Olympia: Planet of Men (Ch. 8)

Chapter Eight | Impact

Suddenly… I was alone. 

I didn’t remember where I was before.

I knew who I was, I remembered being taken by Olympians, and Derek. In the back of my mind I felt a sense of urgency, but couldn’t put my finger on what it was for.

I was standing on what I initially thought was an endless mirror. I could see a clear blue sky above me with only a few tiny wisps of clouds suspended in the air.

As I gathered my senses I noticed, though, that the bottom of my feet felt wet. Looking down revealed the insignificant ripples emanating from my slight movements. I was instantly reminded of pictures of salt flats I had seen. The highly reflective layer of still water created a scene much like the one I was in.

A feeling of dread fell over me once I realized I was not standing in a thin layer of water. As I stared down I noticed there was nothing but water below me. I couldn’t see the bottom at all. The water could’ve been hundreds of feet or even miles deep. It may have been the heightened sense of fear but I could swear I saw movement deep down, something large.

I stood still for several minutes taking in my predicament. At the time I never considered whether or not it was real, it certainly felt like it. I knew it was absurd for me to be standing on water in this way. It didn’t exactly feel like solid ground. It felt more like standing on a dense wet waterbed. Shifting my weight to one side caused the water to ripple, but my foot wouldn’t sink in very far. It would slowly bounce back eventually. 

After feeling a little more comfortable, I decided to try and take a step. I picked a foot up off the watery surface and felt the other one drop momentarily. Slowly, I put my foot back down in front of me. In spite of my fears, it was met with the same somewhat firm watery cushion. I shifted my weight forward and took another step. I probably would’ve laughed had I not been so confused. I was walking on water. After another three or four steps, something drew my attention away from my sauntering. 

It was very faint, but gradually growing in volume. It sounded like galloping, way off in the distance. At first it sounded like one set of feet coming toward me. As it got closer though, more were added to the rhythm. I couldn’t imagine how it was possible. There was nothing solid as far as my eyes could see. 

The few hooves battering the ground eventually became a veritable stampede. It had gotten so loud that it was hard to hear myself think. I thought for sure a herd of horses was going to trample me at any moment.

When the noise was almost too much to bear I cupped my ears and shut my eyes. Just as I did I felt the support of the water give way. I fell into the lukewarm water below me. I let go of my ears to try and swim for the surface. I frantically searched for the air above me but couldn’t find it. I tried to open my eyes but it was completely dark, I couldn’t see anything. I started to panic, and at the same time started feeling dizzy. I was struggling to hold my breath, I really needed air. The dizziness was getting unbearable as well, it felt like I was spinning in every direction. I couldn’t fight the urge to take a breath for too long. The combination of nausea and oxygen deprivation was too much. Without thinking, without considering the consequences… I inhaled sharply.

…

I expected to choke. I expected my lungs to be filled with water. What happened instead was much worse. The darkness that clouded my vision faded partially. I was seeing a vignette of a horrifying scene. I could see Trent and Jiho sitting across from me. Jiho was covered in blood. They were both very much unconscious. I slowly turned my head to the left and Derek wasn’t in such a great state himself. He had a deep gash across his cheek. He and everyone else around me were as limp as rag dolls. The thundering roar I had heard before was the sound of the ship rattling as it hurled through space.

The memories came trickling back to me. I could remember the alarm sounding. One of the pilots told us not to panic, that it wasn’t abnormal for the sensitive scanners to pick up a threat. Before he could even continue though, his colleague made it obvious that it was something to be concerned about.

“What the fuck is that?!”

Before anybody could react, the vessel was rocked by an explosion…

As these memories returned to me I also recognized the source of my dizziness, and it terrified me. The tiny shuttle was chaotically spinning in every direction. Out the window I could see the blackness of space and the pale blue oceans of Olympia tumbling around me. My fellow passengers were flailing about in their restraints. I had no idea what to do. One thing was monumentally clear to me at that moment; we were going to crash.

We were already well within Olympia’s gravitational pull, and not travelling nearly fast enough to escape it. I wanted to check on the pilots but I was afraid to undo my harness. There was no way I could get out of it without being tossed around the cabin. 

In one of my most humbling yet gut wrenching moments I resigned myself. I grabbed one of Derek’s thrashing hands and held on tight. I brought it to my face to smell him, and kissed the back of it. I wished so much that he was awake at that moment. At the same time, I’m glad he wasn’t. 

The craft tumbled over and over as we smacked into Olympia’s atmosphere. I never expected air to have such a massive impact on a ship passing into it. The jolt forced my head to jerk backwards into my headrest. It was painful to watch as Trent and Jiho lurched forward in their seats. In spite of our situation I desperately hoped they hadn’t broken their necks. 

So many emotions clouded my mind as we plummeted through the air. I couldn’t help but curse my life for being so predictably negative. The past three days were a beacon of hope, but in that moment I felt like I was merely livestock being fattened before the slaughter. I kept my eyes on Derek, I felt truly loved for the first time and it was about to end in a fiery explosion. 

