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In one of the many random corners of Harper Rock, A group of young club-goers stumbled out of the shadows. The looked around, confused, light headed, and with a strange phantom pain in one side of their necks, in spite of there being no visible wounds. After taking a moment to try and figure out how a section of the road had suddenly become darkened, the band of friends shook their heads, and walked on towards their next destination, writing it off as one of the many strange things that had been known to happen within the city limits of Harper Rock.

Across the street, standing just out of the cone of light, and just beyond the vision of the group, a man in a dirty, yet quality looking outfit stood, wiping a stray drop of blood from his mouth. He was glad he had been able to control the urge to drain these youngsters dry. he had been in the Shadow Realm for over a year, training and wandering about, not yet ready to return. He had returned, to find a very different Harper Rock than he had left it.

"I suppose your here to check up on me? Make sure I follow all the rules and such?" The slightly dirty looking man asked aloud, only turning to face his as-of-yet silent companion after he had finished speaking.

"I suppose your here to check up on me? Make sure I follow all the rules and such?" The slightly dirty looking man asked aloud, only turning to face his as-of-yet silent companion after he had finished speaking.

Doc gave him a look. “Would it make you feel better if I said ‘yes’?” His eyes scanned the city horizon. “I will be honest, you **** up.. I will help hunt you down and kill you.” He shrugged apathetically. “It would behoove you to ‘follow the rules’, for your own good. However, it’s your call ultimately. Suffice to say, with Crow being on hiatus.. and the alert level being such as it is.. we are just one ‘**** for brains antic’ away from a full blown human uprising against us.”

They walked in silence for a while before Doc spoke again. “Dutch.. forgot about her. I think she’s in your lineage. ***** is cold as ice, but she’s a good one to have on you six if and when you need it. She has a wicked right slice.. but if she respects you .. she will take a bullet for you.”

Doc reached into his pocket and pulled a business card and pen, he scribbled Dutch’s contact info on it and then offered it to him, as he put the pen back in his inside breast pocket. “She’s in the Worthington Lineage, but she refuses to acknowledge her sire. Talk about a **** up.. that one was a **** up and a half. He’s headed for parts unknown now. I say good riddance.” He sighed in annoyed exasperation, “I do not get it. It’s not that hard to keep the masquerade. Don’t use powers where humans can see.. don’t get caught feeding. Stay under the radar. It’s not ******* rocket science. I still work, I still have interactions with humans. It -can- be done.

“The problem as I see it.. is the majority of vampires are just too ******* immature. They were immature when they were turned, and then they discover they are almost ******* indestructible? It gives them a ******* god complex. Reality gets skewed. They believe they make their own rules, and that they do not have to listen to anyone else. They aren’t planning for the long term. They living in the moment only. They ‘know’ what they are doing and you can’t tell them a ******* thing. The lack of rules, leads to chaos.. and anarchy.. and there you have it.” As he spoke his tone of voice was bland as though he were discussing the weather or some other equally boring subject. The fact of the matter was, Doc was bored with the subject of the irresponsible juvenile little fucks that never gave a thought beyond tomorrow.

Nashoba listened as his, well, Doc couldn't exactly be considered a friend, nor an ally, considering the threat to hunt him down, but they had met in a bar, during one of his few breaks in training, and they had never really tried to harm one another since then.

So, Doc wouldn't exactly be a friend, but he was probably the closest thing that Nashoba had to one at this moment in time.

After they had walked, and Nashoba had listened for a bit, he gave his fellow vampire a look. "Crow has been put on ice? When did that happen? For that matter, how?" Nashoba had never been overly fond of the spirit known as the Crow. He had been separated from his family, his fiance, and now his daughter. Not just by vampire-ism, but by distance as well. He would have needed to leave Harper Rock to see them again, and in his first few months after turning, it had made him bitter and angry. He had gained a reputation for attacking other vampires for no real reason at all, sometimes emptying entire clips into them while standing in the open, just because he could.

This had lead to his first trip into the Shadow Realm. Courtesy of his own Grand-sire even.

Needless to say, from that point on, he had refrained from attacking others openly, but still hated the rules enforced by the Crow, and it's seemingly ever vigilant followers. This had been one reason for his training. He spent time in the Shadow Realm, not just to train, but to deal with his problems. Unfortunately, it seemed he had missed quite a lot of goings-on while he was training.

