Nick operated the console and opened the entrance for the employees.
The light in the Containment Unit sprang on, and Nick immediately saw the Dreamer after opening the door.
The Dreamer was standing near one of the walls.
Nick wasn't sure if he preferred this position over the one where the Dreamer just lay in the corner.
Nick stepped into the Containment Unit with confidence, and the door closed behind him.
Nick looked at the Dreamer.
The Dreamer looked at Nick.
Silence.
Nick's heart began to race.
At this moment, Nick's ability obviously didn't work, and the employee door took a couple of seconds to open.
This meant that if the Dreamer 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 Dreamer with narrowed eyes. 'Albert is only here for today. Even if he saves me now, he won't be able to save me tomorrow.'
'Remember, Albert said that Specters always do what's most beneficial to them.'
'The Dreamer is not powerful enough to escape from the Containment Unit. Even if it kills me, it won't be able to get out, and I'm certain it knows that.'
'Because of that, attacking me 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 become a level two Specter, an Adolescent, before breaking out of the Containment Unit.'
The Dreamer and Nick were still silently looking at each other.
The Dreamer 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 presume you are willing to work with us," Nick said. "I think you would have attacked me if you didn't agree."
"Smart decision."
The Dreamer just kept looking at Nick.
"We both know my power, and we both know that you are superior to me in every way as long as you can see me."
"However, we also know that I can still avoid your attacks for a while, and compared to before, we are now on my home turf."
"I only need to survive until the door is open."
The Dreamer didn't do anything.
Naturally, the Dreamer's lack of reaction increased Nick's heart rate.
It was just too creepy to look at something that was alive but deliberately acted like it was not.
"Of course, you still have a genuine chance to kill me."
The Dreamer 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 me, I will know before you actually attack."
The Dreamer just kept staring emotionlessly and silently.
DING! DING! DING!
The next moment, the alarm rang, and Nick immediately put his hand on the console of the door behind him.
However, he didn't press it.
Instead, he only glared at the Dreamer.
Surprisingly, the Dreamer just kept standing there.
It was almost like it hadn't done anything.
"You get it now?" Nick asked.
Naturally, the Dreamer 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 Dreamer 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 Dreamer.
Since the Dreamer currently stood on the ground, it seemed almost harmless.
After all, it was just a barely 50-centimeter-tall owl.
Sure, it was quite a big bird, but that was it.
However, Nick knew how powerful the Dreamer actually was.
Step by step, Nick closed in on the Dreamer.
Eventually, only a single meter separated them.
The entire time, the two of them only looked into each other's eyes.
Silence.
The Dreamer didn't attack.
Naturally, Nick's heart rate was quite elevated at this moment, 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 Dreamer, 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 moment, 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 Dreamer 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."
Some seconds passed.
"Done!" Albert's voice came from one of the speakers in the corner.
Nick nodded and looked back at the Dreamer.
"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 become 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 moment, 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 method. If I accidentally die, we will only have the bargain bin method left, and we might not trust you anymore, which means you stay a Hatchling forever."
"Don't do anything stupid."
And then, Nick closed his eyes.