Nick sat in a chair inside a white Containment Unit.
He had been here before.
This was one of the city's prisons.
After Simon had seen what happened, he easily subdued Julian and put him in a Containment Unit.
After that, he had told the city to put Nick in one of the cells for his own protection.
Naturally, the governor himself had seen to it.
He had dropped Nick off without saying a word and left again.
His entire city was in chaos, and there was a lot he needed to do.
That had happened almost two hours ago.
For the past two hours, Nick had waited.
He was no longer nervous.
Everything had been done, and now, it was up to Simon.
Finally, two hours after arriving in the cell, the door opened, and Simon walked in.
Simon sat down in the chair opposite of Nick and looked at him with a complex expression.
"Quite a lot of things have happened," he said.
"You tell me," Nick said with a sigh.
"Is everything alright?" Simon asked.
"Still processing," Nick said. "I suspected that Julian was a Specter, but I couldn't be completely sure."
Simon just looked at Nick. "He says otherwise. He claims that you have always known."
"Of course he does!" Nick answered with annoyance. "I'm the reason he's in a Containment Unit now."
"Why did you attack him with the Money Maker if you weren't sure whether or not he was a Specter?" Simon asked.
"Because he knows of my ability," Nick said.
Simon frowned. "That's the reason?"
Nick nodded. "I have to keep my ability a secret. Anyone who knows my ability is a danger to me. You know how easy it is to counter my ability as long as someone knows how it works."
Simon still didn't seem happy.
Killing innocent people just because they knew something was not something that Aegis liked to do.
If someone learned something crucial about Aegis, they considered it their own failure.
Humans searched for knowledge, and punishing someone for that was not human, in Aegis' opinion.
"Do you plan to kill everyone that knows of your ability?" Simon asked.
"Only if they are humanity's enemy," Nick said with conviction. "Aegis represents humanity, but the people in this city do not represent humanity."
"Kugelblitz and Anatomy are corrupt. Kugelblitz creates a low-income slum to harvest blood, while Anatomy causes disease in the city with their Specter while turning every Extractor into slaves for the Sea King. Additionally, I think they have Envy's servant," Nick said.
Simon's eyes shone. "What makes you think so?"
"I saw a foreign Containment Unit inside Anatomy."
"When?" Simon asked.
"When the building blew up," Nick said. "I was hiding far away. I wanted to take the opportunity to catch one of their Specters for Dark Dream."
"But then, I saw that one Containment Unit was still closed. Even more, I had never seen a Containment Unit like that before. With Anatomy's shady conduct in the past, I assumed that this was Envy's servant."
"Speaking of," Nick added. "The Sea King is also one of Envy's servants."
Simon grew interested.
"What makes you think so?"
Nick told Simon about what had happened when he met the coral people for the first time and how he had helped Anatomy to lure it out.
"Why did you not tell me sooner?" Simon asked with annoyance.
"Because I would die," Nick answered. "If Anatomy found out that the Sea King is one of Envy's servants, they would realize why I was able to lure the Sea King out."
"They would know that Envy was interested in me, and to save their own hides, they would have killed me after you left again."
"I could only summon you after I found the actual servant in Anatomy's building," Nick explained.
"And instead," Simon said without any amusement, "you let hundreds of Extractors become mindless puppets to one of Envy's servants."
"Oh?" Nick answered with some annoyance of his own. "And if the Sea King were not Envy's servant, that would have been okay? Is the issue that the Sea King is Envy's servant? That's all that's wrong with this?"
"It's the governor's job to keep the city livable," Nick shouted in rage. "Instead, he is willing to sacrifice all the Extractors to a Demon just to protect his own hide!"
"He was on Anatomy's side during this whole conflict! He was willing to help Anatomy against Kugelblitz, which would have resulted in almost all the Extractors of the city turning into servants of the Sea King!"
"With every servant, the Sea King grows stronger, and at some point, it would have managed to free itself! What then?! Then, we would have another Fallen with thousands of powerful servants running around!"
"The Sea King is a danger to every city! As soon as it takes down this one, it will attack another city with its forces!"
"This is not just some mindless Fallen that consumes a couple of humans occasionally!"
"This is a walking army that is interested in consuming entire cities!"
