Chapter 25 - Acquisitions

A few hours later, I found myself aboard the Beliskner, having found out that there are more definitions of 'the day after tomorrow' than I had initially thought. Naturally, I had planned with sunrise at Valaskjalf, which had meant only about four hours of sleep the other night, but the others were referring to sunrise on Máni which gave us a few additional hours. Hours that were apparently necessary to prepare me for the wedding and whatever else Thor was up to.

Wedding… holy crap! I couldn't believe I was really getting married just a few more hours from now, and that the groom was an Asgard, a small grey alien from a galaxy far, far away. When I looked back on my life, I should have expected to not live an ordinary life, because everything that went smoothly for others, tended to go totally chaotic for me. And for the first time ever, I was absolutely fine with it.

Sometimes I felt like I was walking on a dream and hoped to never wake up from it.

Right now I was standing in Thor's already well-known office, completely alone and waiting for something I didn't even know what it was. Hermiod had gone lost somewhere else aboard the Beliskner for reasons I couldn't even guess. I was admittedly worried about him, hence I kept my hopes up high that his disappearance was just part of the common Asgard wedding rituals. As though they had any, that is.

If there was anything in the world I hated from the depth of my heart, it was waiting. I hated to waste my time so pointlessly. When Thor had left, he'd told me he'd be back in a minute.

That was about an hour ago.

I began pacing impatiently, glaring out the window again and again, from where I had a really luxurious view over Valaskjalf and one of Othala's moons, most likely Idur. Since Hermiod had showed me the scaled down version of the planetary system, I at least knew the names of the moons and where to find them. Glaring out the window, though, didn't make time run faster, just as it didn't decrease my nervousness.

I was losing patience by the minute.

I mean, tomorrow by this time I'd be the wife of Hermiod, son of Thor. There was a ceremony waiting for me of which I knew nothing about. Not the slightest bit. Just because none of those whom I had asked about it had been willing to provide information. I was genuinely angry at them for being so reserved. My suspicion about something very unpleasant to happen grew alongside with my impatience.

For heaven's sake, let the games begin already!

But just when I was about to leave the office and head to anywhere but here, the door opened and Thor entered the room. I glared daggers at him which he conveniently ignored.

'Eir is ready for you now.' He informed me casually, leaving me dumbstruck with a turn of events that I hadn't expected at all.

'Eir?' I spluttered. 'What the hell does she have to do with the ceremony?'

Thor raised an amused eyebrow, his scrutinizing glare almost burning me to the ground. I felt a tad of horror creeping up my spine, because I had absolutely no clue why I had to see a physician before I went to my wedding. It's not that they hadn't examined me before, so they should already know everything about me, most likely even things I didn't know myself.

'She has to prepare you for the ceremony.' Thor told me patiently. 'Without some… modifications you won't be able to close the bond with Hermiod.'

'What?' I almost yelled. 'Modifications? Couldn't you have told me that earlier? What modifications are you even talking about?'

I was really angry. No, angry is not the right word to describe the momentary feeling that was speeding through my system. I was outraged, to say the least. I had become used to the Asgards throwing surprises at me left, right and center, but sometimes I just wished they'd be a tad more considerate towards the fact that I had no clue about virtually everything Asgard.

'We haven't been sure whether those modifications would be even possible.' Thor explained, still much too patient for my taste. 'Unfortunately, when it comes to some crucial features, you're not an Asgard.'

'I haven't been an Asgard all the time already.' I sneered. 'Why is that a problem all of a sudden?'

'Human physiology and its incompatibility to Asgard systems.' Thor said, slowly growing a bit impatient. 'It's more complex than I had expected beforehand. Although we did extensive research on humans, there are still some unsolved mysteries.'

'What kind of mysteries are you talking about?' I asked, completely taken aback by the revelation the Asgard by far didn't know everything about my people. That was good, wasn't it?

'It's mostly about your brains.' Thor said impassively, obviously not willing to go into detail. 'I suppose Eir can give you a much more specific explanation. It's a complex matter.'

'What?' I just blurted out, because Thor's words didn't make the tiniest of sense to me. Suddenly I was terribly afraid. I had gotten used to all those Asgards all around me so quickly that I had totally forgotten I was dealing with aliens and that those aliens were not only alien in their outer appearance. There was still far too much about them that I didn't, couldn't know.

'Please follow me.' Thor said softly. 'Do not be afraid.'

