After a couple of minutes, Nick stood up.
By now, over ten minutes had passed.
Horua's heartbeat hadn't returned.
He was dead.
There was no denying it anymore.
"Did he have any next-of-kin?" Wyntor asked from the corner.
Nick slowly shook his head. "No. His parents died, and he didn't have any friends or family…"
"Except for me," Nick said quietly as he looked down.
Silence.
"What do you want to do with the body?" Wyntor asked.
When Nick heard that, he felt the void in his chest return, darker than ever before.
Right now, Nick felt like he could never be happy again.
In one way, he felt like he had been hollowed out, but at the same time, he also felt like the entire world was putting immense pressure on him.
Nick felt like reality wanted to crush him.
His body?
This question felt so surreal.
Nick had to decide what to do with Horua's body?
It was so strange.
How was any of this real?
How had any of this actually happened?
For a while, Nick didn't answer.
There were no cemeteries in the Dregs.
If anyone died, the body had to be handed over to the officials.
Nobody knew where the bodies ended up.
Most likely, the bodies were fed to a Specter.
It sounded cruel, but what alternative was there?
There was no earth in the city, which made burying the body impossible.
Burning the body was also not possible since none of the fires one could start with the available materials was strong enough to actually turn the body into ash. It would just leave a charred body behind, making things even worse.
Keeping the body was also bad since it would rot.
Additionally, the Parasite would probably just consume the body when nobody was looking.
Might as well feed it to a useful Specter.
Nick wanted to keep Horua's body, but he knew that this was not realistic.
"Give it to the coffin," Nick said with a shaky breath.
It sounded cruel, but it was the only thing Nick could think of.
Wyntor nodded.
"Do you want to say goodbye?" he asked.
Nick looked at Horua's corpse.
A nearly twelve-year-old boy.
Horua was so thin and pale.
Nick still remembered how he had defended Horua from the gangs when his parents died and how they had been living together for almost a year.
Even though it had only been a business relationship at the beginning, they had quickly become friends.
Nick also remembered how hopeful Horua had been when Nick had told him that he could turn him into a Zephyx Extractor.
And then, tragedy happened.
'It's all my fault,' Nick thought as he looked at the corpse with pain.
"I'm sorry," Nick said quietly as he kneeled beside the corpse.
Nick gently held Horua's hand.
It was ice cold, soft, and thin.
A child's hand.
"I'm sorry, Horua," Nick said with a shaky voice.
"Wherever you are now, I hope you won't meet someone like me."
"This is all my fault."
"If I hadn't been so stupid, you would still be alive."
"I'm sorry."
Several seconds of silence passed.
"Thank you for being my friend."
"I'll miss you, even though you probably wouldn't want to see me."
"I'll leave you alone now."
"Goodbye."
Nick took a shaky breath and stood up.
Wyntor stepped forward and put a hand on Nick's shoulder.
Nick didn't move for a while.
Eventually, Nick took a deep breath.
"Thanks," he said as he gently pushed Wyntor's hand off his shoulder. "I'll need some time to deal with this."
Wyntor nodded. "You can have the next three days off. I know this is difficult on you."
Nick didn't answer.
Then, he turned around and quietly left the Containment Unit.
After Nick left, Wyntor looked at the corpse for a bit before putting it over his shoulder.
After that, Wyntor turned to look at the Dreamer.
The Dreamer looked at Wyntor.
Three seconds later, Wyntor turned away and left the Containment Unit.
When Wyntor came out, he saw Trevor looking at him with sadness.
"Nick left?" Wyntor asked neutrally.
Trevor nodded. "Yes. I'm worried about him."
"Nick is strong," Wyntor said. "He went through worse things in the Dregs."
"Someone that has lived in the Dregs for their entire life can handle death."
Trevor raised an eyebrow.
He didn't seem like he was fully believing Wyntor.
After all, Trevor had also lived in the Dregs.
To Trevor, it seemed like Wyntor was making assumptions.
However, Trevor didn't correct Wyntor.
After all, they were not friends.
Trevor was an employee, and Wyntor was his employer.
"I hope you're right," Trevor said.
Wyntor nodded.
"What about the Dreamer?" Trevor asked.
"Nick won't be here for the next three days," Wyntor said. "I'm going to wake you up in the morning. For now, only you and Jenny will be working with it. Your shifts won't change."
"Okay," Trevor answered. "Do you need me for anything?"
"No, you can leave. Good work today," Wyntor said as he walked by Trevor.
"Alright. For all that it's worth, I wish you a happy workday," Trevor said.
Wyntor snorted.
He assumed Trevor was joking.
While Trevor left, Wyntor walked over to the other Containment Unit.
After opening the door, Wyntor looked at the Screaming Coffin.
Right now, it was just silently lying in the middle of the room.
Apparently, it was currently digesting a corpse.
By now, the Containment Unit had started to take on a slight smell of dead bodies.
After all, the corpses were not always immediately consumed by the Screaming Coffin.
Additionally, the ventilation of the Containment Unit wasn't the best.
Wyntor looked at the Screaming Coffin for a bit.
Bang!
Then, Wyntor unceremoniously threw the corpse in front of it.
His expression was neutral.
For a bit, Wyntor looked at the corpse with a cold expression.
That boy had been a burden on Nick for long enough.
Finally, Nick could move on from it.
Then, Wyntor turned around and left the Containment Unit.