Kill the Sun

Two men entered the room.

One of them looked quite old and had white hair.

The other one looked middle-aged and had black hair that seemed to turn grey at different spots.

Nick was a bit surprised since those two looked to be the oldest people who walked into the room, but at least one of them had to be a Specialist.

This meant that at least one of them could live for well over a hundred years without visibly aging.

So, was one of them just very old?

Chances were that they were even older than Vernon.

At that point, Nick remembered Wyntor telling him that Ghosty's Lab was the oldest Zephyx Manufacturer that was still in business.

Apparently, it had been in business even before Kugelblitz had been founded.

Every other Manufacturer had vanished.

They had either been absorbed by one of the others or had been sold and rebranded.

Two of them even got destroyed by their own Specters breaking out and wreaking havoc.

The two people greeted everyone in the room, and they even talked quite a bit with Vernon and Aria.

As the city's third most powerful Zephyx Manufacturer and the numerically biggest, Ghosty's Lab definitely had the status to casually talk to Kugelblitz.

After greeting all the other Extractors, the two of them turned to Wyntor and Nick.

Surprisingly, the two of them walked around the table to offer a handshake.

Wyntor respectfully accepted the handshake.

"Herman Reichert, CEO of Ghosty's Lab," the older man said.

"George Meander, CZE of Ghosty's Lab. People generally refer to me as Ghosty," the other man said.

"Wyntor Melfion, CEO of Dark Dream," Wyntor said with a polite smile.

"And you're Nick, right?" Ghosty asked with a smirk as he looked at Nick.

Nick blinked a couple of times in surprise. 

"You know me?" he asked.

Ghosty chuckled slightly. "I remember your file. I was the one who told Albert about you."

Nick's eyes widened!

It was him!

He was the reason how Nick managed to become a Zephyx Extractor in the first place!

If Ghosty hadn't sent Albert to Nick, Nick would have never understood his ability, and he would have never found Wyntor.

He would have stayed in the Dregs for the remainder of his life.

"You know Albert?" Nick asked.

Ghosty nodded. "He used to work for us before he left to work for the city. He was one of the best Extractors I've ever had the pleasure to work with."

"How is Albert doing?" Nick asked.

Nick hadn't seen Albert in almost two years.

"He's busy with some confidential things. Not even I know exactly what project he's involved in. I only know that the city views it as very important," Ghosty said.

"We can talk some other time," Ghosty said after seeing Herman motioning him to leave. "It's a bit awkward to talk in such a crowded room."

"Of course!" Nick said politely.

Nick watched Ghosty with wonder.

Obviously, Ghosty's Lab was named after him, which meant that he was probably quite capable and famous.

"He's the second oldest person in the city," Wyntor whispered to Nick. "Many breakthroughs in how we deal with Specters exist only because of him. He also had a major hand in the creation of the modern Containment Units."

"As far as we know, he's the first person ever that managed to capture a Force Specter."

Nick took a deep breath.

This meant that he was essentially sitting at the same table as a living legend.

However, Nick couldn't think about these things for long since the doors opened again rather quickly.

This time, two people with green uniforms and the emblem of a puppet walked into the room.

The two of them were men with black hair that looked to be in their thirties.

As soon as Nick saw them, he felt nervous.

He felt like he should not interact with those two.

They felt dangerous.

The two of them walked over and greeted Vernon and Aria.

After that, they offered their hand to Ghosty and Herman.

And then…

They just sat down in their seats.

They didn't even look at the other Manufacturers.

It was like they didn't exist to them.

"They are from Anatomy," Wyntor whispered to Nick. "The guy on the left is one of their directors, Zarren Harrow. As far as I know, he's a Peak level four Zephyx Extractor."

"The other one is their Chief Zephyx Extractor, Mundus Stairwell. He's the only level six Zephyx Extractor that Anatomy has."

Nick nodded. "They feel dangerous."

"They are," Wyntor confirmed. "Try not to come into contact with them."

Nick nodded and looked around the room.

There were 17 people in the room now.

Three normal people at the bottom.

Nick and Wyntor near the bottom.

John and Kallum from the Spartans.

Hera and Ramona from Solace.

Cindy and Mindy from Gemini.

Herman and Ghosty from Ghosty's Lab.

Zarren and Mundus from Anatomy.

Vernon and Aria from Kugelblitz.

And yet, the head of the table was still empty.

But everyone seemed to be present.

All the major Zephyx Manufacturers in the city were present.

So, Nick waited for the meeting to start.

But it didn't.

Several minutes of silence passed.

Nick looked around in confusion.

"What are we waiting for?" Nick asked.

"We're still missing someone," Wyntor said.

"Who?" Nick asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Wyntor asked.

Nick shook his head.

"The governor," Wyntor said.

"The governor? Who's that?" Nick asked.

Wyntor was immediately taken aback, and he looked at Nick in shock.

"You don't know who the governor is?" he asked in surprise.

"I don't even know what a governor is," Nick said.

Wyntor rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"How did you work for two years for me and never came into contact with the concept of a governor?"

"I don't know. I don't even know what or who that is," Nick said with annoyance. "Don't always act like I'm an idiot."

Wyntor took a deep breath.

"The governor is the oldest and officially most powerful person in the city, and he is the leader and ruler of Crimson Fungus City."

"The only one that might be able to match his power is Aria, but I wouldn't bet my money on her."

Nick's eyes widened in wonder.

Then, the doors opened.