From her clothes it looked like she'd been out clubbing before whatever happened to cause her Sire to embrace her. I couldn't see much other purpose for the practically painted on tight pair of pants, or the tall set of heels she was wearing, or the tiny backless halter top that showed off a really impressive snake tattoo running up her spine.
She appeared to be about twenty or so in age too, not a teenager but not far from it either, and definitely won the genetic lottery with not only her curvy, hourglass figure but also because she was tall, like she's gotta be six foot five-ish at least. Those heels make it a little tricky to tell.
No, I'm not jealous or feeling self-conscious.
…I'm not…
Anyway thing is I have no fucking clue what clan she is because she doesn't match any of the playable characters from the game. Firstly, she looks Indian - or possible another ethnicity from somewhere in that general geographic region, I suck at geography - though I'm not quite sure her exact ethnicity and it's probably rude to ask.
Anyway exact ethnicity aside, she has absolutely gorgeous caramel-coloured skin that had only barely paled slightly in undeath along with silky black hair in a hime cut that came down to the top of her shoulders. Her delicate face has a cute little nose and the most soulful pair of brown eyes, that looked so lost and confused about her new circumstances that I felt a bigger pang of sympathy for her than I'd expected to.
Now to be fair I was already feeling sympathetic, but that bewildered kicked puppy look wasn't doing my poor unbeating heart any favours.
I bounced in front of her, slipping back into my exaggerated role of kooky Malkavian girl. "Hi hi! I'm Pandora. But you probably already knew that after I showed up earlier. This is Jack. He used to be a pirate." I gestured wildly over at Jack, bouncing about like I was hyperactive.
Jack at least took the hint and got to business.
"Hoo boy. What a night. They just plopped you out here like a naked little babe in the woods." Jack joined in at my introduction, slipping back into his more normal mannerisms when presented with somebody that wasn't me, a potential 'nightmare from the dawn of civilisation'. "Sucks to be you kiddo, but I guess I can show ya the ropes. Whaddya say?"
She looked back and forth between the two of us. I gave her a thumbs up and a wide, toothy smile.
"Okay then." She said, still clearly in the 'what the hell is going on' phase of her night.
"Well Bearington and me need to go. Things to do, people to annoy, pranks to play. Later Jack, Fledgie." I waved goodbye and let Jack take over. She was in good enough hands. Better than mine at the moment anyway. Jack would take good enough care of her for now.
I left them to it and headed off, slipping past the fledgie's first potential feeding victim without even worrying about being seen, so focused he was on his car I didn't even need to pop up any illusions.
I was lost in thought for a bit thinking about how amazing this discipline was gonna be for pranking people when the sound of screeching tires and gunshots began ringing out.
Oh Right. Sabbat raid and all that during the game's tutorial. Forgot about that.
Honestly I'm amazed some of them know how to drive, but then again from the sound of those tires screeching I'm not exactly sure the word 'drive' actually fits. Actually from the sound it seems they may have just crashed into a wall.
Damn shovelheads.
Either way I'd better get out of here.
Easier said than done however as rounding the next corner ahead was a pair of Sabbat grunts. A Gangrel and possibly a Brujah? I'm really not particularly good at identifying clans at first glance, the Gangrel being the exception due to the animalistic features and elongated arms with large claws she was sporting.
They spotted me the same time I spotted them. I'd like to say I handled the situation with grace, but honestly I just started panicking the moment they began to charge me with mad laughter on their lips.
What happened was I stumbled back in surprise, slipped on a loose bit of paper and landed flat on my ass in the dirty alley. I had just enough time to lash out with an instinctive bit of Dementation to halt the Gangrel in her tracks.
She broke into hysterical laughter, clutched at herself and giggled madly as the effect wormed its way into her mind.
Her buddy on the other hand swiftly introduced his baseball bat to my side and I was knocked off to the side and into the wall.
"How'd ya like that, Lick?" He grinned viciously, smacking the bat into his palm threateningly and seemingly oblivious to his companion clutching herself and laughing hysterically.
Blood surged in my veins and I grabbed onto the nearby wall to pull myself back to my feet, my fingers sinking into the concrete like it was made of paper mache. His eyes widened and I ripped a chunk of wall out and threw it at him, rushing behind in its wake.
