Sometimes, people couldn't see the most obvious thing, and this was one of those times.
Yet, while Nick now knew why nobody wanted to talk to him about the truly critical things, it didn't really help him a lot.
He still wouldn't be able to talk about the truly important things with anyone.
If information could be measured, communicating or transforming information might be an actual risk.
It was possible that some kind of system would get triggered if anyone tried to share any information about the truly secret things.
Things like the purpose of the strange machine behind the green wall, or the true nature of the Sun, or how the Sun came to power.
'But then, how did all the of the Shields find out?' Nick thought.
'It seems like everyone knows about this, and if nobody is allowed to talk about it, how do they share information with each other?'
'Either they have some kind of method to secretly exchange information, or they are not able to talk about these things at all and just hope that everyone else comes to the same conclusions.'
'The information itself should not be an issue. In that sense, it's most likely not like the Null.'
'As far as I know, the Null kills anyone that knows anything about it. It is not required to publicize the known information to become a target.'
'In this case, just knowing about it seems to be enough.'
'There's also evidence to that hypothesis since it spared me after I forgot the information. This means there is some kind of surefire way to check if somebody knows something.'
"Anyway," the Technician said after some seconds. "Julian, the Knife is now our ally. Knife, Julian is our ally."
The fact that the Technician referred to Nick with his fake name told him that the Knife wasn't truly their ally.
Or, at least, she wasn't completely trustworthy yet.
The Knife just looked at Nick for a bit with a raised brow.
"How did that even happen?" she asked. "You guys are a bit far apart in power. How did he get into this so-called team?"
"Well…" the Technician said before trailing off. "It sort of… just happened."
That was the best way to phrase it.
Nick had barely come into contact with the Left Arm and the Technician when he was a Liaison.
At most, he had been just an employee.
Everything had started when Nick consumed a Peak Elder.
After that event, the Technician and Nick essentially worked together for a couple of years.
During that time, Nick found out a couple of secrets and kept asking the Technician about them.
And when Nick turned into a full Specter and returned, the Left Arm and the Technician covered for him and tried to help him.
At no point did Nick join their team.
They never really agreed that they were on the same side or anything like that.
It just sort of… happened.
"It happened?" the Knife asked with a raised brow.
The Technician shrugged again. "We never really said that we are a team. We just started to think of us as a team after some things happened."
Naturally, the Knife wanted to know what these things were, but she knew that she wouldn't get a straight answer.
"But you are a team, right?" the Knife asked.
The Technician looked at Nick, who just nodded.
Then, the Technician looked back at the Knife with a nod of his own.
"And the Left Arm is part of this team?" the Knife asked.
"I can't ask for her confirmation at this moment. I think she would say no, but I think the truth is yes."
The Knife kept swinging back and forth on her chair as she looked at the Technician.
"Well, okay then," she said, jumping up from her chair. "Nice to meet the team. If anyone needs something, I'm going to be somewhere at some point."
Nick wasn't sure if that was some kind of passive-aggressive dig about their secrecy or if the Knife's whereabouts were supposed to be kept secret even from other Shields. Ṙἁ
Nevertheless, Nick nodded.
"We'll be in contact," the Technician said.
"WE won't," the Knife answered with a clear emphasis on the we. Naturally, she was referring to only being in direct contact with the Left Arm, who was effectively the leader of this group.
"But we will," the Technician said casually. "At the latest during the next meeting."
The Knife just rolled her eyes in exasperation before vanishing into thin air.
Silence.
"Are you sure about this?" Nick asked after a couple of seconds of silence.
"Why are you even asking me?" the Technician answered with a bit of annoyance.
"Habit," Nick answered.
Naturally, the Technician was annoyed at Nick for asking that question since both of them knew that it wasn't safe right now to talk about anything sensitive.
"I have a question," Nick said.
"If you keep going like this, I will start to have psychosomatic reactions every time you tell me that you have a question," the Technician said with a sigh. "Every time you say you have a question, I hear something that makes me fear for my life."
"It shouldn't be that bad," Nick said. "I think."
The Technician just waved his hand to indicate that Nick should get on with it.
"How do you guys know that you all know the same things?" Nick asked.
