"It's like a big greyish-white stone. Usually, you can see a couple of guards standing around it."
"Huh, why are guards standing around the Rust Lick?" Jayjay asked.
"It's because salt is necessary to survive, and the people of the Outer City often forget to consume enough salt. People in the Inner City have a lot of added salt in their food, but people in the Outer City don't."
"Why don't they use salt in their food? I heard it tastes good," Jayjay asked.
"Mostly money problems. Salt is expensive."
"Why's the salt so expensive?" Jayjay asked.
Nick felt like it was hard to focus his eyes, and he often saw his vision becoming blurry.
How long had he been at this?
He didn't know.
He had set the timer to eight hours before entering, and since the alarm hadn't rung yet, Nick couldn't have been here for longer than eight hours.
How much had he said over the past hours?
He was sure that he had never said this many words in a single day.
'This is going to be my life now,' Nick thought as he kept talking about the characteristics of salt.
This was how one worked with the Talker.
The Talker was a Specter that grew more powerful by socially exhausting people.
It demanded constant attention, and it demanded a smooth and endless conversation.
When it asked a question, it wanted an answer.
Surprisingly, the answer didn't have to perfectly reflect the person's true thoughts and beliefs.
Lying was also okay, but the lie shouldn't be too obvious, and it would be bad if one contradicted oneself at a later point.
While talking to the Talker, one wasn't allowed to take a couple of moments to relax or to gather one's thoughts.
No drinking, eating, sleeping, or getting distracted.
The Talker wanted a high-quality conversation that demanded attention.
If one stopped talking or started to give very short and curt answers, one would regret it.
The Talker would start by lightly slapping the other person's face.
If the person didn't return to talking normally, the Talker would get more aggressive.
Tearing fingernails out.
Punching.
Tearing limbs off.
The Talker would only lose interest if it was clear that no amount of torture would make the person talkative again.
This was the only outcome.
After all, as a Specter, the Talker didn't have any real needs.
It didn't feel hungry, thirsty, exhausted, tired, bored, or whatever.
It could keep going.
It could keep talking for years without a break.
Humans couldn't do that.
Normal humans needed to eat, sleep, and drink.
And even Extractors would, at some point, become too exhausted to continue talking.
The only silver lining was that the Talker was amazing at keeping a conversation going by asking constant questions, which meant that the human talking to it wouldn't run out of topics or things to talk about.
If one heard about the concept of a constantly talking Specter, one might think that it was funny.
However, when one was actually forced to talk without a break for hours, one wouldn't think it was funny anymore.
Especially when the Specter suddenly started physically torturing them.
People who had fallen victim to the Talker had received lifelong damage.
Many of them had lost limbs, and those who managed to recover from the physical torture had become much quieter afterward.
Becoming the Talker's victim was not funny.
DING!
The high-pitched noise of a bell came out of one of the walls of the Containment Unit.
When Nick heard that, he felt like someone had saved him.
"Oh, that was an interesting sound. What does it mean?" Jayjay asked.
"It's an alarm. It means our time is up and that I have to go," Nick said.
"Come on, we only just started," Jayjay said with a chipper laugh. "We can talk for some more."
"We'll see each other later. I'll have to work with you again, after all. I am going to leave now, and you won't be able to stop me," Nick said as he took a step toward the employee entrance.
"No, no, no," Jayjay said with a shake of his head as he also took a step forward. "This conversation is great! We can't just stop."
Nick didn't say anything and touched the door.
He looked at Jayjay.
Jayjay looked back.
CRK!
Suddenly, blades exploded out of Jayjay's hands, and he charged forward at terrifying speeds!
BANG!
Nick took out his own blades and parried Jayjay's blades.
Jayjay was an Early Adult, which put him at the same level as Nick.
However, Nick's body was more powerful due to his constant training, and Jayjay's blades were knocked to the side, leaving his torso open.
BOOOOM!
Nick kicked Jayjay's chest, shooting him across the Containment Unit.
BANG!
Jayjay's back hit the wall.
At the same time, Nick opened the door and left.
Before Jayjay could recover and get to him, Nick closed the door.
As soon as the door closed, Jayjay immediately stopped in his charge.
In one fluid motion, all his blades vanished, and the destroyed parts of his suit were repaired.
Then, he walked to the middle of the Containment Unit and just stood there, looking forward with a charming smile.
Silence.
Jayjay didn't say or do anything.
He just waited.
For his next conversation.
Outside the Containment Unit, Nick took a deep breath.
Even though he knew that this was going to happen, fighting an Adult was still a bit nerve-wracking.
Nick knew that this was how it was going to be every day from now on.
While the Talker was definitely a very intelligent Specter, it wasn't sane.
No matter how many times it happened, the Talker would always attack Nick if he ever attempted to interrupt the conversation.
No amount of logical arguments or pleading would change that.
For a while, Nick just aimlessly looked forward.
His mind could relax for the first time in eight hours.
Nick was so happy that he could just do nothing.
He could just look forward and not think about anything.
He could finally afford to not do anything.
Nick didn't say or do anything as he just looked forward.
It was so relaxing.