The violent shaking of the shuttle tore me from my brooding. I could see that the blackness of space had disappeared and was replaced by the hazy dark blue sky of what was supposed to be my new home. It was slowly getting more difficult to tell which way was up. I tried to make out any sign of land in the blur as the world spun around me. As far as I could tell… we were nowhere near solid ground.

I felt a slight tinge of relief. I wasn’t sure why, considering the speed at which we were falling. We would be obliterated regardless. Even if we weren’t, we’d still be lost at sea. I had no idea what this ship had in terms of life support at sea. 

I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the inevitable impact. I wished for a moment that I truly could walk on water as I did in my unconscious hallucination. I thought about Hermes and his ability to fly. I wished I had his gravity defying shoes. I thought about Athenus… 

…

…

“Athenus!!”, I half-yelled and half-croaked.

…

No answer…

…

“ATHENUS!!”, I screamed.

…

Nothing.

…

I’d mentioned before that I was in no way a religious person. I had no time for God, or gods for that matter. Facing death, though, had me thinking irrationally. I thought about capital G God for a fraction of a moment. I tossed him aside, even in desperation I would never turn to him. His so-called disciples made my life miserable. It was the Greeks whose gods had me feeling as though I was worth something.

Internally I started begging every single one I could name for help. I pleaded with Zeus to use his command of the sky. I implored with Poseidon to cushion us with his control of the seas. I reached out to Hermes, surely he was fast enough to catch up to us as the god of messengers. It was he who was tasked with bringing us safely to Olympia.

Truthfully I had no idea if many of these deities even existed. If they did, I didn’t know whether or not they really were gods. Nor did I know if they were involved with Hermes. 

I must admit though, my lack of faith faltered immensely that day. While clenching Derek’s hand so hard that I might’ve broken it, the spinning slowed down. Not only that… we seemed to be decelerating. 

The spinning blue blur outside of my window became clearer as we stabilized. I could finally make out which way was up. I squinted my eyes to see if I could make out what had rescued us. 

Suddenly though, I’m not sure if it was exhaustion, my vision started fading. I was quickly losing consciousness. In my hazy state, I thought I saw something…

—-

I didn’t dream while I was out. 

I became aware that I was unconscious before I woke. It took no time for me to recall the events that had just transpired. 

“… Derek?”, I groaned as I struggled to lift my heavy eyelids. I could feel someone’s presence near me. 

“Hey Damon.. he’s ok.”, Garrus’s comforting voice came from beside me. 

This was the second time I’d come-to with him looking over me. Only this time he didn’t look nearly as warm and inviting. He had a more serious and somber expression.

“What happened? … where am I?”

My eyes had adjusted and I could make out my surroundings. The room wasn’t too different from the one I woke up in on the starship.

“You’re in a hospital in Apollon City…

As for what happened… it’s a bit difficult to explain. Your ship was targeted by a scout from… an opposing faction… one we never expected to encounter.”, Garrus explained.

“Faction? … you guys have enemies?”, I was terribly confused.

”Yes and no… our planet has never been engaged in any sort of conflict… until today.”

“Who were they then?”

“Well… the Olympians, the people like Hermes, are not exactly human. They’re from a completely different world. They fled their world and escaped with something very important. They weren’t even supposed to be able to find us.”, Garrus vaguely answered my questions.

“Did they steal something? Also… did you say we were targeted? As in, they shot our ship for a reason?!”, I didn’t know what to think about his answers. 

“No no, they didn’t steal. It’s difficult to explain right now. You should relax. Your body has been through a lot. You’ll get answers soon enough”, he brushed off my incessant inquiries. I laid back a little, trying to follow his advice.

“What about everyone on the shuttle…? Are they ok?”

“Your friends are going to be fine. It’s fortunate for some that you were all scanned moments before. But-uh…”, he trailed off, looking as though he was struggling to continue.

“But what?”

“… We lost a pilot… he was a good friend…”, he painfully admitted.

“… I’m so sorry”, was all I could think to say. I meant it too. I was awake on that ship, part of me couldn’t help but think about how I could’ve tried to help. The reality was, though, that there was nothing I could do.

There was a somber, silent pause in our exchange. I could tell Garrus needed a moment to collect himself. 

“S’ok…”, he uttered before taking a deep breath. “Get some rest, alright? When Derek’s finished in the restoration pod I’ll bring you to his room.”

“Oh.. ok…”, I struggled to resist asking more questions. I wanted to know more about Derek’s state, but figured it was best to give Garrus some time.

I tried to do what he asked of me. I laid back in the comfortable bed I woke up on. I thought a lot about everything that had just happened. I nearly died, and yet here I was. One thing that really bugged me was the fact that I was awake as we fell. Why was everyone else unconscious? I also wondered about the greeting ceremony. Did they go on without us, or has it been postponed? It seemed insignificant now but I couldn’t help but wonder. 

