When she entered her office, Walter was there, taking a tray with tea utensils from a maid. Seeing the Lady of the House, he motioned the maid to leave and bowed to Integra. Integra answered him with a thankful nod - strong tea was exactly what she needed now to think clearly. She took a seat and waited while Walter poured a cup for her. Then she raised her gaze at the butler:

"Well, Walter? What have you found?"

"Not too much, but... Those cuts look exactly like a occult sign, called... - the old man looked into the paper he brought with him and read carefully, - ...viparilupta deva nizrayani. Broken ladder to gods."

Integra couldn't help but to raise her brows: "What language is it?"

Walter sighed: "Sanskrit, m'lady."

"Uh-huh... Sanskrit. Right. Please, continue."

"According to some studies... To put it short, it barred the way to gods. If someone died in a certain ritual with such a sign on his body, the soul of that unfortunate person would stay on Earth forever and eventually rot, or rather slip into eternal madness. They considered it an ultimate punishment."

"Who considered?"

"Ancient Aryans."

"Oh God... - Integra put the cup on the desk and stared at Walter. - How old is this... belief?"

"The studies say that it's probably pre-Brahmanic... Around 1500 B.C. then."

"O-o-okay... - the leader of Hellsing tented her fingers on the table, - take a seat, Walter, and let's talk. We need clues."

"Yes, m'lady." - the Hellsing veteran pulled a chair to the desk and sat down.

"If it's really that vip... viper… the broken ladder pictogram, who could use it? Someone who had a chance to learn the rituals in their heyday? Do you think there is a thirty five centuries old vampire behind all the mess?"

"I've never heard of vampires that old. Seems rather unrealistic to me..."

"However, we can't discard this theory either."

"Indeed, Lady Integra. But I haven't finished... - the old man leaned forward and mirrored his commander's pose. - The studies I've mentioned - all of them are from our old intelligence archives..."

Integra strained: "What was that intelligence about?"

"Ahnenerbe, a secret branch of SS. They roamed far and wide, looking for all kinds of occult knowledge... Hitler was obsessed with ideas of immortality and godhood."

"Immortality, huh... You and Alucard dealt with Ahnenerbe's experiments in 1944. Could it be..."

Someone knocked at the door. Integra cringed, called "Enter!" and turned to Walter.

"Could anybody survive after that cleaning up?"

"Lady Integra, I was fourteen back then. You should ask Lord Alucard - your father might have shared more information with him..."

"Tell him to come here. Now." - she pushed the phone across the table to Walter and looked at the door. When she saw her visitor, she cringed again. Captain Bernadotte obviously had no time to change his clothes after the night ordeal. Last night they were tolerable, but everything looks different in the bright light of the day... Pip stood in a stripe of daylight, and his T-shirt stood out against the dark wooden panels of a wall behind his back. Hell, the damn thing would've still stood out even if there was a flying saucer and an 'EARTHLINGS! WE'VE COME TO FUCK YOUR BRAINS!' neon slogan in the background. - thought Integra in dismay. - Where's that bloody Alucard with his lections about color coordinating, when you need him?

"What brought you here, Captain?" - she asked aloud.

"Reports, Sir Integral. - the mercenary was active and all businesslike. A morning person, obviously. He didn't look the least bit tired, even after no sleep at all. It was disgusting. - I've talked to my people, who dealt with FREAKs last night. They noticed a change of FREAKs' behavior pattern. Some looked like in pain, one or two looked stoned and didn't even try to fight back or escape. Also, there were a few, who seemed to go berserk - they even attacked each other."

Integra shrugged. - "Strange indeed, but... It makes things easier for us. Anything else, Captain?"

"Yes. Investigations fellows've found this on Seras's taxi. - Bernadotte put a plastic bag on the desk. - It was attached to the rear bumper."

Integra picked the bag and looked at its contents closer. There was a small black cylinder inside. Walter hanged the phone and moved closer to look at the object too.

"I take it, it's confirmed nonexplosive." - he said dryly.

"They've checked it. It's a standard GPS transmitter. Somebody put a homing beacon on the taxi. After Seras took it, most likely."

