Time continued to pass.
Two centuries later, Aegis captured Nurse Alice.
If Nurse Alice had used her full power, she would have been able to escape from them since she knew hundreds of different abilities.
However, that would make her uncapturable, and that was not what the Sun wanted.
The Sun wanted Nurse Alice to be captured.
Five Peak Shields scattered across the world while the Champion kept chasing and attacking her.
No matter where she ran to, a Peak Shield would quickly catch up to her and launch more attacks.
Over several seconds, which was the equivalent of several hours of fighting for normal people, they eventually managed to force her into submission.
Her Zephyx was draining faster than she was recovering.
Nurse Alice was captured and put into the strongest Containment Unit Aegis had.
If she wanted to, Nurse Alice could escape.
Her Zephyx Manipulation was the highest in the world, and the Containment Unit was made with Zephyx.
But, again, she wasn't supposed to flee.
The Shields Nick was working with had also become quite powerful.
There was one Peak Shield amongst them and a couple of Late Shields.
Another 200 years passed.
Aegis received two more Saviors.
At this moment, Aegis had three Saviors in total.
The Champion also continued working with Nurse Alice.
It wasn't easy to work with her since working with her required a sacrifice, but there was no shortage of people who were willing to sacrifice themselves for humanity in Aegis.
The number of Shields dropped.
The more powerful the sacrifice, the more Zephyx Nurse Alice produced.
The amount of Zephyx Nurse Alice produced while being suppressed by Aegis was millions of times higher than when she had been free.
With time, she would also become an Early Eternal.
That was also most likely the goal.
'I believe if the Champion became a Mid Savior, he could be able to endanger the Sun,the Sun's avatar appeared in front of him.
"Trickster," it spoke.
"Sun," Nick answered.
"You have managed to come this far by relying on your own power. That is admirable," the Sun spoke.
"Thank you," Nick answered.
"What is your goal?" the Sun asked.
"Eternity," Nick answered.
The Sun waited for Nick to explain.
"I want to live forever," Nick said.
"Then, why do you not just stay underground forever? You are safe there," the Sun asked.
"No, I won't be," Nick said.
"I have learned a lot about the world, and I have learned about what it means to be a Specter."
"Star Energy is my enemy," Nick said, "and I know that the real outside is filled with it."
"If humanity reaches the stars, Star Energy will return, and I will suffocate."
"However, if humanity fails and dies, I will also die."
"That's because I don't have a purpose anymore."
The Sun remained silent for a while.
Nick had mentioned some risky things.
He had essentially said that the Sun had lied about its purpose when it had talked to him initially.
"Then, how do you reach eternity?" the Sun asked after several minutes.
"The machine has to keep running," Nick said. "If the machine stops running, I will also stop running."
"After all, I am part of the machine."
"Humanity needs to become powerful, but not too powerful."
"Sometimes, humanity needs my help."
"Sometimes, humanity needs to be culled."
"The more efficient the machine is, the higher the likelihood of its continued existence."
The Sun remained silent for a while.
The aliens were probably discussing Nick's answers.
"What is the machine?" the Sun asked.
This would be the most dangerous moment.
It all depended on how much Nick gave away.
If he gave off almost nothing, the aliens would think he was hiding something or lying.
If he gave off too much, they would perceive him as a threat.
Nick was attempting something no Eternal had attempted before.
He wanted an honest relationship with his employer.
The Nightmare, the Maw, and the Null weren't intelligent.
Nurse Alice didn't attempt it since it was too dangerous.
Nick was the first one.
He would be breaking the illusion, exposing the truth.
Partially.
"The Sun," Nick answered.
"I am the machine?" the Sun's avatar asked.
"No, the Sun. Not you."