Yen Ching stalked into the canteen, closely followed by other members of the rebel council. None of them looked pleased to see Mai surrounded by not only the rebels she’d brought with her to Nether City but a good portion of the Nether City rebels as well.

Her reputation had also increased, she now had a seventy five per cent reputation rate with the rebels and had recently gained a fifty per cent reputation with the guilds.

Mai watched as the rebel council tried to force its way through the cheering crowd towards her, the rebels reluctant to give way even when they saw who it was.

“Congratulations, Mai Xiao. It seems that you have the guilds following your every whim,” Yen Ching bowed. It was a shallow bow. Just enough to be polite but lacking any true sign of respect. There was a growl of disapproval from the crowd, and she saw his eyes widen in surprise.

You don’t realise how things have changed around here, you bastard, the knowledge that he was just playing a role made her stomach twist in knots and she forced her hands to open. She knew that he still didn’t truly understand what was going on, that she was just an NPC.

“Thank you Yen Ching. I’m merely doing as you requested. Once we have settled the issue of the factions we shall be ready to take the fight back to the Upper City. Perhaps to the Emperor himself.

Yen Ching gave a tight smile at that, and Mai returned it, fighting to keep hit from spreading into a grin as she heard one of the other rebel council members choke back a remark.

“What are your next steps?” Yen Ching sat down opposite her. The room was silent as all present hung on their every word.

“We shall put out word that only locals can take on missions granted by civilians of Nether City. However, as a faction, we will give missions to non-locals. Missions which will pit them against each other, and not against us. They’ll be so desperate that they won’t even realise what’s going on before it’s too late. Dog will eat dog and come back for more.”

Yen Ching folded his arms, saying nothing as he mused over her words, mouth chewing as though he was tasting what he was going to say.

“I think I speak for the whole council when I say that we approve of this. We shall send mission-givers into the city once you’ve drawn them up. There are some that we also have in mind and shall add them to your list one you’ve completed it.”

“You don’t want to have final approval on my list?” Mai kept the surprise out of her voice. She was convinced that Yen Ching and the others were up to something, but at the same time she couldn’t tell what.

“No need, we trust that you have the true interest of our faction and people at heart.”

Yen Ching rose and looked around at the gathered rebels.

“Don’t you have duties?”

The room emptied quicker than Mai thought possible. Finally, only Mai and the rebel council remained.

“Proceed Mai but do so cautiously. We’ve worked hard to achieve all of this,” he waved his hand at the building which Mai had built, taking her accomplishment as his own. “We don’t intend to lose it.”

“Let me get this straight, we’re pitching two gangs against each other, one gang against a military faction, and that’s just for starters?” Dakota ran her finger down the list of missions that Mai had created.

“Correct, X gang controls a series of solar arrays. Y gang controls a hydro-power station. We’re going to have X sabotage Y’s, and Y sabotage X’s. Both factions will then lose at least fifty per cent of their power capabilities and be forced to buy it from W.”

“Man, I always sucked at algebra, but from what I can tell, that’s sneaky, so damned sneaky!”

“We’re then going to have gang A attack the Ghosts for crystals. We know where they are, so we can tell them how to get in, but at the same time we’ll have someone let slip in ear shot of a Ghost that the missions is going ahead. That way the Ghosts will be able to cut down a few of the gangers, reducing their numbers.”

“And hopefully suffering some losses of their own,” Chan said. He’d helped her come up with the plan, proving to be surprisingly sneaky.

“And then I’m going to have some rebels dress up as gang B and attack the Ghosts again before retreating back to gang B’s territory and disappearing. The Ghosts will then go full-on attack with that gang.”

Dakota looked admiringly at her friend. It was clear she hadn’t expected Mai to be quite so devious in her approach to creating missions, nor the mayhem that it was going to cause.

“How are you going to keep collateral damage to a minimum?”

“Good question. We’re going to let the locals know what’s going. Not the specifics, just that there’s going to be trouble at such and such a place at a certain time. They can clear the streets. We’ll also have people on the streets ready to step in if things get too heavy.”

“Which will show the Nether City civilians that we’re on their side and going everything we can to protect them.”

“Precisely. And our people on the streets falls under this missions,” Mai highlighted a mission clearly labelled, PROTECT NETHER CITY FROM ALL THREATS.

“Granted it’s a bit of a broad mission descriptions, but all the rebels had to do was step in when there was trouble and act a bit like a police force or peacekeepers and they’d have been able to build up their reputation and control of the city massively,” Mai explained.