"I won't stand here and tell you that I've matured more than a bit, or that I'm going to follow all the rules." They continued to walk and after a few more steps, he stopped. "I'll stand HERE and do it." A grin split his features, and he chuckled slightly. "No, telling you wouldn't do much more than waste air."

Starting to walk again, Nashoba took a side trip into one of the many contraband shops, and bought a few packets of blood, sating the rest of his thirst. "I will tell you," he continued, the empty packets disposed of, and offering one to his colleague. "That I have no intention of being a criminal again. Things have changed. It's time I did the same."

Looking down at the contact information he had been given, he changed the topic of their conversation.

"Who is her sire?" He asked, "Could explain why she doesn't acknowledge him." He had few enough allies or friends in his own lineage, that he had been offered by Pi herself, to change families, and had very nearly accepted. Having spent so long away, it was likely that the few positive family relationships he did have had crumbled, or vanished entirely. This 'Dutch' would be a good spot to start towards making new allies.

When Nash asked about the Crow, Doc rubbed his jaw pondering just how to answer his question. “I will be honest, I don’t know the in’s and out’s of what actually happened. What I do know, is that the ‘bridge’ or ‘power’ wraiths, started lobbying all of vampire kind to help them get back their corporeal form. About the same time, Pratt and his cronies..the 5th Column.. who are are against bounty hunting..” he added as an off handed aside, “discovered a ritual that would weaken Crow. And the ‘eyes’ of the Crow were hampered some electronic equipment that Pratt and his sort discovered and mass produced. Long story short, Crow either took a powder or was banished. With Pratt being involved, not telling what else he’s done.

“The results are, vampires now can turn other vampires in for breaking the masq. If someone breaks the masq, someone else can put a bounty on your head. Hell if they don’t like you .. they can put a bounty on your head. And .. it appears that taking a bounty out, doesn’t bring down the alert anymore.. so the level just keeps going up.”

Doc snorted and grinned as Nash commented about maturity, “Man, you had more maturity before you left, in your little finger, than the half this this ******* city rolled all together. The bulk of them are more interested in having parties, banging each other, and insulting one another like fourth graders on a playground, than planning for the future. And you know what.. if there another holocaust, I hope they all ******* buy it. The crownet is nothing but insult central that lowers your IQ the longer you read it.”

The comment about criminal activities, well Doc just decided to sidestep that comment altogether, he wasn’t one to cast stones in that regard. Hell, it would be downright hypocritical of him to cast aspersions about criminal behavior. His lips twitched in wry amusement. Now was no time to get cocky. He had seen it happen too many times before. People with horrible histories, thinking nothing bad would ever stick to them. And yet they were always proven wrong. Karma was a botch that way. things always had a way of coming back to haunt you. The last thing he wanted was to ‘preach’ law and order to someone, and then get busted himself disposing of a corpse. Yes, he would make no comment, on that score.

“Liam the Lame was her Sire. At least that’s what I called him. I have seen three year olds whine less he did. And **** for brains.. he was prime example, ran his mouth too much. Then would claim he never said ****, and he would get busted time and again.” He paused, “I can’t say I know very many Worthingtons.. Dutch, well.. her actual name is Dulce Periculum and Aura.” Doc turned and looked at Nash, “Aura.. give her a wide berth. ***** is crazy needy. And clingy..” He shuddered.

Nashoba thought he managed quite well, up until Liam's name was mentioned. He managed to keep a straight face about the Crow's problems, and even the fact that The bounty system didn't bring down the alert. But Liam. "Know him. Better than I would like." Taking a second look around and make sure the streets were still clear enough for the conversation to continue. "He's a good example of a bad Worthington. Not many in the line liked him, and the few who did were basically just more of the same as him." As the conversation continued, he slapped a hand over his eyes, in a face-palm display.

"I know Aura. Rather well in fact. She is my Grand-sire." He breathed deep, and let out a sigh. "Your pretty dead on about the clingy bit also. I figure, even if I give her a wide berth, she's gonna come and find me once word gets out that I'm back. My sire was her only Childer, just as I was his." He shook his head, remembering the petite pink haired energy-filled vampire.

"Not sure if I told you, but the first time I was hunted down and, for lack of a better term, 'killed', She was the one who put the final bullet in me." Shaking his head again, he leaned against a wall, and watched across the street. "Then she wonders why I'm not a fan of the whole 'Masquerade'."

