Smallpox, which traces its history back before the Egyption-Hittite war in 1350 BC, claimed the lives of millions around the world during the centuries that followed its debut. Unprecedented innovation by medical practitioners led to the eventual demise of smallpox; by exposing a healthy person to infected material from a person with smallpox, a milder form of the disease presented itself and immunized the patient against the disease. By 1970 AD, the disease was nearly eradicated and by year 2000 the general population worldwide no longer required smallpox vaccination.

Scientists, doctors, legal experts and politicians met in Geneva during April 2090 to discuss the growing epidemic of vampire blood addiction as well as deaths attributed to vampire attacks. The keynote speaker, Dr. Vittorio Cosi, described research indicating that the type of strategy used against smallpox could be an effective means to create some type of immunity against vampire blood addiction and perhaps vampires themselves. The halls of the conference center rang with heated debate: Religious leaders warned of the coming of God's wrath and vampire advocates protested any suggestion that vampires were parasitic members of society. In fact, the estimated 20 million vampires living among 8 billion humans worldwide were largely law-abiding, productive citizens. Nevertheless, the conference committee declared that the high rate of death attributed to vampire blood addiction and vampire attacks must be treated as a public health crisis. In January 2091, the Committee issued a decree declaring that a method to immunize humans against vampires would be the top priority of worldwide medical and military research.

The idea of being able to immunize humans against vampires was thought to be ridiculous. Nick Bites, the preeminent vampire comedian in those days, produced an HBO comedy special describing how vampires would circumvent what seemed like a death sentence, saying that "Humans will come with instructions from now on: remove protective wrapper, discard wrapper, enjoy your human then dispose of properly." Vampires taking the matter seriously either began disciplining themselves to live entirely on synthetic blood or they relocated to impoverished parts of the world where they hoped to continue savoring real humans for as long as possible. Not surprisingly, the rate of vampire attacks increased and the victims were often found labeled with the phrase "Let Us Eat and Drink for Tomorrow We Shall Die."

Many vampires, humans and other life forms labored against this decree. Vampires who formerly fought against either other for dominance now banded together to sabotage immunization research facilities. These brave vampires and their comrades went into action knowing that if they were caught, they would spend their remaining nights as laboratory animals.

The immunization research was conducted with little information released to the public so as to prevent the vampire leagues from knowing which laboratory was making the best progress. Pressure from advocates and opponents of vampires caused the methodologies and therefore results seen at various laboratories to vary tremendously. Some researchers sought to create a human blood borne substance that would repel a vampire upon first bite. Others tried to find ways to make humans as powerful as vampires, without the unpleasant side effects (such as being dead). Ten years after the Decree, in that new era of bionecrotechnology the first vaccine was made available to the public by Cosi Laboratories. It was named "Vitrio" and, while it did not give humans the abilities that vampires enjoyed, it turned the drinking of human blood into a deadly undertaking.

Enterprising vampires such as Russell Edgington found opportunity in this new reality. He saw it as a 22nd-century Prohibition. Because he was the vampire king of Mississippi, he had the power, money and connections required to take full advantage of the situation: He financed the underground development of a test for the presence of Vitrio (often referred to as 'trio) in humans. He bribed medical records personnel to get access to the names of 'trio-free humans, whom he then recruited or kidnapped for use by vampires able to pay for the luxury of drinking fresh human blood directly from the source.

Despite the abundant profits, Russell missed the days when vampires were at the top of the food chain. He worried for his kind; hed lost many a friend and colleague to 'trio in the initial days of vaccination, when many a vampire was too stubborn to believe such a thing had actually come to pass. Several friends had gone underground and were living miserable, synthetically-powered lives. He missed having them around. So, when he wasnt busy running his empire, he took it upon himself to seek high-quality companions for those vampires he held most dear; they would have the convenience and pleasure of real, warm, reliable blood close at hand. Finding suitable companions nowadays was not easy; humans (well, the ones worth having- most fangbangers were V addicts and/or too promiscuous to be trusted with a vampire's health) were less inclined to seek the longterm company of vampires. And, although procured humans could be tested for 'trio, the hassle and less-than-perfect certainty of the test could lead to a bad end. Therefore, Russell was left with no choice but to adopt a strategy he never thought he would have to use to bring nourishment to his precious kinfolk: Love. Russell was a ruthless bastard to most everybody but he was equally a believer in love. His consort of several centuries, Talbot, was the sole object of his true affection and continued to rouse him as much as he had during their very first encounter so many years ago. To protect his precious love, the very same day that Vitrio was announced, he developed a stable of feeder humans for his and Talbot's exclusive use. His tremendous wealth permitted him this resource but for the lonely, hungry (synthetic blood cannot satisfy a vampires hunger for human blood) vampires he cared about, a more practical solution was needed.

And so Russell also became a matchmaker. With Talbot's help, he created a dossier on each of his vampires (well, he already knew the secrets of most of his friends) and a list of characteristics of that vampires ideal partner. Unfortunately, Talbot didnt last long on the project; he was mostly interested in commenting on each vampires wardrobe or home dcor. Russell was left to work on his own but he was an excellent judge of character and fully confident he would make selections that would delight his friends and ensure them a steady supply of healthy, delicious blood.

Within a few weeks, Russell had completed the profiles and was ready to begin interviewing potential companions for his most beloved vampires. On the morning of October 7, 2105, he instructed his secretary to telephone the first candidate, Ms Margot Zabell.

To Be Continued...