It is the first time I have come ‘face to face’ with Hank. “Yeah,” he says, hand on the stick, “that was small arms fire.” We are flying high over the orange streetlights of Kavala now, over the main street of the town, the bank, the fishmongers, the pub.

Hank lifts the helicopter higher and higher until the gunshots ebb away. Before either of us have time to consider it, we can hear the telltale crack of gunfire beneath us. We sent Brendan deep into one of the UK servers to see what the populace is up to. Altis Life is a roleplaying mod for Arma 3, featuring police, ambulance crews and outlaws.