The fire vanished, and Nick looked at the empty Containment Unit.
Julian was dead.
Julian had lorded over Nick for over a decade, and he had always been Nick's biggest threat.
In the back of Nick's mind, his emotions were still a bit afraid that Julian was somehow still alive.
However, such a fear was unfounded.
Even a Fallen would die when hit by such an attack, and Julian definitely didn't have the power to fool Simon's senses.
It was impossible for Julian to have survived.
"Has your opinion of me changed?" Nick asked.
Simon frowned.
Then, he nodded.
"Julian taught me an interesting concept. The sunk cost fallacy. Have you heard of it?" Nick asked.
Simon didn't answer.
"The sunk cost fallacy means that people who have invested a lot in something that is bound to fail keep investing because they don't want to cut their losses. They have already invested so much into everything that they can't handle the prospect of all their investments being for nothing, resulting in accumulating losses over time."
"Doesn't that sound just like me?" Nick asked.
"It does," Simon answered.
"I also think so," Nick said. "For my entire adult life, I have been focusing on nothing but trying to redeem myself, but I'm not so sure if that is even possible anymore."
"No matter what I do, I can't resurrect the innocent people I have killed. Even if I were to kill the Sun, I still wouldn't be able to repay them."
"After finally having the power to make a positive change in the world, I understand it now."
"I'm not sure if I can ever make things right."
"I might never be redeemed."
Silence.
"But I still want to help the people," Nick added.
"If there is an afterlife, and all the people I killed want to torture me, the only thing I can do is to have helped so many people that the vast majority of souls still see me as humanity's benefactor."
"Additionally, I believe Aegis and I are not that different."
At that point, Simon narrowed his eyes. "Be careful what you say."
Nick didn't seem worried. He just calmly looked forward.
"Aegis is defending humanity, but the tributes that they request cause suffering for the normal people due to the pressure on the leaders of the city," Nick said.
Simon was not happy. "Aegis is not the cause of this suffering."
"Not directly, no," Nick said. "Aegis just wants something, and it is up to the governments to gather this something. The governments are the ones that cause the suffering."
"But without the tributes, would the suffering of the poor be this immense?"
Nick snorted.
"That's a trick question," he added without letting Simon answer. "Of course, the suffering would be just as immense. Why? Because one human can be good, but a group of humans is greedy."
"So, yes, Aegis is not responsible in my mind, but they are also not without fault. Aegis has the power to change things, but the good of the normal people is not their highest priority."
"Although, that's understandable. The threat of the Specter endangers all of human life. Without life, there can't be happiness. Survival is more important than happiness when it comes to humanity as a collective. Some individuals might disagree. They might say that living a short and happy life is better than living a long and miserable life."
"But if humanity can't survive, there won't even be short and happy lives. There will be just no life."
"Get to the point," Simon interrupted.
Nick remained silent for a while.
"I don't know what my point was anymore," Nick answered. "I guess I was just musing."
"No matter. In the end, I want to improve the lives of the common people, and I think the fact that I made so many mistakes in my past will help me in achieving that."
"The more mistakes you make, the more you learn from them."
Simon was still frowning.
"I don't have all day. We need to talk with Aria and deal with the Governor," Simon said as he turned towards the exit.
"Of course," Nick said, following after Simon.
Nick could tell that Simon's opinion of Nick had changed tremendously.
Before their talk with Julian, Simon had viewed Nick as a companion.
But now, he only viewed Nick as someone who should have been executed due to his tremendous crimes.
Nick was a monster.
A killer of thousands of innocents.
He had caused more suffering than the majority of Specters in the world.
Letting him live was an injustice.
Sadly, there was nothing Simon could do.
The Champion of Light and the Left Arm had talked to Nick, and Nick had received the Champion of Light's blessing.
Simon couldn't see what the Champion of Light saw in Nick anymore.
However, he still believed in the Champion of Light.
Also, hadn't the Left Arm said something very similar?
