It only took the alien duo around five minutes, traveling roughly fifty miles an hour to reach their base.

They slowed down and approached the thirty-foot solid tertite gate. Tertite is a metal that naturally forms around mars' core.

The Martian carrying Eric places his hand on the gate. The gate slowly slides open and the Martians hurry inside, past the cargo bay, and into the main hallway.

After a few turns, they walk into a room with the words med-bay above the door. They approach an empty med-bay and lay Eric in it.

The med-bays screen says “Human detected. No nano-bots detected. Automatically injecting nano-bots”. Eight needles pop out and come down and inject him with a white liquid.

“He’s a hu-man? Never heard of such a thing.” The Martian tells his friend.

“Neither have I. I’m gonna go get the commander.” The alien jogs out of the room.

A few minutes later an eight-foot, three-eyed, alien with a fin on his head instead of antennae walks in followed by the alien that got him.

“Corporal Grak informed me of the situation. Thank you for your service, Corporal Rue.” The giant alien addresses the wounded alien.

That's when the med-bay flashes words on its screen “Nano-bots injected. No problem found. Initiating healing. Healing complete. Error. Creator protection rule engaged. Altering body. Body altered. Experimental self-replicating nano-bots injecting.” The eight needles come back down and inject a grey liquid into Eric, but this time Eric starts shaking and spasming.

“Error. Vitals dropping.” The heart monitor flat-lines and Eric goes still.

All of a sudden Eric is in the hallway.

“Wha-”. Eric tries to say.

He jolts upward. In front of him is a tall blue alien with a huge grin and two green aliens with flabbergasted faces.

“Well, I’ll be damned, he's alive. How do you feel?” The blue alien asks Eric.

“Umm, I feel fine.” Eric jumps off the med-bay and clenches his fists.

They feel as if they are humming with power. He pulls his shirt off and looks at his stomach. He had bulked up quite a bit, he wasn't a twig anymore.

“I feel amazing. What happened to me?” Eric asks the trio.

“Wellllll, you were apprehended by the two gentlemartians next to me, Corporal Grak-” He nods at the unwounded alien “and Corporal Rue” he nods at the wounded alien “and my name is Commander Wuk. I’m the highest-ranking officer on this base. The handcuffs we use suck energy from their wielders and, no offense, they aren’t meant to be used on weak creatures.” Commander Wuk explains everything that happened after Eric passed out.

After explaining everything to Eric, who told him his name, Commander Wuk says out loud to the med-bay “Med-bay, tell me everything you altered on Eric's body”.

“I upgraded everything about Eric. He’s 500% better in every way. The experimental nano-bots I injected give him a healing factor, and his strength can be raised by training.” The med-bay says in a monotone voice similar to his AI helper.

Eric just gapes for a second before remembering about someone.

“Um, Mr. AI helper sir, are you there?” Eric asks out loud.

The three aliens look at Eric questioningly. Eric just puts his hand up.

“I am always here” comes a voice out of thin air. None of the aliens react so Eric guesses only he can hear it. “Oh ok. Is there anything I should know? Like was I granted any abilities or anything?”

The two corporals just look at Eric awkwardly as he talks to thin air. Wuk just smiles.

“You did.” is all Eric gets as a reply.

“Oh shit, for real!? What can I do??” Eric asks as a surge of excitement goes through him.

“You have been gifted what every player is gifted. It is called greed. Every time you kill a sentient being with abilities, powers, mutations, anything, you can take their powers”. The AI explains to Eric with its always monotone voice.

“No way. That's so op.” Eric starts thinking about all the possibilities before his thoughts are interrupted.

“Eric? Um, are you ok?” Wuk asks Eric with concern in his voice. Eric can’t tell if it's real or not.

“No, I'm not ok. I'm great! I just found out I’m immortal and just got a super boost!” Eric yells.

“Are all humans like that?” Wuk asks Eric with wide eyes.

“No only a few.” Eric answers honestly “Do you have weights or anything I can use to measure my strength?”.

“I have something that can measure strength.” Wuk pulls a pair of glasses that look like ones you’d wear to a 3D movie. They’re made of a weird dark silver material and have green lenses.

“These measure the raw strength and power someone has.” He looks at corporal Grak “The strength of corporal Grak is four-hundred and ninety-six, and corporal Rue’s strength is five-hundred and one. pretty average for soldiers.” Wuk hands the glasses to Eric. “Go ahead and read my power.”

Eric puts the glasses on and looks at Wuk.

“Jesus Christ, four-thousand eighty-eight!?” Eric screams. “Let’s see what your power level is”. Wuk says to Eric

Eric hands the glasses back to Wuk and he puts them on.

“Your power level is seven-hundred and thirty-four.” Wuk tells Eric

“Does that mean I’m stronger than Corporal Grak and Rue?!” Eric asks Wuk.

“In power, yes, but I’m sure that both of them could give you a run for your money. They are trained in Kuth’tak, the standard martian martial art. The power reader doesn't take all aspects of power into account.” Wuk explains.

“Our power armor also affects the power reader,” Wuk explains to Eric.

“Can I have some power armor?” Eric asks Wuk.

Wuk thinks for a second before saying “Sure, why not? I trust you won’t misbehave”

Wuk tells Eric to follow him and they exit the Med-bay. Corporal Rue stays in the Med-bay to get his eye healed and Grak stays with him.

As they walk through the hallways they pass by many Martians. Most look at Eric funny but all of them nod in respect to Wuk.

After walking for a few minutes Wuk suddenly stops in front of a door. He places his hand on it and after a few seconds, it slides upward. They step inside the room and it's a pretty blank room. There's nobody else in the room besides Eric and Wuk.

“This is my private suit room.” After noticing Eric's confused face he explains; “It is where I repair my power armor if it is damaged. The power armors are arranged in five categories; Tier one, two, three, four, and five. The higher the number, the better the armor. I have tier three power armor. It’s standard-issued to commanders. I’m going to give you a tier-three power armor.” Wuk smiles at Eric

“Why are you doing all this for me? You barely know me.” Eric asks Wuk.

“I’m not supposed to be able to give others tier-three power armor, but I like you. I’ll cover it up, make it look like a system error.” Wuk winks at Eric. “Just step up into the tube, and I’ll do the rest.” Wuk smiles at Eric

And so he does.