"I heard you're leaving," Steve said as he looked at the ruins of New York around Aegis' headquarters.
There were several terraces all over the pyramid, and they could be accessed by anyone working for Aegis.
Looking at the ruins from the ancient times was strange.
Some of the pieces of rubble were so big that they could have only come from buildings that were kilometers tall.
It was almost like every single building was a megastructure back then.
An entire city filled with nothing but megastructures.
How many people would live there?
How long did it take to build such a city?
Nick also looked at the rubble.
Yet, compared to Steve, Nick knew a lot more about the Ancient Ones.
Over the past years, Nick had focused a lot on history, and he also learned a lot about ancient technologies.
The Ancient Ones had no access to Zephyx materials, but they managed to create many different kinds of matter with different attributes.
Then, by perfectly placing them, all the weaknesses of these bits of matter vanished, only leaving their strengths.
It was like building a group of combatants in which people could cover for each other's weaknesses.
Naturally, it was much more complex to pull something like that off than it sounded.
There couldn't be any impurities in any of the parts of the megastructure, which was something Aegis couldn't achieve.
Impurities were not that important for Aegis since Zephyx materials were many times more durable and flexible than any normal bit of matter.
The Ancient Ones must have been unimaginably advanced in terms of technology.
Steve just kept looking at Nick, who wasn't answering.
Was Nick distracted by something?
"Sorry," Nick said absentmindedly, "I was thinking about something. Yes, I'm leaving."
Steve sighed. "So, that only leaves me and Cynthia."
Nick nodded.
Naturally, Mendor had been fired after the mission.
He was sent back to his city, and he wouldn't be allowed to rejoin Aegis in the future unless his contributions to Aegis became extremely impressive.
And now, Nick was also leaving.
"What's your actual background?" Steve asked. "You can tell me now, right?"
Nick remained silent for a bit, but compared to all the previous times Steve asked such a question, he didn't leave immediately.
"Check the database for the title of Liaison," Nick said.
Steve's eyebrows rose.
Finally, Nick was talking about himself!
Steve pulled out a little pad and pressed a couple of buttons.
His eyebrows rose more and more as he kept reading.
"Are you the guy they are talking about in here?" Steve asked, pointing at a paragraph that mentioned that there was currently only a single Liaison and that this person was running experiments on different cities.
Nick nodded.
Steve took a deep breath. "So, you changed an entire city already?"
Nick nodded again. "That's also why I got my Space Bag."
Steve glanced at Nick's Space Bag.
Increasing an entire city's output by 20% while simultaneously increasing the average quality of life for the citizens.
That was a crazy accomplishment.
Steve realized that Nick was truly on a different level.
Nick had achieved something that only Governors could achieve.
"So, you were never a trainee?" Steve asked.
"I was a trainee," Nick said.
Steve could see that Nick was technically speaking the truth, but that was akin to saying that a Hero, who was working for a new and weak Manufacturer, was a new employee working for a new up-and-coming startup.
Technically right, but it wouldn't paint an accurate picture.
"Why go through all of this?" Steve asked.
He didn't know why Nick would go through so much trouble.
He didn't need all of this.
"I had the same question when the Aductress sent me here for the first time," Nick said. "I only wanted to increase my power so that I can become a Specialist soon."
"However, I very quickly learned that being here has taught me a lot."
"I could test my knowledge and learn about different forms of academia. While I didn't need more practice in fighting or working with Specters, the one thing I always lacked was a formal education."
"And I learned even more during the second phase. I traveled to many different cities in the Great Triangle, and I have seen how all of them operate."
"I have seen all manners of ways the Governors rule over the different cities, and I could see their advantages and disadvantages."
"The last nine years have not been in vain, and I don't feel like I have missed any opportunities to gain more experience."
"It was the right thing to make me a trainee," Nick explained.
Steve looked at Nick with a bit of surprise.
He had never heard Nick speak so much.
That made him seem very different in Steve's eyes.
It was almost like this wasn't Nick.
For the first time, the distant image that Nick was to Steve had finally become clearer.
Sadly, this happened only when Nick was just about to leave the squad.
At that point, Steve remembered something.
"Wait, if you have the rank of Governor already and are living here, does that mean that your family already lives here as well?" Steve asked.
Nick didn't immediately answer.
"No," he said after a bit without elaborating on his answer.
Steve grimaced a bit. "Same thing with you?"
"Something like that," Nick said.
Naturally, the matter of family was not easy for any trainee.
Steve had seen his family only once within the last twelve years.
Yet, that wasn't as bad as it sounded.
The matter of family for these elite progenies was complex.
Many of them had been brought up with the expectation of reciprocity drilled into them.
Ever since they were small children, they had heard that they needed to perform exceptionally so that the entire family would benefit.
This made the relationship with their family feel very transactional.
Different trainees dealt with these expectations differently.
As for Steve, he was not sure anymore what to do, and he had told Nick about that.
He felt indebted to his family for investing so much in him and giving him his opportunity, but he felt no love for them.
He did not look forward to seeing them.
He only wanted to get them into Aegis' headquarters so that he didn't need to feel indebted anymore.
Naturally, Nick didn't have these issues.
After all, he didn't have a family.
Two silhouettes of a man and woman shot through Nick's mind.
Nick thought about his parents from time to time.
He had no idea who they had been, and he would most likely never find out.
Whenever the Null killed anything, all records of the event were expunged.
The less the people knew about the Null, the better.
More importantly, he didn't want to find out.
By knowing more about his past, Nick might regain his memories from before he was ten, which would also bring back the memories of the fateful day, which would mean he remembered what the Null looked like.
Knowing what the Null looked like was probably just as dangerous as saying the Sentence.
"What will you do now?" Steve asked.
Nick kept looking at the ruins.
"Advance and quickly get through the Consumption."
Steve sighed. "Right, we can already think about that. It's closer than I thought."
"Don't waste your opportunity," Nick said.
"I won't," Steve said. "While I am certain that I can get past it, I know that my result will be, at best, above average."
"What level are you aiming at?" Nick asked.
"I want a Mid Elder," Steve said.
Nick furrowed his brows.
"I know," Steve added. "It's my goal. I know I need a lot more mental fortitude and strength."
Nick looked at Steve. "You have to change drastically if you want to survive a Mid Elder."
Steve furrowed his brows. "I know I need more mental fortitude, but you act like it's impossible for me."
"It might as well be," Nick said, eliciting an annoyed frown from Steve. "You are missing something fundamental."
"And what's that?" Steve asked.
"A purpose," Nick said.
Steve raised an eyebrow. "A purpose?"
"A purpose that drives you to survive and become stronger," Nick said. "Your current purpose is to repay the debt to your family and to look where things are headed."
"You are not becoming stronger for a loved one, and you are not filled with ambition. You are mostly just coasting along to see how things turn out."
"Only try a Mid Elder if you know exactly why you are risking your life."
"There is a reason why 50% of all Extractors die when they attempt the Consumption."
Steve became more annoyed, and he wanted to argue with Nick.
However, Nick just turned around and walked back into the building.
"Don't kill yourself because of your stupid pride," Nick said before entering the building.
Steve became frustrated and looked away from the building.
Minutes passed.
A purpose…
Didn't he have a purpose?
Did Nick have a purpose?