No matter.
It was not Simon's place to sentence Nick.
Not anymore, at least.
From now on, Nick's fate was up to the Shields.
The only thing he could do was to report what he had learned to the Left Arm and let her decide.
But for now, he had to follow the orders he already had.
The two of them left the Containment Unit and saw Aria standing in front of the door.
"Is it done?" Aria asked.
"Yes," Nick answered. "Simon killed Julian."
Aria looked at Simon, who just nodded.
Aria released a sigh of relief. "So, it's finally over."
"We need to talk," Nick said. "Maybe we should go back to your office."
Aria frowned.
The way Nick talked to her made it appear like he viewed himself on the same level as Aria.
Sure, they had talked a lot in the past, but Aria was still vastly more powerful than him.
But she wouldn't jump to conclusions and needlessly antagonize Nick.
Most likely, Nick knew something important that she didn't know.
What if Nick joined Aegis, and he was now representing them?
Antagonizing a person from Aegis was equivalent to antagonizing Aegis itself.
"Sure," Aria said before leaving the Containment Unit.
The three of them walked back to Aria's office and entered.
"So, what is it that you need to talk about?" she asked neutrally, sitting down behind her desk.
Nick also sat down while Simon remained standing beside the table, just silently frowning.
He seemed to be in a really bad mood.
"I have met the Champion of Light, and I was accepted into Aegis," Nick started.
Aria's eyes shot open in shock.
Nick had met the Champion of Light?!
Aria looked at Simon for confirmation, who only nodded.
Nick took his uniform out of his bag and put it on the table.
Naturally, Aria was very experienced and had met several people from Aegis.
The two stripes on Nick's shoulder shocked her.
An Agent?!
But then, she saw that there was only one stripe on the other shoulder, and she became confused.
A Governor?
An Agent but also a Governor?
Or neither?
"This is a new position, and I am the first person assuming it," Nick said. "I am a Liaison. I am ranked higher than a Governor but lower than an Agent."
At this moment, Aria was glad that she had listened to her experience.
Antagonizing Nick was worse than antagonizing the Governor right now.
"Congratulations," Aria said politely.
"You don't need to be formal," Nick said. "If you are willing to accept, we will be colleagues."
Aria blinked a couple of times in confusion.
"The old Governor might be physically strong, but he is mentally weak," Nick said. "His fear of putting his life on the line is what caused so much suffering to the people of the Outer City, and the people of the Dregs specifically."
"I have told the Champion of Light of my thoughts, and he has deigned to give me an opportunity."
"I claimed that a happy populace will help Aegis more than a terrified one, and he is willing to give me a chance to prove this."
"As a Liaison, it will be my duty to oversee Crimson City as a true representative of Aegis. The Governor will still mostly run the city, but I will be involved in the government."
"My goal is to improve the lives of the common people and to reduce the suffering inside the city."
"If suffering is mandatory to keep things running, I want to distribute it equally. I don't want 2,000 people to suffer horribly so that 5,000 people can live without worry."
Aria furrowed her brows. "You're going after the elite?" she asked.
"I am," Nick said.
"That's suicide," Aria said coldly.
"Like it is to enter Anatomy alone?" Nick asked.
Aria looked at Simon.
This was supposed to remain a secret since it was forbidden to just destroy a Manufacturer like that!
However, Simon didn't seem shocked or interested.
This meant Simon already knew about this.
In a way, this made Aria nervous, but it also calmed her down.
After all, Simon didn't seem like somebody who was about to kill her for treason, which meant there was one less secret she needed to hide.
"The Governor is mentally weak, incompetent, and corrupt," Nick continued. "Simon will take him and the people from Anatomy to Aegis to be judged."
"Crimson City needs a new Governor."
Aria could see where this was going.
"I recommended you, Aria, and the Technician is willing to ask you to become Crimson City's Governor."
"Do you accept?" Nick asked.
Aria remained silent for a long while.