This time Thor was decent enough to not just beam me to the infirmary but actually gave me some time to sort out my own thoughts. He led the way and I followed him as requested. There wasn't anything else I could do anyway, being aboard a spaceship and everything.

I noticed the curious looks of the Asgards passing us by. Of course, everyone around here knew exactly who I was and why I was here. Aboard the Beliskner nobody wondered about the strange tall and hairy alien anymore, but with all the uncertainty about what was awaiting me, I felt terribly alien again this morning. I decided not to utter a single word and just keep pace with Thor who didn't seem like being interested in small talk anyways. He seemed worried, actually, which made my own worries increase tenfold.

Eir and her always busily working team were already waiting for us to arrive. This morning she looked even friendlier than the last time I had seen her. There was a tad of worry on her features as well, but mostly she looked as though she was anticipating whatever was awaiting me.

'Kvedjar.' I greeted her tentatively in Asgard, which made her raise a surprised eyebrow before she replied the greeting.

'You're already accustoming to our language.' She addressed the obvious, tilting her head. 'I can promise that soon it'll be even easier for you to understand us.'

Yeah, sure, just keep on throwing incomprehensible bits at me all the time!

'Why?' I asked in surprise. 'Are you planning to magic me into some kind of language genius?'

She looked confused, obviously having no clue what magic had to do with her work. Sometimes I just loved the chance to take a bit of revenge on them for constantly throwing mysteries at me. However, I just rolled my eyes and left the answer to Thor.

'Humans tend to consider technology they can't explain …trickery.' He said matter-of-factly. 'It's normally not meant derogatorily.'

I laughed silently about Thor's description, but when it came down to it, he was completely right. Also, he had revealed a very important information. Whatever Eir was intending to do now, it had to do with Asgard technology, which was reason enough to be both scared and relieved.

'So what's going on here?' I therefore wanted to know, finally growing tired of being kept waiting for so long. I was pleased when I observed Thor gesturing at Eir to continue.

'You've already been told that you're going to establish a bond with Hermiod that's deeper than just exchanging oaths?' She asked and gave Thor an annoyed glare when I shook my head.

'Honestly, nobody ever told me anything.' I revealed, being just as annoyed as the physician herself.

'Well, it seems I'll have to start at the very beginning, then.' Eir surrendered to her fate, glaring at Thor, then turning back to me. 'According to Asgard tradition, the married couple is engaging into a mind link.' She explained to my utter fascination. 'To keep it simple, your mind-patterns will be interconnected with Hermiod's. For an Asgard, this is a very simple procedure, but you're human, which complicates matters.'

'What do you mean… interconnecting mind-patterns?' I wondered worriedly. 'How does that work?' My inner eye provided me with a very unpleasant image of brain surgery.

'The bond is invisible.' Eir explained. 'Do you, at least, know that Asgards are able to perform a kind of telepathy?'

'Yes.' I confirmed and told her in a few words what Hermiod had shown me back on our first evening in Atlantis. I'll surely never forget the beautiful pictures he had presented me. Eir seemed quite happy when she heard how well it had worked.

'The mind-link will enable you to do the same for Hermiod.' Eir informed me. 'You'll also be able to sense each other's feelings and communicate telepathically if you like.'

'Woah.' I interrupted her. 'But doesn't that mean you have to, I dunno, implant something in my brain?'

Eir and Thor exchanged uncomfortable glances before the physician turned back to me. 'I'd have to place a small device in your frontal cortex, indeed. It will establish all the necessary connections to every part of your brain that's involved when it comes to sensation and speech as well as some further minor connections.'

I threw a horrified glance around, when the whole truth of some alien device messing with my brain was settling down on my mind. The mere thought of it triggered my flight impulse heavily. My brain worked frantically, trying to find a way to just chicken out.

'May I give you a friendly reminder that I'm going to get married tomorrow?' I objected half-jokingly, trying to conceal the fact that the mere prospect of someone poking around in my brain scared the hell out of me. 'I don't have time for any sort of weird brain surgery.'

'I'm not a human doctor.' Eir reminded me, a tad too haughtily for my taste. 'Our technology can place the device in your brain without you even noticing it.'

The annoying tiny voice that was often reminding me of all sorts of dangers suddenly screamed in anger when I began wondering what else they could have done already that I hadn't noticed. On a different note, I was also annoyed by the fact that she made human brain surgeons appear like primitive butchers.

