[Vampire: The Requiem] The Neonate - 6: "Contagion"

((In Character (IC) Document:

Venue: Chronicles of Darkness - Vampire: The Requiem (The Strix Chronicle)

Character: Christopher "\/00|>00" Langer
Post by Jerad Sayler & Raen Schadden))

14 November 2009

Dense fog all day and night today and the traffic is lean, Coloradoians don’t have any concept of bad weather.  In North Dakota this was still a good day, hell, no snow on the ground in mid-November would be a fucking miracle.  By midnight, I’ve spoken too soon, the fog and drizzle breaks and its starts snowing… dammit.  I’ll stay off the streets for a few nights, let these amateurs get used to driving on snow.

Steven Diaz was that hacker’s name, I say that because it’s not anymore.  He tried to get into my computer and I infected his life.  I spent this night dismantling it and taking everything I could.  Software, bank accounts, credit cards, his contacts, his websites… then I wrecked his computer, total meltdown.  A job well done.

Noise in the early morning from right below me, a terrible cough.  I take my keys this time and climb down in the slick snow to spy on her.  I slip and am about to fall when I fuel my muscles with my blood for a moment to maintain my grip and hoist myself down.

The fat lady is not singing.  She’s lying on the couch with her TV droning on, the table has tissues, cough syrup, cough drops, Sudafed, and a digital thermometer.  She’s got that new H1N1 for sure, it’s been going around after all.  I perch invisible on her patio among the frozen dog shit she hasn’t bothered to clean up.  I start to wonder, and this might be paranoia, that when I bit that bum I caught what he had and spread it to her.  I’ve heard of these things, I’ll have to experiment…

15 November 2009

The streets are frozen and snow replaces the grass tonight.  I lying in the dark on the roof of the church across the street, crawling slowly to a pigeon nest I noticed before.  I’m surprised they haven’t migrated or whatever when the snow fell.  Three are huddling together, sleeping.  I snuck up thanks to the talent for being invisable and grab two simultaneously, the third panics and flies away, no biggie.  They don’t have much blood and the feathers are problematic but it’s a nice little snack.

Another chapter in the bad book: The Rule of Golgotha.  The spearman addresses the damned, how we destroy wicked man and purge evil in God’s name, sparing only the righteous.  He preaches that we must not become tainted by our desires and not be cruel but fulfill our roles as wolves among sheep.  He’s really speaking my language now, don’t create other vampires, don’t kill each other and steal their souls, we are God’s holy monsters and we sin when we refuse to be what we are.  Don’t feed on children or the insane, those who have no responsibility for their sins, and there is no reason to kill your prey, drink what you need to survive.  We are all equal among the damned and need not bow to any Kindred, and we must stick together, and we must not become prideful over man.  It is a sin to act against the good, I like this. And on and on and on, mostly stuff I liked to hear.  They are sounding better all the time.

Hunger cuts at me again tonight, I need to arrange a bigger meal, I don’t feel like fasting for the Dark Prophet this night that’s for sure…

1 December 2009

Sorry Journal, it’s been awhile.  No, I haven’t succumbed to Torpor or Final Death.  My Sire hasn’t come out of the night like a boogeyman and ended me for good.  I’ve been a busy and naughty little boy.

I’ve spent these past weeks developing my connections to the world of hackers.  Gathering information, strengthening trust, even blackmail.  I must become more than an island, all these other Kindred have retainers and ghouls and whatnot.  If I’m going to be competitive and an asset I need to focus on what I do best…

Since the last time I wrote I’ve developed some less than perfect feeding methods in the Rack that have yielded more precious sustenance then dogs, birds, and neighbors.  I’ve fed four times from people I’ve met on the night, in bars, with drinks. I’m not very good at it really, maybe someone can teach me those mind tricks in the near future.  Other times I just prefer to sneak up on someone invisibly and do the old smash n’ grab and drink.

My wounds are fully healed and I’m doing better with managing my hunger, wasting more time feeding than in front of the computer.  My production has gone down but I am finding my way around town, I blame loneliness and boredom…

I continue to monitor people I have fed off of that I actually gathered information on.  I’ve sat out a girl’s window and watch her cough her brains out.  I am more than ever convinced I picked up some kind of sickness from my neighbor and now I am spreading it… a carrier… how can I purge myself?  And what will the city do with me if they find out.  I might have to ask Mary Jane as a hypothetical, those elders tend to get way too touchy about the First Tradition.. the flu is going around after all.

Just got something back from Mary Jane:

Hey Chris,

I'm still working on the details of having the Sanctified look after you.  At our next get together, I'll have you talk with Maddox for a bit, since he's our Bishop and he speaks for us as our representative to the Prince and the city as well.

In the meantime, though, I still want to make sure you understand the city boundaries.  If you want to meet me at Colorado and Cascade about 11, we'll do some prowling around.

Mary

My answer was short and to the point, only a few hours until 11:00  and I would want to go on foot.  If she wanted to travel then she would be bringing the vehicle I reasoned. Maybe the prowling would be on foot anyway, and it was my preferred method when it was time to do something sinister.  It’s harder to track a shadow in a hoodie then take down a license plate. The Corner of Colorado Ave and Cascade Ave was in the very center of the city as I understood it, dead center between Antlers Park and the Pioneer Museum and I wasn’t sure who had domain though I had a feeling it was the Lance…  Excitement electrified my dead limbs, I had been waiting with this encounter for a long time.

Mary Jane,

I will see you on the corner of Colorado Ave and Cascade Ave at 11:00.  You might not see me at first but I’ll come out and play as soon as my “instincts” recognize you.  I very much look forward to seeing you and I appreciate this chance at orientation.  Court this coming Friday promises to be most interesting and hopefully things will go smoothly with both Maddox and the Prince.  I will see you in the night in a few short hours.

Chris,

I head out into the ever darker and colder night; snow is falling for the first time since mid November.  I run invisible and free to the designated street and wait in silence, soaking the cold and dark into my body… waiting for a glance of a friendly but predatory face…