Before her, Equinox rose in tiers, each level connected by grand staircases and water-powered lifts. Aqueducts arched between levels like stone rainbows, feeding fountains and turning water wheels. Torches flickered in underpasses and towers across the city's face.

The lower city teemed with life - colorful merchant tents lined the cobblestone streets, their wares spilling onto wooden tables. Scents of spices and incense mixed with the smell of fresh bread from corner bakeries. Market criers competed with street performers for attention. A painted jester playing a lute shouted, "Welcome, ye Nousheads, to Equinox," and gave a nod to a bucket at his feet, which contained a couple gold coins.

Down the street, stone guildhalls displayed their symbols proudly - a smoking flask, golden scales, three eyes in the shape of a triangle. Tavern signs creaked in the breeze: "The Drunken Cock," "The Linked Inn." Cathedral spires rose above the tiled roofs of residential quarters, their bells marking the hour.

Atop the parapet of the inner walls, more city guards stood, crossbows at ready. Beyond, in the inner walls looming ahead, marbled mansions of the great Houses perched like proud birds - obsidian towers, silver spires, golden domes catching the light.

Groups of NPCs stood talking, laughing, even arguing. Some browsed goods, negotiating prices with the merchants. Others clapped in delight at the performers. A young female NPC held her eyes closed as her lover produced a rose, and they both melted into an embrace.

Mindt felt a smile on her face. This was beautiful. The sights, sounds, and smells tickled her senses, and she thought of the lifelessness she felt walking through the London airport's shops just a day before. No shopping center in the world could match what she felt there in Equinox. No city in the world felt so alive. Was this how life was like before Nous? Was the age of the Internet like this? How far back in time would she have to go to feel this alive?

Between them all, Retro stood, a big dumb grin on his face. She rushed over and gave him a gentle kick behind his knee.

"We made it!" she said, grinning up at him, holding up a hand for him to high five. He missed it completely, stumbling over.

To her left, Sooner and Leonia talked to a city guard. Mindt rushed up to join the conversation.

"Hello again, Mindt", said Sooner.

"I just wanted to say thanks for the crowd control spell you cast earlier."

"No worries," said Leonia. She pointed towards Retro, who approached. "If he's a bard, he should have access to some crowd control spells when he levels up a little."

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"Ass?" Retro said with wide eyes.

Both Sooner and Leonia gave him a questioning look. Leonia turned towards Mindt, "What's wrong with him? Is he…simple?"

She laughed. "He's Bulgarian. 'Az' may sound like 'ass' your ears. It means 'me' in Bulgarian."

"Ahh," Sooner said. "That explains why he was so quiet on the bridge. How does he play the game? It's in English."

"For him, it's in Bulgarian. Nous Autotranslate doesn't work, so I have to speak to him in Bulgarian, but the Aida we share speaks to me in English and him in Bulgarian."

"Fascinating," said Sooner. "And you sound equally interesting. You speak two languages. Quite rare."

"Four actually. Well, fluently. Some others a bit. It's a hobby of mine. Hard to find time for it. I'm a meme influencer, otherwise."

Sooner nodded. "We're both eSport players. Impossible to beat the AIs, but we do pretty well in the human leagues. This game is not so different than our normal jobs."

"Bit more life threatening though," Leonia added.

"Guess we're all out of a job now," Mindt said. A thick silence fell between them. She said, "So, uh, just so we're all on the same page. If you two 'win' the World Quest, what will you do with the Policy Change Request Form?"

"End the game," Leonia said without hesitation.

Sooner chimed in a moment later. "We're still working on it. Aida tells us that a single Policy Change Request Form is awarded per Nouscraft World completed. So out of all the Nousheads here in The Zombie Apocalypse, only one form is awarded total. The criteria for 'winning', as you said, is unclear, so we would have to be the top players of the game in order to get the request form. It's not an easy task."

He continued, "That said. We're well suited for it considering our backgrounds. If we actually acquired the request form, ending the game is a possibility."

Leonia shot him a cold glare. "The only possibility."

"Yes, of course." He fell silent for a moment, a grim look falling on his aged face, but after that moment, his eyes came back in fury. "But just think of the change we could make. It stands to reason that Jiem has control of the world's currency, the businesses, the governments, even the plutocracy. All proxied via our Nous implants."

Mindt attention was 100% on his words. Real world changes? She never considered the possibility.

"You don't mean to dissolve the plutocracy?" Leonia pleaded. "How would that even work? Take away their money? Their businesses? Their government and military powers? Aida has already told us that it would be too much to ask in a single policy change, far too complex. It would cause real world chaos. If you bring Nous down, it stops all communications, all computing power, drone control. If you bring down Pangea Foods, it stops all food production. If you bring down EverRest, everyone on UBR will most certainly riot. 6 billion angry, desperate people. Yeah, no. Should I go on? Helios Energy, we cannot power our cites, our homes. AquaGlobe, we have the water war again. These people own the world, Sooner. The bloody world."

"Yes," he said, gritting his teeth. "They own the world. Is chaos worth changing that?"

Leonia stormed off. Retro raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"I'm sorry. We have a difference of opinion. I'll see you two later," Sooner said, turning away from Mindt and leaving.

But Mindt didn't hear anything. At that moment, she thought: how many policy changes would it take to change the world?