Author's Note: Second edit pass complete! Check out my bio for details.
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~~Julias~~
It didn't matter how many times Julias stood before the triumvirate, he never felt safe.
Viktor was old. Michael and Maria were there as well, and while they were older and stronger than Julias, it was Viktor that made his inner-beast recoil. Sometimes Julias wondered if his sire would try another torpor, before his strength grew to the point that he'd need Kindred blood to survive, and not kine blood. Every time he stood before him, he started to worry more and more about that possibility.
Natasha and Jessy were there too. Jessy was Michael's childe, a Gangrel, and his right hand for the Invictus; she was just a bloodthirsty animal. Natasha on the other hand was a Mehket, and served as Maria's right hand. Only Maria knew who Natasha's sire was.
The three right hands and their three masters. They stood in the top floor of Xnomina, with a gigantic touch-screen on the wall. The masters were not good with keyboards, or texting, but they were quite comfortable managing complicated webs of notes, photos, hints and evidence. The huge touch-screen let them slide the nodes in the web quickly.
"Rebecca was seen at Julias's, and attacked his childe before he was turned. Then was later seen at the building Julias was sent to to capture Vance or his data." No titles, all business. Viktor was pacing in front of the screen, and his right hand would occasionally reach out to drag one of the digital images to the center of it, so it would grow in size for them to read or analyze. "She defeated Julias, who only managed to survive because the fire or sunrise risked Rebecca's life."
Natasha frowned, Jessy snickered, and Julias grit his teeth. Well, at least they didn't know Beatrice had saved him.
"Julias managed to recover the situation. The next night, he observed that Rebecca had recovered the data, and overheard -- with brilliant use of possession on a rodent, I might add -- that in a months' time from that night, in North Side, there would be a drop. Typical lingo of gutter trash." Viktor gave a shrug. "Now, we have another piece of the puzzle to add to that."
"Sir?" Julias said. He tried to hide the small smile he had over the earlier compliment. Jessy hated him.
"Natasha has come across some valuable information. Her childe has discovered that, not long after Rebecca recovered Vance's data, her and, who we believe to be Tony, visited the Carthians."
"S-sir," Natasha said, barely above a whisper. She was a petite thing, long black hair, with a young but hard face. "W-we know the Carthians have a Mike Unknown working for them. He... he is only five years embraced." As the ridiculously shy Mehket spoke, Viktor turned around and pulled up Mike Unknown's picture on the touch-screen. "He is a hacker."
"A hacker? This-" Jessy tried to cut in, but Michael snapped her a look Julias only manage to catch a second of. Jessy's sire certainly wasn't happy. He was probably upset over Jessy's lack of anything to contribute. Julias had to try hard to suppress his grin.
"A hacker," Natasha continued, "who we believe has been responsible for several data leaks of Invictus trades."
Jessy whistled. Even Julias was impressed. The little punk on the screen had balls.
"His antics have been nothing but meaningless jabs at Xnomina, with no major consequence," Maria said, "and we have ignored them until now."
The ghost lady walked around the conference room table and stood in front of the three right hands. They all stood up straight at her approach. Sometimes, Julias thought Maria looked like a freshly dragged corpse from the river. When she stepped up to him and looked at him, only a foot away, he could swear he could see bits of water drip from her skin before turning into mist.
"And you three, are going to find out what he knows."
Shit.
Michael stepped up beside Maria. "We know this could spark problems with the Carthians if anyone finds out. The Prince has made it absolutely clear that we are not to disturb the peace, so..."
"So that means no one finds out." Jessy punched a hand to her palm. She had really, really short blonde hair, was almost as tall as Julias or Michael, and looked more like a boxer than anything.
"Get the information by whatever means necessary," Viktor said, "but if this gets back to the Carthians, someone will have to pay." With that, the eldest of them all stood there, hooked his hands behind his back, and stared at the three of them. His gaze was cold, stern, and despite his young form, the furrow of his brow was heavy enough to carry centuries.
They were pawns, and pawns were expendable.
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"I don't understand why we don't just beat him until he tells us what we need to know, and then dust him."
Jessy was dressed in a leather jacket and pants, and looked somewhere between a Carthian's love for street-wear, and an Invictus's love for class. She was even wearing some slim sunglasses. At night. She'd seen The Matrix too many times. It fit the scene though, with the three of them kneeling on a rooftop and looking down at the streets leading into the Carthian half of South Side.
Julias rolled his eyes. "If Mike disappears, they'll know he's dead. Dead Mike means Garry gets suspicious. You think Garry won't find out? Think he'll take that shit lying down?"
"N-no... he wouldn't." Natasha was beside him, dressed in a simple business suit with a knee-length skirt, blue color.
