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"They don't know how bad it's going to be yet. It's worst then that time in 1994 though. They've had twenty something precogs die in coustody from hemmorages and bloodloss, and apparently a whole lot of my kind are turning up suddenly....." the man assured her.

Despite his slackened gut, the man was looking underfed and a bit on the gaunt side. It was questionable that he'd seen sun recently. His last informant job had not been a profitable one, and his boss didn't take care of him. The man had spent most of the last month and a half in a homeless shelter, keeping the clothes he had on at the moment, his 'work clothes,' in the safety of a building that was indefinetly scheduled for demolition.

D blinked at the last question. He knew a lot of people, presidents, morticians, weapons makers, deli owners, but no pathologist. He shook his head no, looking a bit disappointed in himself. "Do you need one? I can find one."

***************

Jessi glanced around again, before awkwardly but gently tapping a finger against the shoulder of the oiled man in an attempt to comfort him. She had no idea if he could feel, or if it was only vision and hearing that he still possessed.

"Now where is she? She said she'd be right in after me...."

D stared at the pile of neat bills on the desk before him and pulled out a mint tin. Thin fingers folded a small portion of the bills carefully, and tucked them under the wax paper that held the last few mints, concealing them from normal view, and still giving the mints plenty of room to rattle. The next section of bills, a bit larger, were hidden in his sock, and the last of it was hidden in the now empty portfolio.

He rose from his seat and left in the indicated direction with little more than a nod to the curator. He bypassed the tour, and strode nonchalantly from museum. A few moments more and the man had disappeared into the growing afternoon crowds on the side walks.

Normally the man would have just headed to a nearby bar, and drank the portfoilo's worth of his earnings, a pretty hefty sum of liquor to be sure, but he was still concerned about Lexicon's other visitor. The girl was strange, predatory, and the second name Lex had reffered to the girl with sounded familiar, like MMC familiar. The Immortal wouldn't have blinked at the MMC's presence, after all, her kind kept out of sight like the Elders and the Occult Integration Society did. They posed no perceivable threat to mankind, but they tended to be valuable sources of information. The MMC always needed information.

****************

Jessi smiled as a young man drifted into the room with her, looking over the Impressionist paintings around her. The boy, she suspected an art student by the sketch pad with a half finished study of Gaugin on it, smiled back and drifted closer. Jessi tried to look like she was just checking out the art. She wanted the boy to go away and hoped Thomas wouldn't pick this moment to do something.

"Everything is wonderful, thank you," she responded quietly, eyeing the boy again.

The boy frowned a little- foiled again. He waited a moment or two more, hoping this creepy guy in the white suit would leave, so he could talk to the girl. She was kind of hot... Seeing that the guy in the white suit wasn't leaving, he gave up, and headed on to Gaugin. His picture was due in two days, and he had a long way to go on it.

Jessi sighed in relief as the kid left. She looked up at Thomas, and back at the curator. "Ok, here's the plan. We need to move him to a basement or something where I can work without having to worry about that," she said, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder in the direction the guy had gone. "I think I can get him to help me figure out his name. It's... just going to take a while.

"Think we can get him moved?"

She sounded all too chipper. Maybe they hyperness hadn't entirely worn off.

Or maybe she was just excited to not be out of her element. It didn't matter. She was just happy.

"I think I can have him out and about by the end of the night," Jessi replied cheerfully. She paused for a moment, considering Cleon's statement.

"You mean on the way back here? Erm, no, I just came back here and that was it. Some of the cameramen glared at me, but no one talked to me....." She fell silent for a moment, glancing from the painting back to the hall. "Going on vaction, ms. Cleon?"

Jessi seemed torn as to wether or not to follow the curator as she was heading for the door or not. She'd look at the painting, look at Cleon, and then back, all the while making a confused 'ah?' sound. Eventually she sprinted to keep close to the woman as she spoke.

"Wai-wait. I need someone to help me get him somewhere, wether it be my hotel room or a basement or something. And what do you want me to do with him when he's out? Do you have some sort of arangements for him if he turns out to have a physical form? Any way to help him move on if he's a spirit?If you do, then I need to know that... otherwise this might take a litle longer than I expected."

