Having just fed, Marko stood in front of the Fu Syndicate building trying to look like he was supposed to be there. Wearing coveralls, a checked shirt, gum boots, and a straw hat, all he could think of was to use the rake he bought from Tripp to groom the soil beneath some nearby hedges. Sensing that the few passersby were eyeing him suspiciously- probably because he was white – he crouched down and started picking up the cigarette butts that came up and stuffing them into the big front pocket of his overalls. Just some round-eye bum gathering butts to feed his disgusting habit...

Once he was sure that he was clear, he set the rake aside and casually walked to the front door to find it locked up for the night. Next to the door was a push-button control panel; obviously intended to be the lock. He would have to punch in the right combination to unlock the door. Since he didn't know the combination, and apparently neither did anyone in the Network, he saw two of three options open to him: He could guess until the sun came up, he could try to pick the lock, or he could case the joint and hope to find a breach. He didn't have his pick kit with him, so that was out. He considered guessing, but it occurred to him that an incorrect guess might set an alarm. That left looking for a breach; of course that might set off an alarm, too, but somehow that seemed less likely. Besides, if there was no breach, he could come back to the pad and take a guess anyway.

His mind made up, Marko stole away along the side of the building, hoping to find something, anything like an open window or door left unlocked from which he could enter. Then he turned back, remembering his rake. It might yet have a use for his farming expedition. He got all the way to the back of the building without finding a single thing. In the back alley, he approached a dumpster and quickly ducked behind it when he heard a door on the other side of the dumpster start to creak open. From the door, an older looking fellow stepped out, rolling a mop bucket into the alleyway towards a storm drain. He paused at the drain, cracked his back, and lit a cigarette that was hanging out of the corner of his mouth. Marko saw that the door was being propped open by the mop that presumably went with the bucket the janitor was presumably about to relieve of its contents into the Nosferatu's home. This was perfect.

Marko let the janitor have a few puffs off his smoke before rushing him. From behind, Marko bit him and began to feed some more; it always struck him odd that the eats in Chinatown were consistently more satisfying than anywhere else in town. It must have had something to do with their diet. Or maybe it was just around the Fu Syndicate. Maybe Mr. Fu paid his help well so they could stay healthier and work for him longer. Taking care not to take too much of this man's euphoric elixir in his delectable arteries, Marko drained just enough to render the janitor unconscious. Then he dragged him back into the building, sat him in a closet, and then collected his bucket and mop. He also left his own rake in the closet with the janitor. With luck, anyone else who might come by would believe the janitor was napping on the job. Proceeding down the hall deeper into the Fu building, Marko wondered if the janitor was the one Ox in the Box wanted to reap the bad luck he was supposed to farm while he was here. Chances were good he'd get fired for sleeping when he should be cleaning, so that could be it.

...She's here...

...watching you...

Troubletroubletroubletrouble...

Marko glanced up and down the hall and saw nothing. Even with Auspex the hall seemed empty of all souls save for himself and the napping janitor in the closet. Who could the Network is talking about? Maybe it was that camera. Marko wordlessly cussed at himself for being so careless. Of course a big corporate building like this would have security cameras. Now he had to know two things; who was she, and where was she. It was possible that it was just Imalia being nosy and playing with Mitnick's toys, but that wouldn't have set the Worry Wart of the Network. Marko decided, with all his great detective skills that he didn't have, that it must be a security guard, and she was probably coming to him right now from some kind of security room. As much as he wanted to abort the mission, he needed the help that Ox in the Box could give him, so he had to press on. He took out the sling blades so he would be ready for an attack.

He walked down to the end of the hall and came to door. He gently pushed the crossbar to open the door and carefully looked inside. Inside was apparently a corridor of offices. He quietly stepped through and noted the office doors all had numbers on them: 101, 102, 105, 106, 109... The numbers were very careful to avoid 4's, Marko noted. He paused to consult his memory to recall the number that Ox in the Box told him to plant the Bad Luck Seed. Maybe he could get away with doing this quickly and get out before the ever vigilant security officer on the other side of the cameras caught up with him. The he wouldn't have to worry too much about finding the security room and tampering with whatever recording of his presence in here they might have. The ticket in his memory bank told him it was locker 3 of room UM-1. His best guess hinted he was looking for an underground floor; most likely under the Main part of the building. He could forget about looking in either of the wings and stay as much in the middle part of the facility; at least for now. He may still have to figure out where the control room for the cameras is. Underground meant he needed either stairs or an elevator to go down.