After what seemed like an hour Garrus came back into the room. 

“How’re you feeling?”, he asked as I sat up.

“Fine… can’t really get my mind off of things.”

“I’d be shocked if you could. I’ll set you up with a therapist later. He’ll be able to help with any PTSD you might experience. “, Garrus offered.

“… um … alright.”, I’d never done any kind of therapy, so I hesitated.

“Derek’s in his room now, he should wake up soon if you want to be there.”

“Yea, I’d like that.”, I admitted as I swung my legs over the edge of the bed.

“Take your time. Your body is still recovering.”, he insisted.

“Thanks, I feel fine though.”, I stubbornly protested. Physically I did feel pretty ok to be honest. Though I did feel a bit of vertigo from standing so quickly. I stabilized myself by putting a hand on Garrus’s shoulder for support. 

“Alright…”, he started while giving me a worried look. “His room’s not far. I’ll take you there.”

He led the way out and into a large hallway. Part of me expected to see the giant window from Starship Talaria, but this felt more like an Earth hospital. One major difference was how open it felt. I was used to seeing hallways stuffed with I.V. poles, gurneys, and various other equipment with tubes and wires all over the place. Here the hallways were relatively empty. 

“So.. what happened to Derek? Why did he need the restoration pod?”, I asked, hoping he would answer.

“… well uh… everyone on the shuttle suffered severe organ damage with the shockwave from the blast. Derek’s face was struck with shrapnel, he’s lucky it wasn’t further to the left…”

“What about me? I woke up after the explosion.”, I had to ask, it was really bugging me.

“W- … you… your damage was minimal. There was some need for reconstruction, but for the most part you were fine.”

“Why…?”, I felt like a child, but I couldn’t stop myself from questioning it.

“I can’t say.”, he responded in a cold calculated tone. I wasn’t sure if he didn’t know the answer, or couldn’t tell me. I wanted to ask about the ceremony, but I figured I shouldn’t push him any further. He had turned to open a door for me at that point anyway.

Once it was open I could immediately see Derek. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully. There were no visual signs of the trauma we had just experienced. There weren’t even stitches where he had been cut. I walked over to his side immediately.

“He should wake up any minute now. He’ll need to rest a bit before he gets up out of bed.”, he informed me as I sat down on the chair that I assumed was included for me.

“Ok, thanks for bringing me.”

“No problem… his doctor, Remnas, will be checking on him from time to time.”, he informed me.

“Thanks Garrus, I really appreciate your help.”

He just smiled in reply and headed out the door. I immediately turned back to Derek. They had laid him so that both his hands were out over his blankets. I grabbed the one closest to me and gently squeezed. He didn’t wake up, but I felt reassured. He still felt warm.

I waited by his side for about fifteen minutes waiting for any sort of movement. I was staring right at his face when his eyes began to move behind his eyelids. I squeezed his hand in response. He let out a quiet moan and turned his head. My heart jumped when his eyes finally opened.

“Hey…”, I quietly greeted him. There was a long pause before he looked at me and answered.

“… What happened? … where are we?”, he was clearly very groggy.

“… our shuttle was attacked… everyone’s ok though. Except… for one of the pilots.”, I explained. He took another moment to collect himself before saying anything.

“… hhhh… damn…”, he sighed. “Were we the only ones?”

“I think so… Garrus wouldn’t tell me much.”

“I barely remember anything… I remember the alarm… did you pass out too?”, he asked.

“Um, yea… at first…”, I confessed, wondering whether or not I should go into detail. “I woke up though…”

“… oh… ar- are you ok?”, his concern was touching. I squeezed his hand and brought it to my mouth and kissed it softly.

“Yea… it was terrifying, but we’re alive.”, I admitted. He tightened his grip as well. 

We sat in silence for a bit while Derek laid still. I’m fairly certain he was feeling the same existential dread that I had gone through on the shuttle. He spoke up after a heavy sigh. 

“… I’ve never been knocked out like that before… I don’t think I even had a dream… It’s like time just skipped forward.”

“Yea, that’s what it was like the second time I passed out… the first time I had a very realistic dream. Almost reminded me of the one I had when we were brought on the ship.”

“Crazy… what happened?”, he was curious.

“Uhh… I just- I walked on water and heard a stampede, sounded like a bunch of horses.”, I told him.

“Heh, weird… I never took you for the second coming.”, he teased with a cheeky grin. It was so fucking nice to see him smile. It immediately washed away so much anxiety. I shook my head and gently dropped it onto his arm.

“You’re a dork…”, I giggled. I laid there with my head on his arm for a few minutes until we were interrupted. The man I had seen across from Derek at the cafeteria on our first day had walked in.

“Hey there Derek. Nice ta meet ya Damon.”, he greeted us.

“Hey Remnas!”

“Nice to meet you too”, I returned the introduction.

“How’re ya feelin’ buddy?”, he asked Derek. I couldn’t help but notice he had a bit of a southern accent. I wasn’t sure, but I assumed he must’ve been from Earth. 

