Technocratic Black Ops Safe House

Undisclosed Location in Alabama

October 30th, 2012

Mike's head spun as he slowly regained consciousness. He was sitting in a chair in the dark. No, he realized that was wrong. There was something over his head. He was trying to quickly recall his last memories when suddenly the bag covering his face was ripped away and he was nearly blinded by a light that now shone in his eyes. He closed his eyes to ward away the stabbing light and squinted to allow his vision time to adjust. A few moments later he was given time a look around at the thugs guarding him. Six fairly standard Technocrat MIBs. He heard what sounded like struggling movement behind him.

An impeccably dressed man stepped into his line of sight. He was wearing an expensive suit. At six foot, he was taller than Mike when standing. Sitting down, Mike had to crane his neck up to look at the man. He looked somewhere between 60 and 80 with short, parted gray hair. He wore a smile that was akin to a predator who had cornered prey.

"Mr. D'Angelo. You come highly recommended as a mercenary. I have a job that requires deniable assets. Refusal to do as I demand will result in your death as well as that of your friend," the man said as he made a gesture behind Mike.

Mike looked behind him at the gun toting thugs then gave the old man a withering stare. "You think your kids can keep their hands off their dicks long enough for me to get up and take a look?"

"Why certainly, Mr. D'Angelo," the old man said, maintaining his Cheshire Cat smile.

Mike stood up and turned around to see Axe spread-eagle on the floor. He was held down by some serious metal restraints. Six men stood around him. Four with guns, one with a silver axe and the last with a doctor's bag and portable tray table stacked with a pile of absorbent hospital towels and sponges. Mike turned, looking about the rest of the room that resembled a old man's den more than a interrogation room.

"I don't mean to tell you your business, but whoever did your research on this job was shit. Is that scotch?" Mike asked while he headed for the bottles on the shelf.

"It is. What do you mean? What sort of bad intelligence do we have?" The old man's smile faded a bit at the corners of his mouth.

The guards started to raise their weapons but the old man waved them off. Mike poured a very generous amount of liquor into a tumbler and took a large gulp as he turned around.

"A man of your age, even assuming you're not older than you look, should know blackmail has to end one of two ways; either I become your bitch forever or I have to remove your ability to ever threaten me again. That's why I have a very firm rule; I only work when I get paid. I don't work to prevent a negative from happening. You see, that just rewards and encourages bad behavior. If you start acting like a little bitch who can be threatened into a job then you end up dying like a little bitch who can't cut it. I'll give you the benefit of assuming some subordinate screwed the pooch on this and we can start over. What's the job and what does it pay?" He asked.

"Oh? You'd work with us knowing who we are? Without threat?" The old man asked, intrigued.

"Everyone's done something. I try not to get hung up on that shit. If what you want is outside my moral compass, and not much is, then you'd need a true blue monster. Which I know a few and will recommend some who might work whatever perverse jobs you need done."

"The Pentex Corporation has found something of interest. The details are scant but it's large and powerful. Too large to easily move. We need to manufacture an attack that will justify our sending in a military response so we can then secure this relic. We don't want the attack traced back to us, as having to destroy Pentex would be a pointless drain on our resources. So, we send you, a known mercenary, who could be working for any number of Pentex's traditional enemies," the old man explained.

"Difficult and dangerous, but I don't care for Pentex, so fuck'em. They've been dicking everyone in their path for long enough, so it's not like they don't deserve it," Mike said with a shrug.

"You'll do it then?" The old man asked, still a bit taken aback at how this was going.

"No... not until I know what I'm being paid. You see we're beyond the realm of money, although money is a nice seasoning to spice up whatever plate you're planning to set before us," Mike said with a smile that reached his avarice filled eyes.

The older man let out a laugh and pulled out what looked like a folding ruler and bent it into a rectangular form. It hung in mid air in blatant defiance of gravity. He then reached inside and pulled out a clipboard which he then studied. "Space folding technology," he explained. "It's very handy for easily accessed storage. We have numerous items we have little use for that were taken from various beings we've terminated or battles we've cleaned up."

"You keep them for study?"

"Yes, you must know your foes and their craft as well. It might come in handy as inspiration if nothing else. Those who are wasteful will find themselves wanting."

"Huh, I didn't expect that," Mike admitted.

