Mai sighed as she leaned back in her chair. Belly full, numerous empty bowls and plates laid out before her, she closed her eyes for a moment, allowing the warmth of the room and the food in her stomach to wash over her.

It felt good to be sitting, to have a full stomach, and to feel safe. By the time they’d got back to Excretiaville it had been what passed for night time and Fat John had told her that the Scavenger Queen would most certainly not be happy if she was woken at four in the morning.

Mai was more than happy to have a break. She was surprised to find that she’d missed the company barracks. It was full of workers who were happy to be with each other, and who weren’t trying to kill each other.

Billy had been ecstatic to see his boss return, the mission reward popping up on her retinal monitor as soon as they’d stepped through the doors. As a result, her SEWER COMBAT skill had been given a ten per cent bonus.

“What do you think you’re going to spend your credits on?” she asked Fat John.

Empty bowls lay before him as well. He’d been more than happy to buy her a meal, and had even offered her a room, something she’d been more than happy to accept under the conditions of the Culling.

“There’s a fat cutter template I’ve had my eye on, maybe get some better suits so that I can SOAK more damage fighting those damned creatures,” he picked up a spare spring roll and dipped it into sweet and sour sauce before popping it into his mouth.

His talk of suits jogged a vague memory. Opening up her menu, she scrolled down to suits. And there it was. DELVER’S SHIELD. A suit that Andries had used. One which she’d had to kill ten opponents with mines in under a minute to get.

At the time she’d thought it was highly unlikely that she’d ever be able to achieve such a thing. Turned out all she needed to do was face down a horde of Mogwai filled with blind hate and a desire to rend her limb from limb whilst flensing the flesh from her bones.

It was also fortunate that it was a PASSIVELY tracked title and one which she hadn’t had to try and plan out. The thought of cold-bloodedly luring a mogwai into a hopefully cunning and deadly string of mines sent such a chill down her spine that she physically shuddered.

Once again she felt a pang of grief at losing Andries. Mai had accepted that she would never truly get over his death for as long as she lived. She shook off her maudlin thoughts and turned her attention back to the conversation and her still-living good friend.

“Not going to buy yourself some time off? Pay off some of your debt?” she couldn’t quite believe it as he shook his head.

“Why would I do that?” He shrugged expansively, hands out, palms up. “My family came down here with me. And by family, I don’t mean wife and kids. I mean my whole family. We’re all down here. We’ve all made a life for ourselves.”

Mai nodded, she could understand that. “I thought I’d be able to work my way free down here. Might have been able to if Andries was still alive and we’d been able to work on hunting down mogwai, doing some scavenging and working the bergs.”

“You’ve got a little sister up there haven’t you?” It wasn’t really a question, she’d talked about her sister incessantly in the first few weeks of working in the sewers. To the point that she was certain a couple of her fellow workers were beginning to strongly dislike her. “Li?”

“Li,” she nodded, “Emperor knows how she’s doing on her own.”

Fat John laid a warm and slightly sticky hand over hers.

“I’m sure she’s fine. And we fully understand why you left for the Culling.”

A lump appeared in her throat as she saw the understanding, sympathy and love in his eyes.

“We all miss Andries, in fact he’s even got a small shrine of his own back there,” he tilted his head towards the back of the canteen. “We place those chocolate and marshmallow cakes he likes there, and ask for his blessing.”

“Have things really got that bad?” She blinked suddenly misty eyes as she looked over and saw the small shrine they’d created.

“Worse than you might think. Granted, the bounties for the mogwai help, but the more mogwai we kill, the less work we get to do on the bergs. We have three full companies just dealing with mogwai, the rest are having to pick up the slack.”

She felt pain in her palms. Looking at them, she saw how tightly clenched her fists were. White knuckles, fingernails digging into the flesh. It pained her to see her friends suffering like this.

“If I could come back, I would,” she wiped away a tear.

“I know you would Mai, we all would. Anyway, why don’t you try and get some sleep? I’ll have someone wake you so that you can move location. And then, we can go together to the Scavenger Queen after a good breakfast.”

*

“Mai! My dear! So good to see you again!” The Scavenger Queen appeared from behind a pile of tarnished scales. From what creature, Mai couldn’t tell, but her SCAVENGER passive skill told her they were worth five UC each. Not the twenty UC the Scavenger Queen was asking for. “And Fat John! You have had a bad few days.”

She and Fat John hugged each other tight before rubbing noses. It was an ancient form of greeting reserved only for former lovers.

“Do close your mouth dear,” the Queen placed a finger under Mai’s chin, not waiting for her to close it. “We wouldn’t want you to catch flies.”

“Are you happy that I’ve completed the mission you gave me?” Mai didn’t appreciate the old crone touching her like that. It reminded her of her mother, and she wasn’t ready for the emotions that such a simple gesture stirred up.

I’m a bag of bloody nerves right now, she thought. Which prompted another unwelcome thought. Just what sort of person would she be once she’d Ascended? How was she going to deal with everything she’d been through and not be completely broken mentally?

“Perfectly,” the Scavenger Queen waved a hand.

–

DESTROY THE MOGWAI – COMPLETED

MISSION REWARD 1000UC

Mai laughed. If she’d had this mission before she’d entered the Culling she’d have been overjoyed at the huge sum of credits. It would have meant shaving one hundred days off her indenture, or allowed her to miss the odd day’s target.

And yet now, it’s nothing. Just money. The thought of ‘just money’ made her laugh.