“Tired… but good! Damon told me what happened…”, he replied with a quick glance in my direction. I half-smiled shyly. 

“Oh yea? … I’m sure ya both still have plenty a’ questions.”

“Yea…”, I chimed in. I had several that were swimming around in my head. Derek nodded in agreement.

“You’ll be briefed on the situation soon. Tomorrow in fact, durin’ the introduction ceremony. It’s been postponed to give y’all some time to recover. We’ve got rooms for everyone for the night.”, Remnas informed us.

“Awesome, when can we get out of this stuffy room?”, Derek asked.

“Uhh… well, ya should be good to go. Let’s see how yuh handle standing. Ya might get a little dizzy at first.”, Remnas answered as he walked over next to me.

I stood up to give Derek some room. Remnas and I gave him a little support as he sat up and stepped down off the bed. He didn’t seem to struggle too much apart from his initial wobble.

“Pfft… I feel fine!”, Derek scoffed with a grin. I just giggled at his usual exuberant demeanor.

“Heh, alrighty then… we’ll still take it slow, but you boys can follow me.”, Remnas instructed as he made for the door. 

We did as we were told and walked out of the room with him. We followed him down the wide hallway in the opposite direction that I came from. It opened up into a massive atrium with a large glass wall and ceiling. The various levels of the atrium protruded further into the space as you went lower, like terraces in rice fields. They had a similar organic shape as well. It looked as though we were maybe four floors from the bottom of the atrium and ten or so from the top. Each tier was heavily decorated with greenery and various bits of furniture. It was almost like standing in a massive greenhouse.

Remnas immediately took a left toward the glass wall that closed off the arch of man-made tiers. I expected to be led to steps, but instead we went straight for an opening on our floor. On the other side of the glass I could see that the undulating levels of the hospital continued outside, as far as I could see. There were bridges, stairs, and plazas scattered throughout. Trees, shrubs, and patches of grass were also littering the artificial landscape. It looked like a futuristic gay utopian mall.

As we walked toward the entryway I started to notice the vertical facades of dozens of buildings. I was expecting to see greek architecture everywhere but it couldn’t have been farther from it. One could definitely see its influence but each building had character. The one closest to us clearly had been inspired by 1920s Art Deco. It was a mixture of glass and polished aluminum in a shape that was reminiscent of 30 Rockefeller in New York, but not nearly as “slab” like. As it turns out, this was exactly the building we were heading to. 

“This is where y’all will be stayin’ tonight, here”, Remnas pointed up at the tall slender tower. 

“Wow…”, Derek gawked. Remnas chuckled quietly as we continued walking toward the structure. 

“I’ll help you boys get checked in then I gotta get back to the hospital.”

“Alright, thanks”, I replied.

Just like at the hospital there were no doors, just a large classical themed entryway. I was expecting to see a concierge desk, like in hotels I’d seen in movies but there was nothing of the sort.

In the middle of the lobby was an enormous statue of what was most likely Zeus. He was seated on a massive marble throne with a jagged staff in one hand and an eagle perched above his opposite shoulder. He was staring down at the entryway as if surveying everyone who walked through it. 

I wouldn’t have been surprised if the statue opened its mouth to speak to us, but instead the familiar shimmering light appeared a few feet in front of us. 

“Welcome to Olympia!”, Athenus greeted us in his signature optimistic tone. “I’m sorry your first day was so terribly unpleasant, but I’m very pleased you’re both ok!”

“Hey Athenus”, I returned the greeting. “You’re here too huh?”

“Of course!”, he replied.

“He’s the official public AI, he’s by far the most extensive, and most intelligent.”, Remnas added.

“You’re too kind! There are other AIs of course, but he’s right, I’m accessible all over Olympia in many public facilities.”, Athenus continued.

“That’s so cool!”, Derek gushed. Athenus smiled and gave a modest bow.

“I hate to be so hasty but I need to get back, can you get these boys set up with a room for the night please?”, Remnas interrupted.

“Yes sir! I’d be glad to.”

“Great, thanks! You boys get some rest.”, Remnas instructed one last time as he turned toward the exit.

“Thanks Remnas! We will.”, Derek assured him.

“Thanks!”, I added with a small wave. He was out of the building rather quickly after that. Derek and I turned to Athenus who was waiting patiently for our exchange to end.

“Alright! What kind of accommodations would you gentlemen prefer? I can set you each up with a room, orrrr maybe you’d prefer to share one?”, he asked playfully. I was surprised he didn’t give us the over-the-top wink as well. 

I looked at Derek, of course I wanted to share a room. I didn’t want to assume that he was up for it considering the traumatic experience we had just gone through. He looked back at me before answering for us.

“We’ll share a room.” 

I was so relieved, I hated the thought of being alone right now. 

“Fantastic! If you’re not scared of heights, this tower has some great views. There are rooms facing either the gulf or the city. Do you have a preference?”, Athenus queried.