He easily found both; the building was designed most efficiently. Now he had a choice to make. Would he take the elevator, or would it be the stairs? There was no fire, so the elevator was safe on that front. The note beside the stairs clearly stated they were meant to be used as an emergency exit. He wasn't exiting just yet, but this was kind of an emergency. Using the elevator, it occurred to him, would be a huge tip off to his watcher; whoever and wherever he – or she – may be. Finally, he decided the stairs were the better choice to make. It was exactly because of this fact he had to physically restrain himself from pushing the car call button on the panel beside the elevator before pulling the door that lead to the stairs open. In this exit, there were stairs leading both ways; up and down. He looked up and saw nobody. He looked down and saw nobody again. He was momentarily amazed at how quickly nobody moved; nobody was able to be in both places at the same time. As quietly as he could manage, Marko crept down to the next level, hoping this was the right place to be.

The door on the next landing told him it was indeed the right place to be. "UM" the door said. He pushed the door and it opened. Looking inside, a big surprise; it was yet another hallway with doors that were numbered, all so very careful to avoid the number four in any form; even adding up to four or multiples thereof. And people say that I'm crazy.

He finally found the door he was here to look for; UM-1. He turned the knob, expecting it to be locked, but it wasn't. The door opened easily to a change room with plenty of lockers. Now all he had to do was find locker number three and plant the seed. There was a name that Ox said was attached to that locker; Marko consulted his memory to find it. The name was a name he saw before or after he heard it, so it could not have gotten buried too deep into his memory, but at the moment he couldn't find it. Maybe it would be on locker number three. Another thought crossed his mind; he wondered if the Bad Luck Seed could affect him if he held on to it too long. The chain of lockers along the walls was broken up by a public shower system. Number three had to be on the other end, the end opposite the entrance. That felt a little bit like bad luck right there; having to go so deep into a room with just one exit, thus boxing him in for the vigilant watcher to track him down.

At the far end of the second room, Marko found locker number three. As an unexpected bit of serendipity, there was no lock on it; Marko noted that locker number three had a name, and its name was Chang. A very common name, to be sure, but he heard it or saw it very recently. Could it have been the janitor? Marko once again consulted his memory, and sure enough it was; the janitor had the name stitched into his uniform. The unimportant question now was; why did Ox in the Box wish such interesting times upon a janitor. He opened the locker pulled the seed from his pocket. He paused to examine it; a small idol that sort of resembled a little man with burns and scars all over it. Shrugging, he placed the seed into the locker and shut the door. With the task complete, he turned to leave; he barely had time to wonder what the bad luck he just planted would like.

Ka-CHUNK! THWAP!

Marko crumpled onto the locker room floor as soon as the wooden bolt shot through and stuck into his left leg. His sling blades clanged on the floor as he gripped the bolt with one hand and started to hoist himself back to his feet with the other. He looked up and saw young Asian woman standing across the shower, a new bolt already loaded into the crossbow she had trained on him.

"I know what you are, demon." The woman said. Not once did her aim falter as she spoke while Marko struggled to his feet. "I don't know why you came here, but you will die here!"

...Yakima...
...Shiny Rock...

"I have no doubt you know what you know," Marko said, pulling the bolt from his leg and healing the wound. "But you should know what I know; I know the people you work for are in league with the Shiny Rock."

She balked ever so slightly, though her aim did not falter as she muttered something in her own language.

"You know Brightstone?" she demanded; "How?"

This was exactly what Marko was hoping for. She was engaging him in conversation. He chuckled lightly, like the way someone might chuckle before answering a question asked by a naive child.

"This city is ours, little girl." He said. "Our people are everywhere, and nothing happens in the city of Angels that we don't know about."

Again she muttered something in her own language.

"That's how we know all about Brightstone; the things they do to normal people in order to get to us. Just like the criminals whom you answer to."

"You lie!" She said abruptly; it sounded to him like she was trying to convince herself. She was almost ready...

"Believe what you want." He shrugged as if it made no difference at all to him. "It won't change the fact that while you call us demons, it is you who for the real monsters."

Ever so slightly, she lowered the crossbow. Now was the moment; Marko whammied her with one of his Jedi mind tricks.

"Besides, you don't think I'd be stupid enough to come here alone, do you?"

The expression on her face changed to one of surprised alert as she whirled around 180 degrees and fired the bolt at nothing. Marko had absolutely no idea what she thought she saw and he didn't really didn't much care. Snatching up his sling blades he rushed her while her back was turned.