Backing up he looked as his companion. "And the bounty system has pretty much always been used by those who dislike others. I remember seeing bounties for over 15,000 posted on some vampires for arguments someone had gotten into a tizzy over."

Thinking for a moment, Nashoba turned to Doc. "These electronic devices, could you show me one? They might be stopping the bounty network from lowering the Alert level somehow."

Doc heard the comment about his death at Aura’s hands. “You know.. if we play our cards rights.. we have centuries ahead of us. A few weeks in the Shadow Realm, is a drop in the bucket in comparison. And,” he nods to himself mostly, “for most of us.. the Shadow realm does one of two things. One, it is ******* unpleasant. I know first hand. However, group one says, ‘**** this ****.. I don’t like it here.. I am getting my **** together, and never coming back’. Group two says, ‘oh ****.. this is horrible.’ They crawl within themselves, and stay there, never to come back to this human world.” He smirks, “So the Shadow Realm becomes a catalyst for keeping the masquerade safe.” A sigh, “But then you have the ‘****-for-brains three percenters’.. like Pratt, who simply do not get it. And they continue to be a ******* pain in our ***.”

As the conversation turns to bounties, Doc is silent for a moment. “I have never been in it for the money. Those vampires I have helped kill,” he raked a hand through his hair as he makes sure to specify ‘vampire’ deaths, versus human, “and there are quite a few, are all because of Masquerade violations, except two. And those two deaths were instigated by the other party.. and one of those was my own spawn. Little *****.” his voice trailed off as he pressed his lips into a grim line of disappointment, as though she continues to be a pain in his ***. Which she is.

Doc shoved his hands back in his pockets, as the topic moves on to the alert level. “Yes. The alert level is fucked up for sure. Used to, we take out four violators.. the level goes down to a manageable state. We take out four now, it barely registers. So what is the point, in take them out? Especially if it’s their first offense.. we look like ******* bastards. So yea, these devices that Pratt and gang placed all over the city.. when we find them.. we destroy them. So I don’t have details. But they are somewhat familiar to the old ‘crow eyes’, only there is a difference in the polarity, causing interference rather transmission. I am not an expert on this ****, so take that explanation with a grain of salt, as it were.

“I do know, if we can’t get a handle on this alert level soon, we could be facing a human uprising.” Doc gave him a serious look, “Make sure you have a place to hold up in.. just in case. Not an apartment. They are too easy to crack open. It might be worth speaking to Aura, if only to see if the Worthington's have a safety bunker when you could ride it out, if it does happen.”

"We do." He said simply. "Or we did, prior to my training period. A casino, if my memory serves, with a hidden bunker underneath." As he thought on the subject of the alert, and the trouble everyone was both going through and getting into, he had to ask.

"How close do you think we are to the Shops shutting down again? I can remember that happening twice before. But all tat needed to happen, was to kill a few ferals, and it would drop enough to get some ammo, then we could take out a few bounties, like you said, and the level was fixed. If things are going that twisted, then I may want to spend a bit of cash to stock up on ammo as well." While not as obsessive as some were when it came to weapons, Nashoba was known to keep at least two firearms with enough ammo to use both several times over. And his Katana was always sharp.

Nashoba had never known doc had a childer of his own, but decided not to ask about it, since they clearly didn't get along very well. It sounded, however, as if she was another of the 'three-percenters'. Instead, he moved the conversation back to the alert level.

"Has anyone figured out anything that can lower the alert level noticeably?" He asked. "There must be something that can help." As Doc had said, first violators who had just made a mistake weren't worth hunting down. and it happened to everyone, no matter how careful you were.

“At least you have a place to ride it out .. should it happen. I guess your first step is making sure you are still welcome. Vampires are just like people when it comes to survival. They will **** you over as soon as look at you. It is the nature of those that give in to fear.” His tone was bland. He understood the psyche that drove those to do irrational things. They fed the fear. The fear of ‘what it’. The fear of ‘I can’t’. The fear of ‘But...’. Those that fed that fear, were destined to live fulfilled lives that were overflowing with ‘if only’s’.