She was speaking in a hurried manner, but kept it low to avoid any prying ears. "And what do you mean 'remain safe?'"

Like normal, on a Sunday afternoon, church was being held in a southern part of Chicago. Ah, however one special church stood out in particular. The church of Ascension, a place where people go to reach their truest potential, where humans go to realize their inner power. Yes, such a nice sounding place, but there was more to it than that. To become better, they would have to be tested, see if their faith holds true. If their devotion swayed not, they can reach the enlightenment, and even become immortal. However there's always a price, the trials may very well be the death of them. Even still, word spread of this church, and more and more came seeking its knowledge.

People flooded through the large oak doors, and stationed themselves in the dark candle lit room. Once the first few rows filled up, Derial felt the grinning urge of anticipation grown on him. Every time he saw the eager humans waiting, desiring, to become better, he knew humans had such great potential, and they could reach it if they thrived enough. All of them were equal as vampires, the vampiric blood only made their inner power more transparent.

Many things surged through his head, mainly how he would begin the sermon, and going on from there. usually though, he was caught up in reciting phrases to himself, this was mainly to make sure he would not stumble on annunciation.

Oration was something he was born to do... or perhaps reborn to do. That thought always cross his mind, vampires were merely the best of a person, reborn. In a sense, that was the baptism that he preached, and oh so many people he had 'baptized' in such a manner. Never once, after he had thought that he was a heathen. No it was those who killed, raped, and thieved that were the true heathens. Even when he drank the heathen blood, he never once changed his views. After all, to him, he shared his blood with the humans, as they share theirs with him, making them truly equal as blood brethren.

Time passed, words murmur, and the flames diluted the wick's life, finally Derial was ready for action. There was so much to say tonight. With all of the weird events going on, and the rivalry Lee, he would need to amass a larger follower of vampires. Tonight, his church, would recruit more than he had in a long time; making the blood letting of him and his other vampires even more draining as they filled the cups lined with arsenic and cyanide. A feasting tonight would definitely be in store to fill his hungry thirst. Worsening the eternal desire for hunger was worth it though, for those who truly believe and accept death tonight, welcomes eternal life.

Jessi took the directions and nodded to the curator. "Alright. 7 pm, get cleaned up. I'll see you then I guess." She glanced back at the painting, and figured she should let the trapped man know what was going on, just so he wouldn't panic when he got moved and she left.

She strolled back to him with her hands in her pocket, checked for the all clear and sighed. "Thomas, Cleon is moving you to her place. I'll be joining you there later to see what I can do. Ok?"

********

GotMaschine's first night in Chicago was uneventful to say the least. No murders, no free coffee, and not even so much as a single frantic phone call was to be had. He was happy about everything but the coffee. That part bothered him a bit. Not hearing from Jessi bothered him, too. He wrote that off to her enjoying herself in London, and again he felt some appreciation for the peace.

One thing did happen that he found intriguing. A young, somewhat zealous vampire turned up at Welt towards the end of the night looking for him. The man introduced himself as a Child of Ascension. Got was well aware of who’s kin that made the man, and he welcomed him into the VIP room of the club to discuss the status of the Church. Saturday night ended not much longer after that, unfolding into Sunday morning.

Got spent Sunday in his darkened room in the hotel, mulling over what little detail he had regarding the murders. With such general information, there was nothing much he could do but review what little in the way of resources he’d brought with him and hope he found something similar. He found nothing. He needed to see the bodies to get a better starting place.

The day drew on towards a new night. Before the sun was safely out of the sky for the day, Got took to the streets. He hailed a taxi, dressed in the most simple of his suits he had with him and the same heavy wool trench he always wore. He kept his head down through much of the ride, bracing against the pain of the light. Traffic was unusually low at the time he took his ride to The Church of Ascension, so he arrived earlier than he’d expected.

He was greeted warmly upon walking in, but he was too distracted to notice the cherub-faced woman that took his coat and ushered him into the jovial throng. Apparently Dariel’s flock was growing.. He just hoped his young associate was being cautious in his workings. William sighed as he found a place to stand towards the back. It looked like he’d found out tonight just how prudent the preacher man was.