'You scare me.' I simply said, giving in to the decision that telling the truth was always the best strategy.

'There's no need to be scared.' She reassured me with a benevolent glance, and went over to a small table. 'We're not intending to harm you in any way.'

I followed her after making a decision to not let anything she did slip my attention ever again. I was the only human on a ship full of Asgards, and maybe it was necessary from time to time to keep an eye on them when they were taking things for granted. I had to learn to survive in a strange new world, after all.

Eir presented me a quite small device, a little sphere with dozens of tiny spikes that were most likely intended to connect with my frontal cortex. The sphere looked mostly harmless, but experience taught me that the most harmless looking things are often the most dangerous.

'And what exactly does that thing do?' I asked indignantly, scrutinizing the sphere with fascination and disgust.

'It will enhance your brain to interconnect with Asgard technology.' Eir explained. 'As soon as the device is set operational, you'll be able to communicate with other Asgards and to operate our technology by thought alone. Furthermore, it works as a universal translator. It's also useful to connect to the Asgard databases that hold all of our knowledge. Every Asgard possesses a device like this, but we had to make some modifications on yours, considering the physical differences between our races.'

That didn't sound all that bad, actually, because a universal translator was exactly what I had been wishing for ever since the first day I had to work with people who didn't speak my language. Also, knowing about said translator explained a lot as to how the Asgard were able to communicate with thousands of species without having to learn their respective languages first.

The promise of getting access to the complete Asgard databases was also more than tempting, to be honest, because I was a scientist in the first place, and scientists are always craving for improving their knowledge. Also, being finally able to use their internal communication system and other technology would make my life among the Asgard people a lot easier. The nasty little voice in my mind suggested to beam Thor away right in the middle of a sentence as soon as I was able to, just to show him how annoying it was.

Maybe today I encountered just one more of those occasions where it was time to just cast the dice and roll with it. I had done that so often already when it came to the Asgard, so why not risk it one more time?

'Can you promise me this is the only bad surprise for today?' I now asked Thor sarcastically, who, to my utter dismay, just smirked. Instead of him, Eir replied to my question.

'You'll also get one of our hand devices.' She informed me and pointed at another object that was presented on the same table as the, as I decided to call it, brain device. I'm sure there was a cool Asgard word for it, but for the moment I couldn't care less.

The object Eir was referring to was a blue-ish shimmering circle of about three inches in diameter. It was framed by a silvery braid that was meant to be adjusted to the palm of a hand.

'Correct me if I'm wrong, but that thing reminds me a lot of the hand devices the Goa'Uld use.' I grumbled. 'Meeting one of those is, as far as I know, a quite unpleasant experience, at least when you're at the wrong end of it.'

'Our devices are not designed to do any harm.' Eir reassured me. 'It can be used for many purposes.'

Yup, here we went again talking in mysteries. This ever present Asgard habit began to irk me more and more.

'How about an example?' I insisted, not concealing my annoyance any longer.

'You can use it as a healing device, for example.' Eir explained. 'It can fix minor wounds as well as broken bones or damaged body tissues and the like. It can also be used as a substitute for the control stones.'

Finally we were getting somewhere! The hand device seemed to be very practical, indeed, and there was nothing about it that I'd consider a classified secret, hence I understood less and less why it was so hard to tear information out of those people. I was about to become one of them, after all, so to hell with all the secrecy!

'Does it come with a manual?' I wondered, forever being fascinated about the complexity of Asgard technology. 'I mean, how can I learn to use all that advanced Asgard stuff in just a few hours?'

'Those devices are working on mind control alone.' Now Thor explained. 'I'm sure you'll get accustomed to them very soon.'

I'll never be not intrigued by Thor expecting nothing less but miracles from me. Maybe he thought that a person, who was able to convince the High Council of a ludicrous plan, was also able to discipline her thoughts in a way to control complex devices.

'Meh, thanks for your trust.' I groaned, being anything but sure I'd be able to live up to Thor's expectations.

Speaking of expectations…

'So you want me to accept all those devices, right?' I asked carefully, hoping to find out the reasons and motivations to all of this. Thor just tilted his head.

'What if I don't comply?' I challenged him. 'Would you cancel the ceremony and send me back to Atlantis? Would you tell Hermiod that I just wasn't worth it?'