She had good reflexes. In the time it took for Marko to dash across the room to her, she had recovered her senses enough to drop the crossbow and spin around with a roundhouse kick, narrowly missing his head. Marko could feel the heel of her boot whisk through his hair when he ducked under her attack. He countered with an uppercut swing with one of his sling blades, which she blocked and batted away with a lightning quick motion of pulling out a katana. Trying for another strike, he swung the second blade; targeting her midriff. With what seemed like almost contemptuous ease, she blocked that strike too; she followed that up with a leg sweep, taking Marko off his feet. Turning the blade downward, she forced the katana towards his chest. Marko rolled to one side, avoiding the sword as it plunged deep into tiles exactly where he had been a moment before.

By the time he got back to his feet, the woman had abandoned her sword in favor of trying a more hands on approach; at least for the time being. Marko was up to one knee when she introduced his jaw to her foot, knocking him off balance. Reeling, Marko nearly dropped the sling blades. The woman paused just long enough to produce a dagger. It was just enough time. As she moved in Mark met her lunge with the dagger with an upward arc of one blade, catching her bicep and severing several tendons along with an artery. Wailing sharply once in pain, she dropped the dagger. It was now basically over; in a matter of moments she would bleed out. Still, she fought well; Marko respected that. He just couldn't let her die this way; death by bleed out is painful and unpleasant. Better for her if he ended her quickly.

The woman crumpled to her knees. She looked up at him, clutching her arm in a vain effort to slow the bleeding. With a sharp double swing, he sliced at her throat. For a full three seconds she continued to look up at him before her head toppled to the floor in front of her.

Marko wondered momentarily if it was true that a decapitated person can actually see for a moment or two after their head leaves their shoulders. No time to entertain such thoughts; as relevant as they may be. It was something to be explored later. Perhaps as a conversation piece with Jeanette. Now it was time to clean this mess up a bit; at least enough to offer a Masquerade friendly explanation.

...she saw it all...

Marko moved the body to the middle of the shower. After snatching up the head, he turned all the showers on, and watched for a few seconds as the blood was wasted; slithering down the drain in the center of the floor like a crimson snake. Shrugging, he walked briskly back to where he left the janitor, who was still dozing. Carefully placing the head in the janitors' lap, he patted the janitor lightly on the cheek; calling to him to wake up.

The janitor moaned groggily in protest, but came to enough for Marko to do his thing. Hitting him with one of his mind-whammies, the Malkavian whispered in his ear all that the janitor needed to know; his vengeance was complete with the death of the woman. He was proud of his accomplishment. She deserved to die. He completed the ideation with a maniacal laughter. The janitor started to laugh along with him, gibbering something in his own language. Satisfied that his work was as done as he could get it, Marko left the building. Next he called Mitnick. He made an arrangement for the Nosferatu computer whiz to remove all digital evidence of his presence at the Fu Syndicate. Even more important, to make it look like a total hack and slash job; something a rank amateur would do on site if possible. He offered a trivial boon for the trouble, hoping the computer geek might miss that boons are basically moot for the next month or so. Mitnick was all too happy to take care of it. Marko decided that he was going to miss the sling blades, which he left behind in the running shower, so investigators could find the weapons that the janitor clearly used for his heinous crime.

That done, Marko returned to the box that held the Ox.

"You are always welcome here," Ox greeted with a croak.

"Thank you," Marko replied. "The deed is done."

Ox regarded him appreciatively. "Did the seed take root?" He asked anxiously.

"Well," Marko answered, "the seed was planted where you prescribed. A vigilant night watchwoman with a mighty sword and good reflexes fought honorably to stop me and lost her head. The janitor knows without a doubt that he is responsible."

The Ox tittered with a grandiose sense of triumph. "Bad luck for the janitor, indeed! You have done well, Bad Luck Farmer! Your harvest is most appreciated and will be rewarded." From his table, he picked up a small item wrapped in a cloth. Its shape suggested that it was a handheld mirror. "Do you know what this is?" Ox asked dryly.

"Wait; let me take a guess." Marko said. "It's a vampire mirror! You look into it, and it steals your soul- or whatever else might be in the way of your soul."

"Yes," Ox confirmed with a long, drawn out one word response. "Whoever looks into it becomes lost in it, trapped on the other side. It is yours for sowing the seed of Bad Luck. Be very careful how and when you use it."

Marko took the mirror, still wrapped, and left; thanking the Ox and assuring him he will use his purchase well.