"That's surprising. First Gordon Dining, and now tourism agencies are offering tour packages in AO'' Prakash said to his father over breakfast.

"Not really. If you think about it, the governments' attempts to pressure FT by shutting down FG's currency to credit exchange through the International Trade Union (ITU) has failed spectacularly. Guaranteeing the stability of the game. And judging by how many new players it's attracting everyday and its stellar review, the prospect of game as a marketplace is very promising.

"To top it off, the game's realism and given how its economy is structured, it's only a matter of time,'' his father replied.

"Is that what you have been discussing with your colleagues at the economics department?'' Asked his sister.

"That's all we've been discussing dear. It makes for a compelling case study. We're even considering jumping into the game to examine how robust the economic institutions are. We’re hoping the university will fund for the equipment'' Prakash's father replied with a wink.

“Getting paid to play games? Geez, living the life dad” Prakash said.

"Look! Even Nat Geo is adding a new magazine section focused on the various wildlife of the game'' his younger brother shouted excitedly while pointing at his holoscreen.

Parvin was a lover of animals. Although he's too young to understand what's written in Nat Geo magazines, he always enjoyed the pictures taken by the various professional and hobby photographers worldwide.

"That's great news Prav. Nat Geo sales have been dropping for the past decade. Not much you can do when you've documented all the wildlife in the world'' his mother added while placing down a plate of flatbread on the table. She later added quite acrimoniously, “Unless you start producing shows about aliens and conspiracy theories”.

"Mom, since you're a political analyst, what do you think? Is there any way for the governments to prevent people from playing AO?'' Bennette asked.

"Not really. They can't shut down FG's services as it goes against the ITU charter. Their only option is to impose regulatory barriers and that in itself is a grey area. FT even had that covered by having their products certified before launching the game''

"By the way sis, what have you been up to in the game?'' Prakash asked.

Twirling her spoon in the air, she replied "Hmm.. We've been fighting space pirates with one of the hunter groups and we also did some mining in space. The loot is quite lucrative. If you're not already doing it, you should give it a go. We already gathered enough credits to buy our own ship. In fact, we're buying it today. Let me know if you need some help! We'll be more than happy to help you''

Prakash felt happy for his sister and a little envious that she already got her own ship. "I'll make sure you regret that offer sis'' he replied to her with a smirk.

She scoffed.

"I'd like to see you try.

"Do you even have a ship yet? It's been almost a month, most of the players already made it to space and started exploring''

"We're saving for a better ship. A lot of players complained about getting their ship blown up due to them rushing to buy subpar vessels. Space isn’t safe in AO with space pirates, beasts and space anomalies. The few that did FTL travel even posted in the forums about the dangers of higher dimensions. Besides, we have been enjoying the tutorial story quest from the planet. It’s surprisingly good.”

He received a weird look from his sister.

"You do realise those people were idiots, don't you? As long as you fly with the hunters' fleet, the chances of you getting blown up are close to nil. And the game is nuts for having such a long tutorial quest.''

"We are planning to explore on our own, that's why we're taking the time to get our ships right. Say what you might of the tutorial quest, but the story is picking up and it is shaping the political landscape of the planet. It’s fun to finally experience ‘your choice matters’ gameplay done right” he replied.

"It's your account. I'm happily blowing up ships in space'' his sister replied snidely followed by a villainous laugh.

Their parents just shook their heads at the banter.

"Just remember not to neglect your studies, especially you Prakash, you’re in your last semester'' their mother reminded them. She gave Prakash a worried look as he make his way back to his bedroom. He had been looking lost as of late. She remembered how challenging and depressing it could be when she got constantly rejected from the job market.

Prakash logged back into the game after having breakfast and checked their party balance.

SC: 27,560

Contribution Points: 17,487

Their credits were doing quite well. Phoenix's gamble paid off big time. The hunters' skirmishes with the pirates were getting more intense but so did the loot. While Phoenix's starfighter didn't get outright destroyed, Gulliver had to spend more and more of the funds to repair the vessel. Despite that, the activity still netted the party a nifty surplus.

They rented a small warehouse to deposit a few of the better loot hoping to incorporate them into their ship once they bought it. It was one of the reasons they decided to look at a light cruiser instead of the frigate. The components looted by Phoenix would not fit into a frigate, but it was too good to sell with everything rated Tier 2.5.

