The next night Marek made it over to the Skyline Apartment complex and rode the elevator up to the fourth floor where his apartment was. He opened the door with the key that was sent to him by the prince, and looked around the place. There was not much there at all, and it looked the same as the apartment that Maria took him to that night. Upstairs he saw his laptop on a small wooden desk in the landing. He walked over to it and saw a note sitting next to it. The note was written on a small yellow post-it note, and it said, "Password for your computer is 'sunrise'."

So Marek opened the laptop and was surprised at what he saw. There was no basic operating system like windows, just a black screen with links on the left side of the screen. There were three links in all, and they said 'e-mail', 'internet', and 'contacts'. So he decided to go to the e-mail and was prompted for his password. So he just punched in 'sunrise' and saw that he already had a few messages recorded on his inbox.

The first e-mail he saw was from Lodin himself. He opened it and saw the message, "I believe your new housing should be quite suitable. You have a small cash amount in the first national bank down the road. When you go there, make sure to speak with the cashier named 'Steve' and give him your name. He will make your withdraw for you, and you are free to do what you want with the cash. However I don't suggest you spend it on petty things that are no help to you. Save it for when you really need something in the future. –Lodin"

The second email was sent by someone he did not recognize, and in the subject line was the line, 'The game begins'. The entire message was one line, and it said, "The games have begun; a pawn has moved." There was no signature or anything, and when he ran a quick check of the e-mail, he couldn't pull an IP address. This was puzzling to him because he did not know anyone in this world, so the cryptic entry was something he could not figure out.

Finally the last message was from someone named Mercurio, and its subject line held, 'Need anything?' The message said, "Hey there. Heard about you from the higher ups. If you ever need anything, weapons, supplies, things like that, just head on over. I'm in an apartment down at the Empire Hotel. Getting what you need from me is a lot cheaper than getting it from a commercial store, that's for damn sure. –Mercurio"

Marek closed out the laptop and decided to get his cash so he could figure out what he needed and what he had to work with. So Marek put down the katana that he had been carrying from the mansion and stepped outside. He walked down the sidewalk, observing the people walking along, going about their lives. As he looked at them, he now understood their ignorance to the other world hidden in the darkness. So he just turned around and kept on walking through the crowds of people, heading to the First National Bank.

Inside the bank, it was pretty quiet because of the late time, as it was close to closing. The only people that were there were the few that were trying to get their checks cashed after a long day at work, or getting some money for a night out on the town. Walking down the aisles, he finally saw a cashier wearing a name tag that read 'Steve'. Calmly Marek just walked up to the counter and said, "My name is Marek, I'm here to make a withdrawal."

Steve looked up from his work and said, "New guy, right? Lodin told me to expect you. Come on down to my cubical, it's more quiet there."

So they walked through the maze of cubicles and finally arrived at Steve's desk. Marek sat down in one of the chairs, but Steve kept walking down to the vault so he could get Marek's cash. About five minutes later Steve returned with a large manila envelope that appeared to be pretty full. Steve pullet out a pen knife and cut the envelope open and emptied its contents onto his desk. Inside there were many bricks of cash as well as a white piece of paper. Steve grabbed the paper and began to read it.

"Inside this envelope is enough money to get you started for this new life. Enclosed here there should be two thousand dollars that you can use for future purposes. After your transaction is complete, have the bank shred this note and the envelope itself. I am sure Steve could do that for you. –Lodin"

"Well then sir, here is your money. You can count it if you wish but it is all there. As for the other instructions, you don't have to worry about the shredding, I will do that tonight. If you want, I can give you something to carry this all out in."

"Yes, of course, thanks."

"Well then hope it all turns out for you sir."

With that they shook hands and Marek walked out of there with a brown paper bag carrying all of the cash he had now. He tried to decide the best way to use it, but that other e-mail he received was interesting, so he figured he would go over and give that guy Mercurio a visit.