“What’s the joke?” asked the Queen. “Less than you were expecting?”

“No, I was laughing at the thought that one thousand universal credits is just money. Before I would have been ecstatic at this amount. But now,” she paused trying to think about the best words to use. “Now only two things matter. Surviving the Culling, and getting back to Li. Nothing else matters.”

“You could always give it to me,” chuckled Fat John.

Mai laughed, wagging a finger at him.

“There’s always the chance I might need it. Even in the Culling.” And she’d take any tool she had if it gave her even the slightest advantage. If she was honest, she was also still pretty amazed at having such a huge amount in one go.

The Scavenger Queen pressed a finger against her ear, holding up her other hand for silence. Eyes closed, she sub-vocalised, paused, then sub-vocalised again before opening her eyes.

“Everything okay?” asked Fat John.

“Decidedly not.” the Queen said. Mai felt the smile drain from her face as she looked at the Queen’s face. “We had a new group of indentured workers arrive a couple of weeks ago. They haven’t settled in. Still believe that they can work themselves free. Go home.”

Mai watched the Queen’s mouth work as she tried to find the right words.

“They’ve put out word that you’re here. That you’ve been helping us.”

Mai felt a pit open up in her stomach. She already knew what was coming. A chill washed over her as the Queen spoke.

“Cullers on their way. One of the fools was boasting how they were going to get a massive reward.”

“But Cullers don’t have money! Not as much as that anyway! What, they think they’d claim the reward when the Cullers ascended?” Mai slammed her hand down on a nearby shelf, impact forcing the items to jump.

“They bet on you being killed. Odds were quite low on you being found, so they placed everything they had. They went to a load shark. Borrowed way more than they’ll ever be able to pay back.” The Queen gave a mirthless smile. “Now they’ll have to put everything they have into paying off the interest. Doesn’t matter if they exceed the daily quota ten times over, they’ll never pay it back.”

“How long does she have?” Fat John asked, looking around as if the Cullers had already arrived.

“Three hours give or take, come and sit.” She turned and led them through the shop to the back, this time to a different room.

If I could use one word to describe this room, it would be ‘homey’, Mai thought. Plush carpet lined the floor, holopics lined the walls, and the furniture was, to use another word, luxurious. The Queen’s definitely doing well. Why are so many people choosing to stay here? It makes no sense!

She kept her face emotionally flat though, and sat in the chair the Queen offered her. As soon as her weight sank into it, it flowed around her, altering so that it was the perfect fit.

“Ohhhh,” she sighed, “that’s so nice.”

“The template cost me three thousand Universal Credits. It’s organic.”

Mai was fairly certain her eyes popped out of her head when she heard that.

“You paid three thousand credits for a chair?” she gasped.

“It was a bargain. The bed cost twenty,” cackled the old woman.

“If we could get back on topic?” Fat John said as he rapped his knuckles on a wooden table, the likes of which Mai had only seen on a holomyth before. “What are you going to do? We can’t get involved, you know the rules. Not physically anyway.”

Closing her eyes, Mai ran a couple of scenarios through her mind.

“I need to read the rules. If there is a way you can help, will you?” Her throat felt tight, she knew what she was asking, and the thought they might say no was terrifying.

“Mai, I owe you my life. As do many other workers who don’t know what you did in the Deadzone. Of course we’ll bloody help.”

Mai wiped away a tear on her cheek, blink-clicking her menu. A quick search using the keywords Culling rules and civilian brought up a surprisingly large number of references. Adding interference brought the number down drastically.

“Found it,” Mai said. “Section fifteen, sub paragraph one point five five. ‘Civilians may not physically interfere with a Culler. Aid may be given in any other form, so long as that aid does not directly cause physical or mental injury to the Culler. Examples of this are, punji traps, Culler-triggered explosives, or trip-wires. This list is not exclusive.’

“Sooo?” Prompted Fat John.

“So,” the Queen said before Mai could speak. “Creating barriers, ways of funnelling them towards you and so on, are all allowed.”

She held up a hand as both Fat John and Mai opened their mouths to speak.

“Shush. Which means that Mai can go to a specific area. We,” she pointed at herself and Fat John, “can be overheard by the newcomers discussing where you’ve gone. They’ll then tell the Cullers and you can kill them all. Unless you’re planning on running?”

“No,” sighed Mai. “If I run they’ll just keep coming after me. If I fight, at least I can be sure that they won’t. I’m done with being scared all the damned time.”

“And what should we do with the traitors?” asked Fat John. “Granted they’re new, still wet behind the ears, but they sold one of our own out.”

“I’d have done exactly the same thing if it was me,” Mai said. “They’ve all got family, or loved ones they want to go home to. If I had a chance to go back to Li, I’d take it. I did. I just took a really fucking stupid way of doing it.”

The Queen and Fat John gave tight smiles.

“I’m serious,” Mai said. “Just let it go. They’ll be paying for their mistake for the rest of their lives. Literally.”

Fat John and the Queen gave proper laughs at that.

“Well, enough chewing the fat,” the Queen said. “John, you need to get your people out and working. Once the work is done, Mai will move to her position so that she has plenty of time to wait for them, but not enough that she has to worry about being moved on.”

“No time like the present, I’ll get people working,” Fat John bid his farewell.

“Now, how about a cup of tea and a slice of cake?” Seemingly out of nowhere a plate of cakes appeared in the Queen’s hands.

“Don’t mind if I do,” Mai smiled, taking a pretty pink sponge cake, and popping it in her mouth.