“Political parties, I guess. We have goals and an organization. It would take a long time to fully explain, but just know the names for now. We are going to see Viktor, Maria and Michael, who are the heads of the Invictus. There are also the Carthians, the Circle of the Crone, the Ordo Dracul, and the Lancea et Sanctum. The Prince has outlawed the Second Estate, the Lancea et Sanctum though, or at least any overt practicing of their ways.”
“She… outlawed an entire political party? Dolareido is a dictatorship?”
“A monarchy is the closer example. She has advisers from all practicing groups, but ultimately her word is law.” He took a glance down his shoulder at his tiny friend. This was a huge information dump, but better that than letting Jack brood. He’d seen too many freshly embraced brood themselves into suicide. No, this was better. Don’t let him think about how he’d just lost his entire life and now he was going to have to spend immortality never feeling the sun anymore, and always craving blood. He was going to spend every moment of his existence fearing some elder Kindred was going to rip him apart. No reason to ruin what was proving to be a surprisingly smooth embrace, near-death experience aside.
“So… why? Why all the politics?”
“How else could you keep a bunch of solitary, territorial predators forced to share the same food source from killing each other?”
“I guess, yeah.”
“Good. You got the basics.”
“Basics? How much more complicated does it get?”
Julias just had to laugh. He raised a hand to his face and put his fingers over his smile. He knew Jack would be frowning at him, but that only made him laugh harder. Eventually, Julias put a hand on his friend’s shoulder to steady himself.
“Alright jackass, I get it,” Jack said between clenched teeth.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. While many of the Kindred are new to this, not much older than you even, many are also as old as I. Some far more so. They dig their fingers into people and spin webs of deceit so large, no one can track it anymore. Complicated does not begin to describe it, so make sure you don’t fall into any spider webs. Ah, we’re here.”
The two of them stood before a massive office building. It was monolithic, with indented black valleys up and down its length, while gentle white lights bathed it just enough to be visible in the night. The entrance was multiple massive doorways of reinforced glass, each clean to perfection so Julias could see into the lobby.
“Come. Stay beside me. Speak when spoken to, and address members of the circle only as Your Excellency.”
“Holy shit. This is Xnomina. They’re a massive corporation, Julias! From software to foodstuffs. You fucking tell me…”
“Yes, the Invictus run the company. Macro-level stuff. Come on.” Julias stepped up to the front of the building and opened the door. He’d normally open the door for his friend first, but this place was different. He went in first.
“Mister Mire. The circle is already assembled in the conference room. Please hurry,” the woman behind the counter said to Julias. A Mekhet, the quiet librarian type too, complete with glasses, short black hair, and eyes hard-locked on her laptop. Attractive, but timid. The beast inside him grumbled silently at the sight of her, knowing full well it could destroy her if it wanted to. Julias just smiled at her.
“Thank you Madam Jenning. Oh, and please put Master Jack Terry, my childe, in the system.” Julias motioned to the little Ventrue behind him.
“Master Jack? Oh. Oh! Well, isn’t he… he’s a tiny thing isn’t he?” Gloria Jenning gave Jack a devious grin as she typed his name. Predictable. Julias was a tall and built man, and his friend was… not. Still, he gave Gloria a quiet growl, and she sat upright in her seat and doubled her typing speed.
Julias kept walking. It’d be disrespectful to look back and check on Jack, but he knew Jack would be frowning and glaring daggers into Gloria. He could only hope he didn’t try that with Viktor.
The building was empty. Such a massive lobby, but the building was closed during the night, at least to its kine employees. Come nightfall, the building was empty save for the Invictus that had business here. The walls were high and black marble, and elevators lined the sides of the room.
“This way.” Julias continued on. Toward the back, there were a single elevator marked with Xnomina X. Julias pressed the open button, and waited.
“So… we’re going up?”
“Yes.”
“To the top floor of Xnomina HQ.”
“Yes.”
“… fucking shit.”
Julias took a quick glance at his childe. The poor boy was shaking; his inner-beast was well aware of the danger, even if Jack thought he was just nervous. He’d have to explain the beast to him later when there was time, but he could not keep Viktor waiting.
“Just stay quiet, and only speak if they ask for you to. Be pithy, and respectful. To everyone.”
His childe nodded in sync with the ding of the elevator. The two stepped in, and a button press and quiet elevator ride later, stepped into a hallway, and then the conference room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Jack~~
Jack didn’t know fear until then.
It was a large room, modern, with a huge wooden table in the center, and massive windows that overlooked the city night. The ceiling was raised high with an array of LEDs in ornamental patterns, and the floor was the same black marble as everything. It could not have looked anymore like a conference room designed for typical high-level business discussions.
Along the table, a quick glance revealed several objects that looked religious in origin, though he could not guess it. There were also folders, mountains of paper, and pictures of people and things. On the walls, TVs fed streams of data, statistics and telemetry. Some he recognized as stocks and other economy angles, some as crime reports, some as usage statistics on products. It was the head of the Xnomina corporation, and all the power it held. It made it difficult to tear his eyes away.
But what scared him were the people inside it.
There were only three people in the room. The first was a tall man with wide shoulders, and a black suit that might as well have said ‘kneel before me’ on its breast. Viktor, Jack guessed. His black hair was tied into a ponytail behind his head, and his face was clearly from an older age, despite his youthful appearance. He looked like he could have worn a cape and brandished a rapier, and have pulled it off easily.
Beside him was another man, but this one was dressed to kill. Jack guessed his motifs rather mafia-esque, with blazer suit, open neck, and a piercing that connected nose to ear by a chain, all under a shaved-head. He was huge. That must have been Michael, the Gangrel.
Then there was Maria. She stood a little short, with a slim and tiny figure. Her hair was long and black over her pale skin, and much of her face was hidden behind it. With her white dress that seemed almost dead to the eye, she looked like a ghost. When she turned to face Jack, he found himself quaking. She didn’t just look it, she felt like a ghost too. The air around her was cold – he could feel it from well over by the door – and bits of moisture in the air turned to mist around her.
She was Nosferatu.
“Ah, Mister Julias. Come in and introduce your friend.” That was Viktor. His voice was smooth and had some weird mingle of foreign accents, but every syllable was pronounced cleanly. An expert in communications and, by proxy, manipulations, Jack figured. The other two stood there and leveled their eyes on Jack, and he felt even more small than usual.
That new sensation inside him was howling to get away.
“Alder Viktor, may I present Master Terry, my childe.”