So Marek first stopped back at his apartment and put some of the cash away in the trunk that was on the first floor of his apartment. So he grabbed an old coat that was in the room's closet and put the rest of the money in his pocket for the trip down to Mercurio's. After his stop, Marek probably had thirteen hundred on him in cash. He walked over to the Empire Hotel complex, which really wasn't far from his apartment, just a few blocks down the street. Inside he convinced the clerk to give him Mercurio's apartment number so he could go see him. Marek knocked on the door, and then opened it to see a very lavish living place there. The place was covered in rich paintings, fine furnishings, and a crystal chandelier hung down from the ceiling.

"Next time, wait for me to open the door man, I damn near blew your head off. Your Marek I assume, so I guess you got my e-mail."

"Yeah. Nice place you got here."

"Well, I happen to like it. I tell ya it pays to be in my business, and with business connections like you guys, I'm set for life."

"I your e-mail, you told me you got it all here. So what have you really got for me to see?"

"You name it I got it. Weapons, munitions, heavy duty clothing, electronics, explosives, the works. So, what are you looking for? I bet you could use a new set of clothes. Those just don't look right for a person like you."

"What's wrong with them?"

"Let's just say they make you look like a pussy. You should try for a more intimidating look, kind of like a kick ass gangster. What do you think of a Heavy black trench coat, complete with gun holsters, ammo belts, and made of thick, black leather. Since I like you, I'll cut you a deal and sell it to ya for a hundred bucks. That's a steal my friend."

"You got my size?"

"What do you take me for man, Wal-Mart? Of course I got your size."

"Well then I'll take one. What have you got in the line of weapons?"

"Weapons, one of my specialties. I'm waiting on an order to come in now, but I've still got some colt .45's, pump action 12 gauge, I think I got an Uzi back there somewhere, and then there is my personal favorite, a McKlusky .50cal handgun. This gun is a thing of beauty. It is accurate, even at range and it packs one hell of a punch. I know you guys aren't as affected by bullets as mortals are, but this thing can still be deadly to you guys."

"Why do you say 'you guys'? What the hell are you?"

"Let's just say that I am a mutual friend of your kind. I ain't a mortal, but I'm no bloodsucker either."

"Whatever. How much for a colt?"

"Got em on sale today. I sell ya one for three hundred bucks. That also comes with four clips of ammo, since I am feeling generous."

"Well, then I'll take two of those then."

"My, what a customer." Mercurio handed over the merchandise Marek asked for as Marek peeled off a few bills from his stash to pay for it. "You know, if you ever need anything, just let me know. I can get almost anything you need, within reason of course."

"One more thing. Got a decent pair of shades?"

"Here, you can take these ones. Just got them in yesterday, brand new. Since you're a good customer though, take 'em for free."

"Thanks. Have a good night Mercurio."

"No problem."

Marek left the apartment wearing his new wardrobe, and had his new guns holstered in the coat. He wished he could see himself in a mirror, because he felt like he looked so bad ass. After the deal, Marek went back to his apartment and started surfing the internet, just trying to kill time. For time it seems he would have an eternity of.

A week went by and Marek did the best he could to blend into mortal society at night. He stood around most of the time, observing people and trying to figure out his whole role in the scheme of things. About midway through the week though, he started to get a feeling of hunger that was barely controllable. He knew what he had to do, so he found a mortal walking by himself in the street and lured him into one of the back alleys. When he started, and that fresh blood flowed into his mouth, it felt like euphoria, and it tasted so good, like a two hundred dollar bottle of champagne. After he was done, he waited for his target to retaliate, but he never moved. Marek figured there must be something in those teeth of his that put his victim into a state of unconsciousness.

Then after the week had passed, Marek checked his e-mail again and found one addressed to him from Lodin. It was labeled, 'First job', and he opened it quickly. Anything to break this dull monotony would be helpful. The e-mail went, "I see you have settled into your new life very well. It is time for your services to be called upon. What I need is for someone to enter a warehouse and hack into its computer system so we can place a virus that enables us to monitor it. This job can't be done on the outside because it is not connected to any outside internet source.