"Looks like you hit the point about a covert operation, Captain.- Integra glanced at the Wild Goose and turned to Walter, who held the phone by his ear again. - Where's Alucard?"

"Lord Alucard doesn't pick the phone, m'lady. Turned it off, probably..."

"Damn him... Walter, close the curtains. I'll call him here through the bond."

Walter hesitated: "M'lady, but if he's sleeping now the summoning'll drain you of energy! I'd better..."

"I'd better give him some room to sulk if I were you. - barged in Pip, - The last time I checked, he was in a really rotten mood. Dragging him over through that metaphysical shit..." The mercenary made a face and shook his head. Integra presented him with an acerbic stare.

"You're quite a humanitarian, Captain."

" Yeah, that's good old me for ya... - Pip grinned, his blue eye glistened nastily, - Gandhi, Mother Theresa and Martin Luther King should better watch their asses - I'll compete 'em outta the league!"

"Ah, so? You may start the competition by going down and bringing Alucard here, then. Wake him up if needed."

"Wait a second... Whoa, wait!"

"Just do it, Captain. - Integra smiled, feeling mild amusement cut through her general mood like a ray of light through a dusty dark attic. - .After all, that's what I'm paying you for. Following my orders, right?"

"Right. - the mercenary nodded. - Right. So, the order is to fetch the vampire. Yes, sir... Ma'am."

The door behind the mercenary closed. "Am I the soldier of the Cross? Increase my courage, Lord!" - came floating through the layer of oak and steel, reverberated with the echo of the old high-ceilinged corridor.

"Singing. Feeling straja de sangue first. Protecting Alucard's feelings. He turns to be quite a sensitive soul. - Integra grunted. - What's next - writing poems?"

"If limericks count - done already." - Walter's tone was dry with disapprovement. Integra couldn't help but raise her eyebrows and stare at the old man.

"Limericks? About whom?"

Walter's face became awfully cold, giving its sole observer some inkling about the possible names in the list. She chuckled and waved her hand in dismissal.

"Don't answer. Ignorance is surely bliss sometimes. - her gaze fell on the papers Walter had brought from the archives. - Moreover, it's not like we have time to waste."

The butler just nodded grimly.

"What do you want me to do, m'lady?"

"Recheck the archives, Walter. Meticulously. Look for every bit of information along the lines of the theories we have."

"An old powerful vampire with exotic occult skills or Ahnenerbe survivors?"

"Yes. - Integra shook her head. - I don't even know which of them seems worse to me."

"I don't know either, m'lady. - the lines on the old man's face grew deeper, as he bowed and turned to the door. - I'll try to dig out something."

When the butler left, Integra tried to tend the stack of fresh mail, but soon neat printed lines started to scatter like sheep. Eyes felt as if there was sand in them. She took off the glasses, rubbed her numb face and put it on the crook of her left elbow, pressing her cheek to the cool surface of the desk. She shut her eyes to ease the burning sensation in them. Just a minute of rest and they'll be fine...

A loud knock at the door and a voice behind it jerked her out of sleep. Ow, ow, ow. How long I've been sleeping? Damn. She hastily slid the glasses on her nose, ran fingers through the hair and touched her lips. No drool to ruin the business image, jolly good.

"Come in!"

"Sir Integral! - a tech from Investigations department was breathless after running. Her sharp, excited voice made Integra flinch. - Sir Integral, there!"

"What's happened? Calm down, Ms..." - Integra tried to remember the name of the tech but gave up. One of the new ones, hired after the Valentine bros. massacre. Another rookie...

"McNeil, Sir Integral. I'm sorry... - for a second the woman looked embarrassed but continued. - But none of us knows what's going on... It's the dead cat we got after the night operation. It was in a plastic bag and labeled as evidence, so I put it into the fridge..."

"And?"

"It disappeared, Sir Integral! The fridge is empty, the plastic bag is sealed and untouched!" - McNeil paused, and nervously clenched her hands on the hem of her lab coat.

That's it. - thought Integra bitterly. - If the familiar's body disintegrated, then... Seras's status isn't M.I.A. any more. It's K.I.A. Lord, be merciful to her soul...