“I don’t mind heights”, I shared.

“What about the view? Do you care?”, Derek asked me.

“A gulf view might be nice, but I’d be cool with either.”, I answered.

“Sounds good to me too.”

“Excellent, then I believe I’ve got just the room for you. You’ll be on the 78th floor in room 9. 

The elevators are behind the statue.”, Athenus instructed as he pointed around Zeus’s throne.

“Thanks!”, we both exclaimed.

“Of course! I’m available any time if you need further assistance.”, he recited before vanishing in a glimmer of light.

Derek and I were alone again. We started for the elevators after a quick glance in each other’s direction. Once we started walking I couldn’t help but remember something I was curious about.

“Is Remnas from Earth? It’s an odd name for a southerner.”

“Hah, I thought so too. I asked him about it… he changed it when he was brought here. He was named after his shitty dad.”, Derek replied. “That’s pretty much all he told me.”

“Gotcha… I guess I can relate.”

Derek nodded as we approached the massive sculpture. I couldn’t help but admire it as we walked around. It was immaculate, the artist spared no detail on Zeus’s figure. I could even see the small cracks and pores in the skin of his hand and legs. I wondered how it was created, was it hand crafted or digitally modeled then synthesized? I had to find out at some point.

I gasped quietly when we approached the elevators after walking behind the statue. There were twelve of them, each within an unimaginably tall glass tube that stretched all the way to the top of a narrow atrium. There seemed to be at least a hundred floors between us and the top.

After pausing to admire the engineering, Derek pressed the call button. One of the elevators immediately opened for us. We stepped inside.

Unlike the elevators I had experience with, there were no buttons at all. Though, having experienced Olympian technology for a few days already it took no time to think of what to do. 

“He said 78, right?”, I asked.

“I think so.”

“Floor 78.”, I stated to whatever was listening in the elevator. As expected, the door shut and we were off. The chassis accelerated quite rapidly. It was much faster than elevators on Earth. The various levels were flying by. As we went up we slowly rotated 180 degrees to face away from the atrium. I noticed a few other elevators going down as we were being brought to our floor.

Finally the cylindrical lift slowed down and stopped. The door quietly slid open and we could see the number 78 in massive letters taking up the entire height of the wall across from where we stood. We stepped out and started looking for our room. I took a quick glance out the glass window looking into the atrium. The bottom level was impossibly small from our floor. The top was visible, but it was clear we were still a few dozen floors from it. 

“Hey Damon, come check this out…”, Derek called out, sounding a little mystified.

It was obvious what had his attention when I turned to look for him. He was standing next to a large window at the opposite end of the rectangular atrium. From where I stood I could already see some of the captivating view. I walked straight to him, curiosity compelled me to. 

The view was absolutely marvelous. As far as I could see there were towering structures of metal, stone, and glass. It was a city unlike any I had seen on earth. There was no claustrophobic congested grid of streets. Instead it was miles and miles of meticulously tailored landscapes and plazas. It almost looked as though the skyscrapers were monumental trees sprouting from a man-made forest. 

Some were far taller than any building I’d ever seen in pictures. I wondered what the Sears Tower would look like next to them. For one, it would look blocky and uninteresting compared to the curvy gravity defying superstructures I was seeing. Zooming around between the towers were hundreds of flying vehicles in all shapes and sizes. Quite a few were the same spherical orbs darting across the sky. 

Derek stepped away to look for our room as I continued taking in the scene. I was beyond excited, I felt like a child the day before going to a theme park. In spite of the horrible welcome we received I felt a rush of exhilaration. I wondered what my life was going to be like here. Would I be able to live in one of those glass towers? What are people doing out there right now? As I was swimming in the possibilities Derek interrupted me.

“Found it!”, he shouted from the other side of the atrium. I followed his voice and located the room. Derek was standing in the doorway. There was a tall narrow sheet of metal next to it with the number “9” cut out of it. 

We both walked in and the door slid shut behind us. On the opposite end of the space was a window that took up the entire height and width of the wall. I could immediately see the gulf that Athenus had mentioned. The blue expanse stretched on over the horizon, it looked endless. Off to the right the sun was starting to set. It wasn’t too different from an earth sunset. There were mixtures of red orange and purple, but the star itself was noticeably paler than the one I was used to. 

The room was quite spartan. There was a large bed facing the window and one night stand. Immediately to the left of the entrance was the bathroom. On the right was a tall mirror. 

Derek walked into the room and immediately plopped down on the bed. I peered into the bathroom to see what the facilities were like. It wasn’t too different from those on the starship. A large shower and bathtub, the same odd toilet in its own room, and of course a sink. I turned to the large mirror to check myself out. I knew better, but I wanted to see if there were any visible signs of the ordeal I just went through. I looked normal, but the mirror itself reacted to my gaze.