Our operatives have reported that the terminal that needs to be hacked is in one of the upper offices of the warehouse, and that there is very light security there at night time. What you need to do is place a device inside the processor so we can access the computer. Then you must hack the system itself to allow for the bug to move undetected. When you are doing this, remember that you must not be seen by the kine guarding the facility, and that you must not kill any of them. The device needed is in your mailbox. Don't let me down. –Lodin."

So he finally had something to do. From the sound of Lodin's instructions, it would be a fairly easy job as long as he could get past the security that they had there. He wondered though how he got his information on the building, like where the terminal was and what the security measures were. If someone was there to gather this information, then why couldn't they do this? Oh well, he couldn't complain. It was something to do. So Marek put on his trench coat and sunglasses, and took one of his colts just in case he would need it. So he went downstairs and checked the mailbox, and sure enough there was a small electronic device there with a little not attached to it.

"Just clip this onto the main circuit board in the processor."

He double checked what he had with him, and headed out to the warehouse. The place was a few miles away from the apartment complex, close to the docks out on the harbor. He stood outside of the building, behind a stack of crates near the entrance of the building. Outside he saw no guards, and the door itself had no kind of electronic protection on it. So he crept up slowly and silently and opened the door to let himself inside.

Inside the warehouse, he saw an entirely different scene that what was outside. There were guards regularly patrolling the walkways, and there was video surveillance everywhere. The warehouse itself held many crates and shelves full of all kinds of miscellaneous items. Then he saw the office that he had to get to, up above the many crates in the building. The only way to it was up a steel ramp that was undoubtedly guarded and watched. The first thing he had to do was to disable to cameras, so he wouldn't be seen on tape.

He started to creep along slowly down the aisles to find the security room. He stopped only to avoid being detected by one of the patrolling guards. What helped him was the fact that it was fairly dark in the building, hindering their vision. Finally he struck pay dirt as he found a door labeled 'Security'. He entered the room quietly and was confronted with almost two dozen video monitors at once. There was also a computer screen in the corner that he hoped controlled the entire systems for the building. He hacked the password and found the links to the systems.

First thing he did was turn the computer keystrokes off so that when someone reviewed the computer activity, nothing that he did would show up. Then he went right into the problem and turned the security cameras off. One by one the video monitors turned off as the cameras went offline. Finally, to make his job easier, Marek turned all power off to the warehouse so that it would pitch black.

Having completed his side task, Marek exited to room to see the guards looking around confused in the dark, but he could see fine. He crept along slowly so as to avoid the guards, and slowly worked his way back to the upstairs room. It took almost a half an hour, with him being careful enough so that he wouldn't draw attention to himself in the dark. Finally he arrived at the doorway into the upstairs rooms.

Inside, he found four computer terminals sitting there, each in its own little cubicle. He started working on the problem, hacking the computer closed to him, trying to find the one that he needed to go to. After searching the directories, he decided that the computer he needed was the one furthest from the door, overlooking the whole facility. He headed over to that terminal, being careful not to be seen through the windows. He hacked into the system and struck gold.

The terminal had all of the data that they needed to get, so he quickly went down to the processor itself and unscrewed the cover. He found the circuit board and attached the little devise on it. Then he quickly covered the processor back up and turned on the computer. Once the terminal was on and he was logged on again, he quickly hacked in and enabled the bug hidden inside the device. He also turned off the computer security so that it would go through the system unnoticed. It was all quite easy really. All he had to do then was enable the bug and get the hell out of there.

Having released the bug, he made sure that all the keystrokes were gone, and that what he did was undetectable. Satisfied that his job was done, Marek logged off the terminal and proceeded to exit the building. The guards as far as he could tell were still trying to turn the lights back on, but that was not going to happen for a long time until they got past the blocks he had put on there to give himself more time. He walked through the darkness, avoiding the guards and finally left the building.