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libraryofbabelYour acquaintance's information is good, as far as finding the girl you're looking for—but, it seems that you've gotten there too late. Your stomach falls as Iris runs toward the pile of rubble—one small, child-sized arm visible, unmoving, and weeps, tears of blood trailing down her face while you stand back, expression drawn into a thin line, next to the others who'd come with you—a young Korean woman in a spangly sequined outfit,1 and a chronically nervous-looking, slightly spindly-looking white man.2
The first surprise comes when your acquaintance—Despond,3 that was his name—questions all of you as to why this should be a sad occasion. After all, you'd planned on staking the girl, Sam, if she'd been killing people, as you'd feared—so why cry for her?4
He's addressing Iris, and she's the one to protest—she didn't want to kill her, just... stop her from hurting people, and it's not the same at all, and you're quick to back her up. There's something that feels wrong about this situation, though—
And it gets even wronger when Sam5 pulls herself out of the rubble, unharmed, and brushes herself off, calm-as-you-please, a perfectly neutral expression on her face. That's one of the many, many things that's wrong here. You've never seen her be calm. A child vampire isn't really capable of that kind of emotional regulation, and yet...
"Sam!" Iris calls out to the little girl, looking at once both desperately relieved and deeply worried.
You're all on your guard now, and any relief is short-lived as it gives way to confusion and alarm, as Sam explains, hopping up onto a half-broken wall, that someone named Victoria "uplifted" her,6 and that there are things beyond vampires. Predators of the predators, living detached from emotion—as enlightened creatures.
Iris, reaching out to Sam, wavers on her feet, slightly—her expression going from confused and distraught to... blank.
That's how they feed, Sam explains. On emotion—it's better from vampires. And of course Iris would want to feed her sister, when she's hungry. "If you're hungry, you can take from me," she says.7
And she takes, and she takes, and she takes, and the whole time Iris looks her in the eye—hands clenched tight to her sides. It goes on long enough that you're worried Iris will crumple in on herself before your eyes in refusing to turn away from this, as you silently bear witness—but stops short, and when she collapses to her knees, you don't catch her,8 but you're there by her side, at least. She doesn't look sad anymore, the blood drying on her ashen cheeks—her expression's just dull.
"Iris," you murmur, biting your lower lip.
"You're a lot like one of us," Despond says to you, thoughtfully. "So stoic, able to watch that so calmly."9
No, he was really wrong. It was simpler than that, wasn't it? You were afraid. Not of them, but of extremes. Of yourself. And you convinced everyone it was strength.
"Hm." You should have killed Sam. You should have killed her months ago, before it could come to this. But Iris loved her, it's her sister—10 "I don't really think so."
"Yeah, fuck off!" says the girl who came with you, and then shrinks back a little bit despite the conviction in her outburst. "Let's get out of here."
"Y-yeah," says the man, and stoops to help pick Iris up—glancing nervously at Sam. "Let's—we should really go, Ms. Yi."
You spare once glance back at Sam, and... then turn back away, to follow your companions. You didn't get this far without knowing how to pick your battles, and it rankles to know that right now this is one you would probably lose.11
[1] Hope recalled that they went by the same name; therefore, with what she knows now, that would make this young woman "Grace." By her manner, she was a very young vampire—still very human.
[2] The man was someone Yi knew, but did not entirely trust—brought along on the younger Grace's recommendation. A member of the Carthian Movement, with whom she had a tense relationship.
[3] He had, for a long time, been presenting as a vampire in the Court of Los Angeles, and Yi was familiar with him; a friendly face, generally, and good for philosophical conversation, which stood out to her. Here, she found him to be very different in a sudden and jarring way.
[4] It was certainly true that they had all come prepared, in the event that the child vampire had been killing people. Yi had killed vampires for lesser crimes, before.
[5] Sam's sire was Iris's biological mother, who had become a vampire at some point after Iris was taken from her. For that reason, Iris felt responsible for her, and in a way, viewed her as the sister she never had. Therefore, both of you had been trying to socialize her, since you came upon her and took her in; you had been unsure whether it took at all.
[6] "Uplifting" was also a term that Hope heard from Samantha Moon, when she was in Tokyo-F as a guest star—the term the "Predators" used for changing a vampire into one of their own.
[7] It was always in Iris's nature to take care of others; after she became a vampire, it took on almost a self-martyring degree. Perhaps it was simply a refinement of her personality; perhaps it was, in her way, an attempt to make up for taking on the curse. Either way, it was something that Yi had tried to temper in her.
[8] Even in such a circumstance, Yi had never quite been comfortable reaching out to touch someone. Over time, her protectiveness over her personal space had become a deep anxiety that meant in all that time, she was never one to give physical affection even to those she saw as her children—Iris was surprised when Hope offered her a hug, when she visited Tokyo-F as a guest.
[9] Yi had decided at some point that there were other ways to show love to others—to try and take care of the world, to make room for them to live comfortably—but had never quite been satisfied with that. Being a little detached as a person gave Yi the time she needed to think, though; she was good in a crisis.
