Nick operated the console and opened the entrance for the employees.
The light in the Containnt Unit sprang on, and Nick imdiately saw the Drear after opening the door.
The Drear was standing near one of the walls.
Nick wasn't sure if he preferred this position over the one where the Drear just lay in the corner.
Nick stepped into the Containnt Unit with confidence, and the door closed behind him.
Nick looked at the Drear.
The Drear looked at Nick.
Silence.
Nick's heart began to race.
At this mont, Nick's ability obviously didn't work, and the employee door took a couple of seconds to open.
This ant that if the Drear decided to attack, Nick would have to fight it for a couple of seconds before Albert could get in or Nick out.
'I can't rely on Albert,' Nick thought as he looked at the Drear with narrowed eyes. 'Albert is only here for today. Even if he saves now, he won't be able to save tomorrow.'
'Rember, Albert said that Specters always do what's most beneficial to them.'
'The Drear is not powerful enough to escape from the Containnt Unit. Even if it kills , it won't be able to get out, and I'm certain it knows that.'
'Because of that, attacking would only antagonize the Manufacturer it now belongs to, reducing our trust in it and making its life more difficult.'
'If I were in its position, I would want to play the good boy until I get enough Zephyx to beco a level two Specter, an Adolescent, before breaking out of the Containnt Unit.'
The Drear and Nick were still silently looking at each other.
The Drear had no expression whatsoever, and Nick had no idea what it was thinking or feeling right now.
It just kept staring at him like a statue.
"I presu you are willing to work with us," Nick said. "I think you would have attacked if you didn't agree."
"Smart decision."
The Drear just kept looking at Nick.
"We both know my power, and we both know that you are superior to in every way as long as you can see ."
"However, we also know that I can still avoid your attacks for a while, and compared to before, we are now on my ho turf."
"I only need to survive until the door is open."
The Drear didn't do anything.
Naturally, the Drear's lack of reaction increased Nick's heart rate.
It was just too creepy to look at sothing that was alive but deliberately acted like it was not.
"Of course, you still have a genuine chance to kill ."
The Drear didn't do anything.
"But you have also noticed the alarms earlier, and I'm pretty sure you already figured out when the alarm gets triggered."
"If you decide to attack , I will know before you actually attack."
The Drear just kept staring emotionlessly and silently.
DING! DING! DING!
The next mont, the alarm rang, and Nick imdiately put his hand on the console of the door behind him.
However, he didn't press it.
Instead, he only glared at the Drear.
Surprisingly, the Drear just kept standing there.
It was almost like it hadn't done anything.
"You get it now?" Nick asked.
Naturally, the Drear had tested out the alarm.
It wanted to know if the past activations had just been coincidences or not.
And it didn't like what it saw.
Whenever it was thinking about launching an attack, the alarm rang.
The alarm activated so fast that the Drear wasn't even sure whether or not it had actually wanted to attack.
It felt very bizarre.
It was almost like the alarm could tell the future.
"Okay," Nick said as he walked away from the door.
Then, he slowly walked towards the Drear.
Since the Drear currently stood on the ground, it seed almost harmless.
After all, it was just a barely 50-centiter-tall owl.
Sure, it was quite a big bird, but that was it.
However, Nick knew how powerful the Drear actually was.
Step by step, Nick closed in on the Drear.
Eventually, only a single ter separated them.
The entire ti, the two of them only looked into each other's eyes.
Silence.
The Drear didn't attack.
Naturally, Nick's heart rate was quite elevated at this mont, and adrenaline was coursing through his body.
However, he also knew that he had to get through this.
If he didn't manage to work with the Drear, he couldn't call himself the Chief Zephyx Extractor.
He had to be able to work with the most powerful Specters of the company.
"Good," Nick said. "Then, let's start working."
The next mont, Nick turned around and walked to one of the walls.
Then, he sat down with his back to the wall.
"You gain power by giving people nightmares, right?"
The Drear didn't answer.
"When you gain power, you give off the stuff we want."
"Albert!" Nick shouted as he looked towards one of the walls. "Set the conversion rate to 90% for now."
So seconds passed.
"Done!" Albert's voice ca from one of the speakers in the corner.
Nick nodded and looked back at the Drear.
"For now, we will take 90%, and you get to keep 10%. Naturally, that is very much in our favor, but for now, that's your only option."
"If you prove to be trustworthy, we will allow you to retain more Zephyx. After all, if you manage to beco an Adolescent, we will also get more Zephyx."
"You growing stronger is also in our interest."
"But for now, we have to be careful of you."
The next mont, Nick took a deep breath.
"I will try to fall asleep in here, and you do your thing."
"However, keep in mind that I am currently the only person willing to work with you using this thod. If I accidentally die, we will only have the bargain bin thod left, and we might not trust you anymore, which ans you stay a Hatchling forever."
"Don't do anything stupid."
And then, Nick closed his eyes.
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