Daedalus looked down from the balcony. The floor of the Haven was more than half covered in some sort of language, not one that he had ever seen before. Kain had started writing an hour before sunrise the previous night. It was now halfway through the next night, and he hadn't even slowed down.

Raziel was crouched in a corner, staring at the Reaver. He seemed to do that a lot, Daedalus noted. When he had nothing else to do, he would just stare into the light of his weapon. The exact nature of the blade still eluded the Nosferatu Primogen. It appeared as a spirit weapon of some kind, which eminated from Raziel's right claw. Raziel's words on the Reaver were confusing, though. Originally, the Reaver had been a physical weapon, and fed on blood just like a Vampire. It later became a soul-eating blade instead, and then was shattered by Kain in a battle against Raziel. The spirit of the weapon had escaped and bonded itself to Raziel.

An incredible story, but Daedalus could understand it. However, Raziel had also made other strange comments about the sword. He had said that the Reaver was his fate - as long as it existed, it was proof that he was destined for a horrific future. He had also said that the Reaver was himself. He'd made an odd comment, about his present self destroying his past self, and then his present self nearly falling victim to the Reaver, which was his future self. Daedalus didn't understand, and Raziel didn't want to talk about it.

"Raziel?" Daedalus said, if only to break the awkward silence.

"Yes?"

"What is Caine writing? I can't read it."

Raziel hauled himself up and looked down at the mass of writing. "Nosgoth Blood Script. A very old form of writing, I believe used by the ancient Vampires."

"Can you read it?"

"Normally, yes. But Kain's not writing in true text. They look more like equations. I can't understand much of it."

"Is there any that you do understand?"

"There are names and words mixed in with the equations. I see...Reaver is mentioned the most...Timeline...Unspoken...Paradox...Spirit...Death...Host...Change...Dime nsion...Nosgoth...Here..." Raziel paused. "That's all I can say. It doesn't seem to make much sense."

"What does it all mean?"

"I don't know. Some of it looks related to Timestreaming, though even if Kain had the capability here, I don't know what it would achieve."

"Is it related to the demon?"

"It must be. Kain seems set on eliminating it. But how this all fits, I do not know."

Below, Kain paused for a moment, then made a change to an equation.

***

Julian sat in the lounge, trying to summon a calm demeanor. Despite all that was going on, he had a Masquerade to maintain, and Caitlin knew him well enough to sense when something was wrong. He wasn't sure why Caitlin had asked to see him tonight, but guessed it was because of his inattention lately. Of course, dealing with Kain, Raziel ands Hash'Ak'Gik required 100% of his focus, but he could hardly explain that to Caitlin.

The doors opened, and Caitlin walked in. Julian smiled and offered her a seat. Caitlin sat down and crossed her legs.

"Is everything alright, Julian?"

"Oh, just one of those weeks. Work and everything."

"All work and no play..."

Julian laughed. "I know. But let's forget about work for now."

"I do have one question, actually."

"Yes?"

"What do you plan to do about Kain and Raziel?"

Julian froze in realization for a moment, then in a flash was on his feet, pointing a gun at Caitlin's head.

"You! Get out of her now, or I swear I'll..."

Caitlin smiled lazily. "What? Kill me? Kill your pet human? If you have the will, do it. It makes no difference to me."

Julian growled, and slowly lowered the gun. He couldn't kill Caitlin, even with Hash in control of her.

"I thought not."

"What do you want, you son of a Lupine bitch?"

Caitlin chuckled. "Harsh, Luna, very harsh. But you don't have to be so dramatic. I care not for you or your city. I came here to make a business arrangement."

"What?"

"It's quite simple, Luna. Even you could understand it. I want to destroy Kain. Help me to achieve that, and I'll leave this world, freeing all my Spawn-hosts, including this one here. Really, you stand only to gain. With this one bargain, you get rid of Kain, you get rid of me, and you become free to re-establish your control over this city. What more could you want? Of course, refuse my generous offer, and you shall watch as I kill and control all those you care about, until I finally decide to end your torment. I'll give you until tomorrow, Luna."

Caitlin stood and made for the door. As she reached it, it opened, and Sasha walked in. Caitlin took Sasha by the chin and smiled.

"What a pretty girl."

With that, Caitlin left. Sasha looked from her retreating form to Julian in confusion.

"What the hell was that about?"

***

Kain paused in thought for a short while, then angrily rubbed away part of his writing.

"Useless. If only I'd picked up the other one...wait, perhaps..."

***

Cash sighed and leant on the handlebars of his bike. His patrol had eliminated four of Hash's slaves, only to have one of his own gang suddenly try to attack him. Helmet had been a friend of his for several decades, but that had been squashed by the big black-furred bastard in a moment. Now Helmet was a burned corpse being removed by the remnants of the gang.

His heightened senses suddenly flared up. He sensed movement in a nearby junkyard. Carefully, he locked his bike and stalked into the yard.

Between two piles of junk, a pair of Gangrel were stalking a human. It could be a simple hunt, of course, but there was a definite sinister air to the scene. Cash decided to take a chance. Hiding in the shadows of a pile of wrecked cars, he called out a word.

"Caine!"

The two Vampires were alerted, letting the human run off. One of them said "Kain mustn't find the rune!" It was enough for Cash. From the shadows, he fired a phosphorus shot into the right ear of one Vampire. The other one started to pull out a gun of his own, but Cash shot him in the temple long before he'd brought it to bear. Letting loose one final shot, killing the Brujah that had thought itself hidden behind a nearby bulldozer, Cash checked the bodies, then started to search the yard. He didn't know what the rune the Vampire had mentioned was, but if Hash'Ak'Gik didn't want Caine to find it, it could well help to give the monster the proverbial boot.

An experienced hunter, Cash found the rune in minutes. It was a large complex design on the ground in human blood, which had been hidden (poorly, in Cash's opinion) under a small pile of sheeting. Cash pondered the situation, then decided to attempt a use of the Spirit's Touch. Hopefully, it might give him some insight into Hash's position.

Moments passed, and Cash's eyes suddenly flew open.

"Sasha! No!"

Cash forced down the urge to run to Sasha or Julian. That wouldn't help without some more information. He concentrated again, until he found what he was looking for. He grabbed his phone and dialed.

"Come on...come on...Lillie! It's Cash! Listen, I know who Hash's true host..."

And then Cash's world crashed into darkness.

***

"Sasha, why are you running for the place of Brujah Primogen?" Julian asked in a strained tone.

Sasha shrugged. "With all the crap coming down right now, I thought you'd appreciate another ally in high places. It'd help with stability and all that."

"Sasha, listen to me. We don't have time to play these games right now. There are things going on that could shatter the Masquerade, bring all sorts of forces like Sabbat, Lupines and the Inquisition onto us, or just plain get us killed. You can't mess around with the Clans like this."

Sasha bristled. "Oh, really? I didn't ask to get pulled into your world, you know. I didn't ask for a bunch of your rival Fiori's goons to force their blood into me! But it happened, and I'm going to make the best of it, my way."

"Damn it Sasha, will you just..."

The argument was interrupted when Lillie burst in.

"Julian! Sasha!"

"What? What's happened?"

"It's Cash!"

"Cash?" Sasha grabbed Lillie. "What's happened? Where is he?"

"I don't know. I got a call from him. He'd discovered something, but he got cut off before he could tell me. I think...Hash'Ak'Gik may have him."

***

Kain was working frantically now, like a Vampire possessed.

"If I draw out his spirit like this, than that will kick-start the paradox...and if the strike's made at the right time...yes...yes! I have it! Hash, your days are numbered!"