Thinking of Hermiod made my heart ache, because I really missed him and still had no clue where he had gone. I wanted to have him by my side at a moment as crucial, dangerous and life-changing as this.

'Your acceptance of our offerings is not crucial to whether or not you may become Hermiod's hjarta-kostir.' Thor said quietly, lowering his head. 'I only offer these devices to you, because they'll be able to make your life among us significantly easier.'

Suddenly it dawned on me. Once more I had been stupid and selfish and whatnot without realizing what Thor was actually doing.

'Are those your wedding gifts, by any chance?' I therefore wanted to know, feeling embarrassed because of having offended Thor who, once again, meant only the best for me.

He tilted his head and raised his brows. 'Yes, indeed.' He confirmed. 'I'm of the opinion that from the moment on that you're an official member of my family, you should get the chance to integrate into our society the best way possible. Leaving advanced Asgard technology at your disposal is my way to make integration easier for you and to make clear how much you mean for both Hermiod's and my life. Your presence among us is maybe more significant than you might have realized yourself.'

His confession came like a fist to the face, because I totally wasn't ready for it. Thor had just told me that there was no way for both Hermiod and him to lose me. That's why he was so keen on providing all this amazing technology to me. He wanted to give me the best wedding gift he could imagine. I was deeply embarrassed for having been so rude.

'I'm sorry, Thor.' I murmured and meant it. 'That's actually very generous of you. I didn't want to offend you… I'm just scared by the thought of someone placing devices inside my brain.'

'I have taken no offence.' Thor said meekly. 'Furthermore, it's on me to be sorry. I shouldn't have overwhelmed you. Of course, you don't need to take my offers. It won't change anything concerning your connection with Hermiod.'

I lowered my head in deep respect. 'Thank you, Thor. Now that I know your true intentions, I've decided to agree to the procedure. You know that I trust you, and I know you wouldn't abuse my trust for the purpose of harming me. Just… may I ask for one more thing?'

'Certainly.' Thor confirmed, obviously relieved when he heard my confession of how much I trusted him. 'Anything you need.'

'I want Hermiod to be here, too.' I said sternly. 'I'm sure he's doing something important at the moment, but… I mean, having him with me would make it so much easier for me to get through something I consider highly dangerous. I know, I can trust Eir and that I'll be alright… most likely, but…' My voice broke and I looked away, feeling somehow ridiculous for being such a coward.

'Of course.' Thor just said softly, watching me pensively. Then he tilted his head, making Hermiod appear in the infirmary in an instant. Hooray Asgard beaming technology!

My poor love looked adorably confused about the sudden change of locations, while I was secretly looking forward to being able to beam people to and fro, too, in just a little time from now.

'Hermiod, min hjarta.' I said with a smile, leaping over to him. 'I've missed you.'

Hermiod, still looking a tad confused, eyed me in wonderment. 'I've missed you, too.' He looked around the room interestedly. 'What are we doing at the infirmary? Are you alright?'

I smiled at him tenderly to reassure him I was fine and he needn't to be worried. For reassurance, I placed a tender kiss on his forehead and pointed at Thor casually.

'Thor wanted to do some… augmentations before we can start with the ceremony.' I explained carefully. 'I thought it'd be better, if you just were there holding my hand while I'm the usual coward, so I won't chicken out in the last moment possible.'

Of course, Hermiod wasn't stupid in any way, hence he realized quickly what was going on. He first looked at Eir, then his eyes stopped at the devices of interest on the table and then he glared at Thor in surprise.

'You didn't tell me!' He shot at him reproachfully. 'Why didn't you tell me?'

Uh-oh.

Thor glared back at his son venomously. He obviously wasn't happy about Hermiod interfering right there, which had most likely been the reason why he'd sent him away in the first place. Those two still had to learn a lot when it came to father/son relationships.

'It wouldn't have been your decision anyways.' Thor said coolly. 'Matters that don't concern you aren't your business.'

'Aegeti is going to be my kona in a few hours from now.' Hermiod fired. 'Of course, her well-being is of my concern. How could you keep something as crucial as that a secret from me?'

'I was of the opinion that your assistance isn't needed here.' Thor replied icily. 'So I didn't see a point in you wasting your time at the infirmary while you should prepare for the ceremony instead. You know that Aegeti won't be harmed in any way, so I honestly can't see your problem.'