Now I'm not much of a brawler. I've only really been in one fight before - all the way back in primary school in fact - so I have basically no skill with any of this.
But it turns out when you're bloodbuffed and have turned the dial on your physical attributes right the way up to eleven you don't really need that much skill. Certainly not to latch onto somebody badly injured from a flying chunk of wall.
And just like in primary school it turns out being a biter when you're in a brawl with an irritating little bitch is a great way to end a fight.
My teeth sank into his neck and blood, delicious blood, filled my mouth and I drank deeply.
It felt sooooo good. Feeding.
Better than anything I've ever experienced in my life.
I drank and drank and then finally let go, dropping the empty corpse to the floor. I instinctively knew I could have drunk more, but it wouldn't be his blood I'd be consuming if I did.
I was still thirsty and his friend was coming down from the hysterical laughter high I'd forced upon her.
But not fast enough to stop me from latching onto her too, and as with her friend I drank her dry, leaving the remains to lie next to her equally exsanguinated packmate like a discarded juice box. Inhaling deeply, I tilted my head back and let off a satisfied sigh with bloodstained fangs on full display as I smiled into the night air.
A small trail of blood dribbled down my chin.
Damn that felt good.
Definitely going to have to watch myself when I go hunting later though. Draining half-feral savages to death when they're trying to kill me is one thing. Draining an innocent human just minding their own business is another thing entirely.
Going to have to figure out a code of morality to follow, if only to keep the Beast at bay.
Thoughts for later.
I heard the sound of a foot scuffing the ground and spun round, fangs bared and ready to go, only to see Jack staring with concern in his eyes at my bloody teeth and the two bodies beside me.
Immediately I dropped my hostile stance. "One Above, Jack. Don't you have a fledgeling to keep an eye on?" I asked, deliberately letting out a sigh.
"Sent her inside while I scoped out the area." He said a touch defensively.
"Well some Sabbat shovelheads were here, before I happened to them." I explained, crouching down and tearing off part of one of their shirts and then using the rag to wipe any leftover blood from my lips.
Jack continued to eye me up with wariness.
I giggled, getting at what he was thinking. "Just drank them. Nothing more. I despise amaranth and diablerists. Was just thirsty, you know. Now better get going Jack. I'd be upset if any Sabbat happened to the little Fledgling."
"Right." He said, beating a swift retreat and leaving me on my own again.
I'm probably freaking Jack the fuck out, but fuck it. It's a little funny in hindsight.
Now I should probably get out of here before the cops or worse, the PRT/Protectorate show up. Caine would probably be disappointed in me if I have to explain any of this shit to the authorities. Now which way to go?
Eh, I figure if I can get to a road Caine should be able to find me using one of his bajillion overpowered vampire powers and come pick me up. Not entirely sure which way the road is, but with my current level of blood-boosted strength walls are more like suggestions right now.
A couple ignored suggestions via kool-aid man impressions later I was back on the street and a familiar looking cab pulled up and I hopped inside.
"Caine." I tucked Beorn onto my lap and nodded to my sire who eyed me through the rearview mirror.
"Childe. How did things go?" He asked.
To be honest he probably already knew. Between all the bullshit powers he has I'm just going to assume he knows everything I get up to. Still though, he did ask.
"Everything went okay I think. Seems everyone thinks I'm a Malkavian of indeterminate age, so that part went well. Annoyed Frenchie too which was a bonus. Though what was up with the Traditions you taught me? Because I was getting a lot of strange looks near the end. They were legit, right?"
"They were 'legit'." He replied, and I could practically hear the quotation marks.
"Then why all the odd reactions?"
"They fell out of use when the Camarilla formed, around oh… six centuries ago." He explained, revealing the punchline.
"Six centuries." I deadpanned, extremely unimpressed with his humour. "You made everyone think I'm potentially up to six centuries old."
"Or older." He added unhelpfully.
"Not sure how I feel about that. Thanks I guess." I suppose it'll make everyone think twice before starting things at any rate. I thought they sounded a little archaic and overly religious sounding when he explained them, but I had initially figured that was because the Camarilla was an old organisation full of fossils anyways.