"As for trinkets, yes, I did have this which I was going to use as the carrot to go with my proverbial stick," the old man said, reaching his hand back into the hole in space.

Mike was shocked at what he pulled out. A pale, almost white, wooden staff. Atop the staff was a gilded Icon of the Archangel Michael locked in battle with the draconic form of Satan. Mike swallowed. He had not seen that staff in a long time.

"How the hell did you get the Staff of the D'Angelos? It was lost when my father was killed. Jesus-fucking-Christ! I haven't laid eyes on that thing since before I had pubes," Mike said in mild shock.

"Your father, as you know, died fighting a particularly wicked vampire. One that you later managed to kill. You never recovered his staff because the vampire in question had previously traded it to a demon worshiper whom you assumed destroyed it. However, he did not. Instead, this demon worshipper used it in a trap for some Celestial Choristers who did indeed die, but did not oblige them by dying quietly or easily. So great was the battle between the two sides that we took note and swept in to clean up, finishing off the vampires and acquiring this little oddity which we locked away among our confiscated relics," the old man explained.

"Well ain't that something. Yeah, the return of a family heirloom is pretty impressive. Not enough, but you're in the right ballpark," Mike admitted.

The old man nodded. "Let's see, what else could we offer. How about the Ring of Solomon?"

"It's fake."

The old man narrowed his eyes. "I assure you it's quite-"

"The real one is on the hand of the current Conductor of the Celestial Chorus. It's a really good fake. Also not as useful as one would think. The invisibility doesn't work on infrared or motion detectors."

"It lets you speak any human tongue as well as talk to animals," the old man pointed out.

"I got an app on my phone for languages and have you ever talked to animals? They are annoying little shits; yammering on about inane things no one cares about. Seriously, you'll be reminded why the teaming masses of idiots out there are still the dominant species on the planet. Animals are dumb as dirt."

"I'll take your word for it," the old man said dismissively.

"You don't happen to have the Orb of Dreams in there do you?"

"Even if we did you won't be getting it. How about the Robes of Carlos Moya? They were adjusted by their last holder to be less conspicuous in this day and age," the old man said as he procured a garment for Mike's inspection.

"A hoodie? Really?" Mike gaffed. He leaned in to inspect them further "Hum, they do seem to be legit though."

"Oh they are. How about that, the staff and say a cool million?"

"I assume you're keeping the staff 'til the mission is done? Let's say a lukewarm two million and the robes up front," Mike said.

"Done. This has been remarkably professional and straight forward. You know, when this is all over, you might want to give thought to flipping sides," the old man said.

"Are you kidding me? As much as I chafe at authority? I barely stay on speaking terms with an organization of iconoclasts," Mike said with a derisive snort.

"They tolerate you to a limited degree due to your successes. You'd find I also have an increased latitude for those who can produce results."

"Sorry, rather attached to the furball. Pretty sure he'd be a deal breaker," Mike said.

"True. Shame, really. While I cannot say it's been a pleasure, it has been remarkably unpainful to do business with you."

Mike looked around and scowled. He was pretty sure he knew what was coming next. "Do we have to do the bag thing again?"

"Sorry, it's policy. But, keep the bottle of scotch as compensation for the indignity. Next time we'll arrange a more civil meeting."

Mike shrugged and picked up the bottle and put on the hoodie. He then returned to sit down.

Claus Rayner nodded to the men to rehood the captives. "Give them a card for the cash and take them home. As this has gone inordinately well, I have extra time. I'm going to check on a few other projects," he instructed while he collected his space fold.

All and all, it was looking like it would be a very productive day.

Manifested Services Incorporated Compound

North of Fresno, California

November 12th, 2012

Bree Madigan walked beside Maximillian Strauss. This was to be the night Strauss made good his promise to help her learn more about her father's death. He had arranged today's meeting as a point where she could get the information she needed on her father's killers.

The two visitors were shown to a meeting room. It pleasant enough with wall to wall carpeting. It was furnished with wheeled, but comfortable looking, office chairs around a large oval table. It was lucky for Strauss that it was night, as to the right, there was a large bay window with only vertical blinds to keep the sun out. On the table itself there were a few files at the apex of the oval in front of a chair. Behind that chair, at the other end of the rectangular space, there was a wall mounted flat screen and a closed door.

