"You already met the Puppy, right?" Trevor asked.
Cryon nodded. "Yes, I had it in my arms for a couple of hours across a couple of days," he said.
Right now, Cryon and Trevor were standing in front of the locker room leading to the Puppy's Containment Unit.
Surprisingly, Cryon got the promotion.
He thought he had done horribly since he froze several times during the interview.
He would have never expected that he would have been chosen.
Yet, funnily enough, everyone else had felt the same way.
All of them had been frozen solid during their talk with Nick, and some of them had even needed Nick to prod them to continue talking.
In the end, Nick told the three lucky ones that he had used a bit of Zephyx during their talks, which made all of them nervous and scared.
After thousands of years, humans had evolved to become scared when Zephyx was around them.
Zephyx meant that there was a Specter, and humans that didn't immediately flee from a Specter had a higher likelihood of dying.
Together with the power imbalance between Nick and the Investigators, this achieved a result similar to sitting in front of a Specter.
So, the fact that Cryon managed to answer the question after 20 seconds of silence was definitely not bad.
"Good, so you know what to expect," Trevor said. "However, things will be a bit different this time."
"How so?" Cryon asked.
"Because we want to see the ability that the Puppy can give new Extractors," Trevor explained. "As you know, humans gain abilities by being in contact with Specters."
Cryon nodded.
"Yet, even though all of you held the Puppy for multiple hours, none of you have gained its ability."
Cryon blinked a couple of times.
Right!
That was strange!
Why hadn't he thought of that?
"This means that the normal way of working with it most likely won't cut it," Trevor said. "We haven't tested it yet, but we presume that you need to get it to cry out and injure you if you want its ability. At least, that's what Boss believes."
Cryon took a deep breath.
When he had signed his new contract, he had already read that he would gain the Puppy's ability, but he hadn't thought much about it.
"What happens when it cries?" Cryon asked nervously.
"You've seen Boss when we caught the Puppy," Trevor said. "You know what happens."
Cyron gulped.
He had seen Nick being in intense pain back then.
If someone as strong and intimidating as Boss was already in so much pain, how would he feel?!
"Don't worry," Trevor said with a smile. "I'll be right beside you."
Yet, Cryon was still scared.
But for his future, he wouldn't retreat now.
"I know it's a lot for your first day," Trevor said, "but at least you don't have it as bad as Kerry."
"Why? What's with Kerry?" Cryon asked.
Trevor sighed. "She's going to get the Lover's ability."
"Is that bad?" Cryon asked.
"The ability? I don't know. The process of getting it? Yes, very much so," Trevor explained.
Cryon just gulped again.
"Let's get right in, shall we?" Trevor said with a smile.
Then, the two of them walked into the Containment Unit while Trevor explained how the Containment Units worked.
Right now, nobody was working with the Puppy since all the more experienced Extractors were busy with the Fog and the Dreamer.
As soon as they entered, the Puppy excitedly ran up to them.
It seemed very happy.
Trevor picked it up and held it in his arms for a bit.
The Puppy couldn't understand human speech, which was why Trevor didn't even explain what was about to happen before he handed it to Cryon.
Cryon held the Puppy awkwardly and looked at it.
It was so difficult to associate this cute little doggy with a terrifying Specter.
It was just so cute and helpless!
"Crush it."
"Huh?" Cryon asked as he looked at Trevor.
"Crush it," Trevor said. "It's a Specter. If you want it to cry, you have to attack it. If you're worried about it, don't be. It's a Peak Hatchling. You couldn't crush it even if you stood on its head."
Cryon still looked at Trevor in complete confusion.
Then, he looked at the Puppy.
Crush it?
This little and cute thing?
A dark void appeared in Cryon's chest.
He felt like he was asked to do something impossible and unforgivable.
"H-how?" Cryon asked.
"Punch it, try to crush its head, tightly hug it, I don't know," Trevor said. "Even though it is a Specter, it acts like a puppy. So, even though you can't injure it, it will still act like it's getting injured when you try."
Cryon's heart rate increased as he looked at the cute Puppy with nervousness and fear.
He didn't want to crush it!
It was so cute!
"Crush it!" Trevor shouted.
Cryon looked around nervously.
"Do it!"
Cryon's hands shook.
"Crush it!"
Then, Cryon tightly hugged the Puppy, and the Puppy started to yelp in discomfort.
At that point, Cryon noticed how resilient and tough the Puppy's body actually was, and his emotions finally accepted that this was a Specter, not an innocent puppy.
So, he used all his power to hug it tightly.
The Puppy started to whimper and screech in terror and pain.
"Aaaahhh!"
Cryon also started to scream in pain as he felt like his insides were being torn apart.
However, Cryon didn't let go, and the two of them continued to scream in pain.
"That's enough!" Trevor shouted as he yanked the Puppy out of Cryon's arms.
The Puppy continued to cry, and Trevor just threw it to the side.
Immediately, the Puppy retreated towards a corner and looked with fear at Trevor and Cryon.
It looked so scared and vulnerable.
Cryon's entire body shook.
And then, he puked vomit mixed with blood.
Trevor took out a small vial of green liquid and dropped one drop into Cryon's mouth.
"This will keep you alive, but it will still take a while for you to recover. Boss said that the injuries can't be healed by Recovery Liquid."
"You get the next two days off."