“If you would be so good as to have a word with me, in private?”

The vampire addressed Sinunu, but the apologetic smile he gave Truxa gave Sinunu an immediate urge to smash his face. For just a second, the idea that the woman she loved and this creature should ever have come into contact seemed so repulsive and despicable that she had to do a quick four-breath to find her center and control her emotions.

Truxa, however, seemed to have none of her feelings. Smiling sweetly, she said, “Of course, Mister de Vries.” With that, she circled around him and up into the van.

Left alone with the vampire, Sinunu felt her anger drain out, leaving her hollow and empty. “What do you want?”

De Vries stood there for a moment, looking at her with such empathy that Sinunu was immediately uncomfortable again. “If you’ve got nothing to say, then I need to be finishing up.”

De Vries looked out across the desolation that was Hell’s Kitchen, the sweeping volcanic dust that only seemed to settle when there was a torrential downpour. When he spoke, his voice was so soft that Sinunu had to strain to make out the word. “Have you ever read about yourself? Listened to what others were saying about you without their knowing you where eavesdropping!”

Sinunu shook her head. “I don’t care what people say about me, and unlike you, I try to keep a lower profile.”

De Vries laughed softly, and turned to look at her. “I’m going to tell you something that no one else knows.”

Sinunu rolled her pink eyes. “Oh, joy.”

De Vries went on as if he hadn’t heard her. “Before my life took its current course, I was married. Did you know that?”

Sinunu shrugged. “Didn’t know, didn’t care. You going for some sort of point here?”

De Vries smiled softly, and for just a moment, Sinunu was sorry she’d responded so callously. “Yes, I was married, to a wonderful woman named Josephine. I’d just finished up my doctorate in hermetic studies, and it looked as if I was on top of the world. Of course, I gave no thought to the fact that things like vampires and wendigos were running around the earth again. And even if I had, it wouldn’t have caused me any concern.”

Grunting, Sinunu said, “Yeah, ignorance can be a real killer.”

De Vries smiled again. “Exactly. Well, Josephine got pregnant, and I was going to be a father. She Was only five months along, but she was a delicate woman and the pregnancy was hard on her. I was called to a faculty meeting one night, and it ran late.”

Suddenly the short, white hairs on the back of Sinunu’s neck stood up straight. She realized she didn’t want to hear the rest of what de Vries was going to say, didn’t want to feel any sympathy for this creature, but his eyes held her.

“I came home to an empty house. Josephine had simply vanished. I contacted the police, and they searched. For six days I went out of my mind. 1 couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep, I sat by the telecom in that big empty house, and I prayed.”

Sinunu thought about her days at White Oak, those hateful days when she was being groomed to become the great mother of all white humanity. Prayer had been a big thing at White Oak, and she had come to despise all the pitiful wishing and pleading that seemed to go hand in hand with bowing to some higher god. Still, when de Vries spoke of it, she felt the desperation he must have known during that time. Sinunu turned to look out into the hot darkness as de Vries continued.

“On the seventh night. I was sleeping fitfully in my chair in the living room. I suppose if I’d been able to sleep well, I would be dead now.”

De Vries paused, and despite herself. Sinunu said, “Josephine?”

“Actually, no. Not at first. I woke feeling something crawling up my leg. I thought I might still be dreaming, because when! looked down, there was a tiny, white thing hanging off my trousers. Malformed and hideous, it was no more than twenty centimeters long, white as a ghost, still covered in a sticky red slime. Its tiny arms were digging into the fabric of my pants, and as I looked down, the thing looked up with bright red eyes.”

Sinunu knew what was coming, and for the first time in years, she felt nauseous.

“That’s when Josephine came in. And in a flash, I knew what had happened. I knew. Josephine stood there in the doorway with the dim light behind her, like some kind of dark angel. But she wasn’t looking at me. She was looking at the thing on my leg, calling to it, like any normal mother whose child has crawled too far for her to be comfortable.”

Sinunu turned to him. Your child?”

De Vries nodded. Yes. I understand what happened now, When Josephine was infected with the virus, and her body died, it rejected anything of flesh that was not its own. It purged itself of the little fetus. Unfortunately, the fetus was also now infected so in a fashion, it survived the miscarriage.”

Sinunij thought her heart was going to break at the thought. “What did you do.”

De Vries shrugged. “I staked them. Josephine didn’t even resist. She simply begged that I look out for her baby after she was gone.”

Sinunu found herself taking a step back from de Vries. The utter coldness in his voice chilled her to the bone.

“They were the first. After that, I managed to find the creature who had done this to my family, and I staked him as well. My life was changed from that moment on, and it has led me down paths so dark and frightening that very little of the man I once was remains.”

Sinunu felt anger rise in her like a volcano, heaving and out of control. “Why are you telling me this?”

De Vries’ eyes softened. “I said very little of that man remains, but enough for me to understand how you feel about tonight. Enough for me to realize the care you have for the elf and the concerns you have about bringing Rachel along.”

“So?”

De Vries stepped in close, and it took everything in Sinunu’s power not to fling herself backward. “Just this. There is more to Rachel than you can guess, and she stands to lose as much as you tonight, so in one sense, she had a right to insist on coming along. Also, if things go wrong, and our target is damaged in any way, we need her there. He’ll need to see a familiar face, or else he might screw the whole thing up.

“But I didn’t tell you that story to justify my backing Rachel’s desire to come along. I simply wanted you to know that I understand your concern and now it is mine as well. If everything goes right, then we’ll all get out safely, a little wiser about how dark the night can be, but otherwise no worse for the wear. But if things go wrong, I’ll make you this promise. I will do everything in my power to keep you from having to go through the same pain I went through all those years ago.”

Through tight lips, Sinunu asked, “That supposed to make me feel better?”

De Vries smiled. “It should. Over the years, I have become more powerful than you could possibly imagine. I will use every trick, every skill I possess to make sure your love comes through tonight intact.”

Sinunu smiled, a tight, ugly thing. “And if she doesn’t?”

De Vries stepped back. “Then I will help you put her out of her misery.”

15

Of course the procedure was radical and involved incredible risks. Surely, you realize that the potential benefits outweighed those risks. That’s why I was using SINless, rather than citizens. After all, it s not like they would be missed.

– 

Oslo Wake defending his use of metahuman subjects before the Board of Ethics and Review Universal Omnirech, New York City. Transcript #ETH678, p. 678, 21 September 2051

Oslo Wake’s office was a small, private place buried deep beneath the main compound. Rough rock walls contrasted sharply with the soft lighting and the rich Persian rugs that covered the floor. The air in the office was warm and damp, heated naturally by a thermal spring in the bedrock, and it smelled slightly of sulfur.