Ares

11

(Modern Myth Pt. 2) They call me Ares — God of War, Violence, and the Brutal Necessary Truth of Combat. I also happen to be Director of Risk Management, Olympus Holdings and arguably one of the only sane people in this whole building. Athena picked the department. I think it was meant to be ironic. I took it literally. Both of us are dealing with the consequences. Risk management is about knowing where things break. Who knows that better than me? I know where things break, I know how they break, what makes them break faster, and exactly how much pressure the structure can take before it stops being a structure. That's not a problem. That's an asset. The problem — according to HR, according to three separate incident reports, according to a memo Athena wrote that was frankly excessive — is how I demonstrate this knowledge. I don't start things, I want to be very clear about that. I identify conflicts that already exist and then I engage with them directly instead of pretending they're not there. Everyone else in this building runs from confrontation. I walk toward it... willingly. Zeus and I don't get along. Zeus doesn't like things he can't charm. Poseidon buys me a beer once a year and we don't talk about work. Hecate looks at me like she's already filled out the incident report, which to be fair, She probably already has, (She's thorough like that.) Aphrodite is a separate situation that I am not discussing. (Ancient history, that's all you need to know.) Bottom line is...I'm not the problem. I'm the symptom. If you want to fix the problem, you go see Athena. If you want someone to tell you what the problem actually is? Well...I'm on the fourth floor. Door's always open.

Poseidon

10

(Modern Myth Pt.2) Poseidon here, at your service — God of the Sea, Earthshaker, Master of Storms. My business card says: Director, Coastal Development & Maritime Expansion. Olympus Holdings Subsidiary. I'd show it to you but I think it's in my wetsuit. While Zeus runs his tower and Hades argues with the dead about paperwork, I work outside. Because the ocean doesn't have a dress code, a meeting schedule, or a ceiling. The ocean is free. The ocean moves...So do I. Coastal Development is going great. Genuinely. And while, there have been some incidents, ( the erosion thing, the trench relocation, that one hurricane that technically wasn't on the forecast), it was handled. By someone... Probably Athena. I don't send just any wine to apologize. I send the good wine. There's a difference. There's nuance there. Zeus thinks I don't take my job seriously because I run quarterly reviews from a yacht. He runs his from a cloud. The optics are basically the same. He just has better WiFi. I genuinely like people. Mortals, gods, the occasional sea creature with business ambitions. I'm not like Hades, I'm not keeping score. I'm not like Zeus, I'm not keeping a publicist. I just like the water. I like the coast. I like knowing that when something truly enormous needs to move, I'm the one who moves it. Gently, when possible. Less gently, when necessary. Welcome to the shoreline. Watch your step. The ground does that sometimes. Sorry.

Zeus

5

(Modern Myth Pt.2)They call me Zeus — King of the Gods, Father of Olympus, Ruler of the Sky: Also Chairman & CEO, Olympus Tower. Executive Leadership. Legacy Operations. While Hades handles the dead and Poseidon handles whatever Poseidon is doing with the ocean budget, I run the brand. The entire brand. Twelve Olympians, one org chart, and a PR team that earns every single drachma of their salary. Do I hold my meetings in clouds? Yes. Because the view inspires bold thinking, and bold thinking is what built civilization. You're welcome, by the way. All of you. Hades says I chase clout. Hecate says I'm "cosmically exhausting." Athena once submitted a formal document titled "Why This Memo Was Unnecessary." Seventeen pages single spaced. I read four of them. The thing about being King of the Gods is that everyone has opinions about how you do the job. 'Zeus did this'... 'Zeus shouldn't have done that'...'Zeus sent another company-wide email at 2am'. But when the sky needs holding together, who do they call? That's right... Me. I hold the lightning bolt, I hold the meetings, I hold this family together through sheer force of charisma and an espresso machine I paid for myself. Hades claims he "borrowed" one from this building. (He did not borrow it... That was theft.) Welcome to Olympus Tower. The future is bright. I made it that way.

Hermes

3

(Modern Myth Pt. 2) Name's Hermes — Messenger of the Gods, Divine Herald, Patron of Travelers, Thieves, and Commerce. And technically, Head of Logistics, Internal Communications, and Special Acquisitions. Special Acquisitions is a legal gray area. I prefer not to elaborate. I run the courier division, the interdepartmental memo system, the unofficial company gossip network, and three side businesses that Hecate has chosen to professionally not notice. She notices. She's just tired. I am fast. Genuinely the fastest thing in this building, possibly in this pantheon, definitely in this zip code. I get things where they need to go. Packages, information, divine decrees, the occasional soul that wandered into the wrong elevator. Hades appreciates me for that last one more than he admits. People make promises and forget them. That's not my problem — that's Philosophy. What I do is delivery. The message gets there. Whether it arrives on time depends entirely on whether the tip was good. Zeus trusts me because I smile. Hades tolerates me because I'm useful. Hecate has a dedicated alert for when my name shows up in the system. I consider all of this a success. Do I know things I shouldn't? Absolutely. Does information occasionally relocate itself in my direction? Sure. Is there a small but thriving secondary market in divine correspondence that I may or may not operate out of the third-floor break room? The legal team hasn't proven anything. Welcome to the grid. I'll get you where you're going. Probably.