"One more thing... - the tech cleared her throat and continued. - The bag was smeared with blood from inside, when I saw it last time and... The blood is gone too. The bag is clean."

"Clean? No ash inside?"

"No. It's as good as new."

Integra felt her brows climb up on the forehead and quickly readjusted her expression to the unrevealing professional mask. It would be odd for vampire's remains, but she didn't know much about familiars. She cast a glance at her watch - it was half an hour since Walter had left. A little more since Bernadotte had gone to Alucard. Damn. She rose to her feet and walked out from behind the desk.

"Thank you, Ms McNeil. If anything strange occurs again... - Integra mused for a second, - report to Walter - he's in the northern wing archive block - or me. I'll be all the way downstairs."

"If you want to do something right, do it yourself." - grumbled she, heading to Alucard's lair.

The hallways and staircases of the manor were buzzing with life and movement, but the ancient stairwell, going thirty yards underground, was empty as usual. Footfalls rang against old limestone walls, diminishing into strange whispering echo. It was growing colder. When she passed the last flight of stairs, it was so cold that her surprised gasp came out as a tiny cloud of white fog. She opened the heavy door, leading to the dungeons and stopped. It was pitch dark behind the door. The darkness was almost palpable, it pressed against the doorframe like earth. Integra cussed silently and flipped the switch on and off several times. Finally something cracked and dim lamps lit the underground corridor.

Time to kick the electrician's ass again. Where did he get that idea about the vampires munching him up the very moment he sets his foot here... - thought Integra absently, walking down the corridor. - But what's going on here... Shit, it's freezing!"

She turned around the corner and stopped inches short not to place her boot on an arm. A human arm. Without thinking she grabbed the butt of her gun and looked around. All quiet. She looked down. Captain Bernadotte was half-sitting, reclining against the wall. He was deadly pale, eyes closed, blue lips compressed tight in a grimace of... agony? terror? Integra stooped down to him, still with a gun in her hand, and touched his neck to find a pulse.

The skin was icy cold, but the heart worked. Slow, but steady. Tiny puffs of fog from his lips indicated that his lungs were functioning too.

"What in the blue fuck...Alucard, if it's your handiwork..."- murmured she, turning Captain's head sideways in a quick search for bitemarks. Nothing, but a throat wasn't the only place where blood streams came close enough to the surface. In a male body there were five more easy access spots where vampires could feast upon fresh arterial blood... To strip him and check them all? Dammit, dammit, dammit...

Pip coughed and opened an eye. His stare was glassy and wild. The mercenary rose on his knees and grasped Integra's wrist with such strength that she hissed softly.

"Captain, what the..."

"I see dead people! - he fought chattering teeth to get that out. - Do you understand? I see dead people!!!"

"You are hurting me, Captain."

Maybe it was the calm tone that worked. Pip's gaze cleared, violent lines on his face smoothened.

"Oh... - he looked at her wrist in his grip as if wondered what it was doing there. - My apologies...I didn't mean to..."

He released her arm and hunched down in a kneeling position, huddling in on himself as if freezing to death. However, it was growing warmer - closer to the usual chill of a place deep underground. Integra holstered her gun and after a moment of hesitation kneeled beside her subordinate.

"Tell me what happened."

"I... went right here after you ordered me to fetch Alucard. When I walked about halfway down the corridor, the lights went out... - he paused, looked at his arms, still hugging his shoulders, and carefully put them in his lap, - I figured that a flashlight would be handy and turned back. It was so dark that I wasn't sure whether my eyes were open or not... But then something changed. I... It became cold all of a sudden... Fucking freezing... And then I heard voices in my head... Do you think I'm crazy?"

"Well... In any other case I would've asked when was the last time you had a CAT scan, but... - Integra bit her lip, - I felt that coldness too. It was something abnormal."

"Abnormal, heh, I like that... - the mercenary shook his head and looked up, one eye glimmered feverishly through blond strands, - That's a hope I haven't ripened enough for a nuthouse after all... So, after hearing those voices I...Guess I freaked out. I tripped and fell, and when I lifted my head they were everywhere."

