Just over a week had passed sine the bomb had detonated, the streets still lay in chaos and panic for the most part but Thomas and Vivika had worked quickly to get ahead of it all. People had understandably been flocking to the Freedom Centres – which Vivika had suddenly found to be her responsibility as The Master's new human liaison. People begged for help knowing the Freedom Centres were better stocked than even the hospitals which had practically collapsed after the first day since they didn't have the resources or the weapons to fend off looters.
Thomas had a mountain of things to deal with especially after he'd been forced to take on Kelly's workload as well so Vivika had essentially been alone in learning what her new job entailed, however, she'd damn well get it done and do it well. She'd not disappoint her husband or her master. The Master's plan required these people, they needed to know their blood types and check for any gene abnormalities that could possibly harm the Strigoi when feeding. Vivika had basically been put in charge of keeping an eye on the food supply. Then there were the pregnant women, they couldn't have Born springing up everywhere like feral cats when a tuna can opened.
In hindsight the raven-haired woman had been given a very important and difficult job, it was an honor. That was how Vivika found herself stood up on the balcony dressed like the city hadn't just gone to hell overlooking the walk-in below at their largest centre. People screamed and shouted – noise echoed off the ovular room – as they tried to force their way past her staff and trample others. Vivika rolled her eyes, Gods how has the human race survived this long? She drummed her fingers on the metal guard rail slowly as she steadily grew more and more irritated by the incessant, increasing clamour. Vivika could hardly hear herself think.
A Strigoi scurried up behind her then and held out a black tablet which she took quickly so she could start to comb through the lists. Their records weren't being updated properly, missing answers or question marks in places she wanted actual facts; probably due to the fucking mess down below. The woman with more White coursing through her veins than God had endured enough, she shoved the tablet back at the Strigoi who shuffled back a few steps so he would remain out of sight of everyone below and stood quietly awaiting new orders.
Vivika oh so calmly took out her gun – the one Thomas had gifted her – and easily fired a shot upwards. Instantly everyone screamed and dropped to their knees expecting a fire fight. The guards – faces covered to hide their Strigoi nature – raised their weapons to control any fallout if needed. When no more shots came people started to search for the bang's source and soon found a very pissed off looking woman stood high above them.
"Shut up!" She took a breath as screams, yells and fucking crying finally died down then put her gun away.
The eternally twenty-one year old stood there looking powerful and immaculate; Thomas would have been proud. The stupid humans down on the main floor finally took the hint and shut their tiny mouths, some clung to young children while others visibly bordered on panic attacks.
"Thank you." She began far more calmly. "Now, here is what is going to happen. You will all line up in an orderly fashion so as my people can take down the information they need in order to treat you, then and only then shall you be given attention since no one is currently bleeding out on my floor."
A man – tall, blond, with a deep set brow – left what looked to be a wife and three young children and shoved past some of the other people huddled on the ground towards to glare up at Vivika. This asshole was going to be an annoyance, damn she hoped he was B+.
"Who the fuck are you?" Yep, my asshole sensors are working. "We need those meds! We don't have time to fill out a goddamn questionnaire, or did you miss the nuclear bomb from your ivory tower?"
Vivika smirked, at least she'd gotten her dress code down well. While her dress stopped at her knees and had three-quarter sleeves it was pure white without a single blemish on it, a clear indication she didn't spend her time in the trenches. The deep V gave a good view of her cleavage without it being obscene or whoreish but wouldn't let people forget just how beautiful this young woman was. The heels, the carefully controlled make-up, not a hair out of place, yes, she wasn't one of them and that was exactly how Vivika liked it; they weren't even the same species any longer.
"How rude, allow me to introduced myself." She lightly rested a hand on her chest to gesture to herself. "I am Vivika Eichhorst and I run these Freedom Centres." She leaned on the guard rail as she took a second to delight in the sound of her new name. "Tell me, oh wise oracle, what happens when one of my people gives a dose of penicillin to someone and they have an anaphylactic reaction and die as they're allergic to it because – and I quote – they didn't have tome to fill out a goddamn questionnaire?" She didn't give him or anyone else a chance to respond. "Well, we'd have a dead person and a wast of penicillin. So I suggest, unless you have any other bright ideas, that you obey my rules before you have to explain that your complete inability to shut your mouth is the reason you're children aren't getting the medical treatment they need."
The blond – clearly hostile by nature – man continued to glare at her, he wanted to say something, call her a bitch but the hand his wife placed on his elbow managed to keep him silent for his children's sake if nothing else. Please the prick understood and had been controlled Vivika returned her attention back to everyone else and made sure to speak in a far calmer tone as she stood up straight again.