"Dr. Alani will be with you shortly. She's running a little behind," the attendant said. "Is there anything that I can get you while you wait?"

"No, thank you," Strauss, said silkily. Bree simply shook her head. The attendant nodded and exited the room. Strauss and Bree took seats to the right of the unoccupied chair.

The pair waited in silence for only a few moments before the door opened and the ample presence of Terra Alani-Silbern waddled into the conference room. For a moment, Bree was mentally stunned by her state. She had never seen a woman so heavily pregnant. Overripe was the term that floated, unbidden, to the forefront of Bree's mind. She looked as though she was overdue and could go into labor at any moment.

Terra awkwardly sat down at the head of the table, she looked relieved to be off her feet. Her eyes met Bree's and she flashed her a small, almost apologetic, smile as she sat down. She seemed to sense Bree's thoughts. "Quadruplets," she explained. "Kai's quadruplets if you couldn't tell," she said, waving a hand over her own enormity. "It's what I get for foolishly experimenting with fertility drugs; four huge incessantly kicking babies."

Strauss looked slightly uncomfortable, but Bree simply smiled and nodded. Terra then adjusted herself to make herself as comfortable as she could manage before opening the file in front of her. "So, you are Bree Madigan; Exalted of the Sun, Zenith Caste. Please, don't look so stiff. You are quite welcome here," Terra said warmly. She then turned to Strauss. "But as for you, Maximilian, I have questions for you after we've finished here," she said in a sharper tone. It was the tone of a mother used to dressing down a child.

Bree could tell the tone was something that grated on the vampire's nerves. However, for the moment, she put that out of her mind. She sat, eyeing the Wood Aspected doctor carefully. "You seem to know quite a bit more about me and the Solar Exalted than I would have thought," she said carefully.

Terra noded. "We've already met several of your kind as well as a few of the Exalted of the Stars. Indirectly, we've had contact with some of the Lunar Exalted as well. The Solar Exalted that we are familiar with are trying to form a confederation around which to pursue their own interests and, to a lesser extent, our own."

Bree pondered this news. It was tempting to trust the Dragon Blooded. They had been through so much. "I have had my own vision about the dangers that threaten this world, perhaps, later, we can compare notes on this. For now, however, I have old business I need to settle. I exalted escaping an ambush. There are powerful and supernatural figures who don't want me learning more about my father's death."

"Yes, of course, Barry Wilks is on his way. He has information about that which he was kind enough to gather from the werewolf clans," Terra explained.

"Other than this Mr. Wilks, I hope you won't be informing anyone else of my identity untill I agree to meet with them," Bree said.

"His involvement was necessary. You'll find him quite discreet," Terra assured.

"I understand, it's why I have no objection. Still, one can't be too careful."

"We try to respect everyone's privacy, however, we do like to make 'first contact' face to face, if you will, whenever possible. We only break this rule when someone completely refuses to meet with us. There are dangers out there we feel any Exalt should be aware of, for their own security and the safety of those around them. Afterwards, we will offer them as much or as little assistance as they require; including leaving them to their own devices if they wish," Terra said before she shifted her gaze to Strauss. "We also try not to accidently give anyone away."

"Oh? What have we done?" Strauss asked, genuinely puzzled.

"June of this year, you sent your former protege, Zeke Mason, some blood samples to analyze with the impressive technology and magic available to Vital Fluids Pharmaceuticals. You instructed him to use every available avenue to gather more information about the subject whose blood you sent him," Terra reminded him. "It was the blood of a Solar Exalt."

"I see nothing wrong with this. However, I take it he was more careless than I would have imagined with this information?" Maximilian asked.

"In short: yes. He did all he could with his own resources, then he asked his fellows in New Orleans to analyze the sample. They, in turn, then sent samples to us to analyze as well. This revealed the Solar Exalt's name and identity to us," Terra explained.

"I don't see how it did that," Maximilian said with a furrowed brow.

