As Nick watched, he saw the Protector in a completely new light.
'In the past, I didn't pay a lot of attention to the working Extractors. Suffering to produce Zephyx just seemed normal.'
'But with the added context of physical suffering and the transferal of potential, it looks so different.'
'This is a Protector. This is somebody who has the power to live free of worries. This was somebody who has the world at their disposal.'
'And yet, here she lies, powerless.'
'She is assaulted by a perpetual feeling of drowning, a torture no human could imagine.'
'She is so powerful, and yet, she is in a perpetual state of suffering.'
'This torture is so bad that almost all humans would immediately say the Sentence.'
'Her potential is unfathomably high when compared to a normal human, but she has none of it at this moment.'
'This is how all of this works.'
'She is suffering for the aliens' benefit but believes she is suffering for humanity's benefit.'
The more Nick learned about the truth of the world, the darker it seemed.
The machine worked perfectly.
Humanity believed that they were growing stronger, but they weren't.
Everything went according to the aliens' plan.
'No worries. Your suffering won't be for nothing,' Nick thought. 'Your suffering will be the key to unmasking Greed.'
Nick focused on himself.
He couldn't feel it, but he knew that his body was accumulating potential.
As soon as he left the Containment Unit, all of this potential would vanish and turn into Zephyx.
Eventually, Prephyx returned to the Containment Unit, and Nick was slowly starting to create Zephyx.
'We need to change this Containment Unit,' Nick thought as he watched the Protector leaving.
After the Protector left, Nick contacted the Technician.
Over the next few hours, the Technician changed a couple of things on the Containment Unit.
Now, there was some kind of space suit every Extractor needed to wear.
From now on, the Containment Unit would constantly keep the Prephyx at a minimum so that the accumulated suffering wouldn't turn into Zephyx.
When it was time for the Extractor to leave, the space suit would give them a burst of Prephyx, which would immediately enter their body.
Nick remained inside the Containment Unit as one Protector after the other arrived and departed.
The suffering was accumulating.
And yet, Nick still couldn't sense it.
His body had to be filled to the brim with suffering, but he just couldn't feel it.
Nevertheless, Nick continued trying out different things with his Zephyx Manipulation.
But it wasn't easy.
How could one manipulate Zephyx without any Zephyx?
Nick had to be almost devoid of Zephyx so that the accumulated suffering didn't just disappear.
Whenever Nick experimented with his Zephyx Manipulation, he had to use some of it, which weakened him significantly.
If he used just a bit too much at a time, his Specter Core would run out of Zephyx, and he would die.
Even more, since he couldn't recover Zephyx, as soon as he experimented with it, he lost consciousness and would stay unconscious until the door opened and a slight bit of Prephyx entered.
Every single test was costly.
Why not decrease the time each Protector worked with him? That would give him more opportunities to experiment.
But then, the suffering might not be dense enough to produce a noticeable reaction to the tests.
It was a difficult balance to find.
Without Nick's new ability of improved intelligence, he wouldn't be able to make any progress.
Luckily, his improved pattern recognition allowed him to find some subtle signs.
After over ten years of accumulating suffering, Nick noticed some subtle differences.
There was a certain feeling of fullness.
Additionally, there was an increased need for Prephyx.
Naturally, Nick always wanted Prephyx, but the sensation became more intense the more suffering he accumulated.
'These must be signs of suffering oversaturation,' Nick thought. 'That means it is possible to sense suffering. I just need to amplify these signs.'
Nick tried to become as familiar with this sensation as he possibly could.
He needed to be able to feel like this even when surrounded by Prephyx.
The next time the door opened, Nick also walked out.
All the signs vanished, and Nick was assaulted by a storm of newly generated Zephyx.
Then, everything started from the beginning again.
This time, Nick managed to sense the subtle signs after just three years.
He took one more break and tried again.
Now, it took two years.
Nick repeated the same thing a couple of times, and ten more years passed.
By now, he could sense the signs after just three months.
However, three months of an Early Protector suffering was still an immense amount of suffering.
He needed to be able to sense the suffering when it was just casually entering a Specter's body.
After two more years of experimenting, Nick became an Early Fallen.
Becoming an Early Fallen made it a bit easier to sense the suffering.
With his advancement, Nick only needed a single month to see the signs.
However, that was the limit of his own perception.
One could only push one's perception to a certain degree.
No matter how hard a human focused their eyes, they could never see an atom.
In order to see an atom, a human needed tools that amplified their senses.
For Extractors and Specters, these tools were their abilities.
Nick could now feel the sensations whenever he wanted, but they were just simulated sensations.
They were not created by external factors.
After he became an Early Fallen, Nick stepped out of the Containment Unit.
There were still five years left of the 30 he had given the Champion.
'Now, I need to work on a framework for my new ability.'
He retreated to an isolated location and started to create several Zephyx Manipulation Lines.
Sadly, he could only do so much with theory alone.
Three years later, he contacted the Technician.
"I need a test subject," he said. "I need to witness an immense amount of suffering so that I can refine my ability."
"I need to work with you."
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