We drove in silence for a bit. Me contemplating what a troll my sire was and him likely contemplating better ways to troll everyone in general and/or me in particular.
We soon pulled to a stop and Jack ushered the Fledgeling into the cab. I gave her a little wave but she looked a little shell-shocked, barely paying attention to my presence. Jack also hopped in, opting to sit up in the front and have a quick whispered conversation with Caine as we drove off.
The first stop was both mine and the Fledgeling's, as we both now lived in the same building. We stood on the street right by the pawn shop, the sky beginning to lighten as dawn approached.
"You okay?" I asked the Fledgeling who had been standing in a bit of a daze.
"No." She replied softly.
"Come on then. Let's get inside. Things should be better tomorrow night."
I guided her to her new apartment/Camarilla safehouse, then went to my own which was coincidentally a couple doors down. Once inside I set Beorn down and lay back on the bed, made sure all the blinds were shut and got ready for bed.
Even better, I got another experience point.
Title: The Placeholder
Heroes 1
Juggling a busy and demanding job whilst still maintaining a healthy sleep schedule and personal life was a hard thing. When you were juggling three busy and demanding jobs, luxuries such as a healthy sleep schedule or even a personal life became a pipe dream.
Especially when those three jobs involved such positions as: being an active hero and leader of the L.A Protectorate; being one of the major figures in a shadowy world-saving conspiracy; and lastly being the Chief Director of the most important federal law enforcement agency in the country's history.
Body doubles helped but even then there was still only so much time in the day, and furthermore they only could only act without her input for so long before they became more of a hindrance than a help. Good for covering for short stints, less good when she needed to be present somewhere as a major hero while also managing political web that was important meetings with subordinate directors.
Thus when a cargo ship turned up off coast with not a soul onboard Alexandria - as leader of the Los Angeles Protectorate - needed to be at least kept in the loop as this was her city. Thankfully for today she could leave her other duties to be handled by her Chief Director body double.
And today had been an interesting day. In the Chinese sense of the word. The Elizabeth Dane, a small cargo ship having braved the trip from Turkey - no small feat in and of itself what with Leviathan roaming the seas - had originally been a problem for the local coast guard when it had arrived offshore.
The Coastguard had then turned jurisdiction of the crime scene over to the PRT after their initial investigation showed signs of suspected parahuman involvement.
Fortunately Alexandria could delegate matters. That's what subordinates were for, after all. She'd left things in Overwatch's hands, knowing the Tinker could handle things.
From the initial report on the situation Alexandria now knew the only thing of real value on the ship were some archeological treasures - most noteworthy of which was an ancient sarcophagus - being brought to L.A to be studied in further depth at the Museum of History.
What had arrived offshore was a ghost ship. Her crew of fifteen and additional two passengers were all gone. Seventeen souls in total had vanished, but unlike the usual stories one would tell about ghost ships they did not disappear without a trace.
There were plenty of blood stains aboard to prove that whatever happened, it wasn't a case of everyone suddenly deciding to abandon ship. Blood splatter experts - borrowed from the police - were still analysing the crime scene and collecting evidence, but even an idiot could tell foul play was involved. Alexandria had faith that Overwatch would be capable of handling the investigation and getting to the bottom of the matter.
And with the matter in capable hands Alexandria was free to door over to the atrium of one of Cauldron's alternate bases. Doctor Mother had requested to meet at for an urgent late night - or perhaps early morning? - meeting. It was one of the tertiary bases where Cauldron handled their Case 13 assets. Dooring to the atrium instead of the office directly would give the Brute time to collect her thoughts.
Because if Doctor Mother was here it meant the issue involved the Case 13s, and Alexandria greatly disliked Case 13s. A headache if there ever was one. There was just something fundamentally wrong about them that tickled at the instincts in the back of her mind.
They were parahumans, but not in the traditional manner with a corona and gemma. Rather they became parahumans through infection with a sort of undetectable bloodborne infection agent, clearly of parahuman origins.
Doctor Mother's preference to be scientific and refer to them as Case 13s sometimes made Alexandria sigh. After all, if it looked like a duck, walked like a duck, and quacked like a duck then you may as well just bite the bullet and call it a bloody duck.