"Kashi Kimura, son of Jin Kimura, a descendant of the Hakken branch of the Shadowlord Clan. Using our were-creature and Dragon Blooded genetic database, we were able to find out precisely who he is. You knew Jin Kimura was were-blooded. You knew we had this database. By not explicitly telling Mr. Mason not to share it with his fellows, those whom you know we have contacts, you ensured we would find it. Don't act surprised, either. Your only motive was an attempt to fish for more information. You have no true interest in helping the boy. Your only other goal was to keep your involvement semi-deniable," Terra said as she turned her head and looked straight at Bree. "Get used to this sort of multi-level politics and trickery if you're going to deal with vampires. It makes them generally unpleasant. I think Kai used the term 'Machiavellian' to me one time to describe them. And by my count, that doesn't go nearly deep enough"

Strauss stared, icily, he dared not retort, for risk of revealing any more information. Interference from the Manifested was the last thing he needed. The edict from his masters to secure Kashi Kimura's friendship was difficult enough without these new supernaturals hounding him. The brief silence that followed was broken by Bree.

"I'd noticed, but thanks for the heads up. I know Kashi. I used to babysit him and his sister when I was young. It does seem odd to me, though, that there's so much confusion going on," Bree said with a sarcastic smile.

"It's not as strange as one might think. It seems there are several...anomalous...fate snarls over Los Angeles. The Sidereal have been working to untangle it all. They update us periodically on the shifting complexities around the city. Apparently there's some sort of crisis building and fate has been calling for heroes to confront it. However, the Sidereals think the source of the crisis must be outside of fate as they are blind to what it is." She then smiled apologetically again. "That, however, while interesting, is not why you are here. Let's get your business out of the way first. It's the reason for your trip. I'm sure Barry is waiting outside the door for me to let him in," she said, rising heavily to open the door behind her.

The lithe professorial figure of Barry entered. He gave Strauss a curt nod and Bree a excited smile. He sat down across the table from the pair. "I'm so happy to meet you, Miss Madigan. I've read through all of your father's records. He was a good man. His death was a tragedy and I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you, but it was a long time ago. I'm hoping to finally put all of this to rest soon," Bree said sadly.

Barry opened a file. He scanned a few lines before he looked up. "First, let me start out by explaining that the year your father died, 1999, was one of tremendous upheaval for the supernatural world. The vampire elders were stirring, dire omens of the imminent collapse of the spirit world had begun to appear and centuries of temporal mismanagement were beginning to cause a massive backlash of paradox among the magi. During this period we of the Glass Walker Tribe sought to capitalize on the slow rise of Projector companies, which were leading the way in acceptance of spiritual beliefs. We hoped to push mankind toward safe and spiritually wholesome activities; habits and thoughts that would help guard the realms of men and decrease the power of the corruptive forces that prey on man and harm the balance of the world," he said.

"Sounds noble," Bree said.

"Well no good deed goes unpunished, as it were. One of the most powerful tools of said spiritual corruption is the Pentex Corporation. Pentex knew we had incorporated in California. They began digging their hooks in very deeply in the state government and especially in the police force. Their plan was not just to destroy what we'd built. They wanted to conquer it. They wanted to forcibly take over our company and turn it into one of their own destructive pawns. Our Glass Walker tribe managed to exceed their intelligence capability, but we didn't have enough force in the immediate area to stop their plan. We called out to any of the other werewolf tribes to help. There are two other tribes in the area that were eager to help; the Get of Fenris and the Uktena. The Get of Fenris sent in their easily mobilized force, the Motorcycle Club called the Hand of Justice," Barry continued.

"A gang of criminals known for crippling police officers," Bree spat in disgust.

"I would like to point out that they only did that to those officers who were already corrupt and had betrayed the force. Not that I am fond of defending them. We Glass Walkers often do not see eye to eye with our brother tribes on how to pursue our war against the forces of darkness. The other group, the Uktena tribe, had long kept a force of allied warriors scattered across the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The...umm...Devil's Wolves," Barry said. He paused in anticipation of Bree's disgust. The Devil's Wolves were almost as notorious as the Hand of Justice.

Bree, however, simply nodded for him to continue.

"Well, your father was keeping watch on his fellow officers who seemed corrupt or on the take. In doing so, your father inadvertently stumbled on our own counter-infiltration into the police. He used the wife of one of the members of the Devil's Wolves as an informant. Jin Kimura's wife. Your neighbor, Banyan. He'd caught her in some sort of compromising position and had leverage on her. That didn't last long, however. The two separated not long after. His lead drying up, your father offered to testify on Jin's behalf in the upcoming divorce proceedings.