[10] It wasn't really correct at all. After all, Yi knew she was in this situation because she'd been sentimental, and hesitant to cause pain to Iris.
[11] Furthermore, Yi had thought she knew the depth of the evils in this world; this new revelation would take some time to process. Perhaps she would never finish processing it.
The first surprise comes when your acquaintance—Despond,3 that was his name—questions all of you as to why this should be a sad occasion. After all, you'd planned on staking the girl, Sam, if she'd been killing people, as you'd feared—so why cry for her?4
He's addressing Iris, and she's the one to protest—she didn't want to kill her, just... stop her from hurting people, and it's not the same at all, and you're quick to back her up. There's something that feels wrong about this situation, though—
And it gets even wronger when Sam5 pulls herself out of the rubble, unharmed, and brushes herself off, calm-as-you-please, a perfectly neutral expression on her face. That's one of the many, many things that's wrong here. You've never seen her be calm. A child vampire isn't really capable of that kind of emotional regulation, and yet...
"Sam!" Iris calls out to the little girl, looking at once both desperately relieved and deeply worried.
You're all on your guard now, and any relief is short-lived as it gives way to confusion and alarm, as Sam explains, hopping up onto a half-broken wall, that someone named Victoria "uplifted" her,6 and that there are things beyond vampires. Predators of the predators, living detached from emotion—as enlightened creatures.
Iris, reaching out to Sam, wavers on her feet, slightly—her expression going from confused and distraught to... blank.
That's how they feed, Sam explains. On emotion—it's better from vampires. And of course Iris would want to feed her sister, when she's hungry. "If you're hungry, you can take from me," she says.7
And she takes, and she takes, and she takes, and the whole time Iris looks her in the eye—hands clenched tight to her sides. It goes on long enough that you're worried Iris will crumple in on herself before your eyes in refusing to turn away from this, as you silently bear witness—but stops short, and when she collapses to her knees, you don't catch her,8 but you're there by her side, at least. She doesn't look sad anymore, the blood drying on her ashen cheeks—her expression's just dull.
"Iris," you murmur, biting your lower lip.
"You're a lot like one of us," Despond says to you, thoughtfully. "So stoic, able to watch that so calmly."9
No, he was really wrong. It was simpler than that, wasn't it? You were afraid. Not of them, but of extremes. Of yourself. And you convinced everyone it was strength.
"Hm." You should have killed Sam. You should have killed her months ago, before it could come to this. But Iris loved her, it's her sister—10 "I don't really think so."
"Yeah, fuck off!" says the girl who came with you, and then shrinks back a little bit despite the conviction in her outburst. "Let's get out of here."
"Y-yeah," says the man, and stoops to help pick Iris up—glancing nervously at Sam. "Let's—we should really go, Ms. Yi."
You spare once glance back at Sam, and... then turn back away, to follow your companions. You didn't get this far without knowing how to pick your battles, and it rankles to know that right now this is one you would probably lose.11
[1] Hope recalled that they went by the same name; therefore, with what she knows now, that would make this young woman "Grace." By her manner, she was a very young vampire—still very human.
[2] The man was someone Yi knew, but did not entirely trust—brought along on the younger Grace's recommendation. A member of the Carthian Movement, with whom she had a tense relationship.
[3] He had, for a long time, been presenting as a vampire in the Court of Los Angeles, and Yi was familiar with him; a friendly face, generally, and good for philosophical conversation, which stood out to her. Here, she found him to be very different in a sudden and jarring way.
[4] It was certainly true that they had all come prepared, in the event that the child vampire had been killing people. Yi had killed vampires for lesser crimes, before.
[5] Sam's sire was Iris's biological mother, who had become a vampire at some point after Iris was taken from her. For that reason, Iris felt responsible for her, and in a way, viewed her as the sister she never had. Therefore, both of you had been trying to socialize her, since you came upon her and took her in; you had been unsure whether it took at all.
[6] "Uplifting" was also a term that Hope heard from Samantha Moon, when she was in Tokyo-F as a guest star—the term the "Predators" used for changing a vampire into one of their own.
[7] It was always in Iris's nature to take care of others; after she became a vampire, it took on almost a self-martyring degree. Perhaps it was simply a refinement of her personality; perhaps it was, in her way, an attempt to make up for taking on the curse. Either way, it was something that Yi had tried to temper in her.
[8] Even in such a circumstance, Yi had never quite been comfortable reaching out to touch someone. Over time, her protectiveness over her personal space had become a deep anxiety that meant in all that time, she was never one to give physical affection even to those she saw as her children—Iris was surprised when Hope offered her a hug, when she visited Tokyo-F as a guest.
[9] Yi had decided at some point that there were other ways to show love to others—to try and take care of the world, to make room for them to live comfortably—but had never quite been satisfied with that. Being a little detached as a person gave Yi the time she needed to think, though; she was good in a crisis.
[10] It wasn't really correct at all. After all, Yi knew she was in this situation because she'd been sentimental, and hesitant to cause pain to Iris.
[11] Furthermore, Yi had thought she knew the depth of the evils in this world; this new revelation would take some time to process. Perhaps she would never finish processing it.