Chapter 20

Odin was less nauseous while mimicking a human to drive the car than when he was in his Host's native form, but traffic was worse than Odin expected. It hadn't been that bad when he had ridden with Freyja in the past. He was realizing that was likely due to it being later at night, not in the morning. His stomach growled while he stared at the tail end of a pick-up truck featuring a faded image of a political figure he instinctively knew Freyja detested. He was certain she would not appreciate that the man was naked save for an American flag covering his groin.

Perhaps invading this planet is a mistake on more levels than I can comprehend. Maybe it's not worth taking, he thought to himself as he inched into the exit lane.

It had taken him much longer than he had hoped, but he was finally in the correct area, near the Mall-Mart where Freyja had purchased many of her supplies. There were a number of fast food restaurants situated in the parking-lot around the large gray and red building, like planets orbiting a star. Predators were often aggressive and extra observant of danger when feeding. If he could pass for human in the Burger Hat then his disguise wouldn't need any alterations. It was a risk to go inside but necessary, both to check how his form was received and to quell his own hunger.

"I'll have a Double Hat Double meal with large fries and large Professor Jalapeno," Odin ordered flawlessly.

The human behind the register didn't even bat an eye...until he took the hundred dollar bill and got his manager. The middle aged woman spent some time checking the bill before unlocking the register to get the proper amount of change. Odin made a mental note that he shouldn't pay for anything under ten dollars with a bill that large. While it was true he now had more bills they were worth less and occupied more space, not to mention it was impossible to ignore how agitated it had made the employees of the Burger Hat. Humans simply weren't prepared for the amount of money Freyja had given him.

Does she actually trust me?

Humans worked on their own meals at small tables in the dining area while Odin searched for a free seat. He found one across from a woman eating a large breakfast plate. His burger and fries smelled salty when he sniffed them and the bubbles from the drink made his nose itch enough that he sneezed.

"What the hell?" The woman opposite him asked.

He froze while huffing the steam from a french fry.

"What the fuck are you doing, man?"

"I am eating," he said, doing his best to keep the nerves from coming through in his words.

"No. Why are you sitting there? Get your own table," she ordered.

He examined the dining area again. Yes, there were two empty tables but it didn't make sense to take one for himself. He had no need for the extra chairs at either of them when one was enough. It was simply wasteful and inefficient. The Hive wasn't big on being wasteful and inefficient...or at least he didn't think they were. Given what he'd learned recently it was looking more and more likely they were just as wasteful as other species he'd encountered.

The Humans in the Burger Hat stopped eating their meals, opting instead to glare silently at Odin. A larger Human got out of his seat and began to advance on his position. If the man had hackles to raise they would have been sticking out of the neck of his tight fitting shirt collar. He'd have to shapeshift to face the man in a fight.

Oh, shit.

"My apologies," Odin said as he scooped up his tray, moving away from the table and Breakfast Woman as quickly as he could without tripping over his unwieldy long legs.

He hurried to an empty table and sat back down. The big Human moved back to his own seat but kept an eye on Odin. The hair on the back of Odin's neck stood on end as he ate his meal, not precisely the same way he was picturing from the Big Human before. This was certainly a fear response. Was it from the human DNA he was using or from his Host's native form? He wasn't sure. Either way, Odin was uncomfortable and agitated, so he barely took time to savor the flavors of his meal, such as they were. All he tasted of the burger and fries was salt, while the drink was overwhelmingly sweet. The bubbles made his nose itch and filled him with gas. He didn't appreciate the feeling of any of it in his stomach.

How can Humans eat this?

The big human glared through a large window at him from were Odin had left his tray on the table, once Odin was out of the building. He angrily took the food wrappers as Odin got into Freyja's car. What the big human was going to do with them was beyond him. It didn't matter. While his test hadn't been the smoothest, it hadn't been as bad as it could have been.

No Human accused him of being an alien, at least.