"I expected the governor to deal with the Sea King! Something like that can't be left alone!"
"The fact that it is Envy's servant is not even worth mentioning!"
Simon looked at Nick with a frown.
Then, he became silent for a while.
Finally, he sighed.
"Tell me about Crimson Fungus City," he said.
"It's called Crimson City now after something happened," Nick said. "And sure, I can do that."
Then, Nick told Simon about everything.
The Dregs.
Anatomy.
Kugelblitz.
The governor's failings.
How Julian had tricked him.
Apparently, Nick had started to suspect Julian after he worked with the Dreamer.
Whenever he worked with the Dreamer, Julian started to feel dangerous to Nick afterwards.
According to Nick, the Dreamer could deal with Julian's influence.
So, Nick had written a letter to himself.
He told himself to work with the Dreamer for a short time regularly.
However, most of all, Nick talked about how much he despised the governor.
It took Nick almost an entire hour to finish his rant.
Simon sighed.
"That's a lot to take in."
"Isn't it?" Nick asked, still annoyed at the governor.
"I found a ruin and gave it to Aegis! I found one of Envy's servants and a greater relay! I found another two of Envy's servants! I did all of this shit, and I don't even belong to Aegis!"
"What did the governor do during that time? Nothing!"
"He just sits on his ass, trains with the Crimson Fungus, and just lets all his people suffer because he's too afraid of angering the wrong people!"
"He's the most powerful Extractor in the city, but he just sits there and lets the city run itself! Even his army is just borrowed from the Manufacturers!"
"He's supposed to make this city livable for humans! Instead, he's building a nice place for the rich on top of an ocean of blood harvested against consent from the helpless people!"
"Aegis rules with strength! There might be some black sheep in Aegis as well, but they can't cause this much damage because they are afraid of Aegis!"
"The governor doesn't fear Aegis, which is why he's not afraid of causing so much suffering!" Nick shouted.
"And what would you have him do?" Simon asked.
"Make giving blood voluntary in exchange for tax benefits. Don't let the blood replace a fixed number of credits but a percentage, and if that for some reason still isn't enough, force the mandatory bloodletting on everyone, regardless of income! Two liters every three or four months sounds much more reasonable."
"We are humans, and we are all in this together!" Nick shouted.
Simon looked at Nick.
He shared Nick's sentiment. However…
"You haven't been completely honest with me," Simon said. "There are several holes in your story."
Nick just looked at Simon, unafraid.
"I don't believe that you just so happened to see and recognize a foreign Containment Unit during that battle."
"I also don't fully believe that you weren't sure that Julian was a Specter."
Nick didn't answer.
"Why are you keeping things hidden? Isn't that just like the governor?" he asked.
"Yes," Nick answered with disgust for the governor, "but compared to him, my goal is to improve humanity, not to sit on my ass all day, doing nothing."
"We might share some actions, but we don't share intentions."
Simon looked at Nick for a while.
It wasn't easy for him to make a decision.
"Who else knows of your ability? Who else has to die?" Simon asked.
"There are only two people who know of my ability."
"You and Ghosty."
"I told you voluntarily because I wholeheartedly believe that Aegis shares my interest in humanity's survival. You are not my enemy."
Nick furrowed his brows. "And as long as Ghosty joins Aegis and leaves the city, the same thing is true for him."
"Someone of his genius shouldn't be contained in this small city anyway. He would be much more useful by helping humanity as a whole."
Simon fell back into thought.
'Time for my joker,' Nick thought.
"If you do this for me and help me a bit, I am willing to share an incredible secret with Aegis."
"Something that will even shock the Champion of Light himself."
Simon's eyebrows rose.
"That's quite a bold claim," he said.
"It is worth it," Nick said. "Do I have your word that you will help me if the secret is truly as shocking as I claim?"
Simon snorted.
Naturally, he didn't believe Nick.
Sure, he had done some amazing things, but finding out something so shocking that it would even surprise the Champion of Light was unbelievable.
"Fine, if it's truly as shocking as you say, I will view you as an ally. After all, if it is as you say, that secret alone should benefit all of humanity."
Nick nodded.
"I've seen the Nightmare and know where it is."
