Now that Joy had decided on a course of action, a very lofty one at that, she needed a plan. From her years of prior training at the Athens estate, which yes, did involve training on overthrowing governments and sabotage, Joy had a few ideas.

The easiest way was internal sabotage, but that clearly wasn’t going to work. To leave the Undercity would involve having her Rune scanned at a checkpoint and her identity verified, and if Joy were to let that happen then she would very likely never be seen again. Demonic Rune and all that.

That didn’t mean internal sabotage was off the table entirely, if she could find someone sympathetic to her cause, whether her real one or one she makes up, that was entirely on the up and up then it wouldn’t be too hard to get them a position in the Empire’s bureaucracy. You just had to know the right people and have those people owe you the right favors.

When your Empire depended on your survival you didn’t have to put up many anti-corruption measures, because who would be insane enough to dethrone you?

Honestly, most of the typical methods that were used to topple governments wouldn’t work here. Most governments didn’t literally depend on several families for their survival. That meant Joy had to find a group of people who knew how to do without and would sacrifice their comfort for a chance to get back at the Empire.

All of this was just the long way of saying that her options were a few extremists and basically all the Unmarked.

That was… less than ideal. The Unmarked were not a small group of people, but when compared to the rest of the empire… yeah it wasn’t a ton. It wasn’t hopeless, though. While the Marked may outnumber them twenty to one, the Unmarked had an advantage. Desperation.

There were a little over a trillion Marked in the empire, but only a truly minuscule amount of them enlisted in the Solistarian Military. Combat-oriented Runes were incredibly rare, as the System only gave them out as needed. That meant that while there were a truly gigantic number of Marked, only about fifty million were in the military.

There was no need for any more than that, and quite frankly, most of them still just stood around doing nothing. Only half of them ever saw combat, and most of them only once. Well, it’s not surprising considering that the Astral Gate couldn’t handle a huge volume of people very well.

So, comparing a large parade military with fifty-five billion desperate Unmarked… maybe this wasn’t so hopeless. Still, the military was centralized for the most part, and the Unmarked were spread across twenty-nine planets. Joy would have to move some mountains if she wanted a true rebellion.

A rebellion. Just calling it that made it feel so much more real. Joy was really doing this. Replacing one despot with another. She would be better, though. Hopefully.

Grand plans for when she actually had the capital and manpower to make them happen, for now, she would have to actually build her forces, and what better time to start than right now?

{------}

After living in the Undercity for five years, you begin to understand where humanity’s most desperate gather. The central spire, the largest and brightest tower, was where all the resources from the Overworld came from, and it had the highest concentration of guards. Guards that had no reservations about turning you to dust the moment you even looked like you were going to steal from them. With the education Topside, that meant looking at them at all.

That meant that the Central Spire was both the most luxurious place to live and the most dangerous. It was where most of the wealth was gathered, and that meant that all the most powerful gangs were based there.

Joy was not looking to take over the most powerful, not yet. She may have combat training and a Rune, but cybernetics were not uncommon, and Joy didn’t feel like being exsanguinated or turned inside out. The people down here got scarily creative with how they modded themselves. When you couldn’t just be handed power by a magical construct, human ingenuity came into play, and that was far more terrifying than some guy with a fireball.

Maybe I should pick up a few? I’m not bound to my ‘noble’ pride anymore.

At that thought, her Rune made itself once more, and Joy could swear that it hissed at her with her own thoughts. But no, that wasn’t how it worked. Runes didn’t have personalities. They could only influence yours, but even that was extremely uncommon.

I guess it makes sense that I wouldn’t be able to get over my previous distaste in an hour.

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Still, Joy would keep Augs in mind.

Anyway, if the most powerful gathered in the center, then you just had to go to the edges to find the most desperate.

It wasn’t a close walk.

Oh, is that a locked hover car I see?

