your sire without feeling bad. The better you both feel, the better your litter will be.”
Zim wiped his eyes off and gave Kilo a curious look. “So it… it normally feels weird and gross at first?”
“Of course. This is very new to you, you were raised military, probably didn’t get a whole lot of physical contact that wasn’t torture. So this is just something you’ll have to get used to. But the hard part is out of the way now. You mated! And when you’re with your sire, you’ll do this and check your PAK for updates on your reproductive system until it reports that you’ve conceived. After which you part ways from your sire and return to your housing unit to rest until it’s time to lay your eggs. At which time, there’s a separate location you’ll do that in. I’ll show you that later.” Kilo looked Zim over and stepped back from the bed. “Go ahead and leave your boots off, you won’t need them for the rest of the tour.”
Zim was still in a confused daze, but he got up and picked up his boots, carrying them as he and Kilo left the room.