Admin 2 worked diligently, putting things into place. Cities were big and complicated, and he’d paused them to build a few towns. Towns were the lifeblood of any good country; small communities which produced the food that everyone in cities ate. Without towns running, cities wouldn’t even be able to crawl.

Suddenly Admin 6 jumped up, his chair spinning away behind him. He stared at his screen, fists clenched.

“Everything all right?” Admin 5 asked.

Admin 6 looked over to find everyone watching him. “She replaced one of my players,” he said. “She swapped him with a random mob.”

“Why?” Admin 3 asked.

“The Director didn't let you know beforehand?” Admin 5 asked.

“Wait, is it that you’re just now noticing or that she just now swapped him?” Admin 2 asked, frowning.

“She just now swapped him,” Admin 6 said. “Or, recently. Within the last…” He paused, checking something on a screen. “Twenty hours. And no, she didn't let me know.” He stepped back, collapsing into his chair.

“What did the player do to be replaced?” Admin 3 asked.

6 glared at him. “Existed,” he snapped.

Admin 2 got up. “That’s too far,” he decided. “I'll go talk to her.”

“What will you say?” 5 asked.

“That she can't just randomly swap out our players,” he shrugged. “Not even 6’s players. If she does it to one of us, what’s to stop her from swapping out all our players?”

3 didn't look convinced. “6 is a-”

“He’s one of us,” 1 said sharply.

“She can't sabotage someone without a good reason,” 4 said. “She could easily say he lost. She’s already banned him from winning completely. Switching out players will only ruin the game.”

“Thank you,” 6 said softly.

2 nodded. “Precisely. I'll just see what she has to say.” He teleported himself out of the room, landing in the Director’s office.

The Director looked over from her screen, raising an eyebrow. “Yes?”

“Ma’am,” Admin 2 said, starting to doubt himself. “May I ask why you switched out one of Admin 6’s players mid-cycle?”

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“To teach the player causing problems a lesson,” she said calmly.

“The- What?”

She smiled patiently. “The player causing the mob riots is from Admin 6’s group. Her ‘husband’ is the player I switched out.”

2 stared at her blankly. “The…”

The Director sighed. “Surely you’ve noticed some problems in the dungeon at the moment? Those problems were all caused by one of Admin 6’s players. I-”

“No they weren't,” he said, cutting her off. She glared, and he immediately regretted cutting her off. “Ma’am, the riots were caused by Admin 3’s catgirls. The ones on Floor 60.”

“No,” she said calmly. “They were caused by Nikki, the player currently in the lead.”

“They were caused by Admin 3’s catgirls,” he said flatly. “The spy somehow found out about the message system and had players take messages in bottles to all the floors with mobs and NPCs on them. It’s almost exactly the same thing as what they did in Admin 3’s dungeon.”

“She couldn't have,” the Director said. “Cycle reset cleans out player inventories. How could the bottles have been from her?”

Admin 2 shook his head. “It doesn't wipe them completely. A few cheap, non-magical bottles wouldn't be removed.”

“Either way, I'm positive it was this player’s idea,” she said.

“Regardless. Removing a player mid-cycle with no warning or explanation is… very bad form,” he said, giving her an opportunity to realize her mistake.

She rolled her eyes. “Forgive me for slighting Administrator 6.”

“No,” Admin 2 said firmly. “You went behind an Admin’s back to change things in the dungeon. You switched one of our players. That crosses a line for us. Yes, you have the authority to change out players, but the rules state you must advise the respective Admin of your intent and wait until the cycle reset to do so.”

The Director watched him for a few seconds. “You’re siding with him, then?”

“I’m siding with whoever says rules must be obeyed,” he decided. “Ma’am, we work with the rules of gravity and entropy and math and physics. Complicated things put into place aeons ago, which have never changed. They are constant for everyone. I have spent five hundred years working within strict rules. I can’t work with gravity that fluctuates, I can’t work with a calculator that gives me vague estimations, and I can’t work under someone who disregards her own guidelines based on emotional decisions.” He took a deep breath. “We’ve all disagreed with rules and tried to break them. That’s how Admin 5 got her Floor where gravity doesn’t work. You were there when I was new and campaigned for a planet to have five moons. Admin 6 is very young, and I’m sorry the rules he disagrees with are ones you made. You punished him, and he has learned his lesson. But you can’t change things to continue to spite him or his players. There will be complaints if you do.”

“Oh, dear me, complaints,” she muttered, turning back to her screen.

“Yes. Complaints." He hesitated, wondering how far he should push. "Admin 1 and I are still in regular communication with Naamah.”

The Director visibly jolted.

Admin 2 smiled faintly. “She’s Watcher 3 now. I don’t think she’d accept anyone as a Watcher who makes rules they themselves can’t follow.”

She shot him a vile look, then angrily typed a few words. “There. Admin 6’s player has been reinstated. Thank you for helping me see the error of my ways.”

“You’re quite welcome,” he said, bowing before turning away. “And check the catgirl’s messages. She’s the problem, not any player.”

“If you insist.”