One week after the big incident, Nick was still working as usual.
The working day was slowly coming to a close, but Nick was still busy with his job.
As he walked from his office to one of the Containment Units, he saw two people walking up the stairs.
They were just regular employees.
"Good evening, Boss," the two of them said.
Nick just nodded. "Have a nice evening."
After some friendly smiles, they walked past each other.
"Man, work was horrible today," Nick heard from one of the two. "I didn't sleep yesterday, and I felt like the day was going to continue forever. I swear, as soon as I'm home, I'm going to eat and immediately fall into bed. You can't imagine how tired I am."
When Nick heard that, he furrowed his brows.
'Sleep? Food?' he thought as he thought back to the last seven days.
'When was the last time I slept or ate?'
Nick tried to think back.
'I haven't slept in over a week, and I'm pretty sure that I also haven't eaten anything. I think I didn't even drink anything.'
Nick raised an eyebrow and looked at his arms and torso.
He flexed them and checked if they had become thinner.
At the same time, Nick imagined how it felt to drink water.
The image he saw in his mind felt neutral.
It was just like looking at the wall for him.
'Have I lost any weight?' Nick thought.
Nick quickly dealt with the thing he had come down to do and went to the central lounge.
Since it was already evening, no one was left in the lounge, and Nick walked over to a scale.
'163.5 kg,' Nick read. 'I actually gained a bit of weight.'
At that point, Nick was also sure that he didn't seem any lighter than before, even though he hadn't drunk or eaten anything in over a week.
He also didn't feel as tired anymore.
In the first two to three days, Nick had felt extremely tired, but after that, he got used to it.
And now, he actually felt pretty good, physically speaking.
Nick had a good idea about what was going on, but he was still quite surprised.
'Wyntor should still be here,' Nick thought before he went to the seventh floor.
"Hey, Wyntor," Nick said as he entered Wyntor's office without knocking.
Wyntor just nodded before he continued reading a couple sheets of paper.
"What do you need?" he asked a second later.
"Well," Nick started, "I haven't slept, drunk, or eaten anything in over a week."
Wyntor's eyebrows shot up, and he immediately looked at Nick.
There were small eyebags below Nick's eyes, but they weren't ridiculous.
Nick's skin didn't look dried out.
He didn't seem to have lost any weight or muscle.
That was when Wyntor furrowed his brows in skepticism. "Are you saying you're in Zephosis?" he asked.
"I think so. I'm just as surprised as you," Nick answered.
Wyntor still looked at Nick with skepticism. "Are you sure this is Zephosis and not some kind of self-destructive behavior due to trauma?"
Nick's heart rate increased when Wyntor reminded him of what had happened, but Nick quickly repressed the guilt again.
"I think so," Nick said. "I don't feel like drinking, eating, or sleeping."
"Alright," Wyntor said before he grabbed something from below his desk.
The next moment, Wyntor put a bottle of water onto the table.
"Drink it," Wyntor said. "I want to be sure."
Nick became a bit worried. "But wouldn't that interrupt the Zephosis?"
"No," Wyntor said. "If you weren't in Zephosis, you would have already died of dehydration, which means that your Zephosis has already been completed, assuming you actually entered it."
Nick looked at the bottle of water, took a deep breath, and drank.
"Finish the entire thing," Wyntor said.
Nick did just that.
After downing about a liter of water, Nick put the bottle down again and looked at Wyntor.
Silence.
"So?" Wyntor asked.
"Nothing," Nick said. "I don't feel any different."
When Wyntor heard that, a surprised expression appeared on his face as he leaned back in his chair.
"I guess that proves it," Wyntor said.
"I guess so," Nick answered as he scratched the back of his head.
"That's… faster than I thought. I thought you would need two more years," Wyntor said.
"You're still 21, right?" Wyntor asked.
Nick nodded.
"21, huh?" Wyntor said.
"A 21-year old Veteran, or soon to be. Whatever."
Nick just awkwardly scratched the side of his head.
Naturally, he knew what Zephosis was.
Zephosis was the very thing that kept most of the Johns from becoming Veterans.
This thing was the very reason why there were so many Johns who had worked for decades with Specters without becoming Veterans.
Manufacturers could throw Specters and Zephyx at these people, and they still wouldn't be able to become Veterans.
The word Zephosis came from the word ketosis, which was a state that burned fat instead of sugar after having been deprived of carbs for some time.
Compared to ketosis, Zephosis had a more fundamental effect.
Zephosis was a state in which the body used Zephyx instead of food or water as fuel.
Normal Peak Johns only used Zephyx as a sort of nitro-fuel, boosting their powers manifold.
However, Peak Johns, who were in Zephosis, exclusively used Zephyx.
While in this state, the Peak Johns would recover their Zephyx at double the speed, and their Zephyx storage also grew much quicker.
If one wanted to become a Veteran, one needed to be in a state of Zephosis.
Otherwise, the body wouldn't be able to absorb and regenerate enough Zephyx to keep the person alive.
It would be like having a body that required over 100,000 kilocalories per day while only having a normal-sized stomach.
No matter how much one ate, one wouldn't be able to consume enough food to reach 100,000 kilocalories.
One would eventually die of starvation.
Because of that, Zephosis was necessary to become a Veteran.
