Nick told Jenny that he would take one shift of working with the Dreamer today.
As a reason, he said that he wanted to be familiar with all the Specters and that he hadn't worked with the Dreamer for a long time.
Naturally, Jenny immediately gave Nick the next shift, and a couple of hours later, Nick walked into the Dreamer's Containment Unit.
Jonathan was the one who had just been working with the Dreamer, and Nick woke him up as soon as he entered.
Obviously, Jonathan immediately became panicked when he saw Nick.
Why was Nick here?!
Did Jonathan do something wrong?!
However, Nick quickly calmed Jonathan down, and Jonathan left the Containment Unit.
Now, only Nick and the Dreamer were left inside the Containment Unit.
Nick looked at the Dreamer, who only silently looked back.
"Today, we're going to work together," Nick said.
The Dreamer didn't answer.
Nick lay down near one of the walls and closed his eyes.
Some seconds later, Nick felt the Dreamer standing beside him.
Some seconds passed.
And some more seconds.
And even more.
After several minutes, Nick opened his eyes and furrowed them as he looked at the Dreamer beside him.
"Is there an issue?" Nick asked.
The Dreamer, 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 Dreamer had scratched the floor with one of its talons.
"Do you want to say something?" Nick asked.
Scratch scratch.
The Dreamer's talons scratched twice.
Nick took a deep breath.
He hadn't thought that it would actually happen, but he had thought about something like this happening.
A change in power dynamic.
It had always been Nick and Dark Dream that dictated the rules, not the Dreamer.
But now, things were different.
After looking through all the memories of all the people who had worked with the Dreamer, 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 Dreamer 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 something?" Nick asked.
Scratch.
Nick took a deep breath.
"Do you see the influence of a strong Specter on me?" 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 Dreamer for a while.
The Dreamer 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 Containment 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 me 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 me out of my current predicament, I presume."
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 someone 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 become 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 agreement, and the Dreamer once more confirmed that it accepted.
"Alright," Nick said. "Then, we have a deal. Let me go outside and change the settings on the Containment Unit."
Nick stood up, changed the settings of the Containment Unit, and came back in.
"All good," Nick said. Then, he lay down beside the Dreamer.
"Now, can we start?"
The Dreamer looked at Nick, and Nick started to become tired very quickly.
As soon as Nick fell asleep, the nightmare returned.
For just a couple of seconds, the Dreamer looked at the nightmare.
And then, the nightmare was dispersed, replaced by the Dreamer's own creation.
Nick's issue with the nightmares has been solved.