'I know she's safe here.' Hermiod growled. 'But I do not understand your secrecy, father.'

To me it was completely obvious why Hermiod emphasized the word 'father' like that, because it showed even more how much Thor had actually mortified him by deciding against letting him in. I fully understood why Hermiod was angry as that, all the more since up until now I had been absolutely sure that Thor had told him beforehand what he would offer me.

'I'm not secretive.' Thor sneered. 'I just didn't know you're keen on knowing everything.'

We had a very clear case of inter-family misunderstanding here that made me realize the importance of Thor learning how to be a proper father. I realized that Thor hadn't kept the information from Hermiod because he wanted to keep secrets, but because he simply hadn't thought about the matter being of importance to his son.

Now the two Asgards glared daggers at each other that made the air prickle. I sensed a thunderstorm on the horizon that I didn't intend to witness, hence I had to dissolve it before it even occurred.

'Hermiod, it's alright.' I reassured him. 'I'm doing this voluntarily. I really want it.'

Hermiod broke away from Thor and gave me his most adorable glance that made me squat on the floor and look up at him with confidence. 'Love, things will be so much easier for us then.'

'I know that, Aegeti.' He reassured me. 'But there's still a chance you might take severe damage. I don't know how often this procedure has been tested on humans, yet, if ever. For Asgards it's indeed no big deal.' I more and more loved the way how he mixed his own vocabulary with my idioms.

Though, now it was on Eir to interrupt, because it was her professionality that was in question here. She glanced at Hermiod in great self-confidence. 'Don't worry, Hermiod. I've run many simulations in the last few days and none of them showed any complications. The procedure is safe. I wouldn't have complied to perform it, if it wasn't safe.'

Hermiod still looked quite doubtful, but didn't seem to know how to voice his worries any further, as he was obviously outvoted already. 'It's your decision.' He finally told me. 'I have no right to talk you out of it, and I fully trust Eir.'

To hear how much Hermiod trusted the physician made me feel a lot more at ease, because as long as he trusted her, I could trust her, too.

'Thank you, min hjarta.' I whispered softly. 'I'm sure the procedure will be over in no time. Then I'll be a better Asgard than you.' I flashed him a smile.

Hermiod glared at me without saying a word. Though, he couldn't completely cloud his amusement about what I had said.

I just squeezed Hermiod's hand, then followed Eir's instructions and lay down in a certain medical pod that had already been accustomed to humans when I had been at the Beliskner's infirmary for the very first time. I felt easier now and less worried. Having Hermiod by my side was definitely helpful. I always felt like nothing could ever harm me as long as he was with me.

I tightened my grip around his hand, kissed him slightly, then leaned back and closed my eyes.

An hour later I had a murderous headache and the craving need for water. The latter came from my latest version of 'How to throw up despite having a completely empty stomach'. It had worked very well.

I was sitting on an examination table vomiting the hell out of me while, oddly enough, Thor was holding my hand. His bad consciousness was so extreme that it almost developed its own personality. Hermiod stood at his side, glaring the sharpest of daggers at him that I had ever seen, his brows furrowed angrily.

My brain and the spherical device didn't go along very well. I was sure Eir hadn't done anything wrong besides the fact that she hadn't expected a human brain being that stubborn when it came to refusing to accept a piece of metal being placed right inside of it. Placing it hadn't been a problem, because there seemed to be nothing in the universe the Asgard couldn't do with their beaming technology. Also, the little device was intelligent enough to establish the right connections inside my frontal cortex (that's at least what Eir had promised right before she had activated the transporter), so there was no surgery necessary. Unfortunately, my brain didn't want to share an opinion with the physician and made my immune system work extra shifts.

Without any further discussion, I followed her gesture to put my revolting body back in the medical pod that I had only left because I hadn't wanted to throw up right there. At that very moment I was desperate enough to do whatever was necessary to get me back to normal as soon as possible. Laying there, unable to contribute anything useful, I thoroughly observed Thor, Hermiod and Eir who were discussing frantically, trying to find out what had gone wrong or what they had forgotten to take care of. The discussion was controversial, and it took me a while to realize I understood every single word of their Asgard argument.

'Eir, I believe it works.' I interrupted them after a short while. 'I understand every damn word you're saying.'

Three pairs of black almond shaped eyes shot in my direction, surprise on their owners' faces. The medical pod seemed to do its job very well, because the headache was getting better at the same pace the Asgard words were getting clearer. Sometimes patience was key.