Gulliver suggested that with the skills he picked up, he was confident that he could outfit the components into the light cruiser, increasing its survivability and firepower. He walked to the hanger in Hunters' Hall to fix up Phoenix's fighter since her fighter is out of commission. In the meantime, she is currently flying one of the heavy cruisers for the hunters.

He sent Phoenix a message after he finished repairing her starfighter. He even swapped out the shield generator for a tier 2 variant that she looted. Gulliver then moved to the mission board to look for missions.

Sending a message to Helix, "There’s a new mission starting soon. Looks to be a major development related to the planet’s storyline that we were anticipating. Interested? Don’t wanna miss out on this one.”

"Of Course! I've got some new explosives that are dying to be field-tested. Count me in!''

"Horn you in?'' Gulliver asked in the party chat.

"Sure, if Helix shares some of his weapons'' Horn replied.

"Sure thing! More boom! More fun! Also Gulliver, I did the modifications you asked for.'' was Helix's reply.

Thousands of small space shuttles dotted the stratosphere above Pallandium's moon. Riding inside those shuttles were teams waiting to approach the base from space. As the operation commenced, these thousands of lighter vehicles started their descent towards a particular shipyard. Prakash looked out of the small oval windows opposite him and saw huge pits and large towering cranes that slowly got larger as the distance between them reduce. The location was cordoned by a grey wall.

This was the largest operation in the storyline to date. Participated by many players and NPCs alike to take out a rebel shipyard that had been causing massive problems for the Planetary Defence Force and the government. The shuttle they were in hovered just outside the range of the anti-aircraft guns and a voice rang out from the embedded speakers in the transport ship.

"Alright Helix, you're up'' said the operator of the transport ship.

Geared up in a Heavy Shock Trooper Exosuit (Tier II) that was heavily modified by Helix with the help of Gulliver, Helix jumped out of the transport ship while it was still in the air.

Gulliver was not worried about Helix as he was fully decked out in heavy tier-II gear. He was a literal walking tank. It was almost impossible to find tier III equipment in Palladium with the exception of the elite guard that protects the Planetary Administrative Centre. Hence, the armour he equipped would be one of the best money can buy as long as he’s on the planet.

Small plumes of smoke could be seen flying from Helix's shoulder as miniaturised missiles flew towards the rebel's anti-air guns. Helix landed on the ground as the AA platform blew up in spectacular fashion.

He immediately deployed his frontal shield, aimed and fired his high powered railgun into the enemy’s fortified positions. The special rounds fired were one of Helix's newer iterations of the Explosive Plasma rounds (EP rounds). As the rounds struck its target, a circular wave of orange plasma expanded outward in a 3-metre radius, melting opposing players, NPCs, and fortifications that were unfortunate enough to be caught in its explosive radius.

Players and NPCs from the rebel factions without the protection of heavy shields soon perished under Helix's continuous barrage. Helix fired off his thrusters to soften his landing on the ground whereby he was greeted with a barrage of bullets from the surviving enemies. Together with other heavy shock troopers, they managed to clear a large enough space for the transport ships carrying the remaining assault teams to land.

"Helix my boy, you sure have a talent with explosives'' one of the NPC commanders said as he exited the transporter. He gave Helix a pat on the shoulder and proceeded to run forwards toward the intensifying firefight.

Horn and Gulliver grouped up with Helix and they started pushing towards one of the heavier fortifications. They were joined by the commando unit that Gulliver saw during the defence of the space station on the launch day of the game. He found out later that they were a retired commando unit from the military. Gulliver's party spent the last month doing various storyline missions and teamed up multiple times with them. They called themselves Bravo squad, a moniker from their days as servicemen and women. Gulliver learned a lot from the missions they have done together as well as Horn, Helix, and Phoenix.

Once, Thyrion the captain leading the party known as Bravo squad accidentally let slipped that they liked to team up with Gulliver's party not because they were one of the few who listened to the captain's advice, but rather Helix shared all sorts of fun toys with them.

''It's a mutually beneficial partnership, we get the nice toys while you guys get some training and advice'' the captain once said after he realised he spoke it out loud. He liked the party of young adults enough but never was comfortable admitting it to their face, preferring to show his cold stoic face whenever in the presence of the kids.

"Time to get the show on the road. Gul! Helix! Cover fire! We're pushing up!'' Shouted the captain. "Bravo 3 and 4, right flank. The rest, push! Let’s move those lazy asses.”