"Then what do we do?"
"Natasha?" Julias looked to her.
"We... we could observe him. But he wouldn't j-just make a stupid mistake. He's smart. He'll have l-locked everything, encrypted, and wouldn't accident-tally say something out loud. He's lived the digital world his whole life."
"Fucking new Kindred," Jessy said, and she clenched the rooftop's edge hard enough to sink her fingers into the structure.
Much as Julias hated to admit it, the new Kindred had a huge advantage. They adapted to how insanely small the world had gotten, how connected and immediate it was. He grew up when the radio had just become a household item. Natasha and Jessy, barely half his age, grew up when TV was still young. The internet was absolutely nauseating to try and understand in scope.
He could only pity Viktor, on that front.
"... then I guess I'll have to make him tell me, then make him forget."
"What?" Jessy stood up and looked down at Julias. "I'm sorry, since when were you an Elder Kindred?"
"She's r-r-right." Even Natasha stood up and looked down at him. "We're all Ancillae. You're... not that powerful. Maybe against a kine, but against a Kindred?"
Sometimes, when presented with the opportunity to be a jackass and a show off, you just can't help but give in. "Watch me."
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Finding Mike wouldn't be too hard. Natasha was a Mehket, and her clan held the power of Auspex. Nothing could be hidden from them for forever. The problem would be what to do once they had their hands on him.
Jessy and Julias followed Natasha around, out in the open streets of the night. Trespassing was allowed, but feeding in another covenant's territory was not. And there were plenty of people around. The kine were everywhere; the smell of blood and the sound of heartbeats filled his nose and ears. These were the things he was about to risk his unlife for: food. Blood bags. A couple he recognized from Xnomina, and they nodded to him, cheerful and pleasant.
He really did envy them. All of them.
When they walked by, his eyes drifted down over their faces, down their jawline and to their necks. Even on a full stomach, he could feel the cravings force his attention to blood. Always back to the blood. Idly, he wondered how long it would be until he'd have to enter his first torpor, when his cravings would become too strong and he'd be forced to survive on the blood of other vampires. How long until he'd be in Viktor's shoes?
Another woman he knew walked by; Juliette, he believed her name was, and an employee of Xnomina's daytime activities. They'd slept together a few times, he drank her each time, and just walking by her was enough to make his insides tingle with desire for the warm, rich drink. She offered more than just a smile, and even reached out to let her hand graze along the sleeve of his suit as she walked by, complete with a glance over her shoulder.
"Food later," Jessy said.
"Coming from you, that's a laugh." Julias gave a small snort.
"I'll have you know I drank from both my ghouls before coming on this trip." The Gangrel stepped up beside him, and even gave him a punch in the arm. Gangrel hit hard, and he couldn't tell from the smirk on her face if she was angry or just being aggressive and playful. Animals were never easy to read.
"And again tonight, I imagine. Think they'll survive?"
"Fuck you, I don't kill my ghouls."
He grit his teeth hard enough that his fangs were just visible. "You ne-"
"Quiet!" Natasha said. To hear the quiet girl snap at them with hushed but harsh voice was enough to make the two of them shut up. "He's... here. Alone."
The three of them stepped into an alleyway, complete with hazy neon lights on brick walls advertising convenience stores and movie rentals. No one would ever rent a movie these days.
Natasha took them to a worn, dark green door. It was one of those metal doors they had on the back of small stores, complete with a numpad for inputting a door code. Jessy just gave a small chuckle, and pushed in on the door with a hand on the doorknob. The metal bent and cracked in effortlessly. The damn animal had the grace of an ox. Julias and Natasha both grimaced in unison, but when no alarm went off they followed Jessy in.
"What the fuck!"
A scrawny little Mehket with messy hair over his eyes jumped up in a panic. He was in the dark, with several computer monitors laid around the desk shining dull blue light over a keyboard, mouse, and a desk covered in dozens of... things. Catalogs, little books, pamphlets, devices, smartphones, pens, and wallets. A classic example of a fresh Mehket in the new world; he lived in computers and, while a juggernaut in the digital realm, was a sad waste of skin in the real one.
"Oh shit... shit shit shit. I'm sorry, I'm sorry I stole those blueprints. I'll delete them right now! Just give me twenty seconds and you'll have-"
"Shut up." Jessy was on him in a second, with her fingers around his throat and slamming him back into a wall.
Julias grunted. Jessy's antics were likely to get them all killed, but she didn't hesitate, and that was useful. "Natasha, keep an eye open."
"Of c-course." The little woman stood by the door, and waited. Mehket were always valuable on missions as well; they could keep themselves hidden like nothing more than mist in the corner of the eye. One as powerful as Natasha could keep them all hidden.
