Kill the Sun

"And that's it," one of two guards standing in front of one of Dark Dream's Containment Units said.

"Thank you," Nick said.

"Just doing our job," the other guard said. "Do you know what to do with him?"

"I do," Nick answered.

"Then, I would tell you to have fun, but we both know that this won't be the case," one of the guards said with a laugh before the two of them walked towards the Extractor Shafts.

Nick followed after them and escorted them out.

The stairs and the Extractor Shafts were all locked by default, and the guards couldn't leave without someone escorting them.

When they reached the Shafts, they went to the side, towards the stairs.

Extractors often weren't the biggest fans of using Extractor Shafts from other Manufacturers, and they preferred to use the stairs.

Nick swiped his left hand over the console, and the door to the stairs opened.

Compared to the stairwell in Dark Dream's old building, this one didn't have a hole in its center.

There was no way to quickly jump up or down the stairs.

When they reached the first floor, Nick opened the door with his identification again.

Nick led the two of them out of the building and said his goodbyes before going back in.

In order to access the stairwell and to leave it, one needed identification.

The main reason for this choice was security and stopping random people from getting to places they didn't belong.

If someone somehow managed to sneak into the stairwell, they could travel between the first and sixth floors, but they wouldn't be able to leave without proper identification.

Important to note was the fact that there was a divider between the sixth and seventh floors.

This divider had been placed here because Specters with dangerous mental powers resided on the seventh floor.

These Specters might have powers that could manipulate normal people, and this divider kept normal people from getting to the seventh floor.

Additionally, it also stopped people who were already being influenced from getting to the Specters.

Nick entered the Extractor Shaft and went to the third floor.

Right now, only one of the Containment Units on the third floor was active.

Nick took a deep breath and approached the Containment Unit.

The city had already told him everything about this Specter, and he knew what he had to do.

However, he didn't look forward to working with it at all.

If Nick had to rate the Specter out of ten for different criteria, he would rate it like this.

Danger: three.

Money: seven.

Annoyance: eight.

As long as one didn't become careless, this Specter was essentially harmless.

However, if one lost their focus, one would get into trouble.

Luckily, since the Specter was inside a Containment Unit, there was still a great likelihood of the Extractor being able to escape in case something went wrong.

Assuming the Extractor was on the same level as the Talker.

'Everything has already been dealt with,' Nick thought. 'For the next eight hours, no issues should arise.'

'I have to get used to working with it since the Talker will be the only real way I can advance in the future.'

Nick took a deep breath and sighed.

'No pain, no gain, I suppose.'

Nick opened the door.

As soon as the door opened, Nick could finally see the Talker.

It was a brightly smiling young man with blonde hair.

He wore a clean white shirt and black trousers, giving him a professional look.

However, his bright and charismatic smile gave him the aura of a charming person who could get along with everyone.

It wasn't hard to imagine this man walking through the streets, laughing and joking with everyone he passed by while giving everyone a compliment.

In short, this guy looked like everyone's friend.

Nick quickly entered and shut the door behind him.

"Oh, hey!" the man said in surprise. "You're a new face! I haven't seen you before!"

The man slowly approached Nick.

Meanwhile, Nick didn't move and just looked at the man. "Hello."

"Hi!" the man said with a laugh. Then, he coughed. "Sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet."

The next moment, the man offered his hand with a friendly smile. "Hi, the name's Jay Jessy Jameson Jonathan Jenkins! I know it's a mouthful, but you can just call me Jayjay."

"Yes, hello. My name is Nick Nick," Nick said as he slowly and carefully shook Jayjay's hand.

"Nick Nick?" Jayjay repeated in surprise before bursting out into laughter. "That's one hell of a name. How did you come by it?"

"Well," Nick said before trailing off.

The next moment, Nick felt Jayjay's grip tightening while his body started to slightly shake. It was almost like Jayjay's entire body was straining with power.

His eyes also looked intensely into Nick's eyes.

"I'm an orphan, and I didn't really have a name back then…"

As Nick started to narrate his past, Jayjay relaxed again.

His grip loosened, his body relaxed, and his eyes unfocused.

"And you stuck with the name Nick Nick?" Jayjay asked with a laugh.

"What else was I supposed to do?" Nick answered with a shrug. "I already introduced myself in this way in front of all the powerful people of the city. It was ride or die."

Jayjay just laughed. "To think that you would name yourself Nick Nick. That's hilarious! Did you ever think about changing your name ever since then?"

"Not really," Nick said. "It isn't really an issue."

"How come? I would think that most people would have issues with such a name."

"Well," Nick said, "to me, a name is not really that important. It's just a way for others to refer to you. I'm still me, you know. My name doesn't really have a big influence on who I am, I think."

"That's an interesting viewpoint," Jayjay said. "Why do you think others put a lot of emphasis on their name, then?"

"I think other people view their names as a representation…"

The conversation continued.