Nick sat in a chair inside a white Containment Unit.
He had been here before.
This was one of the city's prisons.
After Simon had seen what happened, he easily subdued Julian and put him in a Containment Unit.
After that, he had told the city to put Nick in one of the cells for his own protection.
Naturally, the governor himself had seen to it.
He had dropped Nick off without saying a word and left again.
His entire city was in chaos, and there was a lot he needed to do.
That had happened almost two hours ago.
For the past two hours, Nick had waited.
He was no longer nervous.
Everything had been done, and now, it was up to Simon.
Finally, two hours after arriving in the cell, the door opened, and Simon walked in.
Simon sat down in the chair opposite of Nick and looked at him with a complex expression.
"Quite a lot of things have happened," he said.
"You tell me," Nick said with a sigh.
"Is everything alright?" Simon asked.
"Still processing," Nick said. "I suspected that Julian was a Specter, but I couldn't be completely sure."
Simon just looked at Nick. "He says otherwise. He claims that you have always known."
"Of course he does!" Nick answered with annoyance. "I'm the reason he's in a Containment Unit now."
"Why did you attack him with the Money Maker if you weren't sure whether or not he was a Specter?" Simon asked.
"Because he knows of my ability," Nick said.
Simon frowned. "That's the reason?"
Nick nodded. "I have to keep my ability a secret. Anyone who knows my ability is a danger to me. You know how easy it is to counter my ability as long as someone knows how it works."
Simon still didn't seem happy.
Killing innocent people just because they knew something was not something that Aegis liked to do.
If someone learned something crucial about Aegis, they considered it their own failure.
Humans searched for knowledge, and punishing someone for that was not human, in Aegis' opinion.
"Do you plan to kill everyone that knows of your ability?" Simon asked.
"Only if they are humanity's enemy," Nick said with conviction. "Aegis represents humanity, but the people in this city do not represent humanity."
"Kugelblitz and Anatomy are corrupt. Kugelblitz creates a low-income slum to harvest blood, while Anatomy causes disease in the city with their Specter while turning every Extractor into slaves for the Sea King. Additionally, I think they have Envy's servant," Nick said.
Simon's eyes shone. "What makes you think so?"
"I saw a foreign Containment Unit inside Anatomy."
"When?" Simon asked.
"When the building blew up," Nick said. "I was hiding far away. I wanted to take the opportunity to catch one of their Specters for Dark Dream."
"But then, I saw that one Containment Unit was still closed. Even more, I had never seen a Containment Unit like that before. With Anatomy's shady conduct in the past, I assumed that this was Envy's servant."
"Speaking of," Nick added. "The Sea King is also one of Envy's servants."
Simon grew interested.
"What makes you think so?"
Nick told Simon about what had happened when he met the coral people for the first time and how he had helped Anatomy to lure it out.
"Why did you not tell me sooner?" Simon asked with annoyance.
"Because I would die," Nick answered. "If Anatomy found out that the Sea King is one of Envy's servants, they would realize why I was able to lure the Sea King out."
"They would know that Envy was interested in me, and to save their own hides, they would have killed me after you left again."
"I could only summon you after I found the actual servant in Anatomy's building," Nick explained.
"And instead," Simon said without any amusement, "you let hundreds of Extractors become mindless puppets to one of Envy's servants."
"Oh?" Nick answered with some annoyance of his own. "And if the Sea King were not Envy's servant, that would have been okay? Is the issue that the Sea King is Envy's servant? That's all that's wrong with this?"
"It's the governor's job to keep the city livable," Nick shouted in rage. "Instead, he is willing to sacrifice all the Extractors to a Demon just to protect his own hide!"
"He was on Anatomy's side during this whole conflict! He was willing to help Anatomy against Kugelblitz, which would have resulted in almost all the Extractors of the city turning into servants of the Sea King!"
"With every servant, the Sea King grows stronger, and at some point, it would have managed to free itself! What then?! Then, we would have another Fallen with thousands of powerful servants running around!"
"The Sea King is a danger to every city! As soon as it takes down this one, it will attack another city with its forces!"
"This is not just some mindless Fallen that consumes a couple of humans occasionally!"
"This is a walking army that is interested in consuming entire cities!"