Much like the shower stalls on the ship, a simple interface appeared below my face. There were a few buttons I could interact with: “Appearance”, “Room”, “Information”, and “Services”. Clicking “Appearance” took me to a wildly entertaining application that allowed me to change the way I looked in the reflection. I tried out several different bizarre hairstyles and colors. I actually kinda liked the way I looked with a beard. There was an aging function that showed what I would look like in any number of years. I called Derek over to show him my rugged muscular future self. 

“Goddamn… you’re even hotter!”, he remarked while looking the image up and down. I smiled bashfully at his layered compliment. He started tinkering with the options, giving me bright red hair, a pot belly, and giant balls. We laughed for a while at the results. 

For five minutes or so we stood there manipulating our appearance in front of the mirror before I got curious about some of the other options. I navigated back to the main selection and tapped “Room”. The following page had tons of options, like “Presets”, “Style”, “Bed”, “Decor” and more. “Presets” was the first option so I tapped it. This time there was a list of options that I could apparently scroll through. Derek reached forward quickly and tapped “Seaside Bungalow”. 

In the mirror we saw the room around us change. The walls became horizontal wood paneling with nautical decor. The ceiling became the inside of a vaulted thatch roof. The bathroom almost completely disappeared. In the corner a small closet appeared for the toilet with a brown slotted wooden door. Out in the open, behind a divider made of pale yellow reeds was a large hot tub. Our bed had moved slightly closer to the window and grew in size. It had changed to something more fluffy and inviting with a thick white comforter and teal pillows. It looked like something I had seen Trish ogling on the travel channel.

Apparently Derek was satisfied, before I could do anything he tapped the “Apply” button that had appeared after he made his previous selection. Nothing changed in the mirror itself, but the recognizable simulation shimmer appeared all around us and our room changed to match its reflection.

I felt myself giving a dumbfounded smile. Our entire room was a Sim with a window… 

“Oh yea. Muuuuch better.”, Derek stated. 

“Uhh, yea!”, I agreed enthusiastically. “This is crazy!”

Derek crossed the floor and jumped in our new bed. I stood there for a moment wondering just how many rooms are like this on Olympia. I knew I wanted to find an apartment that let me do this.

“Mmmmm, it’s like laying on a cloud…”, Derek moaned as he sank into the mattress. 

I had to try it myself so I crawled in bed with him. He wasn’t wrong, it felt like we were laying on a large pillow. I cuddled up to him and rested my head on his chest. Together we laid there in bed and watched as our new sun slowly disappeared beyond the horizon. It wasn’t long after that we fell asleep in this position. It certainly wasn’t the worst way to end this rollercoaster of a day. 

—

When I woke up I immediately felt a sense of dread. Our entire room was bathed in a dull red light and I thought for a moment I was seeing the same warning lights that had appeared on the shuttle. I quickly sat upright to try and get a sense of what was going on. It slowly sank in as I looked out the window. The red light was coming from outside. The entire morning sky was a deep red. The ocean below was dark purple, almost black. 

I thought back to our brief experience in the library on the ship and remembered the second star. I felt so much relief once I realized I was seeing a natural phenomenon. At the same time a rush of intrigue swelled inside me. It was such a bizarre sight to see nothing but red.

Derek must’ve felt my abrupt change in posture because I felt him stretching below me. I turned back to see his heavy eyed gaze looking up at me. 

“… what the hell?”, he asked while rubbing one eye.

“It’s the other star. Remember how they said it gives off red light?”, I reminded him.

“… … Oh yea”, he said with a yawn. “What time is it?”

I looked around the room for a clock. There was a digital alarm clock in the night stand on the other side of Derek. 

“Almost 6:30”, I told him.

“Gees… early”, he mumbled. 

“I think we fell asleep pretty early too.”

Derek put an arm around my waist to try and pull me back down with him. I happily complied to his unspoken request. This time he put his head on my chest as we continued resting. 

—-

It was Derek who woke up first the next time. I felt the bed shift as he crawled out of it. The sound of him urinating came from behind. I realized I had to do the same so I followed suit. Before I could finish though I heard the sound of water gushing out of a faucet from outside the slotted door.

Derek was filling the tub when I stepped out. He looked up at me and grinned. 

“Mornin’ … birthday boy.”, he teased.

I had completely forgotten that today was supposedly my Olympian birthday. According to the integration officer I was born on this day fifteen of this planet’s years ago. 

“Hahaha, thanks…”, I chuckled.

“I see you’ve already got the appropriate attire on.”, he continued as he tested the water with one foot in the tub.

“Oh yea.”, I boasted while wagging my hips. “Naked as the day I was born.”

“Mmmm…”, he moaned at my display. 

I snickered. “… I’m surprised the tub doesn’t instantly fill itself, it’s a simulation after all.”

“Huh… I didn’t consider that… Oh well, it’s filling up pretty quickly anyway.” 

He was right, the waterfall like faucet was dumping gallons of water every second into the glossy basin. I stepped over to join him. He sat down as I stepped over and into the tub. It had tons of room for the two of us. We could both lay down side by side with a bit of room to spare. 