{------}

Joy’s training may have been incredibly broad, but even it didn’t include carjacking 101. She was trained to infiltrate and fight the Empire's enemies, not the Empire itself. Luckily, her conundrum was solved in short order when the car's owner came running when he saw Joy trying to break in.

It didn’t take much longer after that for her to start cruising down the trashed roads that somehow got worse the farther she got from the center.

Taking a look at the cracked rear view, she got quite the surprise.

What the fuck! Why is my hair green! And my eyes! And they're not glowing!?

The surprise nearly made her swerve into a broken powerline.

This was not normal. Her Rune changing her personality? Rare, extremely rare, but it happened. It changing her appearance? That didn’t happen. It just didn’t.

Granted… the Devourer started as a worm before it began eating stars in deep space, so maybe she should be grateful it just changed some colors.

Or did it?

Joy pulled over and checked to see if there were any other major changes.

None, thankfully. My nails and hair are tougher, and I’m missing a few freckles and blemishes, but nothing else important. Wait a moment, am I taller?

She took out her makeshift phone and took a picture of herself in a broken window. Her phone had a measurement function, so she just checked and…

Yep, I’m an inch or two taller. From 5’8 to 5’10

This was weird, and she had some ideas as to what happened, but they weren’t important at the moment. All it meant was that she blended in more. Most Marked couldn’t tone down their natural mana glow until they reached the final growth stage, so this was just another bonus.

Out of curiosity, she quickly flexed her mana in front of her car’s mirrors, and her eyes started glowing extremely brightly.

Okay, points for my first theory, but I can focus on that later.

Curiosity satisfied, she continued on her way.

{------}

Finally, after a few hours of driving, Joy had arrived. The Outskirts, the poorest and most dangerous part of an already awful city. There weren't any towers out here, and cave-ins, while rare, did happen. If you lived here, it was because you had no choice. Well, for most that was true. For the gangsters that lived here, it was paradise. Scared and weak people who couldn’t fight back? There was no better victim.

Honestly, Joy had no idea how it was sustainable. Where did they get their food? Or supplements? They must have had a supplier, but Joy had no idea who would invest in the shithole of a cesspit. It was like garbage squared.

Joy parked her car in between the rubble of two destroyed buildings. It didn’t completely disguise it, but it should be good enough for now. And if it got stolen? Well, there were only so many places it could go, and Joy did not deal with thieves mercifully. She needed to set an example anyway.

Hmm. That’s not a bad idea.

“Hey little lady, what are you doin’ in this part’a town, ey? It ain’t safe, ya know?” A gaunt-looking man spoke, walking menacingly out of an alley.

Wow, I knew it was bad here, but getting robbed within five minutes? Damn.

“Jus’ give up a few dollars ey? Ain’t askin’ for much, am I?” He said desperately.

“How about this, instead of me breaking all of your limbs and leaving you to starve in the street, you tell me everything you know about this area. Do a good enough job, and I might even give you a few creds.” Joy spoke, channeling all of her etiquette teacher’s advice about mannerisms. Straight back, firm tone, and a million other microexpressions that humans picked up subconsciously.

“Hey l-lady. I’m not messing around, don’t m-make me hurt cha!” His words came out stilted and frantic while he waved around his knife.

Taking a step forward and grasping her mana, Joy said, “Oh, well. I guess you chose the hard way.”

“I surrender!” He shouted before she could take a second step. It would be comical if it wasn’t so pathetic.

{------}

A few hours and broken fingers later, Joy walked out of the alley much more informed about the current situation.

Really, I don’t know why people always shout about how scary their boss is, “Ahh, no, he’ll kill me if I tell you!” It’s insulting, I’m clearly scarier. Still, convincing them is entertaining, so it’s not a total waste of time.

It may have been a painful few hours, but now she had a plan that had a real chance of working.

And it all started tomorrow. She had been up for like seventeen hours at this point, and upgraded Rune or not, she still needed sleep.

What a busy day.