“But the shops.. last time the alert went this high.. they shut for a while.. but then the entrepreneurs came out..and opened new shops. The old shops saw their profits being eaten away and they opened back up.” He sighed, “the almighty dollar rules supreme .. even in desperate times.. So sure..stock up while you can.. but I don't think it will be an issue.”

When Nash asked about the ‘sure fire ways’ to bring down the alert, he just shook his head. “What used to work.. doesn’t work now. Hacking used to bring it down. But the hackers I have talked to .. aren't getting anything new. Bounties used to bring it down.. that doesn’t work anymore. Killing the ferals and mooncalves used to bring it down.. I have been camping in the quarantine zones for weeks now.. killed hundreds.. **** maybe thousands at this rate.. and I am not making a dent. Not a ******* DENT.

“It has to be the devices that are doing it. Interfering.. of something like it. I know of vampires that are not on the bounty list.. haven’t broken the masquerade.. but Cops are opening fire on them in the ******* street.. “ Another sigh. “It has to be those ******* devices. I honestly think I am too close to the situation to look at it objectively. I wish I knew what to do.”

Nashoba nodded his head slowly, and began to think out loud. "Well, I'm about a far from the situation as I can be ans still have some involvement, So let's look at the whole thing from the beginning." Stopping and leaning against the wall of a building, Nashoba watched the waters of the river flow past. One foot left the ground, and planted itself on the wall behind him, so that from the waist down, he looked a bit like a figure 4, but in reverse, if you came from the wrong direction.

"When I left, the Broussard were still big, and we were fighting them pretty hard. But as I understand it, they were not only beaten, but very nearly wiped out, so while something they did might be on the list of possible causes, It's doubtful. Pratt might have found whatever this device was from the Broussards, but it's unlikely they are directly related."

Taking a deep breath, he looked up to the sky, then let his breath out in a slow exhale. "After this, Pratt claims to have silenced the Crow, and then the whole bounty system goes haywire. now we can't lower the alert level, and we can't figure out what happened to the Crow. But if the devices are being destroyed, then the power they have should be slowly fading, instead it's constant if not stronger. So either there is a master device that only needed the smaller ones for the initial set up, or there are fakes and decoys that are being destroyed, while the real devices are protected enough that they are able to maintain the system easily."

Nashoba thought for a moment, then cocked his head to one side. "Or, there could be someone or something else, with Pratt just taking the credit for all of this." Looking at his companion again, he continued. "Vampires have always had people who wanted us dead, yeah? So, have any old enemies, or new vampire hunting factions come into the city in the last year or so?"

“As far as I am concerned.. anything that gets fucked up in this city.. it’s Pratt’s fault. Sure the 5th Column played their role in it.. but deep down.. Pratt started this ****. he started it by outing the existence of Vampires on the radio.”

Doc glanced at Nash, “That happened a while back..Were you here for that? He fucked up big time.. then hid in the Shadow Realm for months.. I guess he hoped we would forget that little escapade, or that we had not seen who was behind it. However, I digress, any new groups, have been wise enough not to broadcast. I guess they saw what happened to the 5th Column when they ran their mouths about bringing change to the way we handled things.

“The 5th Column, not really sure what their edicts were, but they had a couple members that could not keep their lips tied shut. They were more than willing to share the names of their associates, hell they even spilled where they were once.”

He pulled his cell phone and logged into the crownet and quoted aloud, “City Alert Level: barely acceptable.” He disconnected. “You can thank Pratt for one other thing, Crownet has been and probably still is, being hacked by humans. Some of the humans actually posted on the crownet that they had successfully hacked it. So my advice, is to stay off of it. Any human with half a brain, could read it and get a pretty damn good idea of some the lineages’ most prominent elders.

“Those that I would think would ******* know better, continue to post their family business on there, like it is secure or some ****.” He sighed.

“Everyone wants to believe it can’t happen. That we’re stronger, smarter and craftier than the humans, and that ‘should’ a holocaust happen, we would survive. But what they fail to realize in their arrogance, is that one intelligent human that puts two and two together and gets four, and decides to blast the hell out of the quarantine zone. And if they get lucky.. the rift will be closed, and our ability to come back at will.. is gone. Once that happens, we become the new sport hunter’s prey of choice.

“Think about it.. sportsmen that have hunted all sorts of big game, given the ultimate game to hunt. Us. And instead of leading productive lives, we will all be hiding until some lucky son of a ***** finds us and turns his dogs loose on us."