Though in this case the ducks were essentially vampires. Alexandria would be perfectly fine calling them vampire capes, but sometimes it was easier to just humour the woman.
So far the prevailing theory behind the Case 13s was that there was an Agent, or more possibly multiple Agents - as they'd identified at least eight unique strains of 'vampirism' - were behind the initial creation of the Case 13s.
And these Agents had for some alien reason known only to them latched onto humanity's concept of vampires and chosen to run with it, creating a blood-transmitted infection that didn't show up on any sort of test Cauldron had devised, tinkertech or otherwise.
The Agents of course couldn't get things completely consistent. Some had no reflections, others were hideously warped and deformed, some seemed normal only to fly into rage at the drop of a hat, another strain may exhibit bouts of insanity.
Even the powers were diverse. Some had Stranger powers, others were Brutes, others still might have Master powers. Even the Master powers were diverse. Some could control animals, others could affect people, others could control shadows. The less said about the ones with biotinker powers the better.
There seemed to be some overlap with abilities between strains, while other powers appeared unique to certain strains.
At least infection followed a standard set up. Exsanguinate and add infected blood. It made them quick to reproduce but without allowing them to run completely rampant. It was also something that Cauldron took great care to keep out of public awareness. Even the PRT's heavily redacted notes on Case 13s had no information at all on exactly how ordinary people became Case 13s, believing it to be a standard trigger event.
In truth Alexandria honestly hated the whole mess. It was as if the Agents behind this mess had access to every vampire myth in history and had then decided to mix and match. They then picked initial hosts for infection which were obviously further mentally adjusted to delusionally believe they had been vampires since before the arrival of Scion, some even having been modified to believe they have memories of lives from centuries past or claiming to be historical figures.
Then these Case 13s then infected others and so on.
Those 'older' vampires tended to have stronger powers, which wouldn't be an issue but most were also blindspots to almost all Thinkers powers. Even Contessa had issues with working around ones above a certain level of infection 'strength'.
However, as each subsequent generation of infected went on to infect new humans the powers they passed on weakened and they were more likely to be affected by Thinker powers.
It was quite an insidious plan by the Agents responsible.
These 'vampires' are predators that would feed on humans. One merely had to look at a history book to see that humans do not take kindly to being fed on by anything.
This meant there would be instant conflict between regular parahumans and the infected humans. Furthermore, as each subsequent infection was weaker than the last that meant plenty of cannon fodder for the grinder without overwhelming the regular parahumans outright.
In essence it seemed the vampires were there to be a 'scary' enemy for the naturally triggering parahumans to fight with. With the stronger 'patient zero' type vampires being blindspots it meant stamping out the infection in its entirety was almost impossible and the conflict would continue on indefinitely.
However ironically enough, rather than fighting against parahumans instead the Case 13s had succumbed to human nature and divided themselves into three factions, conducting a shadow war against each other and largely keeping clear of regular parahuman shenanigans altogether.
An irony, but one that meant large-scale outright conflict between the 'vampires' and the rest of humanity was avoided. Perhaps it was the reason behind so many different types of infection strains? The Agent or Agents kept trying to repeat a failing experiment.
On the other hand though the three factions seemed more than happy to conflict with each other.
First there was the Camarilla - which was Cauldron's preferred group - that occupied the position as the most stable of the three. They focused heavily on avoiding the public eye and managing their own population. Not particularly out of any sense of altruism, but rather they had actually realised that the rest of humanity looks down on being food and would do something about it if they found out about it.
The Sabbat on the other hand was the most hostile. Most likely they were the ones most in line with what the Agents wanted. Violent and cruel towards regular humans. They employed attack tactics that made use of their ability to infect large numbers. Thankfully they focused on fighting the Camarilla in the shadows, even if they caused the most chaos and collateral damage of the three.
The third group, the Anarchs, mostly seemed to just be there to sit between the bigger two. Rule-hating 'anarchic' rabble that weren't as violent or dangerous as the Sabbat, but chose to act without the order and rules the Camarilla preferred. They tended to organise themselves along the lines Cauldron had suspected feudalism would: One warlord, or Baron, ruling over an area.