Once the water was up to a reasonable level Derek stopped the flow and pushed a button to turn on the jets. It was incredibly relaxing. I turned so that I was laying back on his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and we sat like this for several minutes. 

Eventually, though, he started to explore my body with his hands. He made his way down to my cock and started stroking. It took no time at all for me to get rock hard. I turned my head so that we could make out as he pleasured me.

He reached up with his other wet hand and gripped my chin. He held me there as we kissed for a minute before pulling my head back. He dove in for my exposed neck and began licking, biting, and sucking at it. 

“Mmm…. so salty.”, his muffled moans vibrated my nape. It sent shivers down my spine. I felt his hard rod as he gently pressed it against my back. 

He kept this up for several minutes. I felt myself getting close many times but I held back. After a bit he made a tantalizing request.

“Sit over there, it’s time for a birthday bj.”, he pointed to the other side of the tub where a flat ledge made a perfect seat on the edge.

I did exactly as I was told. As I stood I felt a slight pinch. I looked back to see that he had bit one of my cheeks. I wiggled my ass in his face a little to tease him. He took it as an invitation and went in for another bite before sliding his tongue up the entire length of my crack. I let out a sharp moan at the unexpected invasion.

He gave my ass a quick hard smack before I continued moving across the tub. I sat down on the ledge and waited for my studly lover to service me.

He moved through the water and positioned himself between my legs. He wasted no time putting his face on my groin. He licked all around my balls before moving up to the shaft. He licked its entirely length over and over. After several good laps he brought his warm mouth down over me. 

He bobbed his head up and down in a steady rhythm. He switched between massaging my balls and sliding a finger below my taint to my hole. He’d gotten very good at pleasing my cock in the past few days. 

At some point he switched to stroking my cock in time with the motion of his head. This was the best finishing move for me. Something about my cock being squeezed and the warm wetness of his mouth sent me over the edge. I noticed he was furiously beating himself off with his other hand. The thought of him getting off to my cock was too much. I was ready to blow.

“Fuuuu…ck… I’m about t..o cum.”, I heaved. 

“Mmhmmm…”, Derek moaned encouragingly.

He picked up the pace and brought my cock deeper down his throat with every stroke. That was more than enough. 

The build up gave way and I started shooting into him. As I did he put my entire length down his throat and swallowed around my member. It was fucking amazing. His tongue sliding and pressing against the bottom of my shaft sent waves of pleasure across my body. 

When I was finally finished he removed me from his mouth and quickly stood up. He was beating away as his rock hard cock. I felt as though I had never seen a more erotic sight. His soaking wet body glistened in the morning light. The way his abs flexed as he took in deep breaths was absolutely beautiful. He brought his other hand up and rubbed up and down his chest. The sight was far too good to resist. I dropped down into the tub below him. 

He caught onto my change of position immediately and looked down at me. Our eyes met and he gave me a devilish grin. I reached up and rubbed at his muscular thighs. 

“Fuck yea…”, he whispered.

Without any warning his first wad of jizz came flying out at my face. It splashed right into the corner of my eye. I winced expecting it to hurt a little but it really only surprised me. With one eye closed I tilted my head back and opened my mouth for the rest of the flood.

I immediately felt a few warm drops fall onto my tongue. I quickly brought them in to taste their salty goodness. Afterwards I decided I didn’t want to waste any more so I leaned forward and pulled his spurting cock into my mouth to swallow the remainder of his load.

Once he was satisfied he pulled out, breathing heavy in the midst of his afterglow. He looked down at me and noticed I still had one eye shut as I met his gaze. His manly fluids were running down my face like a thick creamy white tear.

At first he seemed a little concerned, but when I smiled that was quickly replaced with hysteria. We both laughed at my predicament while he sat back down in the bathtub.

“Got an eyeful, did you?”, he quipped.

“Mhmm, no regrets.”, I responded while licking the cum off my lips. 

We continued our bath for another ten minutes or so. Derek helped me rinse off his ejaculate as well. We finished up when he complained about his fingers and toes getting wrinkled. 

“I wonder where we can find some food.”, he stated as we were drying off. 

“It looked like there were lots of cafes downstairs in the… mall looking area.”, I suggested, unsure of what to call the tiered landscape we had walked through yesterday.

“Awesome, Athenus can help us too, I’m sure.”

“Yea”, I agreed.

When we were finished we made our way down to the lobby. We called out for Athenus once we were on the other side of the Zeus statue.

“Gentleman! How can I help you?”

“Hey Athenus! We were wondering if you could tell us where we could get some food?”, Derek asked.

“Naturally! There’s plenty of options in the vicinity. Let me pull up a map.”

In the air beside us a three dimensional map of the surrounding cityscape appeared. There were several markers that indicated the locations of several eateries nearby. We ended up picking the closest one which was two levels down just out the front of the hotel. It was a little euro bistro that served breakfast. Before we left Athenus had some information for us.

“Excellent choice, their hand-made bloody mary’s are very popular! 