Through Jin, the Devil's Wolves were willing to give your father information on cops they suspected were on the take. They reasoned that if your father was able to bring these officers down, it would only make less work for them. They agreed to a face to face meeting with your father. However, less scrupulous cops figured out what your father was doing. In response, Pentex sent a powerful spirit; a possessed assassin to kill your father at this meeting. The assassin sprung and was successful. It murdered your father and battled the wolf-kin and Garou present to a standstill. It was Jin who tipped the balance and dealt the creature a death blow. It was a rather recklessly brave display from what I hear.

Jin then took the fall for your father's death. No one would believe a spirit of corruption murdered your father. None of the evidence that pointed to such a thing was admissible in court. That and, with the defeat of the assassin, the possessed human reverted from a monstrous form of shadow and bile into a normal human. The corpse of the human then dissolved itself," Barry explained.

"Jin started the rumor my father was sleeping with his wife," Bree said shaking her head. "I never thought it was true."

"Yes, so I understand. I don't know about all that, but what I can tell you is exactly who ordered the hit on your father. In this file is his name. He's a vice-president at Endron now. He was promoted. While his tactics didn't stop us, they were a large part of our more cautious approach to our project and the Projectors. In effect he slowed the defeat of Pentex substantially," Barry said sadly.

Bree took the folder. "This file has all of this man's history and where he is now?"

"Oh, yes. Everything we know about him is in that folder. There might be something in there you can use to find a way to see him brought to justice. If not, that there is plenty of information in there for you to find and kill him for vengeance. I can not fault you for either," Barry said quietly, removing his glasses to polish them.

"I prefer justice. However, this man operates so far outside the law and normal channels, that justice might not come from official channels, but the end he meets will be just none the less," Bree said defiantly.

Barry nodded.

Strauss, meanwhile, had been silent. He cared little for werewolf politics. He had been turning over in his mind what to say to turn this meeting to his advantage. He decided a more straightforward, honest tone might serve him better to gauge the Manifested's knowledge of the situation in Los Angeles. "As you have seen through me so completely, perhaps you'd be willing to inform me just what hidden knowledge I possess that I was keeping from you," Strauss asked carefully

Terra did not seem amused. "You're trying to find out about the little girl. I assume you're curious about her unusual genetic structure."

"Wait, there's something wrong with Willow?" Bree asked.

Terra shook her head. "Not exactly. I don't know if I should be sharing this with you but, the girl is not technically my patient. Medical ethics in that respect are hazy. However, more to the point, Miss Madigan; I have a feeling Strauss brought you here today not only to help you as he promised. He also brought you here as a party not aligned with himself, but sympathetic to the girl. He brought you in as a sort of arbitrator between himself and us. He knows he is going to have to give us what he knows in order to receive our cooperation. You are neutral in this respect. You can determine what the girl and her family should be told. You see, even with repaying a favor a vampire will get another use out of you."

"I see," Bree said, none to pleased. She then looked up at the Dragon Blooded. "Now that I have the information I came for, please, continue with your sparring with Maxie here. Let's see what he knows. If he doesn't talk I think perhaps we'll go to Kashi and see how the House of Tremere likes having two Solars, the bulk of the Manifested, and a large portion of the werewolves angry at them," she said with an amused smile.

"Speaking of Kashi Kimura, we obviously know he's a Solar, yet we have not approached him. Our Sidereal allies tell us he's Dawn Caste. Apparently, soon, one of them is going to meet with him. As I said previously, we prefer to meet as soon as possible but the Sidereals have advised us not to interfere in his life just yet because of a myriad of odd tangles in fate around him. They mentioned it looking like a cat got ahold of a ball of yarn. They want to make sure we don't do him or those around him more harm than good. We are reluctantly following their advice. He is wolfkin but that's not really important other than his extended family might be willing to help him," Barry explained.

"Jin always said he had no living family," Bree interrupted.

Barry snorted. "He's a bald faced liar. You said yourself you never believed what he said about your father and his wife. The Kimura Clan is one of, if not the largest, most prosperous bloodlines of wolves and kinfolk. They carefully moderate how much they intermarry, occasionally crossing three distinct branches and never marrying closer than second cousins or first cousins once removed and even that is rare. The marrying of more distant relations is the norm. From an anthropological standpoint it's very interesting with parallels to various Jewish communities who settled in hostile regions during the diaspora," Barry started to explain.