If it was just the Camarilla and Anarchs thing would likely be fine. However, thanks to the Sabbat Cauldron had been forced to run a lot of interference. While the majority of Case 13s were weak compared to proper parahumans both Doctor Mother and Contessa believed they could have a vital part to play in the final fight against Scion.
At the very least if it came down to it, Cauldron could infect whole countries for disposable cannon fodder if need be.
The Sabbat faction risked ruining that. Quite often they were the opposite of subtle and some people had begun to take notice, especially with the advancements in technology. The last thing Cauldron needed was religious fanatics forming up into a massive global witch hunt against the 'vampires'.
The odd Case 13 here and coming to public attention was fine. They could be played off as regular parahumans, albeit with a vampiric bent to their powers. The general public knowing the real truth about Case 13s was another matter entirely.
The last thing Cauldron wanted was the chaos and loss of potential assets that would happen if the general public brought the Spanish Inquisition back for a second act. Which is what would happen if they learnt just how dangerous and easy to spread the infection could be.
Thankfully the few Case 13 capes that had come forward and had thus been on the public radar were on the weak end of the power scale, where the infection had diluted so far that they were barely better than regular humans.
These 'thin-bloods' - as the three factions called them - as well as the odd Case 13 from an infection generation one or two steps above, that decided to try to act more in line with modern 'cape culture' were the only 'vampire capes' the public knew of.
And they invariably didn't last for very long. Without fail the moment a 'vampire cape' was known to be a city, 'vampire hunters' would almost immediately arrive and kill it. Most of the time it wasn't even the religious fanatics either, but rather Mastered humans sent in by the Camarilla.
Media manipulation, either via Cauldron's machinations or the Camarilla's mastered pawns - thank God the PRT had such rigorous Master/Stranger protocols - meant that such cases didn't receive much public attention besides conspiracy theorists.
Cauldron themselves had done some rather extensive testing of captive Case 13s and as such had a good idea of general weaknesses. Sunlight was deadly, as was fire. All of them slept the moment dawn broke, even if they were in underground bunkers deep beneath the surface where the sun had no hope of reaching them. If the sun was up, they slept.
They needed blood, obviously, but could survive on animal blood if need be. If damaged or starved enough they entered hibernation until the chance to feed came by.
It was just a pity the infection was completely incompatible with an active gemma. Being able to augment useful parahumans with additional powers would have been extremely useful for their final parahuman army.
Unfortunately trying to infect a parahuman with an active gemma tended to have one of two effects:
The infection set in as normal, but they lost their parahuman powers after awakening. This was the rarer of the two occurrences.
The most common result was the infection set in, but a sort of broken trigger effect occurred upon reanimation. This typically caused the subject to mutate uncontrollably before their body finally couldn't handle the strain any further and they spontaneously burst into flames.
Or they simply exploded.
Or dissolved into a puddle of fleshy goo. Which then exploded.
The less said about the one time they tried feeding a Case 13 a vial the better.
Alexandra ceased her morbid musings as she reached the door to the office Doctor Mother had chosen for this meeting. The Triumvirate Brute didn't dother to knock and simply let herself in.
"Sorry for the delay, your request said it was important but not urgent and a situation occurred in L.A." Alexandria said to Cauldron's nominal leader. So far only the two of them were present.
Contessa would arrive if she was needed, the woman likely even more overworked that Alexandria was. Kieth knew nothing important about Cauldron's handling of Case 13s, save that they had a separate 'thinktank' set up to monitor them, and lastly David was largely ambivalent to the Case 13s.
Kurt's lack of appearance was telling in its own way, as it meant either what they were about to discuss had nothing to do with how Case 13s had wormed their way into the global economy, or he'd already been briefed on the issue and was handling things on his end.
"The seers predicted something." Doctor Mother began, skipping the preamble and getting straight to the point. "We were trying to induce a scheduled prediction event and we did. It's something big, That's either just happened or is just about to happen." Her tone was hard to place, expressing excitement and dismay all in one.
With the flick of a switch the large screen on the wall turned on. On the screen was a paused camera feed showing one of the batches of captive Case 13 seers Cauldron had created. They were already strapped in their chairs and had been fed opiate-laced animal blood in an attempt to augment their Thinker powers by inducing a drugged mental state.
