How I Met Your Alien

Alex, Aisha, and Morcai appeared back in the massive amphitheater in Mount Olympus, followed by Sophia, Bjorn, and Chet. Hermes ran over to greet them. As he did so, he noticed the alien Morcai.

"Whoa, whoa. What's going on, guys? What's with the alien?" Hermes said.

"It's with us," Alex said. "It's going to provide intelligence on the enemy in exchange for getting to live."

"Oh. Well, that's great news then! I'm gathering you were successful." Hermes said.

"I downloaded all of the data from the outpost into this portable hard drive, and we have someone who can provide information not included in the data from the outpost. I'd say we were very successful," Alex said, handing over the hard drive.

Sophia and Chet made looks at Alex when he said that.

"What's with the staring daggers looks, my guys? If the mission was successful, shouldn't we all be in a good mood?" Hermes said.

"There was a disagreement over who should have the position of authority in the group. Sophia thought it was her. I thought she was acting like a crazy person on a power trip. So I took over. She and Chet are still a little butthurt over it," Alex said.

"I see. Say no more," Hermes said, laughing. "Well, actually, do say more, but later."

"How did the rest of the groups do?" Alex asked.

"Mixed. Some were successful. Some weren't. Some are currently missing in action. But none were as successful as this group! Completed the mission as described with a bonus! You guys deserve a raise," Hermes said. "Who am I kidding? We're not paying you." Hermes laughed.

"Everyone report back to your gods, and I'll come get you in a bit for a debrief," Hermes said. He looked at Morcai, lightly grabbed its arm, and started leading it away. "You're going to come with me. We'll find a nice comfortable cell, I mean room, for you."

'I'm not staying with you?' Morcai thought to Alex.

'Do you need to? Are you ok?' Alex thought.

'I would feel much more comfortable with you. Even if I have to be restrained,' Morcai thought. 'I don't know these people. I'm scared.'

'Ok. You'll stay with me then,' Alex thought.

"Hermes. Is it ok if Morcai stays with me? It doesn't feel comfortable around other people. I can put it in handcuffs if that makes you feel better," Alex said.

"Yeah, that's fine. Don't worry about handcuffs. You think you're all not already in handcuffs?" Hermes laughed. "Yeah, we have a security system that prevents violence from any non-godly entities here."

"That's reassuring and terrifying," Alex said. "Thanks though. I appreciate it." He grabbed Morcai by the arm and led it away.

The group split up to go meet up with their separate gods. Alex walked Morcai over to the couch in Ludos' corner.

'Thank you,' Morcai thought.

'No problem,' Alex thought.

"Who's the newbie? They're really beautiful." Ludos said, admiring Morcai's appearance.

"This is Morcai. It is obviously an alien, but it's going to give us intelligence on the enemy to enhance our strategy going forward. They can't speak English. At least not yet. Actually, I'm going to fix that," Alex said.

"You think we're speaking English right now?" Ludos said.

"Are we not?" Alex said.

"You are, but a lot of us aren't. I don't have a native language since games emerged in multiple cultures with different languages. So I don't know what I'm speaking right now. The system that runs Mount Olympus automatically translates everyone's speech into whatever is familiar to the person hearing it. Morcai should be able to speak if they try," Ludos said.

"Huh. I never thought about that. I guess I just assumed English was a common language, so everyone spoke it," Alex said.

"Nope. You think Thor is going to learn English? He's too busy fighting giants and watching over Midgard and Asgard. And feasting. He does a lot of feasting."

'Hey, Morcai. It turns out you should be able to talk out loud to people other than just me. This place translates languages so people can talk to each other,' Alex thought.

'Talk out loud? What do you mean?' Morcai thought.

'Like vocalizing. With your mouth and your throat muscles,' Alex thought.

'Oh. My kind mostly reserves that for sex. But I can try,' Morcai thought.

"Hi. My name is Morcai. What's yours?" Morcai said.

"Ludos. Goddess of Games." Ludos said.

"Oh, am I supposed to say my title? I'm Morcai. Researcher and Data Scientist for the domination of Earth and the extinction of the human race." Morcai said with a cheery smile on its face.

"Ok! Now that we've got introductions out of the way, Ludos, I need to talk to you about something," Alex said.

"Yeah, what is it?" Ludos said.

Alex explained what went down on the mission, highlighting the fight with Sophia.

"I need a way to get stronger before the next mission, or I need to be on another team, because Sophia is going to try to kill me," Alex said.

"You don't know that. Just because she tried to kill you once, has displayed sociopathic tendencies, and stares daggers into your back every time she sees you doesn't mean she is going to try to kill you again," Ludos said.

"Actually, that's exactly what that means," Alex said.

"Oh. I guess I should pay more attention when people threaten to kill me. I just thought they were sore losers," Ludos said.

"Aside from the very concerning thing you just said, which we will absolutely get to later, do you know how I can get stronger fast?" Alex said.

"Of course! You've got skills training, mock battles, meditation, cultivation, power-up items, divine blessings, and hypersmolic time chamber. The list continues, but those are the most effective ones," Ludos said.

"Hypersmolic? Why is it called that?" Alex said.

"Because hyperbolic is copyrighted," Ludos said.

"Oh," Alex said. "Uh, copyright gods, please don't strike us." Alex made prayer hands.

"If I were you, I'd suggest hypersmolic time chamber, combined with skills training, mock battles, meditation, and cultivation," Ludos said. "For the benefit of the cosmic spectators, I will briefly explain the hypersmolic time chamber. It creates a time dilation effect where every 6 days spent in the chamber is one minute in the real world. It gives you more time to train and strengthen your abilities."

"Okie dokie. Let's get to it," Alex said. "I don't know how much time we have."

Hermes appeared with his signature gust of wind. "Thor want's all the successful teams to join him for a feast in Asgard. You have about 10 minutes before we leave with or without you."

"Ok," Alex said. "I guess we do know how much time we have."

Hermes sped off again, disappearing from view.

"Yeah, we better get to it." Ludos waved her hand, and a white submarine like door appeared out of nowhere. "Bring your friend. It can help us train."

"Come with us," Alex said.

"Where are we going?" Morcai said.

"Time dilation zone. It'll give me more time to train and get stronger," Alex said.

"Ok," Morcai said taking Alex's hand.

Ludos opened the door and gestured them inside. Entering last, Ludos closed the door behind them, and it disappeared.