Nick told Jenny that he would take one shift of working with the Drear today.
As a reason, he said that he wanted to be familiar with all the Specters and that he hadn't worked with the Drear for a long ti.
Naturally, Jenny imdiately gave Nick the next shift, and a couple of hours later, Nick walked into the Drear's Containnt Unit.
Jonathan was the one who had just been working with the Drear, and Nick woke him up as soon as he entered.
Obviously, Jonathan imdiately beca panicked when he saw Nick.
Why was Nick here?!
Did Jonathan do sothing wrong?!
However, Nick quickly cald Jonathan down, and Jonathan left the Containnt Unit.
Now, only Nick and the Drear were left inside the Containnt Unit.
Nick looked at the Drear, who only silently looked back.
"Today, we're going to work together," Nick said.
The Drear didn't answer.
Nick lay down near one of the walls and closed his eyes.
So seconds later, Nick felt the Drear standing beside him.
So seconds passed.
And so more seconds.
And even more.
After several minutes, Nick opened his eyes and furrowed them as he looked at the Drear beside him.
"Is there an issue?" Nick asked.
The Drear, who stood directly beside Nick, just looked at him.
Nick just looked back with annoyance.
"I'll ask again. Is there an issue?" Nick asked.
Scratch.
Nick looked down and saw that the Drear had scratched the floor with one of its talons.
"Do you want to say sothing?" Nick asked.
Scratch scratch.
The Drear's talons scratched twice.
Nick took a deep breath.
He hadn't thought that it would actually happen, but he had thought about sothing like this happening.
A change in power dynamic.
It had always been Nick and Dark Dream that dictated the rules, not the Drear.
But now, things were different.
After looking through all the mories of all the people who had worked with the Drear, it knew that Nick was the Chief Zephyx Extractor.
It knew that Nick was far more important than normal employees.
"Alright," Nick said. "One scratch for yes. Two scratches for no. Three scratches for that this question isn't important. Do you understand?"
Scratch.
The Drear just kept looking at Nick with its dead stare, but it still scratched once to show that it understood.
Nick sighed.
"Do you know why I am actually here?" Nick asked.
Scratch.
'Just as I thought,' Nick thought.
"Do you want to negotiate sothing?" Nick asked.
Scratch.
Nick took a deep breath.
"Do you see the influence of a strong Specter on ?" Nick asked.
Scratch.
"Can you get rid of it?"
Scratch.
Nick took another deep breath.
"Do you want to get out?"
Scratch scratch.
Nick furrowed his brows. "You answered with a no instead of an irrelevant. Do you actually want to stay here, or is it just not important? One scratch for wanting to stay, two for not important."
Scratch.
Nick looked at the Drear for a while.
The Drear had just said that it didn't even want to leave.
Of course, Nick didn't fully trust it, but he was willing to believe it.
While 85% of all the Zephyx it produced was confiscated, it could still feed on Johns every single minute of every single day.
This basically made Dark Dream an ideal place to feed.
Nick took a deep breath.
"Alright. So, you want to stay. You're saying that you wouldn't want to escape, even if you were not inside a Containnt Unit. Is that right?"
Scratch.
"Obviously, I'm not letting you out," Nick said. "If you were in my place, you also wouldn't let yourself out."
Scratch.
'At least it's honest,' Nick thought.
Nick took another deep breath.
"Alright, don't think of as barbaric," Nick said. "I could theoretically go the hard-ass route and say that it's my way or the highway, but I'm not going to do that."
"You have been with us for four years, and there haven't been any incidents. The only people you killed are the ones that you were told to kill, right?" Nick asked.
Scratch.
"For four years, you have produced Zephyx without causing any issues. On top of that, you know that you are basically the only one who can help out of my current predicant, I presu."
Scratch.
"So, now, you want to renegotiate with all of these things considered, right?"
Scratch.
"Alright," Nick said. "You are currently getting 15% of the Zephyx, and you are already an Early Adolescent. You have to know that it won't help either of us if you get too powerful. After all, if you get too strong, it gets too dangerous to work with you."
Scratch scratch.
Nick raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying that you becoming more powerful won't endanger weaker employees?"
Scratch.
Nick furrowed his brows. "Just to make sure. If I were to send an Initial Newbie with little willpower to you, they won't die?"
Scratch.
"But I guess you won't produce as much Zephyx," Nick said.
Scratch.
"So, you can stop working with soone before they die, right?"
Scratch.
Nick took a deep breath.
"Alright," he said. "Then, let's talk about your future terms."
"I will still prioritize Johns when choosing who works with you, but I am also allowed to send Peak Newbies to you. Working with you should help them in becoming Johns quicker."
"In exchange, your share of Zephyx gets increased from 15% to 25%. That's the deal."
"I honestly can't give you more. Otherwise, you would only be working for eight hours a day because you beco so strong that nobody can work with you, and sadly, I'm too busy."
"Do you agree?"
Scratch.
Nick's eyebrows rose.
'That was… easy.'
Nick repeated the terms of the new agreent, and the Drear once more confird that it accepted.
"Alright," Nick said. "Then, we have a deal. Let go outside and change the settings on the Containnt Unit."
Nick stood up, changed the settings of the Containnt Unit, and ca back in.
"All good," Nick said. Then, he lay down beside the Drear.
"Now, can we start?"
The Drear looked at Nick, and Nick started to beco tired very quickly.
As soon as Nick fell asleep, the nightmare returned.
For just a couple of seconds, the Drear looked at the nightmare.
And then, the nightmare was dispersed, replaced by the Drear's own creation.
Nick's issue with the nightmares has been solved.
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