Bernd finished his shift as a moderator and switched to the virtual leisure area for employees. Like most of his colleagues, he spent at least part of his free time within the time-accelerated VR to chat, watch movies, or read in peace. This time, he teleported directly to the Groove Area, a room with floor-to-ceiling windows offering live views of different major cities, depending on which direction you looked. The room was filled with comfortably cushioned armchairs and sofas, arranged for quiet conversations and, of course, to gossip about particularly annoying players.

As he looked around, he noticed a small group gathered around one of the plot writers, who was slumped in a chair, crying, while the others visibly tried to comfort or cheer him up. Bernd quickly approached the group and quietly asked one of the bystanders, "What's wrong with Phillip?"

His colleague Dan made a gesture to initiate a private conversation. Once confirmed that the others couldn't hear them, he replied, "The board just announced that we're permanently scrapping the entire Quorll world quest plotline."

Bernd winced sympathetically, "Ouch. Not really surprising, but I had hoped we could just postpone or modify it."

"Phillip worked on it for months. Quests, texts, mystical symbols, the entire religion around the Devourer and his followers. Commandments and religious taboos, enemies, relations to all other gods... I only got to read the summary, but it was truly epic and full of options for the players."

"Well, the main task at the beginning was to prevent the desert tribes from uniting. That's now completely out of the question."

Bernd nodded irritably, "You can say that again. Those damn players who just had to make a big impact at the end."

"The ability to permanently change the game world, without us being able to simply undo it, has always been one of our best selling points. No one anticipated something like this. Now, they're even discussing a complete reset."

The moderator stared at his colleague for a moment, "They can't be serious!"

"The majority is still against it."

"How can they even consider it! The game's history, the personalities of the NPCs! All of that emerged from years of interaction with players. Remember how the first AI NPCs were? Boring and predictable. A reset would be... We might as well shut down. No player will spend so much money on cheap scripted dialogues."

The moderator shrugged resignedly, "If the Krigesti win, we have no other choice. The game world will become unplayable."

"The containment is working for now, right?"

Dan teleported them both to one of the planning rooms. Maps of the various game areas were displayed on the walls. Complex symbols represented ongoing quests, the number and activity of players, and much more. Dan pointed to the desert that occupied the entire southern tip of the continent. Numerous red arrows extended from it, most of them currently blocked by a crossbar. Only at the northern edge had an arrow penetrated into a forest area and the grassland behind it but was then held back by mountains and a fortified mountain pass. "We've blocked all exits from their territory. To the south, west, and east is the sea, and we arranged for plots and quests to ensure all ships sailed out of the ports before they could be captured."

Bernd weighed the situation thoughtfully, "What if a ship docks and is taken over?"

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"Smaller groups are too incompetent to steer a ship. They'd need at least two hundred men crammed on board to even attempt a maneuver. The winds in the game world are complex, and steering ships is a skill in itself. One that desert dwellers don't have and, after the last rule changes by Steve, can't learn anymore."

"The AI accepted that?"

"The inability to swim, dive, and sail fits the culture and logic of the game world. Steve received no objections."

"Clever. But that's why he's Chief Narrative Designer. What about the detour through the northeastern swamp? That could allow the Krigesti to enter the dwarven territory and from there into the rest of the continent."

"Steve declared the entire swamp a master-level quest zone. Giant blood mosquito swarms, hydra leeches, chameleon krakens, wyverns, and even a dragon living on the mountain's edge. Compared to the monster spawners in the swamp, the rest of the game world is a child's birthday party. Behind the swamp, the dwarves are also building a series of magical watchtowers."

Bernd whistled appreciatively, "Sounds like we don't have to worry about that until the Krigesti have most of their warriors at least to level 11. And even then, it won't be easy. The players will be able to hold the front against the few Krigesti who make it through for a long time."

Dan made a few gestures, and the view of the mountain pass enlarged. The wall fortress blocking the entire pass became clearly visible. "I'm just worried about Mulnirsheim. Currently, the city is only besieged, but the Krigesti have already managed to get a few scouts inside. Fortunately, the group was so small that they were too dumb to do anything useful."

Bernd pondered thoughtfully, "I studied the logs. The Krigesti halted their expansion for several days to charge a few vials of Cerebrum dust with their unique crystal life force. They were able to infect several NPCs in the city, even though that is still outside their zone of influence. That was too close for my liking. The assassins mostly targeted the wrong people, but one almost got the baron's steward."

"Isn't he the one who leads the counterintelligence for the crown?"

"Exactly. The plot dictates that the actual work is done by players. Therefore, he has almost no staff in the city and is too old to fight himself. His new apprentice saved him. The job actually went to an NPC because none of the players showed interest in time. The story developers never thought to exclude that. They still need to get used to the idea that NPCs can also take on quests."

Dan chuckled, "Well, most NPCs are happy to let players take the lead. The usual difficulty level allows for a few quest takers to die once or twice. For players, that makes things exciting, but NPCs would have to be pretty crazy to get involved in that." He took his eyes off the screen and looked at Bernd. "Say, is there any news about your super-secret dungeon that you can't talk about? Anything new you’re allowed to share?"

Bernd waved his hand in the air, pulling up a status report from his quick-access menu. After a brief glance, he grinned, "You should check out the new global message from NEMESIS that went out to all players a few minutes ago. My dungeon heart managed to necessitate a game-wide rule change by almost torturing an NPC to death a few days ago. Seems it was an accident, but I'll read the details more thoroughly later."

Dan pulled up the mentioned message and skimmed it, "Character class evolution? Didn't they already scrap that idea?"

"Steve always liked the idea of affinity-based character classes or skills, but we never found a fair way to implement it. Nemesis took that option now. Steve probably set it up so she had the option if such a change became necessary." He browsed the menus for details and whistled appreciatively, "Wow. The AI really doesn't do things by halves. This runs through all skill trees and development stages. I'd bet she consulted with Steve before announcing it officially."

"How did your dungeon manage that?"

Bernd studied his status report, taking note of some heavily redacted confidential information. Of course, the AI didn't want details about the dungeon's allied assassin to become known, which could quickly lead to Mulnirsheim and its location. He looked at his colleague and shrugged apologetically, "Sorry, everything about that incident is top secret."

Dan looked a bit annoyed but then composed himself, "Can't be helped. Should we head back to the others in the Groove Area, or do you have other plans?"

"I think I'll log out and spend the rest of the day with my family. My son is turning twelve soon, and he'll finally be able to join VR. I've already picked out a spot on the kids' island for him. He's excited and keeps wanting to work on his avatar with me."

"Well then, see you on Monday!"