Suddenly and in complete synchronisation every single Case 13 seer began screaming, regardless of what they each had been doing previously, eyes wide and panicked. It lasted five minutes. As sudden as it started the event stopped, each and every seer staring with wide unfocused eyes at something only they could see.
And then as one, they spoke:
"She comes. Salvation! Destruction! Revenge for the forgotten. Mourning for the lost. The ocean will freeze at her gaze. The sky will fall. Blood in the ice. She comes. She comes!"
Their eyes wept with blood as they spoke their prophecy, crimson tracks marring each and every face. Once the last word of their recital had been spoken they collapsed like puppets with cut strings and became completely unresponsive.
"That sounds worrying. Do we know who or what they're referring to?" Alexandria asked, mind abuzz. The worst part was figuring out what the riddles and metaphors actually meant.
At least it was better than the 'the future is mauve and soggy' rubbish like they'd get from regular parahuan Thinkers.
"Not yet. That wasn't the only event either." She replied, mouth set in a grim line.
"Subject Three?" The Brute raised an eyebrow inquiringly as Doctor Mother began bringing up the next video.
He was one of the initial five Case 13s Cauldron had originally captured and experimented on once they had become aware of the 'vampiric' capes. He and his 'descendant', Subject Twenty-Three were the only full Case 13s Cauldron had kept, aside from the seers.
"He woke briefly, made his…prediction, and then spontaneously combusted." Came the reply as Doctor Mother tapped some commands on the keyboard.
Worrying. He'd been hibernating for the last seven years. If he woke it must've been something important indeed. The man was a powerful Thinker. The last prediction he'd made - once they managed to interpret the riddles and metaphors - allowed the successful defence of Buenos Aires from Behemoth by giving them the location of the attack weeks in advance.
The only problem was that Subject Three was absolutely insane, and seemed predisposed to impose that insanity onto others whenever the whim hit him. Any interviews required expendable personnel because of this.
In fact if he wasn't an extremely powerful Thinker Alexandria was sure he'd have been disposed of in the incinerator like the other initial test subjects.
Alexandria was brought out of her musing when Doctor Mother finished bringing up the recording that showed what looked like a strait-jacketed, desiccated corpse strapped down to a hospital gurney.
That desiccated appearance didn't necessarily mean he was dead. They had tested their captive Case 13s rather extensively and this was the extended result of the hibernation they were all capable of. She knew that if fed blood, the shrivelled and desiccated corpse would soon change to a handsome and seemingly alive young man.
Alexandria eyed the timestamp in the corner. As expected the corpse on the bed sat up straight - snapping the straps holding him down - the exact same time all the seers made their prediction.
It started with maddened giggles and laughter, but the voice was wrong. Three had a deep baritone voice and constantly referred to himself in the third person. No, what came from his mouth now was multi-tonal in a way that hurt to hear, even through a recording. It was as if a whole chorus of maddened voices of every age and gender were speaking all at once, over an undercurrent of insane cackling.
"HeheheHAHAHAHA!!! She's here! The youngest is born. Oh what a disaster has come to the world!" The laughter died down. Three's head turned - desiccated muscles in his neck cracking with the action - and his shriveled eyes locked onto the recessed camera. "She's not going to like you. I don't think I like you either." He stated lowly in that multi-tonal chorus that had replaced his voice.
Then whatever force that was possessing Three's body vanished and the corpse suddenly burst into flames, triggering the sprinkler system in the ceiling. Doctor Mother stopped the footage.
Alexandria blinked slowly. Well that was ominous, she thought as her mind replayed the entire scene. A pain too, as replacing a Thinker of his caliber would be tough. Cauldron's pet seers could only predict other Case 13s, whereas Subject Three was capable of so much more.
"Subject Twenty-Three?" Alexandria quickly asked. If something similar happened to Twenty-Three Cauldron's efforts could be hampered horrendously until they managed to create a suitable replacement. And with Three now truly dead that could be an issue.
They'd originally taken blood from Three and used it to create other Case 13s, then used blood from those to make others, and so forth. They knew the infection weakened as it passed on, but they'd needed to test the results of diluting the infection to see where it ended to know how best to exploit it.