“Think it was so broad that Yen Ching and his cronies didn’t think they could do it?” Asked Chan.

“Probably. They’d just lost a massive war and been forced underground. Lots of their friends were dead, and they were low on resources. Seems like they just hunkered down and settled for controlling this small area. It still brings in good revenue for them, so why risk rocking the boat?”

“Bunch of fucking cowards,” snarled Dakota, keeping her voice low. “They could have done so much for the people here. They could have demonstrated what the rebellion was about.”

“The past is the past. It’s our future now. And we’re not going to hide behind our walls or rest on our laurels. Pick five squads of our people, five to each squad. I want them out on the streets patrolling. We’ll start with our area first. Have them looking for thieves, any trouble of any sort and quashing it. Even bar fights. We’ll start earning reputation and control quite quickly that way. Small steps, but every penny is one penny closer to a credit as they say.”

Dakota nodded and took her leave, beckoning to Chan, Jock and Hind to follow her as she moved through the canteen.

“Visitors at the gate Mai,” the rebel looked a little flushed and was out of breath.

“What sort of visitor?” Mai asked, although she could already guess the answer. It would be players, her sworn enemies. The locals had already started their embargo and word had spread that the only people giving out missions were the rebels.

“A mix of factions. We’ve managed to keep them from killing each other, but they’re all keen to speak to you and see what work you have for them,” the rebel replied, rubbing at his jaw.

“One of then hit you?”

He nodded, tongue working inside his cheek.

“Knocked a tooth loose.”

“Fine, blacklist whoever did it. They don’t get any missions. Then go and get yourself fixed up. I won’t have them hurt my people. Oh, and accept the PROTECT NETHER CITY FROM ALL THREATS mission. Next time you have to break up a fight it’ll count towards your rebel ranking.”

“Yes ma’am,” the rebel sketched a salute and left. Mai watched him go with a small smile. It was the first time that any of the rebels had called her ma’am or even saluted her.

Small steps, small steps indeed.

Approaching the gate, Mai smiled at the uproar beyond it. The players were clearly feeling the pinch already, and hearing their anger tinged with no small amount of panic was music to their ears.

Whatever their reason, the players had decided that Nether City was the place for them to stake a claim and progress in the game. Maybe it was because Nether City was considered easier, or because it offered different challenges to the culling and the options in the Upper City. She didn’t really care. What she did care about was that the players were already reacting to the embargo. She’d thought that it would take longer, but having played games herself, or having the implanted memory of having played games, she knew that some would be unable to bear even a short break in progression.

Her head ached at that thought. Had she actually played the games, or had she been given the memory of having done so? How old was she? How old was Li now that she came to think of it? She knew that Li wasn’t an implanted memory because they’d hugged goodbye. None of that could be implanted. Or could it?

Pushing it to the back of her mind before she suffered a nervous breakdown, she waved a hello to the guards, all of whom looked more than a little flustered.

“Much trouble?”

“Couple of punches thrown earlier. Nothing serious, especially once we pulled our tri-barrels and asked them to behave,” the guard grinned. He was one of the local rebels, but clearly very happy with the changes Mai had brought about. He was also wearing one of the new stealth suits, this time in the rebel colours of digital street cam, a blocky mix of whites, grays, browns and blacks.

“Glad you like them, had a chance to try them on the range?” She asked.

“First thing we did once we’d been to Bob’s! Nearly filled my britches the first time I heard it action. Lovely weapon, we owe you.”

“You owe me nothing Just doing my bit for the faction. Now, shall we see who we’ve got?”

The guard nodded, signalling for the gate to open. As it did so, the soldiers aimed their tri-barrels at the widening gap. The first player to step through stopped cold as he saw the weapons levelled in his direction.

“We don’t want any trouble,” Mai warned, “but my people will open fire if you cause it. Gangers first!”

There was some grumbling as the gangers pushed themselves forward. They were typically cocksure of themselves, proudly displaying their gang colours. She picked three from one of the factions she had previously discussed with Dakota and assigned them their missions, making sure that they were out of earshot of each other when she did so.

“That’s it for now!” she called out as the urbexers, prisoners and ex-military called out for missions of their own. “We’ll have more later. Feel free to either wait outside the gates or return later.”

Waving her hand, she signalled for the gates to close, the soldiers ushering the players back through the gate.

And now we wait.