I got up quickly in all my enthusiasm and almost fell over because of a sudden rush of dizziness that almost made me throw up all over again. Fuck. That much about patience. I sometimes should really take things slower for my own sake.

Eir scurried over to me in a hurry, scanning readouts at an insane speed, while I locked my eyes on Thor who was standing in the room somewhat helplessly, not really knowing how to deal with a situation that he had caused and that, obviously, hadn't been one of his best ideas in a while. I had learned a lesson, too: Don't take alien technology lightly. Never ever!

Hermiod hurried over to me, too, and took my sweaty hand in his, caressing it tenderly. In his beautiful eyes there was so much fear, it almost broke my heart.

'Hey, love.' I whispered softly. 'Don't worry, I'll be fine. Humans are just a tad slow sometimes.' Hermiod didn't utter a word, just wrapped his long arms around me and held me as though there was no tomorrow.

'I'm so sorry for having worried you so much.' I kept on whispering to him.

'I'm always worried about you.' He admitted. 'You're all I have…'

Now I held him even closer to reassure him that I was still there and that he'd never lose me, come hell or high water. At the same time, I looked over to Eir who was still watching her monitors.

'The cerebral connections are falling into place.' Eir said after some time, clear relief in her voice. 'I should have expected that the human brain is not made to adapt to this kind of technology without problems.'

'What?' I interrupted her. 'You sound like that's bad! I mean, shouldn't I count myself lucky for the fact that my brain doesn't absorb any sort of technology just so? I'm slowly beginning to understand why so many humans are scared by aliens.'

'Your brain is adjusting to it in a remarkably short time.' Eir said, seemingly trying to praise me in a way that didn't imply I was a hopelessly underdeveloped being. Which I was, but I didn't want to harp on the matter to an extent that would have made me feel inferior. So I just groaned and closed my eyes, giving myself back into the hands of Hermiod, enjoying the fact of him being just there.

While I was resting there with closed eyes, I kind of spaced out, and it took me a while to notice the additional amount of information that was bustling around in my mind. First of all, I suddenly knew how the Asgard communication systems worked. If I had called out to Hermiod, I was sure he would have heard me. Also, I understood every single word that was spoken in the infirmary, and all the special terms they used made perfect sense. Generally speaking, Eir's device was awesome. Big time. And now that the headache was decreasing, I allowed myself to appreciate the amazing wedding gift my future father-in-law had provided me with.

So, dammit, Aegeti, be thankful and accept it as the awesome gift that it is!

I opened my eyes again and glared at the ceiling for a moment, putting my swirling thoughts to rest. When I got up this time, I didn't feel dizzy anymore, and the nausea was at an acceptable level. They had been messing with my brain, after all, so it would be more than a miracle if I had felt no inconvenience at all, no matter how good the Asgard medicals were at their job.

'Thor?' I asked, looking over to the Supreme Commander who was still looking like a poor picture of misery, his bad consciousness having increased with Hermiod's over-protectiveness. 'I'd like to talk.'

When I reached out my hand to him, he walked over, somewhat reluctantly, not really daring to look at me or at Hermiod. Hermiod, who wasn't clinging to me desperately anymore, looked the other way demonstratively. He wouldn't forgive his father easily this time. I'd have gotten severe trust issues, too, if the very same thing had happened to me.

'I'm sorry.' Thor said quietly, trying to ignore Hermiod. 'We should have done better research before we provided you with…'

'Stop it, Thor!' I interrupted him, waving my hand to push his upcoming apology away. 'It's fine, really. I'm always taking some time to adjust to something new. So don't lose yourself in self-reproaches here. I take it there's still a wedding to take place. And what's with the hand device?'

Thor looked at me as though he didn't believe a single word of what I said.

'Hey!' I tried to emphasize my statement. 'It's not that you've attempted to kill me or something. Accidents happen, and I don't reproach you. As in at all. It's more the other way around, I appreciate your gift very much.'

Now Thor looked a lot more relieved than before and gave me an open expression that told me more than a thousand words could have told me. A moment later, I realized that he indeed gave me more than just an open expression. No words, though, but definitely a sensation of relief that I only noticed because he was using his own hand device against the empty palm of my hand. I couldn't help but smile.

'Is this how it's always going to be?' I asked softly, barely holding back my curiosity. 'Understanding without words?'