"I expected the governor to deal with the Sea King! Something like that can't be left alone!"
"The fact that it is Envy's servant is not even worth mentioning!"
Simon looked at Nick with a frown.
Then, he became silent for a while.
Finally, he sighed.
"Tell me about Crimson Fungus City," he said.
"It's called Crimson City now after something happened," Nick said. "And sure, I can do that."
Then, Nick told Simon about everything.
The Dregs.
Anatomy.
Kugelblitz.
The governor's failings.
How Julian had tricked him.
Apparently, Nick had started to suspect Julian after he worked with the Dreamer.
Whenever he worked with the Dreamer, Julian started to feel dangerous to Nick afterwards.
According to Nick, the Dreamer could deal with Julian's influence.
So, Nick had written a letter to himself.
He told himself to work with the Dreamer for a short time regularly.
However, most of all, Nick talked about how much he despised the governor.
It took Nick almost an entire hour to finish his rant.
Simon sighed.
"That's a lot to take in."
"Isn't it?" Nick asked, still annoyed at the governor.
"I found a ruin and gave it to Aegis! I found one of Envy's servants and a greater relay! I found another two of Envy's servants! I did all of this shit, and I don't even belong to Aegis!"
"What did the governor do during that time? Nothing!"
"He just sits on his ass, trains with the Crimson Fungus, and just lets all his people suffer because he's too afraid of angering the wrong people!"
"He's the most powerful Extractor in the city, but he just sits there and lets the city run itself! Even his army is just borrowed from the Manufacturers!"
"He's supposed to make this city livable for humans! Instead, he's building a nice place for the rich on top of an ocean of blood harvested against consent from the helpless people!"
"Aegis rules with strength! There might be some black sheep in Aegis as well, but they can't cause this much damage because they are afraid of Aegis!"
"The governor doesn't fear Aegis, which is why he's not afraid of causing so much suffering!" Nick shouted.
"And what would you have him do?" Simon asked.
"Make giving blood voluntary in exchange for tax benefits. Don't let the blood replace a fixed number of credits but a percentage, and if that for some reason still isn't enough, force the mandatory bloodletting on everyone, regardless of income! Two liters every three or four months sounds much more reasonable."
"We are humans, and we are all in this together!" Nick shouted.
Simon looked at Nick.
He shared Nick's sentiment. However…
"You haven't been completely honest with me," Simon said. "There are several holes in your story."
Nick just looked at Simon, unafraid.
"I don't believe that you just so happened to see and recognize a foreign Containment Unit during that battle."
"I also don't fully believe that you weren't sure that Julian was a Specter."
Nick didn't answer.
"Why are you keeping things hidden? Isn't that just like the governor?" he asked.
"Yes," Nick answered with disgust for the governor, "but compared to him, my goal is to improve humanity, not to sit on my ass all day, doing nothing."
"We might share some actions, but we don't share intentions."
Simon looked at Nick for a while.
It wasn't easy for him to make a decision.
"Who else knows of your ability? Who else has to die?" Simon asked.
"There are only two people who know of my ability."
"You and Ghosty."
"I told you voluntarily because I wholeheartedly believe that Aegis shares my interest in humanity's survival. You are not my enemy."
Nick furrowed his brows. "And as long as Ghosty joins Aegis and leaves the city, the same thing is true for him."
"Someone of his genius shouldn't be contained in this small city anyway. He would be much more useful by helping humanity as a whole."
Simon fell back into thought.
'Time for my joker,' Nick thought.
"If you do this for me and help me a bit, I am willing to share an incredible secret with Aegis."
"Something that will even shock the Champion of Light himself."
Simon's eyebrows rose.
"That's quite a bold claim," he said.
"It is worth it," Nick said. "Do I have your word that you will help me if the secret is truly as shocking as I claim?"
Simon snorted.
Naturally, he didn't believe Nick.
Sure, he had done some amazing things, but finding out something so shocking that it would even surprise the Champion of Light was unbelievable.
"Fine, if it's truly as shocking as you say, I will view you as an ally. After all, if it is as you say, that secret alone should benefit all of humanity."
Nick nodded.
"I've seen the Nightmare and know where it is."
