"Well it was Eve, my AI, that did it really,” Alan said.

“How?” he demanded.

“Uh, well, she was able to access the base’s network, and detect the bomb," Alan stammered, wanting to change the conversation away from his possibly illegal activity. "Now, wait, so everything the senator said was real, there’s this intergalactic federation or something, but all the territory and what not is determined by this game?”

“Yes, although it’s not quite as dire as it sounds, or at least if it was there'd be more hubbub," a girl sitting next to the short guy said. She was a pretty blonde in a yellow sundress, wearing sandals. That seemed rather impractical to Alan.

"I'm Daisy, by the way, and this is Ace," she said, pointing to the guy in military fatigues. "My mother is the senator. It cost millions to get us aboard this ship, which is partly why Thiago is so flabbergasted to find you joining us.”

Alan glanced around at the rest of the group. They didn’t seem particularly remarkable. Except none of them looked too alarmed at having a bomb blow up in front of them.

“Okay, but how do you know the Legion or whoever they are weren’t telling the truth?" Alan asked. "How do we know the government isn’t already under alien control?”

“Well, we aren’t certain of the details, as the amount of information we can be told is limited before we complete the Tutorial. That is a key point that you may have missed if you left the tent. Do NOT tell anyone information about the Game, or else the Administrators will penalize you strictly,” Thiago said.

How would they know? Alan wondered to himself.

The Administrators likely have eyes and ears everywhere, scanning the internet, phone calls and mechanical inventions, Eve informed Alan.

Oh. Okay. Not totalitarian at all.

“Now," Thiago continued, "while we can’t be absolutely certain the government is free, it is unlikely they've been secretly overtaken. The Haxlards allied themselves with us early on and have aided us with new technology and weapons, along with many game capsules.

"I believe the explanation is if we fell to an enemy group, Earth would be a prime staging point for war with the Haxlards, thus they are trying to ensure our defenses are secure as possible. This Legion of Man is likely funded by the Haxlard’s enemies.”

“Wait, you said not to tell anyone anything, yet someone clearly explained all this to you beforehand,” Alan said.

Icewolf gave me information about the Game too, Alan thought.

“Well, certain information isn’t taboo," Thiago replied. "Yet, exactly what is and isn’t is arbitrarily determined by the Administrators, thus it is better to be safe than sorry, and not really tell anyone anything.”

Well I should have an interesting conversation with my parents then, once this tutorial phase is done, Alan thought. What was the Game like? Classified. Have any interesting adventures? Maybe.

The Game has been suboptimal, at least your actions so far, Eve sent. Please optimize your actions for better results. I am not sure how to classify “interesting”.