The Technician knew what Nick referred to and felt relieved that Nick worded it in such a roundabout way.
"We used to have certainty in that aspect," the Technician said. "Sadly, not anymore. The old method no longer works."
Nick could tell what the Technician referred to and just nodded.
'He's talking about the old Champion of Light.'
'If there is anyone who might have the power to keep information from the Sun, it should be the Sun's own servant, the Champion of Light.'
Nick furrowed his brows.
'If I consider the current Champion of Light as the Sun's servant, the old Champion of Light was probably also the Sun's servant.'
'Both of them received their powers from the Sun, most likely.'
'The Champion of Light is probably some kind of underground agent employed by the Sun.'
'The Champion of Light fights the Specters since they are in the advantage right now.'
'I theorized earlier that there had to be some kind of incentive for the Nightmare's creation. While the Nightmare is a big Zephyx generator, it also serves the double-purpose of keeping every human in the light, where the Sun can see them.'
'The Nightmare first appeared in the last era, the era of the Suffering Ones. This meant something must have happened then to necessitate the Nightmare's creation.'
'And it just so happened that the era before the Suffering Ones was the era of the Enlightened Ones.'
'As far as we can see, their Zephology and technology were vastly more advanced than ours, and since the Maw is also a relatively new addition to the Eternals, they probably had tens of Shields.'
'Maybe, they even had Saviors, level nine Extractors.'
'If the Sun created the Nightmare, it means that the Enlightened Ones must have given it quite a big scare.'
'Most likely, the Enlightened Ones only showed part of their power while keeping the majority of their power secret, deep underground. Then, they struck with all of their power.'
'But in the end, they didn't have enough to kill the Sun, and the Enlightened Ones were killed.'
'To make sure that nothing like this ever happens again, the Sun created the Nightmare, forcing humans to keep their powers in the open.'
'And in case humanity still managed to keep their power secret, it also placed an undercover agent in the middle of the elite, the Champion of Light.'
'Lastly, it probably also had a hand in the creation of the Maw, which made it impossible for more than seven Shields to exist at the same time.'
'So many safeguards.'
'It seems like the Enlightened Ones got really close to winning.'
'The old Champion of Light must have been the Sun's servant at some point. However…'
Nick thought about the old Champion of Light.
Nick felt like the old Champion of Light was the personification of good.
He felt like there was a deep connection between him and the old Champion.
There was something familiar.
It was as if they had the same goal for the same reasons.
'Guilt,' Nick realized.
'I think the old Champion might have been filled with guilt.'
'When he was young, he betrayed humanity to become the Sun's servant, but as he got older, he got a change of heart and tried his best to help humanity.'
'He was probably the one who told the other Shields the truth about everything.'
Nick remembered how the Technician and the Left Arm had looked at the Champion of Light.
On the surface, their conduct wasn't any different from that of the new Champion of Light, but the feelings behind their conduct were very different.
Nick could tell that they had treated the old Champion with true veneration and respect.
Meanwhile, with the new one, they only went through the motions.
'They must have all known that the old Champion used to be an agent for their most hated enemy.'
'And yet, he still managed to instill such respect in them.'
At that point, Nick remembered what the old Champion had said.
'The Sun cannot be stopped by the light. The Sun is the light already. The only thing that can defeat the Sun is the darkness, the night,' Nick repeated in his mind. These were the words that the Champion of Light had said to the Left Arm after she asked him why he had given Nick his new last name.
'The Champion of Light can never stop the Sun.'
'All of humanity is under the Sun's constant surveillance.'
'Reaching the level of power necessary to resist the Sun might not even be the difficult part. The difficult part is doing it in secret,without the Sun noticing.'
'And what fits that role better than the Null, or in this case, a human attuned to the Null.'
'I have to become powerful enough to kill the Sun, and I have to do it without the Champion or the Sun finding out.'
Nick took a deep breath.
The true scale of the task ahead of him had finally been unveiled.
Back then, the old Champion had told Nick to look at the distant past for answers, and he had gotten them.
It was clear now that the Champion hadn't chosen Nick because he was outstanding but because he was simply the best fit.
Maybe, even the only fit.
The Champion didn't have any other choice.