"We will see everyone, I promise you, but we ask these questions for your own safety. Anyone with children who need treatment or pregnant women please form a line on my far right, anyone with deep lacerations, head traumas or think a wound is infected to my far left. Everyone else in the middle. I understand your desire to be treated quickly but quickly puts you in more danger. I'd also like to point out the heavily armed guards who will be throwing the next person who attempts to force their way past my people out onto the street to deal with their problems themselves."
The humans took note of the armed Strigoi – not that they knew them to be Strigoi – and started to form into the lines, some did it easily and without too much of a problem while other – such as the blond asshole – continued to glare at Vivika as if she was scum while they found their spot. The raven-haired beauty honestly didn't care about a couple of idiots who'd probably get them killed in due time.
The Strigoi who'd been loitering behind her suddenly approached her again though he did remain out of sight, having the humans spot a Strigoi so early on in the second half of their plan wouldn't have been a good idea. Vivika opened her mouth to shoo the thing away but then it spoke and she realize it now held itself with far more authority and grace.
"I am proud of you, Vivika." Began The Master via his underling. "You have proven yourself strong and unwavering. I commend you."
"Thank you, Master."
"You have made them believe they are protecting themselves by obeying you completely unaware they are telling us who has the best of their blood."
She quickly flashed her Lord a smile. "I've learned humans fall into traps easier if they believe they're working for their own fortune. Any man will run into the fire if he thinks there is gold on the other side."
The Master chuckled which surprised Vivika because she'd never heard that from him before.
"Thomas certainly chose well when he picked up. Also, I am pleased you no longer refer to yourself as human, then again, you are so much more now."
"Master, if I may ask," she turned to face him fully, "why did you give me the White? Why not turn me? I could still run the human side of things as a Strigoi."
The Master nodded. "Indeed you could, I do not doubt it, Vivika. However, then you would be mine and not Thomas'. You are my gift to him for his loyal service these many decades and as such I will not possess his wife. The White provides you a longevity that will allow you to stand beside myself and Thomas for the rest of time. I know you serve me, I have seen the things you have done and I am proud of you, my child. Refusing to turn you is not a punishment, though your human side is a disadvantage, refusing to turn you is a gift. Do you remember the night we first met." Vivika remembered, remembered the cold in those darkened tunnels, remembered him ordering Thomas to kill her. "You said Thomas liked you being human, I am no fool, I am fully aware this comment meant sex and feeding from you. If I were to turn you, my child, you would no longer be you but my re-enactment of you. Neither of you would ever complain and continue to love one another, this I know, but why would a caring master do all that when their was another way?"
She took a moment before looking up at the Strigoi. "It is a great kindness, Master. Thank you."
He shrugged off her gratitude as he always did no matter who it came from. "As I said, it is his gift just as ever lasting life is yours. Why create the mind of a Strigoi when you already have one."
He brushed her cheek with a slender fingers then and her green eyes locked on him, they shone delightfully. Vivika leant into his touch, truly the only human who had never feared him, not for one second. Even Thomas and Setrakian had been scared at first, but he'd ordered Thomas to kill her and she'd not even flinched.
"Continue to serve me well and who knows the rewards you shall reap."
Vivika shook her head slightly though didn't pull away from his touch. "I do not serve you for rewards, Master."
The Master nodded in understanding and lowered his hand. "I am aware. You do it to see the downfall of a poisonous race and the rise of a strong one. You are one of the few humans to have ever seen the truth, Vivika, to understand the greater picture."
"Master I-"
The semi-immortal's mouth snapped shut when she peered back at her master to find the bold, red eyes had faded and the Strigoi stood beside her looked like it's normal self once again. Conversation over then, mumbled her brain; no matter though. With the chaos under control Vivika headed back to her office at the centre. Well, it wasn't her office exactly but she'd got armed men in the building and had been put in charge so she highly doubted anyone was going to argue with her over the big office.
Her heels click-clacked as they always did as she made her way calmly down the sterile looking halls away from the balcony. Once inside her claimed office Vivika sat herself down to just listen to the quietude, so peaceful. It was fairly safe to say she'd not seen this part of her life coming, sitting there in fine clothes, married and a powerful member of a new world order; damn did she more than welcome it.
Brightly polished emeralds peered down at her wedding ring, she supposed it hadn't really been a wedding but at the same time Vivika was now firmly and happily Thomas' wife. Long ago her father had forced her into the gutter but Thomas had hauled her up into The Master's pantheon and draped her in gold and silk for their pleasure. Him the god of war and her the goddess of deception. The war had been won with that explosion, now it was Vivika's job to deceive the surviving enemy; and the easiest way to do that was to not let one's enemy know they were the enemy. Vivika wouldn't only do her job, no, she'd take pride in it, after all, Vivika wasn't human any longer, she owned them no fealty.