Matthew bit the tip off of the bag of blood and quickly drank it. Luckily, the thirst from the first time did not return. 'Hmm, my body must be learning quickly what I'll tolerate.' He was back in his room now that the mission was completed. His mind drifted back to his situation. Slowly, a realization hit him. There was someone he really hadn't spoken with about what had happened: himself. He walked across the room and laid down on the bed.

"Well, Matt," he said, "here we are. Let's try to figure out exactly what's happened to us, ok?" His imagination had always been rather strong. Among other things, it allowed him to give a voice to different aspects of himself: rational, creative, instinctual, etc. It gave him a way to help organize his thoughts and work through difficult situations.

The latter was essentially a defensive mechanism, one of several his imagination gave him. To it he attributed his good pain tolerance and ability to find more energy when he was fatigued. Several years before, when his parents started down the path to their divorce, Matt had tried to work through everything his mind threw at him, but he hadn't been able to handle it all.

Time to see if it would work this time.

"First, what am I?" There was little question to that one, he was a vampire. "More difficult, what have I lost? No... Worry about that later. Main problem, how do I deal with what's happened to me?"

After a few moments, the first possible solution drifted to the top of his mind. "Keep doing what I'm doing. Pro, I'm somewhat protected. Yeah, my job is to fight, but I don't have to worry about being attacked because I'm a vampire... I don't think. Con, I'll have to kill." He thought over it. "Might work, but I've gotta get in touch with my folks..."

Another idea came into Matt's mind. "Work out a deal and see if I can stop. They know I'm not gonna feed off the living... Or do they? I wouldn't have to kill for them, but would I have to kill to defend myself? Scratch that idea. It won't work."

"Next idea, transfer. Try to get a supporting role rather then work in the field. An assistant to Walter? No. I'm a vampire. They'll want me working out there killing 'my own kind'." He sighed. "Scratch that."

For several minutes, Matthew lay silent, the full scope of his situation finally sinking in. "I'm a vampire. They'll never let me leave this organization for the rest of my existence, and if they disband before I am killed, I can be damned sure they'll at least try to kill me before they close their doors. For now, I've gotta stay with them. I have little choice." He shook his head. "No, make that no choice. I'll talk with Integra again and see if I can get e-mail back. I've gotta get in touch with my folks. And Aky..." His brain froze at the thought of her. 'Aky...' he repeated in his mind. He missed her terribly. She had been one of his main supports. 'But what will she think of me now?' He let out a shuddering sigh. "For now, I've just gotta grab all the luck I can get. God knows what I'll have to do next..." His mind paused again...

God... Where was God in all this? Matt had never been the most religious of people, but he'd had his own strange relationship with God. His own sort of doctrine that he would follow. Not that he invented his own religion, or something, but he took what he'd heard of different religious doctrines and used that along with his own sense of morality to form the plan by which he would live his life. With a sigh, he told himself to worry about it later. He rolled over, closed his eyes, and went to sleep.