It was dark!
The room was completely dark!
Except for the one cut that Nick had just created, the room had no openings through which light could enter.
At that moment, the plan for the headquarters shot through Nick's mind.
No light could enter into Riker's room through the bottom, front, left, right, or back.
All of these sides were completely blocked off and solid.
Additionally, since the room above Riker's room was completely dark, no light could come into Riker's room through that as well.
Artificial light that could keep the Nightmare at bay cost a ridiculous amount of money, and the money Monica was confiscating wouldn't even come close to paying for that.
On top of that, Nick was quite certain that there were also no reflective shafts of light.
These shafts were lined with mirrors, and mirrors were insanely expensive.
Just the materials would cost tens of thousands of credits, and then it would also need specialized personnel to create the shaft.
Installing something this pricy in a shitty house in the Dregs would raise a couple of eyebrows.
Why not just make a hole in the wall?
They weren't keeping Specters here.
There was no reason to spend that much money on something that could be solved with a drill and five minutes of work.
Nick was 99% sure that Riker's room was dark.
That wouldn't seem surprising since Riker was a Specter.
However…
Monica was also in the room frequently and for several minutes.
Either she was getting tortured to death over and over again several times per day or…
She was also a Specter.
This hadn't even occurred to Nick until now.
He had expected Riker's room to have light for the same reason why everyone else had expected it.
Because why wouldn't there be light?
There was no reason to have no light.
Having a room with no light was already very suspicious in and of itself.
Having a room with no light that someone occasionally went to was a risk.
Because what if someone found out?
What if one of the Riker Strikers decided to sneak into the room when Riker was away to steal something?
Then, the member would find out that the room was completely dark.
And they would very quickly suspect Riker of being a Specter.
At that point, it wouldn't even be a question of what happened.
The person would immediately run to an Investigator working for a Zephyx Manufacturer.
Clues that led to the capture of a Specter gave someone so much money that they could leave the Dregs and live in the Outer City.
Even more, every human was scared shitless of Specters.
While these men were fine with fighting with others and raping children, they did not want to come into contact with any kind of Specter.
Specters were the natural predators of humanity, and there was nothing that humans feared more.
Even without the reward, the person would be so paranoid that Riker would find out that they had been in his room that they would run to the closest Manufacturer.
Just having this lightless room was already dangerous for Riker.
So, then, why did he have it?
'There's only one thing I can think of,' Nick thought.
'A place that can't possibly be overheard by others.'
'There is something going on in that room that he can't allow anyone to find out!'
'Being overheard through one of the light holes has to be much worse than being suspected of being a Specter!'
Nick's mind was going wild.
'What could possibly be worse?!'
'What could be worse than the danger of being locked up for the remainder of your existence?'
'Why would he take such a huge risk?'
Nick narrowed his eyes.
He had no idea.
'I have to find out what's going on, but I need to be careful.'
'If there is something in the room, I have to make sure that I can find out what it is without being noticed.'
'It's already been several minutes since Riker left his room. I'm not sure when he will return, and I can't possibly enter when he's in there.'
Nick's heart rate increased as he thought about what this might mean.
Something that was even more important to a Specter than their own future.
This had to be something special.
'Or they just don't want to be overheard while talking,' Nick thought. 'That would be a bit anticlimactic.'
'Anyway, I should leave for now.'
Nick grabbed something and put it over the cut that he had created in the floor to hide it.
Then, he left the Riker Striker's headquarters and went back to Dark Dream.
The next day, Nick went to Wyntor's office.
"Got any news?" Wyntor asked.
Nick nodded with a serious expression.
"I'm not sure, but there is something very strange going on with Riker," Nick said.
After that, Nick told Wyntor what he had found out.
When Wyntor heard that there was most likely a second Specter, he became very interested and excited.
Most likely, Monica was also an Adolescent.
That would make two Adolescents that Dark Dream could potentially capture.
And then, Nick told Wyntor about the dark room and what his thoughts were.
Wyntor started to frown and kept thinking.
"And you are sure that there is no light source?" Wyntor asked.
"I'm 99% sure," Nick said.
"No window?"
"No."
"No holes?"
"No."
"No artificial lights?"
"Too expensive."
"No light shaft?"
"That is the only possibility, but I am almost certain that it's impossible," Nick said.
Wyntor just kept looking at his desk with furrowed brows.
"Maybe they just didn't want to be overheard. After all, they are both Specters," Wyntor said.
"They could talk anywhere," Nick said. "They could just create a trapdoor in the room and go to a dark part of the sewers to talk."
Wyntor remained silent for a while and looked forward.
Nick looked at Wyntor with interest.
"Do you know why they would take such a risk?" Nick asked.
Wyntor shook his head.
"I have no idea."
