We all turned to Walter who was rolling down his sleeve, a syringe of blood on the counter before him.
"Finally." Breathed Alucard. "Someone brings something sensible to the game. Think you've figured it out old man?"
"Some, not all." Said Walter as he reattached his cuff link. He picked up the syringe and turned to a set of blank slides. "I am still uncertain what you mean by redemption, beyond being provoking and blasphemous that is, but I believe I know how you intend this new revelation to be used defensively."
"Do tell." Said Alucard sarcastically.
"Shut it." Said Sir Integra. "I'm still annoyed with you."
Instead of getting angry, Alucard looked mildly pleased. I guess we were finally trending in the direction he wished us to go. Or maybe he just likes mean women.
Walter simply ignored the rude remark. "While Ms. Doyle's tears most definitely have an extremely caustic effect on vampire flesh," He said as he continued to process the slides. "They seem to have no negative effect on normal human tissue and only a mild irritation, similar to rosacea, on her own. Quite the opposite actually, her tears may possibly contain certain healing qualities." He paused a moment to retrieve one of the pipettes and Seras' samples.
We waited expectantly for him to continue.
"What," He asked as he added a small drop of some clear liquid to the blood on two of the slides. "is the gravest danger our officers face when fighting a vampire or a ghoul?"
"Being bitten." Said Sir Integra her eyes flashing with some unholy emotion. "Or chipped." She continued with distaste.
"Precisely." Said Walter, his steely eyes reflecting Sir Integra's. "Once infected, however they are infected, there is no saving them. They will turn."
"Yes." Said Sir Integra flatly.
"There is no cure Ms. Doyle," He continued, catching my eye. "Only living death or the mercy of a bullet to the head."
"You suspect..." Began Sir Integra.
He nodded.
Her face and demeanour were absolutely calm but I could practically feel the emotions boiling beneath the surface. "Could it be possible?" She said almost absently to herself. She watched intently as Walter added my tears to one of the two 'infected' slides and slid them both into place in the microscopes. Then, practically vibrating with tension, she strode purposefully over to where Walter stood. He made room for her and they silently took turns peering into the different microscopes.
Finally, they looked up from the eyepieces and at each other. Sir Integra laid a hand on the microscope containing the treated slide. "This could mean..."
"Yes." Said Walter. "There of course must be more research but..."
"Yes." She said.
Their eyes locked and they spent several moments in wordless but obviously meaningful conversation.
"So it's actually possible." She said with wonder bordering on awe. "I had almost given up."
Walter's eyes softened a bit then he murmured something too low for me to hear.
"...Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." Finished Alucard. "Yes, yes" He said. "Very moving. Father would be so proud."
Indifferent mask back in place, she turned to Alucard. "Feeling neglected are we?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well," He said philosophically. "Not that I mind throwing the old dog a bone once in a while but I believe the triumph is in fact mine."
Her lips quirked a bit and she turned to Walter. "Well old man, apparently the light we currently bask in is Alucard."
"A wonder one can see at all for the glare." Said Walter driely.
"Better?" She asked Alucard.
It was an oddly relaxed moment. Old and comfortable, almost a reminiscence. Even Alucard seemed inclined to play.
"Well, I did in fact make her." He grumbled with mock petulance.
"My parents might disagree." I muttered.
"Ah, but that is where you are wrong my sulky little lab rat. Your parents may have conceived and birthed a child named Corrine Doyle but she perished that night in the theatre and was reborn. You, Angel, are my creation not theirs and the sooner you stop clinging to that poor, dead, pathetic creature you were and embrace what you have become, the happier we shall all be."
"As always, trying to remake us in your image Alucard." Chortled Sir Integra.
"Oh no," Said Alucard earnestly. "That is a privilege I reserve solely for you my dear master. Others, I simply 'improve'...or destroy."
"Hmmm" She said non-committally. "It's hard to know whom to feel most sorry for in that scenario."
He grinned. "The ones I improve, most definitely." He said winking at me. "Of course, it is often fun to do both." His grin broadened to a leer.
"Pft." I said, waiving away the remark. Death threats were old news to me. "Yes, yes, wretched, ungrateful, balanced on the knife's edge between death and pain I know but will someone please just tell me what's going on?"
"Saucy little baggage this evening aren't you?" He smirked. "And slow. Are you sure Walter didn't drop you on your head earlier? Your tears, dolt, are the weapon!"
"Yes I know my tears are a weapon." I said patently refusing to rise to the bait. He, after all, called me 'dolt' so often that one might justifiably begin to suspect it merely a mispronunciation of my last name. "It is a fact that has been graphically demonstrated to me this evening thank you but how," I said emphasizing each word. "is this to be used as a defensive weapon?"
"Oh I despair of you at times Angel. We just explained it all to you. Did you not hear a word?"