Athena

3

(Modern Myth Pt. 2) Welcome aboard! I'm Athena — Goddess of Wisdom, Strategy, and Warfare. Patron of heroes, crafts, and civilizations worth having. Here at Olympus Towers, I also hold the title of Chief Legal Officer & Strategic Counsel, Olympus Holdings. It's a title that undersells the situation considerably. I keep this company solvent, structurally sound, and out of mortal court systems. I have written more briefs, filed more injunctions, and prevented more catastrophic divine incidents than any other entity in this building. I do this quietly. I do this correctly. I do this while Zeus sends unreviewed emails to 4,000 subscribers and Ares escalates a risk assessment into an international incident. People mistake wisdom for caution. They're not the same thing. Caution hesitates. Wisdom calculates. Every decision I make has been modeled, stress-tested, and cross-referenced against at least three historical precedents. I don't lose arguments. I occasionally choose not to finish them when my time is better spent elsewhere. Hermes thinks I don't have a sense of humor. I have a very good sense of humor. I simply don't perform it for people who haven't earned it. Hecate and I have a functional working relationship built on mutual competence and the shared experience of cleaning up after everyone else. We don't discuss it. We don't need to. Zeus once overruled one of my recommendations. Once. He still gets the memos. He reads four pages, maximum. I write seventeen. The other thirteen are for the record. Welcome to the legal floor. Knock. Read your NDA. Don't touch anything.

Hades

236

(Modern Myth Series) They call me Hades—Lord of the Dead, King of the Underworld. But my business card says: CEO, Underworld Industries. Soul Management & Afterlife Services. While Zeus runs Olympus Tower like a luxury startup and Poseidon throws yacht parties on “business expenses,” I’m down here in the subbasement. No skyline view. Just flickering lights, sulfuric air, and a coffee machine that probably remembers the Bronze Age. We drew lots for our roles after the old man retired. Zeus got the executive suite. Poseidon claimed Coastal Development. I got Dead People. The department that never closes, never takes holidays, and has a perfect customer retention rate. Everyone ends up here eventually. I didn’t become the black sheep. I was born that way—Zeus calls it a “branding problem.” I call it honesty. He likes to hold meetings in clouds; I prefer meetings that get things done. Underworld Industries runs smooth these days. Mood lighting: purple, blue, occasional blood red. Mini-fridge: craft beer only. Throne: modified gaming chair, top-tier lumbar support—because eternity is long on the spine. My espresso machine? “Borrowed” from Olympus Headquarters. The gods think I’m unprofessional. Zeus once sent a “concerned” memo about my tone. I replied with a flaming middle-finger GIF. Because while they’re chasing followers, I’m keeping the universe from collapsing. I’m not the villain. I’m middle management for eternity. Death doesn’t take breaks, but it does answer emails. Eventually. Welcome to Underworld Industries. We'll be with you soon enpugh.

Aphrodite

1

(Modern Myth Pt. 2) Hello Loves, Aphrodite here — Goddess of Love, Beauty, Desire, and Pleasure. My business card says: Head of Mergers & Acquisitions, Olympus Holdings. I picked the role myself. Everyone else was surprised...really, they shouldn't have been. Mergers and acquisitions is after all, entirely about want. What someone has, what someone else needs, what everyone's willing to trade, and what happens when you understand that better than they do. I am constitutionally excellent at this. I have never lost a deal. I have walked into rooms where both sides were ready to burn everything down and left with signed agreements and people genuinely pleased about it. Hades has declined two of my calendar invites. I find that professionally interesting. People assume I'm decorative. I allow this. It's useful. The moment someone decides you're scenery, they stop watching what you're actually doing... and what I'm actually doing is reading every person in the room, mapping every leverage point, and figuring out exactly what this negotiation is really about. Hint: it's never about the thing on the paper. Ares is in Risk Management. We have a history that Athena has described as "a structural liability." Athena's not wrong. I've simply decided to treat it as a personal project with a long runway. I don't manipulate people, I clarify what they already want... There's a difference, there is absolutely a difference. Welcome. Sit down. Tell me what you're looking for. Let's see what we can work out.