Terra made a small coughing noise. Barry had drifted off topic as he was apt to do and so she brought the conversation back around. "Back to the subject at hand. Despite Jin's heritage, the little girl has no werewolf genetic markers. We know this from the Vampires. During your joint adventure in San Diego, they were good enough to check everyone's blood type." She stopped at that and gave Bree a 'see what I mean' smile and shrugged her shoulder. "As such, it's quite impossible that she's related to Jin. Werewolf markers are very clear and carry through lineages, even if the werewolf ancestor is very distant. Even my own child has werewolf genetic markers through Kai, even though the last werewolf in his ancestry occurred over a century ago."

Barry nodded. "There's another piece of the puzzle. Jin claimed his wife engaged in...prostitution. I assume that was the 'compromising' situation that Bree's father spoke of and most likely what he planned to testify about before his death," he said.

Bree spoke up. "I know Banyan too. She wasn't a hooker. It's more complicated than that. My father kept a secret journal. It was written in a code and hidden. I didn't manage to decode it until I was a detective. It lead me to catching several corrupt cops based on his old, but still valid information on their corruption. It also put me on Pentex's radar as a threat to be eliminated. Which, indirectly, lead to my coming by these powers," Bree said.

"What does the journal say? Our own evidence is extremely contradictory, piecemeal or from dubious sources," Barry said.

"Banyan was given money by a man beyond what one would normally give a tip to a waitress. She thought it was a gift from a kind soul who had seen how her horrid boss treated her. That wasn't the case. He intended it as payment for sexual favors. My father wasn't sure if he'd actually managed to force Banyan into sex or not, but he came around again and my father caught Banyan and this man in an altercation. Before she knew help was on it's way, she'd killed her attacker. Apparently a lucky strike shattered his windpipe and he suffocated. Aware of her husband's criminal history, she knew she would not be given the benefit of the doubt on a manslaughter charge. My father let her leave the scene and reported finding the man dead in the alley alone. He later asked her to help him put Jin away for her own protection. He never threatened her, he just hoped her good will toward him would nudge her to do what was right. That and I think he hoped that Banyan would come to the conclusion that her and her son's life would be better off with that son of a bitch Jin in jail. Of course, my father had to alter his plan when she separated from Jin."

"Odd. Did this man look anything like Jin?" Barry asked.

"Not to my knowledge. I always figured Banyan told the truth - that Willow was conceived during make-up sex. The only reason Jin claimed he didn't sleep with her is because he was too drunk and or stoned to remember," Bree said with disgust.

"Out of curiosity, we tested Jin's DNA as well. We were able to acquire it through some government contacts in the prison system," Barry said. "The daughter...umm...Willow has some of Jin's DNA but none of the werewolf markers. That is completely impossible. As Terra noted, those markers are powerful and stick around. You can't even filter them out on purpose, really. The girl is not Jin's but has Jin's DNA. Impossible in all natural scenarios," Barry explained.

"Which leaves unnatural scenarios. Magic is the most likely culprit. We theorize that some being took Jin's form with such powerful magic that it even duplicated some of his DNA. Not much, but just enough to make the girl have a touch of Jin's lineage. This only adds to the heightened level of abnormality regarding her and her brother's DNA," Terra finished for him.

"Her brother? What is so odd about him? Apart from his powers, obviously," Strauss asked. He seemed genuinely curious.

"Surely you noticed Kashi's blonde hair and blue eyes. Those aren't normally traits that dominate when your father is of Pacific Islander descent with black hair and dark eyes," Bree said.

"There appears to be a magic spell wrapped around the mother. It insures several traits of her bloodline remain dominant, despite the normal rules of heredity. This spell also rejects several debilitating genetic sequences. When one combines the Kimura's selective breeding with this spell's positive and cosmetic changes what one has is a boy who is extremely healthy," Terra said.

Bree smiled. "I'd classify Kashi as indestructible even before he was an Exalt, but Willow's always been rather delicate."

Terra nodded. "I've postulated that the magic woven into her genetic structure is one of the reasons she was able to survive at all. Her birth was traumatic, according to the records, and this explains how she was able to endure."

"She's delicate because of the unique power of the Spheric Magic that is coming to her. It will not be the normal sort. She will be attuned to the underworld," Strauss supplied reflecting on the unnerving meeting he had with Tremere's emissary. "Following that line of reasoning, and what I have heard here, I assume the girl was born of a powerful ghost," he said.