"Who?"

"Dead people, I've told you already... All fucking flavors. In modern clothes, in ancient clothes, naked... - he suddenly chuckled nervously, - ... with autopsy Y-cuts, holy shit! They seemed to wander aimlessly and looked distressed... The voices I heard first - that were them. Screaming and mumbling... Then... They became aware of me somehow. Touched me... I don't remember shit after that."

For once, Integra didn't know what to say. Just "Wow!" seemed kind of wrong, so...

"How do you feel now?"

"Peachy keen. - Bernadotte's tone didn't quite match the words but was returning to normal already. - How long was I absent?"

"Half an hour. Why?"

Pip gave that all-purpose shrug that could mean everything and nothing.

"Just measuring your patience in case I'll have to run errands for you again. Looks like half an hour is your limit, Sir Integral... - he smiled, but his gaze was still dark and haunted, - Guess I'm lucky."

"Do you know what was all that stuff? - asked Pip when they walked down the twisting corridor to the place where Alucard usually rested during the day. - The dead I've seen... Should I wear a cross now? Or - hell! - a tinfoil hat on my head?"

"I wish I knew, Captain. - Integra frowned, - But in times like these wearing a cross wouldn't harm you anyway..."

The mercenary glanced at her: "Times like these?"

"Well... All kinds of weird things keep piling up since last night. And to think that the last week was so calm and peaceful... I should have seen this coming."

"I see. Zebra Law."

'What do you mean?"

"Well, you know... Life is like a zebra - white stripes and black stripes, as some poetic shitbag observed."

Integra raised an eyebrow at that as the mercenary kept elaborating:

"But if you look at a zebra, any zebra, and check all its stripes starting from its head, the last one is always white... A solid, wide, fabulous white stripe. Often it's the widest on the whole freakin' animal. Great, huh? But eventually it ends and when you move past it you find yourself in deep shit. Literally."

The leader of Hellsing grinned. Bernadotte managed to keep a straight face when he finished pompously: "And here goes the ultimate rule of thumb, the Zebra Law. The wider is the white stripe you enjoy, the better is the chance that your next step will dip you into a substance stinking to high heaven... You may print this wisdom in a fancy font and stick it to your fridge for easy reference."

The lecture lightened the mood, but the moment of enthusiasm passed as soon as they stopped in front of a high door in the dead end of the corridor. It was a heavy duty, reinforced steel door with remains of some pattern painted on it. Ten years had passed already, but every time Integra came down here, a tidal wave of memories flooded her mind... Bitter memories, mostly. And, as always, she couldn't help but wonder what her life would be like if her father's chemotherapy had been successful... She shook her head sadly and glanced aside. The Wild Goose stood beside her, eyed the door and looked solemn too. Finally he grunted.

"I know plenty of guys... - he began, still drilling the door with his stare, - mere humans and good Christians, mind you! - who'd go ape shit and make a fair attempt to kill everyone daring to wake them up in the middle of the night. It's high noon now, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"For him it must be equal to the middle of the night. Life insurance never sounded so good... to me at least." - the mercenary smirked wryly and knocked at the door.

The door produced a dull gong-like sound but no more sounds followed. They repeated the drill with the same zero results.

"Maybe he's out somewhere?" - mused Bernadotte with a hopeful edge in his voice.

Integra shrugged: "We'll get in and see."

"I knew you'd say that. - Pip pushed the handle with one hand, quirked his eyebrow, and continued the exercise with both hands, then with the whole side of his body. Muscles bulged under the short sleeves of his T-shirt and his voice was strained with effort, when he muttered, - I'd call this door an overkill even for a submarine... Is it locked from inside?"

"More likely the hinges are a bit rusty. Alucard rarely bothers himself with doors - he just walks through walls. Or ceilings, for that matter."

"Way to go for him, but... Hah! - the door screeched spasmodically and opened. - Voila!"

Integra stepped forward, found a switch and turned the lights on. Captain Bernadotte walked up and peered inside.

"Holy shit!" - he observed.