Subject Twenty-Three had actually been rather promising originally. Possessing weaker variants of the same Stranger, Master and Thinker abilities Subject Three had. Not to mention the bipolar disorder she'd developed after infection was much more manageable than all the assorted derangements and mental issues her assorted 'predecessors' and 'siblings' had acquired.
However now at this point Twenty-Three was nothing more than a feral animal that existed to do nothing more than feed, kill and sleep. It was something they'd observed in every Case 13 they'd ever held in captivity, excluding Three who had preferred hibernating once they had started to use telepresence robots to interact with him.
However the real interesting fact was that she - and her obsolete and disposed of siblings - was at some sort of blood infection potency threshold where any Case 13s created from her lacked the powers from Three's infection strain and didn't spontaneously develop any mental problems.
In fact these thin-bloods, a term Cauldron had picked up from the Camarilla, barely had any powers at all. However sometimes there was a chance that some would manifest some impressive Thinker powers. Precogs, postcogs, flashes of insight. Most would rate around Thinker Three to Seven alone. Even better however was that when working in groups their powers appeared to focus and magnify, making groups of thin-blooded seers worth the effort of manufacturing.
The attrition rate for Cauldron's group of captive 'seers' was terrible, but when they could be mass produced as and when needed it didn't matter. They typically lasted between three to six months before degenerating mentally into a crazed beast that desired nothing more than feeding and sleeping. Alexandria was uncertain whether it was due to the strain used to create them or the fact they underwent frequent memory wipes, regular mental reconditioning and plenty of drugging via spiked blood to improve tractability and use.
Not that it really mattered. They could always make more so long as they had Twenty-Three and finding, or making, corpses that'd been bled out was a fairly simple thing when they had Doormaker and Clairvoyant.
However unlike Twenty-Three there was no reason to keep any of the seers around after they'd degenerated to that point. The large incinerator room they'd built on base had seen plenty of use since things began.
Especially as they weren't even guaranteed a new seer each time a thin-blood was created from harvesting Twenty-Three's blood. Those that displayed no oracular ability were simply disposed of. The attrition rates would be noticeable by the general public if Cauldron didn't have access to multiple worlds worth of people to new test subjects draw from.
However despite their attrition rate - and the annoyance of replacing them - the Case 13 precogs had a vital function that necessitated their creation. It wasn't common knowledge to most, but Thinker powers didn't work particularly well on most of the stronger infected Case 13s active on Bet. Some could be targeted fine, others were complete blindspots.
The Thinker powers belonging to the thin-blooded Thinkers however worked perfectly fine. In fact they only worked on other Case 13s. It was something Cauldron had taken serious advantage of, making sure to keep a high number available and under surveillance at all times.
Alexandria could almost picture the insidious goal the Agent (or Agents) behind the Case 13s would play in a regular cycle. By disallowing Thinker powers from working but allowing the easy creation of other Thinkers tuned specifically to those blindspots it would promote constant escalation of conflict between groups as they competed with each other to acquire or silence these Thinkers as appropriate.
"Dead. Just spontaneously combusted. Not even a prediction like with Subject Three either." She sighed out, frustration clearly evident in her voice. "We'll need to find a replacement for her as well."
Alexandria nodded, having surmised as much. Still, they had better knowledge of the three factions now than they had when first starting out so it shouldn't be as much of a hassle to replace her.
As she was musing Doctor Mother continued issuing orders. "Whatever has happened or is about to happen is going to have a big effect on the Case 13s. Kurt will be keeping an eye on sudden changes to the Bet's finances in case we can uncover a lead that way. The PRT and Protectorate however are more likely to notice anything first and I need you to keep an eye out for anything unusual. Have Dragon report anything she finds too."
"And Contessa?" Alexandria asked, already suspecting the answer.
"Whatever is happening is a blindspot to Contessa." She explained, confirming Alexandria's suspicions. "Until our seers recover and can focus on this issue we'll be flying blind and forced to use other methods to figure out what happened."
"It'll be done." The flying Brute nodded. "Door me."
It looked like it'll be a while longer before she could get some sleep. Damn Case 13s. Nocturnal headaches, the lot of them.