"Glad to see you back, Nick," Hera, Solace's CZE, said with a smile as she shook Nick's hand.
Nick returned the handshake and smiled politely. "It's not going to be for long, sadly. I'm going to join Aegis soon."
Hera had already expected something like that. She had heard from Dark Dream's Extractors that Nick was most likely going to join Aegis.
"Congratulations. Everyone wants to get into Aegis," Hera said with a friendly smile.
"Thank you," Nick answered.
Next, Ramona, Solace's CEO, stepped forward and also shook Nick's hand. "Congratulations," she said.
"Thank you," Nick said again.
Then, the three of them sat down at a big table in Solace's biggest meeting room.
After a couple of pleasantries, Nick talked about the reason he was here.
"You all have heard of Julian," Nick said.
The smiles vanished, and the two nodded.
It was still difficult for them to believe that Julian was a Specter.
However, they didn't think that Nick knew.
After all, Julian even managed to fool them.
With his power, it would not be difficult to fool Nick.
Julian was just that powerful.
"Julian has been executed by Aegis. I saw it with my own eyes," Nick said.
The two of them took deep breaths in relief.
This was for the best.
"That's good to hear," Hera said.
"Now," Nick said, "with Julian dead and me leaving Dark Dream, Dark Dream is facing a huge issue."
The two of them nodded.
They expected Nick to arrive to ask for help.
"Since Julian was outed as a Specter, I now fully own Dark Dream, but if everything works out, that won't be for long."
The two of them raised their eyebrows.
They could see where this was going.
"Are you interested in a merger with Dark Dream?" Nick asked.
The two of them looked at each other.
A merger with Dark Dream.
Dark Dream had a lot of weaker Extractors, and they had a lot of Adults.
"We're interested," Ramona said. "What are you thinking about specifically?"
"Hera remains Chief Zephyx Extractor," Nick said, looking at Hera.
Hera nodded.
This was the most important part.
If they had to split everything, things would become troublesome.
It was important that there were no frictions in leadership.
"Taren and Jenny have been Dark Dream's team leaders for a long time, and they know how to work with all of the Specters. I would suggest leaving them as team leaders for now. If you want, you can later redistribute the teams, but for now, it would be better to leave the teams split."
Hera and Ramona looked at each other and nodded.
"That sounds reasonable," Hera said.
Nick nodded. "I will show you all of the Specters and tell you how I have run Dark Dream until now. You are free to lead the future Dark Dream as you like, but I would ask you to consider how I led it until now."
"Naturally," Hera answered.
Dark Dream's growth had been intense, and Hera could appreciate that.
She could see that Nick had led Dark Dream excellently.
"Next, I think you guys need a new building. Your building is big, but getting the additional Specters from Dark Dream will most likely make the building reach peak capacity," Nick said.
"We were already planning on moving," Hera said.
Nick nodded. "A big building close to the upper layer will become available soon, which would be just perfect for Solace."
Hera raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"Do you mean Anatomy's destroyed building?" she asked.
Nick shook his head.
Hera furrowed her brows.
"How do you know that a building will get available? The other ones belong to Kugelblitz, Ghosty's Lab, and Gemini. I don't think any of these buildings will become available anytime soon," Hera asked.
Nick took a deep breath.
"Everything I am going to say now is confidential for the next two months. It is imperative that none of this leaves this room. Do you understand?" Nick asked.
The two of them looked at each other.
Nick's aura had changed.
It went from a polite business partner to authoritative.
Usually, that would be considered as rude, but since Nick was going to join Aegis, he kind of already was their superior.
"We understand," Ramona said. "None of this will leave this room."
Nick nodded.
"I am going to assume the position of Liaison for Crimson City," Nick said.
After that, he explained to them what it meant to be a Liaison.
By the end of Nick's explanation, Ramona and Hera became much more nervous.
They realized that they were essentially talking to the Governor right now.
"I can't tell you what I am going to plan or how things will change, but if everything works out, the building in which Ghosty's Lab resides will become available soon," Nick said.
Their eyes widened in shock.
Didn't that mean that Ghosty's Lab would disperse?
Or would they move to Anatomy's building after it was rebuilt?
They weren't sure.
"That would be a great opportunity for Solace," Ramona said.
Nick nodded. "I take my position as Liaison very seriously, and I have to be clear that I will not treat Solace any different from any other Manufacturer."
"We understand," Hera answered.
"Many things in this city will change," Nick said. "In order to support Aegis better, the Manufacturers will have to change with it."
"With my planned reforms, the way Manufacturers currently operate will reduce profitability by a significant margin."
Naturally, the two were not happy to hear that.
"You said as they operate now," Ramona commented.
Nick nodded. "By changing how you operate, your old profitability will return, and it might even increase, but you would have to undergo a big paradigm shift."
Nick frowned. "I want you two to keep one thing in mind."
"The policies I will implement will seem like I am singling you out. Solace will be the Manufacturer that will suffer the most under them," Nick said.
The two of them frowned.
"However, I do not want Solace to fail, and I do not want to hurt Solace. While, at first glance, my reforms will seem like I want to ruin Solace, I am actually protecting you."
"When you hear about them, just keep that in mind. Don't think about the lack of profits but of what would happen if Kugelblitz takes over Gemini."
"If everything works out, neither Kugelblitz nor Gemini would be interested in taking over Solace."
"Of course, the opposite also applies. You would also not be interested in taking them over."
"If everything works out, none of the big Manufacturers would want to destroy other Manufacturers," Nick said.
Hera and Ramona were skeptical.
That sounded too idealistic.
How would that even be possible?
However, they had worked closely with Dark Dream for over a decade, and they knew Nick very well.
If he said that would happen, it might be possible.
"If I hadn't known you for so long, I wouldn't believe you," Hera said with a sigh.
"Thank you," Nick said.
"Now, onto the monetary aspect of the merger."
And there it was.
Naturally, as the sole owner of the current Dark Dream, Nick wouldn't leave without gaining anything from this merger.
"One billion credits," Nick said.
The two were surprised.
That was not as much as they expected.
Due to their calculations, Dark Dream was worth around two to three billion credits.
"You do not have to pay everything in one go. 200 million a year sounds reasonable," Nick said.
The two of them looked at each other.
They had paid more for the Blinding Light, which was only one Adult.
The fact that Nick was offering Dark Dream to them for one billion was an obvious act of not wanting to hurt Solace.
Nick was essentially forgoing over a billion credits just to make it easier for his old employees and Solace.
Nevertheless, the two of them started to negotiate, but Nick very quickly shut them down.
He knew this was an amazing offer, and he didn't budge at all.
In the end, they could only accept.
After ironing out the details over the next couple of hours, they all stood up and shook their hands.
They would sign the contract a couple of days later.
Decisions like this needed ample time for consideration.
"I think a name change is in order," Ramona said with a happy smile.
"A name change?" Nick asked.
"For Solace," Ramona said. "This is a merger, isn't it? We are not acquiring Dark Dream but merging with it."
That was not completely accurate.
Nick called it a merger, but it was more of an acquisition.
"Do you have anything in mind?" Ramona asked.
Nick thought about it for a while.
"Light Dream," Nick said.
"Light Dream," Ramona repeated as she looked at Hera, who was also considering the name.
It had a warm feeling to it.
Solace chose their name since the light they delivered would be associated with the name.
"We're going to consider it," Hera said.
The three of them said their goodbyes, and a couple of days later, it was official.
Solace would merge with Dark Dream.
However, they chose a slightly different name in the end.
Sky Dream.
Dark Dream vanished, and Sky Dream was born.