'Neurotransmitters.' Thor explained. 'The hand device can send them through your own neural pathways to your brain where the implant translates them. For a human, who has much better working neurotransmitters than us, this must be a very interesting sensation.'

My smile grew even wider. 'It is.' I approved. 'And I totally love it.'

Even Hermiod looked interested now. I sensed that his anger hadn't ceased, yet, but at the moment he put it in the background, because there were more important matters to deal with than the misunderstandings with his father.

Now Eir closed up to us, interestedly having followed our conversation. She showed me one of those blue-ish hand devices that she had obviously adapted to the different anatomy of a human hand. I reached out to her gladly, and she placed the device on my hand. Getting in contact with it made me shiver all over. The device was connecting to my neural pathways much easier than the implant in my brain. To be honest, the device felt so familiar in an instant as though it had always been there.

'How come I've never seen this thing on you, Hermiod?' I wondered, admiring the shimmering blue circle in the center of the device. 'Don't you have one of those?'

Instead of an explanation, Hermiod showed me his own hand device, blinked at me, and the device was gone.

'What the…' I wondered if I'd ever get used to the Asgard having a practical solution for almost everything. 'How did you do that?'

'In the moment the hand device connected with your neural pathways and the implant, it became a part of your body, just like an additional organ.' Eir explained, slightly amused about my childish enthusiasm. 'You can control whether it shows or not.'

'Fascinating.' I said in an intonation of Mr Spock, including a raised eyebrow.

'I'm glad it works that well.' Eir admitted. 'I've been worried after the heavy reaction you showed regarding the implant. There was a chance your body wouldn't accept the hand device either.'

I knitted my brows and glared at the hand device in deep concentration. It took some time to find out how to control my newly acquired body part, but then the hand device vanished and my hand felt as ever before. 'It works.' I added proudly.

'You are a most peculiar human.' Thor let me know. 'Despite the heavy reaction of your immune system, which is completely natural, after all, you're adapting to our technology at an admirable pace. I've been expecting you'd need much more time to actually use the devices, but instead it almost seems like it came naturally.'

I just crooked a smile, oblivious as to how to reply to a compliment like that. To be honest, I was still extremely embarrassed about my rudeness earlier this day, hence Thor's appraisal came unexpected, yet very welcomed.

I exchanged glances with the three Asgards who were equally fascinated by me. I admit that I was just as much fascinated by myself, especially after Thor's words of appraisal. I had never thought of myself being special in any way, hence I was genuinely proud of myself. I considered my ability to use those devices an accomplished test in 'How to become an Asgard'. My musings brought me back to Hermiod, of course, who was observing me thoroughly.

'I take it those hand devices play a major role in the ceremony?' I finally asked no one in particular. I had a suspicion about the use of the device, though, and therefore I was curious whether I was right.

'Yes, indeed.' Eir confirmed after some moments. 'Without the neural connection, it wouldn't be possible to force a mind-link of such depth and quality. The ceremony would only be a formality otherwise.'

'Indeed.' Now Thor confirmed. 'But I do think you deserve much more than that, what is the main reason why I wanted you to possess both the implant and the hand device. Hermiod and you will be able to establish a connection that would never be possible without the devices.'

Now Hermiod looked at Thor in surprise, beginning to understand what his father's true intentions were. Maybe I shouldn't have insisted on having Hermiod by my side during the procedure. Thor wanted to make a gift not only to me but to Hermiod as well, and he had intended it to be a surprise. I was genuinely sorry for ruining it for him.

'You're actually thinking you can give Hermiod something back, right?' I asked softly with deep compassion. 'You want him to experience the full range of a marriage that the Asgard haven't been able to experience for millennia already.'

Hermiod looked away, obviously ashamed of having opposed his father that rudely something more than an hour ago while Thor had meant only the best for him all the time.

Thor just tilted his head. 'He's capable of a bond like this.' He confirmed. 'Giving him this chance is the least I can do for him. None of us is able to form a bond like this anymore, but Hermiod and you…'

I actually understood every word Thor was telling me between the lines, especially since my last encounter with Odin. I knew that they were hoping to find a way to create clones for themselves that were able to both hold their superior intellect and the wide range of emotions they had possessed before they had lost them due to their cloning technology. I now wished more than ever I'd be able to help.

'Thank you.' I just whispered. 'Thank you so much.'