Chapter 35 – Falling Asleep
Nick's eyes remained closed.
On the inside, Nick's heart was still racing, and he felt very nervous, but on the outside, he seemed calm.
He wanted to open his eyes several times, but he forced them closed.
Time passed.
Clink.
Nick's eyes slowly opened.
Just now, the Dreamer took a step forward, its black eyes fully focused on Nick's eyes.
It was still as expressionless as earlier.
Nick covertly took a very deep breath and closed his eyes.
Clink.
Nick's eyes remained closed.
Clink.
Clink.
Clink.
Clink!
Clink!
CLINK CLINK!
The last two steps had come within a short moment from Nick's right side.
He knew that the Dreamer was currently standing directly beside him.
Nick slowly opened his eyes and turned his head to the side.
Black eyes!
Nick's body shuddered as his vision was almost completely taken up by two black eyes.
While sitting, Nick could almost see eye to eye with the Dreamer, and right now, the Dreamer's eyes were just 20 centimeters away from Nick's eyes.
If the Dreamer just used its beak to peck him, Nick would probably lose one eye before he could react.
The more Nick looked into those eyes, the more he felt like they were empty.
Usually, when someone got more familiar with something, they managed to see subtle signs that told them more about the thing they were familiar with.
Not here.
The more Nick learned about the Dreamer, the more he felt like he was just looking into an emotionless ghost or something similar.
There was no disregard, hunger, rage, hatred, or whatever in its eyes.
It was almost like it wasn't even conscious.
It was like it was just a dead statue.
But it wasn't.
And that was why Nick felt so nervous right now.
It felt wrong.
Nick felt like the Dreamer wasn't supposed to exist.
It was not dead, but it didn't act like it was alive.
Nevertheless, Nick took a deep breath and closed his eyes again.
Time passed.
Minutes passed.
The Dreamer had not moved ever since it had stepped beside Nick.
After 30 minutes had passed, Nick wasn't even sure whether or not the Dreamer was actually beside him.
Usually, one could feel when someone was right beside them.
Breathing, slight movements, the change in the wind, the smell, some noise.
None of that was here.
The Dreamer didn't breathe, smell, or move, and since there was also no wind in here, it also couldn't block it.
It was like Nick was alone.
Usually, Nick would prefer this feeling.
After all, most people wanted to sleep alone.
But the fact that he knew that the Dreamer, a Specter, was right beside him made it impossible for him to calm down.
Nevertheless, Nick did his best to calm down.
However, Nick knew that this state of affairs would continue for a long time.
'How am I supposed to fall asleep with that thing right beside me?'
It was difficult enough to sleep under normal circumstances, but it was even more difficult when something you didn't trust was looking right at you.
But Nick tried.
"Nick," came the quiet voice of Albert from one of the speakers.
"Yes?" Nick asked quietly.
"The Prephyx levels are slowly rising, but my scanner says that they are not in preparation for an attack. You should inform the next person of this occurrence lest they make a miscall and rush in."
"Tell me if you feel a change."
Nick nodded slowly. "I will."
Nick hadn't opened his eyes yet.
Some moments later, Nick's mind was getting woozy.
Images from what happened that day weaved in and out of his consciousness, and Nick felt like he was losing focus.
The next moment, Nick yawned deeply.
He was about to fall asleep.
That was when Nick noticed it.
He had just expected that he would be sitting here for hours, but now, he felt very tired and was about to fall asleep?
"I am getting very tired, and I think I will fall asleep soon, Albert," Nick said. "I think the Dreamer is helping me fall asleep."
"Noted," Albert said. "Just fall asleep. I'm here if anything happens."
"If you are still asleep after eight hours, I will come in and wake you up."
Nick yawned deeply again. "Sounds great."
"Good night," Nick said in a sleepy voice.
Outside, Albert was looking at the console with a complex expression.
"Yes… good night," he answered awkwardly.
Albert just threw a glance out of the window as if to confirm whether or not it was night.
'Why am I even looking outside? I can only see the sun through the upper windows, and the sun isn't related to the time of day,' Albert thought as he shook his head.
Inside the Containment Unit, Nick felt his mind melt into different scenes.
Today had been a very busy day.
After waking up in the early morning, Nick and Wyntor had prepared themselves for their excursion.
At noon, Nick had jumped into the sewers, and he had continually been swimming in them for over ten hours.
Then, Nick had been tortured by the Nightmare, which had significantly drained his mind.
After that, Nick had fought the Dreamer in a life-and-death battle before finally subduing it.
And then, they even needed to walk several kilometers into the actual Outer City, at which point they had a short scuffle with some guards.
At least Nick had been able to take a short nap in the healing bath, but after that, he had spent another three hours in the company itself.
The fact that he had still been able to pay attention to Albert's teachings after that much had happened was surprising.
And now, Nick had been over half an hour in the presence of the Dreamer while trying not to open his eyes.
It was so much.
So much shit had happened today.
But now, Nick felt calm.
He could finally let go and get a good night's sleep.
At this moment, for whatever reason, Nick had completely forgotten the presence of the Dreamer right beside him.
Some seconds later, Nick's back and legs became weak, and his body slumped.
The Dreamer kept looking at the sleeping Nick.
On the outside, Albert looked at the different graphs on the console, and he took a deep breath when one of the graphs showed a curve traveling upward.
This was the graph for Zephyx production.
At this moment, the Dreamer was producing Zephyx.
Nick was successfully working with it!