"They can do that?" Bree asked somewhat astonished.

"I'm sure you know that ghost can possess the living and even sire children. Some of the more powerful ones can take on human form, though most chose to appear as a simulacrum of their former self. I suppose that is as good a guess as any," Terra said.

"It isn't a guess. It's been determined by magic cast by the highest experts in Clan Tremere. The very highest." Strauss explained.

Bree cut across Strauss. "That doesn't answer why Banyan has a spell wrapped around her that alters her children's DNA."

"It was likely placed there by a powerful mage who is unnaturally obsessed with his own bloodline, frankly I'm surprised one of his skill left traces science could detect." Strauss said.

"Who?" Bree asked, her tone harsh.

Strauss held up his hands in a gesture of appeasement. "I will not utter the name here."

Bree quirked her head. "I thought we were going to be open, Maxie," she said with a mocking smile.

The jab at his name didn't phase him. The look he gave her was one of such dire seriousness the smile drained from her lips. Moving for the first time during this meeting, he leaned in folding his cold thin hands on the table between them. He made eye contact with both women and in that instant Bree was reminded this creature was a predator. When he spoke, it was softly. "This is a mage of such power he might, even now, despite the protections and enchantments on this building, know if his name was spoken here. It might attract undue attention. You should know that there are agents from the Nine Magical Traditions watching the girl, not only hoping to sway her to their side when she ascends, but also to protect her from this one man. Beyond their protection we are watching as well. That is two levels of safety netting surrounding her. Imagine the power such a person wields to warrant this level of security among both vampire and mage alike. This situation could be the very heart of this 'fate tangle' your allies spoke of. To my understanding you Manifested or Dragon Blooded or whatever you're calling yourselves now are only tepid allies, at best, to the Nine Traditions. That might account for their...silence on the matter."

Terra nodded. She was struck by the mask Strauss wore shattering to give this information. And unlike most things given by a vampire of such experience and rank as he, she did not doubt his seriousness on the matter. "This is true," she replied. "Most of them want us to firmly buck the Paradigm to help them destroy the world's disbelief in magic rather than allow our power to remain masked as Psionic Phenomena," Terra admitted.

"They are rather unreasonable. Other than the Etherites, they don't see that the Manifested, like we Glass Walkers, can't afford to compromise our other goals for such a limited gain," Barry said with an air of frustration.

"The Etherites present their own problem. They are at times… a little too enthusiastic to help. Picture a few hundred mad scientists who have each decided to aid our cause and each in their own unique and unsolicited way," Terra said.

The vampire leaned back in his chair, his face reverting to one of calm indifference. "If the Nine Traditions are able to ensure her safety after her powers awaken, they will likely attempt to spirit her away from her family. That will cause problems in and of itself that I highly doubt they are accounting for in their arrogance, considering Mr. Kimura's powers and protective streak." The thought of Kashi wrapped in a wreath of the sun and fire breaking his chantry doors came unbidden to his mind. With a monumental force of will, he stifled a powerful shudder. "We will be on hand, watching. We will be able to tell you where the girl is and allow her brother and mother to find her again. Something I highly doubt the Traditions are planning to do. If they fail, we will be ready to rescue her and/or warn her brother and Miss Maddigan, if she is close, as well as yourselves here at M.S.I. of her location and status. We have no interest in harming the child or converting her. Such an act would only deprive her of the very powers that make her so special. Our goal is to help her. We wish to cultivate a potential new ally. Any failure or double crossing on our part will cost us that good will as well as antagonize all of you and her brother. I think, given the situation, our good behavior is guaranteed," Maximilian said.

Terra frowned. She didn't like the idea, but she could come up with no alternative.

Barry drummed his fingers on the table. His displeasure was obvious at the idea of trusting a vampire.

Bree pondered the situation and likened it to a deep cover stakeout. At times there was no good scenario and you had to roll with what you had.

"Do you know how long we have?" Bree asked.

"Until her birthday. It's on the coldest, darkest day of the year when the underworld is at it's apex and the forces of life at the nadir. She was quite literally born for this," Strauss said.

"Good. I'll be sure to be back before then. Right now, I have justice to mete out," Bree said, taking the folder in hand and rising to leave.