… Before you go, I was instructed to inform you of your schedule for the day. At 11:30 you will be transported to the capitol for the greeting ceremony. You can summon transport from just about anywhere, but there will be several vehicles stationed here for our new arrivals.”

Derek and I both agreed that we’d rather take one of the pre-arranged transports than try and summon one for ourselves before we set off for breakfast. 

At the restaurant we both tried the bloody marys that Athenus suggested. We both offered speculation over what the ceremony would entail. Derek was fairly certain it would be some homoerotic extravaganza. I recalled what we had been told about it being a fairly tame event. We sat at our table for quite a while until it was getting close to the time we were told to depart.

We both made our way back to the tower as instructed. Just as Athenus had said there were several somewhat familiar looking vehicles parked outside of the building. They were the same spherical glass transports that I had seen flying around the city yesterday. Each one had a metallic ring around it with three cylindrical thrusters equidistant from each other. Inside there was room for two seats. 

As we approached there were already people buckling in and taking off. A couple men were guiding guests to these autonomous orbs for transport. When we got close we were approached by one of the guides.

“You boys heading to the capitol?”, he asked us.

“Yep!”, I chimed in.

“Excellent, have a seat in the pod over there. Once you’re buckled in you’ll be there in no time.”, he instructed as he pointed.

“Thanks!”, Derek and I replied.

We did as we were told, exchanging a nervous glance as we walked in the direction of the pod he pointed out. I’m sure Derek was feeling just as apprehensive as I was. There was no reason to think there’d be a repeat of yesterday’s events, but it was on my mind.

Once we were at a spherical pod we hopped inside and settled into the pair of seats. We both got buckled in fairly quickly, it wasn’t too different from seatbelts in cars on Earth. When we were both secured the circular door slid shut and the thrusters began to hum. The ring on which they were situated rotated so that it was parallel to the ground and we slowly began to lift off. 

As soon as we were off the ground it began to accelerate rapidly. The ring wobbled chaotically as it kept us stable in the air. In no time we were zooming through the forest of impossibly tall towers. 

We were in the air for about ten minutes before we slowed down. Ahead of us, in the middle of a high-rise void, was a steep hill with light gray cliffs on almost all sides. It was sloped so that the highest point faced the gulf. It reminded me of photos of the acropolis in Athens. Just like it, there were several classical themed structures atop the butte that seemed to be made of marble. Instead of crumbling ruins, though, they were all immaculate and much larger. 

Our craft made its way to the far end of a large plaza at the very top. On the other end was an obscenely large building that resembled the Parthenon. I had never seen the Ancient Greek building in person, but I was fairly certain it paled in comparison to the size of this particular temple.

There were already at least a hundred people standing around waiting near the temple-like structure when we stepped out of our craft. I recognized some of the faces as fellow travelers from Starship Telaria. We joined the crowd and waited patiently for the rest to arrive. 

“Derek, Damon!”, A familiar voice called out from behind us after several minutes of standing. We both turned to see Trent and Jiho walking towards us from the landing area. 

“Hey!”, Derek beamed in response. It was so nice to see them again, but I couldn’t help but picture the horrendous state they were in the last time I did. I shook it off as quickly as I could. They were fine, and I was grateful.

“Hey!, how’s it going?”, I asked as they approached.

“Great! Considering we’re alive.”, Trent replied nervously.

“Yea.. heh”, Derek agreed. We all chuckled apprehensively at the morbidity of the exchange and what had transpired.

“That hotel room was awesome though, we set it to look like a mountain lodge with a huge fireplace. We slept for so long.”, Jiho interjected while swooning.

“Oooh, that sounds awesome.”, I confessed. “We did the seaside bungalow, it had a pretty sweet hot tub.”

 “We saw that one! Almost picked it.”, Trent added.

The four of us tried to catch up by talking about our night and morning. Apparently they missed the red glow, I insisted that they try and get up early tomorrow to see the oddly pleasant hellscape. Derek, of course, reminded them that it was my Olympian birthday and they all demanded that we do something fun later to celebrate. 

Our conversation was cut short, though, when our former captain stepped out of the large classical structure. He stopped at the top of the stairs and waited patiently for the crowd to settle down.

“Good morning gentleman!

Welcome to Olympia!

I’m so thrilled and more importantly relieved that you’ve all made it here. 

By now I’m certain most of you have heard of the tragic event that occured yesterday as you were all being transported to the surface. 

To the twelve of you who had to endure the first ever attack on our planet, I am deeply sorry.”

I looked around at Derek and our two new friends. It was strange hearing Hermes address us in such a way. 

“I want to assure each of you that in spite of the tranquility, our planet is heavily fortified against any potential threats.

Our primary goal is to ensure that every citizen lives their longest, happiest, and most fulfilling life.

With that in mind, you’re about to meet the man who made every bit of this possible. 

The creator of Olympia himself.

Gentleman, I’m so thrilled to introduce…

My radiant brother…

Apollo!”

---

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