After getting rid of all the different signs that pointed towards a trade with the Parasite, Nick left the warehouse again and dealt with Horua.
By now, Nick had become completely used to dealing with Horua, and he had found his rhythm.
Since it had been three months, Horua had grown by quite a bit. Nick even needed to buy him some new clothes.
Sadly, Horua had not yet shown any signs of getting better.
A couple of days ago, Nick had taken Jenny to Horua to see if she could do something with the ability she had gotten from the Dreamer.
When Jenny had seen how old Horua was, she had been extremely shocked.
Nick had always seemed like an extremely competent and friendly boss.
But now, she was confronted with the fact that Nick had essentially thrown a child in front of the Dreamer.
This didn't fit Jenny's image of Nick at all.
Nevertheless, she couldn't ignore the proof right in front of her.
After Horua went to sleep, Jenny tried to view his dreams.
But there weren't any.
According to Jenny, Horua simply wasn't dreaming at all.
The two of them asked Wyntor about this the next day. After all, Wyntor had been taught a lot by the tutors his family had hired.
Wyntor said that, normally, dreaming was simply the brain of a person reorganizing the memories they had written down that day, which was also why almost all dreams were somehow related to some thoughts one had had during that day.
The fact that Horua wasn't dreaming actually wasn't very surprising.
After all, Horua didn't perceive anything, which meant that he most likely didn't create new memories.
So, he also didn't dream.
There was simply nothing to dream about.
When Nick heard that, he could only sigh.
He wanted to help Horua.
Horua had been in this state for a quarter of a year, and Nick knew that this wasn't a life worth living.
Would he wake up on his own?
The doctor said it was possible.
But what if he wouldn't?
Should he simply ask the Dreamer to wake Horua up?
But what if that caused even more pain to Horua?
What if Horua would have simply woken up a week later?
For now, Nick decided against using the Dreamer and continued caring for Horua.
Over the next couple of days, Nick only traveled between Horua and the warehouse.
He didn't return to the Dregs to search for another Specter.
Nick had to act like they had already caught a Specter.
Four days after the trade with the Parasite, it was time.
During the late hours, Nick went into the warehouse.
Even though the sun always shone, most people still slept during the night.
Horua had also already gone to sleep, which meant that Nick could stay outside for around four hours before he had to check up on Horua again.
After entering the warehouse, Nick waited for Wyntor, who showed up just a couple of minutes later.
At this moment, it was shortly after midnight.
"You ready?" Nick asked.
Wyntor nodded. "Get the corpse," he said before handing Nick a token.
It was a special token that gave Nick permission to "create and collect" one corpse in the Dregs.
Nick took the token and left the warehouse.
During these hours, there were not many people on the streets, and the city felt almost dead.
After some minutes, Nick entered the Dregs.
As soon as he arrived, he jumped on top of one building and quietly moved from rooftop to rooftop.
Nick didn't want to be perceived while also having a good vantage point.
He was searching for a fitting corpse.
For the next couple of minutes, Nick saw a couple of groups of people walking around, but he didn't pay them any mind.
They weren't doing anything shady.
Nick also saw a couple of gatherings, but that was also quite normal.
Many of the people of the Dregs didn't feel safe at night, which was why some of them created small groups, and some of these people kept watch over the houses during the night.
After a couple more minutes, Nick saw a small group of men covertly moving through the alleys.
When he saw them, Nick paid special attention to them.
The way they were sneaking around was suspicious.
But after a bit of watching, Nick realized that they were just a small squad from the Insurance Gang.
The Insurance Gang regularly walked through the Dregs to advertise their services.
These groups often held hundreds, if not thousands, of credits in their palms, which was why they were sneaking around like this.
When he found out that they were from the Insurance Gang, Nick ignored them again.
Some minutes later, Nick saw a woman breaking into a house.
Nick didn't care.
Then, he saw a couple of men having sex with a woman in an alleyway.
The woman didn't seem into it, but she also didn't seem too opposed, which was why Nick also ignored that.
Finally, 30 minutes after arriving in the Dregs, Nick found something interesting.
There was a tall 25-year-old woman walking through some alleyways.
Usually, Nick wouldn't care, but something made this very relevant to him.
The woman was wearing the badge of the Riker Strikers.
When Nick saw her with the badge, he hesitated for a bit.
But in the end, he knew that someone who chose to become part of the Riker Strikers couldn't possibly be a good person.
So, Nick jumped down from one of the rooftops and landed on her head with his knee.
Her brains splattered across the streets and dirtied Nick's clothing.
However, Nick just grabbed the corpse and jumped onto one of the rooftops again.
Some minutes later, Nick arrived in the Outer City, and when a guard looked at him, Nick simply threw the token he had received to him.
The guard looked at it, nodded, and followed Nick.
When they arrived at the warehouse, the guard left.
Inside the warehouse, Nick and Wyntor looked at each other.
And then, they nodded in understanding.