Kill the Sun

The Technician lay powerlessly in front of Nick.

This time, it was Nick who was wearing the suit, and the suit was constantly filling him with Prephyx.

The Technician was suffering immensely, just like all the other Protectors.

However, he was an Initial Shield.

His potential was far higher.

Nick was experimenting with his Zephyx Manipulation.

After a couple of months, he believed that he had a working prototype, but he needed even more suffering to make sure that it worked.

But Nick had been prepared for that eventuality.

One had to remember that Nick grew more powerful just by causing suffering.

"Technician," Nick said after some months.

The Technician weakly looked up, breathing heavily.

"I'm sorry, but I need more suffering," Nick said.

Then, Nick took something out of his Space Bag.

When the Technician saw that, a frightened expression appeared on his face.

It was the new machine he had been working on for the past couple of months.

"This is a necessary sacrifice," Nick said.

The Technician gritted his teeth.

And Nick destroyed the machine.

The next moment, Nick's prototype ability picked up a slight spike, but he couldn't be sure if it was real or just his imagination.

So, Nick took out another machine and destroyed that one as well.

Over the next hours, he destroyed six different machines.

But it wasn't for nothing.

Nick could now be sure that his ability worked somewhat.

As the Technician accepted the loss of his machines, his suffering returned to normal levels, and this time, Nick could feel it.

He could feel how he generated Zephyx.

'This is enough,' Nick thought.

A moment later, he deactivated the Containment Unit.

The Technician stood up and glared at Nick.

"This was not part of the deal!" he said through gritted teeth, pointing at the destroyed machines.

"I needed the additional suffering," Nick answered. "I'm sorry that I had to do that to you, but we both know that this is bigger than either of us."

"This is for humanity."

The Technician gritted his teeth as he clenched his fists.

All the work he had done for the past two years…

Gone.

He hated this feeling.

His anger for Nick was red hot.

Yet, he knew that Nick was right.

This was necessary.

"Did you at least succeed?" he asked, trying his best to keep his anger in check.

Nick nodded. "I believe so. I can feel my own Zephyx generation now."

"What more do you need?" the Technician asked.

"Nothing. That's enough," Nick answered.

"Nothing?" the Technician asked with furrowed brows. "But you can only sense your own Zephyx generation. You can't sense the Zephyx generation of other Specters."

"I'm working with a self-made ability," Nick said. "Being able to sense my own harvested suffering already took me almost 30 years. Sensing the suffering of other Specters will be infinitely harder."

"We don't have the time," Nick said.

The Technician narrowed his eyes.

Then, all his inventions were destroyed for nothing?!

Naturally, Nick could see the Technician's mood.

'If he were calmer, he would probably realize that I can already unmask Greed,' he thought.

"I can't find Greed," Nick said, "but I can find humans."

The Technician's brows furrowed.

But then, they rose in surprise.

Almost all of his rage vanished in an instant.

"Exclusion," the Technician said.

"Correct," Nick answered. "We have 13 suspects. I can't tell who is guilty, but I can tell who is innocent."

"13 interactions is all I need."

"But couldn't we have done that before?" the Technician asked.

"No, the Containment Units would have already alerted you if that worked," Nick said. "Greed is too good at faking Zephyx. It probably even has a way to make Specters generate Zephyx by sacrificing its own Zephyx."

"Every Protector worked hundreds of times with Fallen. If a Containment Unit didn't produce any Zephyx when Greed was working with a Specter, Aegis would have already found Greed."

"Greed can fake Zephyx, but it can't fake suffering."

"Suffering is something that no Specter can produce. Only a natural living being or natural environment can produce suffering."

When the Technician heard that, he sighed.

Finally, they had the means to find Greed.

Aegis had so many methods to confirm if somebody was a Specter.

And yet, a Specter still managed to infiltrate their leadership.

Every Peak Protector who became a Shield had to undergo an evaluation of their Zephyx Synchronizer. That was the safest way to see if someone was human.

"Do you think it's possible to fake a Zephyx Synchronizer?" the Technician asked.

"Yes," Nick said.

"Are you certain?" the Technician asked.

"Yes," Nick answered.

The Technician sighed.

Their most reliable method could be bypassed.

The two of them left the Containment Unit, and Nick contacted the Champion.

"I can unmask Greed by process of elimination now," he said.

"How?" the Champion asked.

Nick explained his new ability to the Champion and how he would unmask Greed.

"That works," the Champion answered. "I will tell the Politician to send out the orders."

By now, the Politician had fully taken over as the new Left Arm.

Technically, his new title was now Left Arm, but everyone still called him Politician.

It would take a while for the new title to set in amongst the other Shields.

Nick and the Technician walked back to the research and development department.

The Politician would need to change Aegis' defenses to free up the Peak Protectors.

Every Peak Protector was of significant importance, and they were all stationed in important locations.

After about a day, someone rang the Technician's door.

Naturally, not many people had free access to the Technician's office, and the Peak Protectors were no different.

The door opened, and one of the Peak Protectors who had accompanied Nick entered.

The Peak Protector didn't recognize Nick since he was disguised.

"The Left Arm told me to come here," the Peak Protector said, referring to the Politician by his new title.

The Technician smiled. "Thank you. Please, take off your Barrier and hand it over."

The Protector furrowed his brows, but he complied.

After he took off his Barrier, Nick suddenly appeared in front of him.

The Protector's eyes widened.

The next moment, Nick's blades buried themselves into the Protector's abdomen.

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