Gulliver started running forward as Helix got up from his cover and started laying it thick with his Lyrian Heavy Assault Rifle (Tier 1). From behind him, he could hear the heavy discharge of Horn's High Powered Railgun providing sniper cover together with Bravo 2.

As the commando unit reached the towering gate that led into the shipyard proper, they planted a specially curated breacher charge that was strong enough to blow past 3 metres of reinforced concrete.

As soon as they cleared the area, the charge went off and sent plumes of dust everywhere, greatly reducing the visibility of everyone present. The captain threw an oversized AO's version of a stun grenade, which is a combination of an EMP (for implants and exosuits) and Flashbang, and started breaching.

Upon receiving the clear, Gulliver, Bravo 3, and 4 under the protection of Helix rushed into the breached entrance. They split into two groups, Helix, Gulliver, Bravo 3 and 4 formed the first group while the captain, Bravo 5 and 6 formed the second. Bravo 7 and 8 would be holding the breached entrance.

Helix took point due to his heavy shield allowing him to rush and tank anything the defending forces threw at them. A stun grenade was tossed inside and after waiting for it to discharge, Helix quickly followed, and the team after. Shots rang out nonstop and cries of “Clear” can be heard repeated as the team moved from room to room. They methodically repeated the action and cleared each hallway till they reached the top of the wall. The same actions were repeated with other player teams and soon, the assaulting forces were gathered at the top of the wall. Phase 1 of the assault was now complete.

***

''That's it! I've succeeded with my prototype!'' Tilly shouted.

"Jupiter! I've succeeded! It turned out better, it's 9% better than what's available in the market and it's not even optimised yet!"

"That's great! You’re gonna patent that piece of tech?'' Jupiter shouted from her console across the workshop.

"I'm going to do it now. Galactic Core Network right?'' Tilly asked.

"Yup, they are the overseers in this galaxy. Basically means that they're runned by Future Games. Pretty neat right? If you're strong enough, you can theoretically challenge them for supremacy in the game, taking control of the whole game. The company sure have balls.

"They also manage the Galactic Bank which issued the Universal Credit, UC.''

Looking at Tilly's confused face,

"You know? The one where we can exchange with real money? Then exchanging UC to any local currency'' Phoenix slowly explained.

"So it's like a universal haven currency in this game? The UC I mean.'' Tilly paused for a bit. Tilting her head, “Yeah, it's in the name. What the hell am I thinking.”

"Yup, that's why when you register your patent, make sure to set the demanding price in UC instead of SC'' Jupiter explained while shaking her head. "I've also upgraded our virtual security. We shouldn't have a problem with cyber intrusion''

"Got’cha! I'm gonna register our patent now. What are you up to?''

"I'm working on writing a personal AI for the workshop. Should be handy if we decide to produce the battery ourselves.''

"We can just get an off the shelf AI you know''

"Yea, but it's more fun to build it yourself. You also don't have to worry about security and licensing issues if we decided to incorporate it into other systems''

Filling out the patent was pretty easy and straightforward which surprised Tilly. 'It's a game. Bureaucracy does not exist in games. Can’t make everything too realistic' she smiled to herself. She made her way to their small workshop kitchen and brewed herself some locally sourced tea. Taking a sip and enjoying the slightly floral sweet yet sour-tasting tea, she turned towards Jupiter, "Any interesting news?''

"The rebels are getting rowdier. There is a major operation ongoing to take out a heavily fortified rebel shipyard. They said it should it be successful, it will greatly limit the rebels' ability to threaten the space station. Giving the PDF some breathing room to clear out the pirates.

"I'm not sure how the rebels will respond if they succeed. I'm worried about us and the industrial area will be targeted as retaliation.

"There are already rumours that the industrial areas were hit and the PDF is covering it up to prevent panic and the economy from crashing.''

Taking a moment to think, Tilly finally asked,

"Should we invest in some security measures?''

"Yes. I have a few ideas in mind''

Tilly smile worriedly at Jupiter since her friend was well-known for her sadistic tendencies. It would not bear well if her account and her fledgling company were flagged by the game AI for violations of the terms and conditions.

"Nothing too crazy Sonia?'' Tilly asked timidly.

"It's Jupiter. And don't you worry. It is nothing fancy,'' she replied with a glint in her eye.