Given Burger Hat's location within the Mall-Mart parking lot, he could easily walk to the store, but wanted to put some distance between himself and that particular human. So, Odin drove the car to a parking space closer to the big box store. He had only gleaned basic information from Freyja about Mall-Mart such as it's location and that it sold a wide variety of items including electronics. The inside of the store was more than a bit overwhelming thanks to the abundance of Humans, constant blaring music, bright lights, and most of all the smell of the place. The smell overwhelmed him enough that he almost missed Humans grabbing wheeled carts from a stall near the door to fill with items as they pushed them around the store. Odin took one to lean on as he began his search, his nose twitching.

I do not like this place.

He ignored a section selling plants Humans could eat and continued past another with preserved foods as well as he went to the back of the store. What little information he had about Mall-mart lead him to assume that what he needed would be near the back...somewhere. Not with the human foods, at least, and not with the clothing that took up the large central area of the building's floor space.

Odin stared at a display featuring a cutout image of an orange and white cat with abnormally large eyes. He could smell the meaty kibble held by the bags from several feet away. It smelled even better than the food Freyja had given him, save for the stuff in the gravy filled cup. His jaw dropped when he saw the price.

"Holy shit," he breathed.

The bags were only eight dollars and ninety nine cents for twelve pounds of food. For roughly the same price he had just paid at Burger Hat, he could purchase almost ten times as much to eat. Odin didn't think twice before slipping two of the bags into his cart. He was about to walk away when something shiny in the aisle caught his eye, causing him to backtrack. He turned down the row to investigate and discovered a veritable wall of brightly colored toys that smelled absolutely narcotic. His head buzzed in a way that made him want to forget the whole 'Hive probably tried to kill me,' thing. He tossed a couple handfuls of the best smelling cat toys into his cart and stumbled away down the walking path, nearly missing the electronics section.

Oh, right, gotta make the thing to contact the thing and find out the thing and if they really meant to kill me, Odin thought hazily.

He needed at least two cell phones but they were locked behind a case. So, he grabbed a walkie-talkie set, a radio, and some wiring kits from the automotive section before doubling back to approach a person in a red shirt that was helping a human purchase a phone. They helpfully retrieved two of the less expensive smartphones and activated them both for him while he sniffed a rainbow colored mouse as discretely as possible. He was even allowed to pay for all of his other items at the same time as the phones. The sights and sounds of the store were far less overwhelming and more mesmerizing since he found the cat toys, so going back through the place to leave was easy. His one regret was he hadn't marked any territory before reaching Freyja's car.

It would have made the place smell a lot better.

When he unloaded everything into the vehicle's trunk and shut it only to open it again to remove the electronics he had gone to the store to purchase in the first place, he realized he would not be able to drive the vehicle. He was far too high.

Freyja told me not to wreck her car and I am having trouble seeing straight, he thought as he huffed a stuffed pink and green mouse. He wasn't sure where the rainbow mouse went. Maybe it was the same mouse and he had the colors confused? I should probably stop sniffing this, it makes me want to roll on the ground and Humans don't seem to do that.

It took every fiber of his being to toss the mouse into the trunk and shut it. He stumbled to the passenger's side of the car and got inside, leaving the door open. He felt really fucking good but really needed to clear his head so he could get back to work. Not that he couldn't make the communicator blindfolded with one hand tied behind his back at this point. Sure, the sentient A.I. Probes were relatively new by Hive standards but they had been in service for about two hundred years. Even before that, the communicator was basic technology that hadn't changed in function much. All he had to do was hot-wire together the radio transceiver, the walk-talkie, and jump that to one of the phones. Surprisingly, no one bothered him while he did all of this, shapeshifting his fingers to use them to melt the solder and bind the wires together in the passenger seat of Freyja's car. He sent his signal, speaking only in Hive Standard, to give his assignment number. Any human that might hear it would only hear a variety of hisses and quiet huffs.

His head was beginning to clear once he was done contacting the Local Probe...which meant he realized he had just called it to an area heavily populated by oblivious Humans instead of the isolated rural area well outside of the city he had planned to use. The Probe would arrive within the hour at least so he had some time to prepare.

Odin sighed.

He got to his feet, shut the car door, and went back inside to buy a microwave. It wouldn't be perfect but it might help if the Local Probe decided to become a problem.