"You're despicable!" Samar said through gritted teeth.
"I have to do this," Nick said. "This is not for me, but for humanity."
"What self-righteous words!" Samar spat. "How is taking an entire city hostage in any way related to the good of humanity?!"
"Because you are worth it," Nick answered.
"What?" Samar asked with a shocked sneer. She looked like somebody had just complimented her on how good her breasts were and how good it would feel to touch them.
It was disgusting!
"Aria said you are not like Vernon," Nick said. "She knows what your goal is, and despite knowing that, she believes that you value humanity greatly."
Samar looked with absolute disgust at Nick. "And that's why you're taking the entire city hostage?! To force me into compliance?!"
"Yes," Nick answered. "I need to validate her claim. I need to see your true self."
"The chance of recruiting you outweighs the risks placed on Crimson City."
Samar snorted. "You sound like the self-righteous people of Aegis."
"They speak of the good for humanity and let the people in their cities suffer. They are building their utopia on the corpses of countless helpless people."
"Based on Wyntor's words, you were not like that."
"Wyntor said that you wanted to improve the lives of the common people. He said that you didn't share that ideology."
"It seems like he was wrong."
Samar's words stung.
For the first time in a long while, Nick felt anger welling up inside.
Luckily, Nick was a Specter, which meant it was much easier to control his emotions since they were much weaker.
"Look up Water Pillar City on the database," Nick said.
Samar looked at him with furrowed brows but decided to play along for now.
She read the entry, which stated that Water Pillar City underwent a major change several years ago,and that change benefitted the normal humans of the city immensely."
"So what? You've helped one city while dooming another."
"Look up Brightclear City," Nick said.
Over the next minutes, Nick gave one city name after another.
Every single time, the city was changed tremendously, and the changes always benefitted the normal people.
After 20 cities, Samar's resolve wavered.
"I have hundreds," Nick said. "I can give you names for several hours, and you will see that they are all the same."
"Name another," Samar said.
Nick did just that.
After the fortieth city, Samar believed him.
"I've changed hundreds of cities for the better. I exposed and killed almost a hundred servants of the Corruptors. I lured out Pride so that the Knife may kill it. I lured out Lust so that the Right Arm might kill it. I lured out the Envious Researcher so that the Champion of Light may kill it." ⱤÃ𝐍ȫ𝔟ÈȘ
"I changed the fate of millions of people, and I've freed humanity of several shackles that suppressed them."
"I was not the weapon that killed the most powerful Specters, but I was the one who aimed them."
"My rampage through the Great Triangle has had such a significant impact that even Death was paying attention to my actions."
"My actions are shaking the Specters to the core."
Samar didn't look impressed.
"By stepping on the corpses of innocent people."
"Just like Aegis," she said.
"Yes," Nick confirmed. "I've sacrificed innocent people. For every person I sacrificed, I vowed to improve the lives of a thousand."
"Is that right? No, but what else can I do?"
"I don't have the luxury of time."
"I don't have the luxury of caring for every single person out there."
"We are fighting an overwhelmingly powerful enemy!"
"Without sacrifices, we will be doomed to forever stay food for Specters!"
"Humanity needs to be freed!"
"Humanity needs to kill the Sun and kill the true enemy!"
Samar's eyes were still narrowed. "And who is that mysterious true enemy?"
"I can't tell you. This will compromise the entire operation."
Samar looked at Nick for a while.
"What is your goal?"
"To free humanity of the true enemy," Nick said.
"What is Aegis to you?" she asked.
"An unknowing ally. Aegis protects humanity. Aegis keeps humanity alive. Aegis buys us time."
"Our job is to create the weapon that will kill the Sun and the true enemy."
"Except for the people who are part of the operation, only the Left Arm and the Technician know about it. Not even the Champion of Light or the other Shields know of our existence."
"Do you have proof?" she asked.
"I have the Technician's research notes right here," Nick said.
"That's not proof. Everyone already got those," she answered.
"Mine are not curated. These are the research notes in their rawest form. The only one who could provide those would be the Technician."
"Send them to me," Samar ordered.
Nick activated his Barrier.
"You don't have enough free space on your Barrier."
Samar frowned and deleted a bunch of files.
"Still not enough."
She deleted more, and eventually, she received the file.
She read through them, and sure enough, there was a lot of unnecessary rambling and nonsense in them.
That was exactly how the personal notes of a researcher looked like.
While the curated version was filled with only the correct info, the notes contained the many incorrect ways the Technician had explored on his path.
This was the real deal.
And it was also about 40 times bigger than the curated version of the notes.
This was the accumulated knowledge of a person who could write thousands of words in a second that spanned over a millennium.
Samar remained silent for a while.
"Why did you kill Wyntor?" she asked, her voice calm.
"He saved my life, but he also ruined my life."
"He was not like Vernon, but when he was a child, he acted like Vernon."
"He just did what he learned to do."
"Over the years,he realized the errors of his way and changed."
"But the damage was already done."
"The person who hurt me the most in this world was Wyntor."
"He was only a child who made a mistake."
"But he hurt me."
"I was angry."
"He was responsible for the deepest pain I have felt in my life."
"I was angry."
"I was also just a child."
"My anger got the better of me, and when the opportunity presented itself, I killed him."
"My opinion on Wyntor's death is split."
"He didn't deserve to die. I shouldn't have killed him."
"And yet, his death led me to where I am today."
"If he didn't die, I would be just another Extractor in Crimson City."
"His death put me on this selfish path of redemption."
"If I could, I would revive him."
"But I would not change his death."
"He didn't deserve to die…"
"But his death benefitted all of humanity."
"He's just one of the many innocent corpses I am stepping on."
"He was my friend…" Nick said with a shaky voice.
"I regret killing him."
"But without his unwilling sacrifice, humanity wouldn't have hope."
"My intention when killing him was purely selfish. I did not think about humanity back then. I was just angry, resentful, and filled with hate."
"Yet, his death made me who I am today."
"And millions of people would be thankful for that."
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