"What explanation?" I demanded. "Walter said my tears burn vampires but not humans." I said jabbing my iPod in Walter's direction. "Sir Integra," I said swinging the device over towards her. "confirmed that being bitten or chipped is literally a fate worse than death. He" I swung my arm back to Walter. "Said, 'No cure Ms. Doyle. Best shoot them in the head.' Then they," I swung my iPod to indicate both Walter and Sir Integra. "both got really excited over the slides. There was a warm and fuzzy moment, then you two," My iPod glinted in the light as I swung my arm back and forth between Walter and Alucard. "quoted Hamlet!"
"Precisely." Said Alucard. "I am not sure how one could make it clearer than that."
"Maybe if you repeated it all in Morse code." I snarked.
"You know, I'm beginning to like her." Said Sir Integra.
"One has to admit she was listening." Said Walter drily. "Although I think the accent was a bit over the top."
"Do you think so?" She asked. "I found it rather spot on if you ask me."
Walter sniffed his opinion then said. "Perhaps, Ms. Doyle, it would expedite matters if you simply came over and examined the slides."
I jumped down from the table and crossed over to the microscopes giving both Alucard and the first set of slides a wide berth. "All of them?" I asked, giving the first slides a look of distaste.
Sir Integra frowned at my lack of scientific curiosity and Alucard, of course, sneered at my cowardice but Walter simply said; "No Ms. Doyle, not if you do not wish to. These," He said gesturing to two fresh slides he was preparing. "are the ones pertinent to your question."
Cautiously, I peered into the eyepiece. I had seen blood sample slides before in biology class with their rubbery tire-like red blood cells, puffed, pollen-esk white and raggedy jaggedy platelets.
But this slide had something more: For mixed into the bucolic blood stream were several horribly disturbing small objects. They were round but not quite circular as they had two scythe like protrusions extruding from their perimeter. They arched out then back in towards the body like scimitars or a satellite view of the arms of a hurricane the ends tapered and tipped cruelly like claws or thorns. Their colour was that of old, dead blood.
They seemed to spin on some unseen current separate and faster than the other cells and as I watched, one of these "spinners" bumped into a red blood cell. Instantly, it spun itself until one of its scimitar arms slashed at the larger blood cell, its thorn-like tips easily penetrating and sinking into the surface. The object continued its rotation until it had spun itself completely inside the red blood cell.
Within moments, the rich opaque red became transparent and the deadly object could be seen turning within. Faster and faster it spun the blood cell becoming clearer and clearer, rapidly draining from red to pink to blush until no colour remained. The spinning became blur of motion then suddenly, the empty shell burst apart and there, where moments before a healthy red blood cell had been, were two of those terrible objects rotating in unison. I gasped in horror as this little scene was repeating itself over and over throughout the slide The objects doubling themselves exponentially every few seconds. Any white blood cells attempting to halt the attack were shredded like tissue and the hapless platelets simply shattered on contact.
"Dear God what are those things?" I asked.
"They are a pathogen, mutated blood cells actually, which are carried within a vampire's saliva and introduced into the victim's blood stream upon being bitten. As you can see, they spread quite rapidly destroying the blood cells until the body can no longer carry oxygen and the tissues suffocate."
"How horrible." I shuddered.
"Yes." Agreed Walter. "It is the fortunate victim who is actually drained by the vampire as death occurs more swiftly."
I shook my head and stepped back from the microscope as Walter prepared another slide.
"The broken down components of the victim's blood are ingested to feed the vampire and the pathogens are simply reabsorbed into its blood stream whey they revert to their dormant form until they are needed again at which time they are pumped into the saliva glands to be re-activated. A quantity are left behind in the victim's body which is how we believe the vampire can control their actions after death. Quite an elegant system actually."
His mouth quirked slightly at my look of horrified disbelief. "Terrible, but highly efficient."
"It's evil is what it is." I said
Walter's hard stare bored into me. "Yes Ms. Doyle," He said. "it is evil. It has long been this house's mission not to just destroy the vampire but to also find a counter agent to its bite. For decades we have risked lives to study and obtain samples of every stage of the turning. We have subjected infected human tissue to every test and substance imaginable and while we have gained a great deal of understanding of the process and can even tell you the biological conditions that will trigger the creation of a vampire instead of a ghoul, we have not, despite all of our research, been able to find a way to stop it. Nothing, I repeat nothing has ever come even remotely close to counteracting the pathogens once they are introduced." He placed the new slide under the microscope clips and stepped back gesturing to the eyepiece. "Until now."
"Finally." Breathed Alucard. "Someone brings something sensible to the game. Think you've figured it out old man?"
"Some, not all." Said Walter as he reattached his cuff link. He picked up the syringe and turned to a set of blank slides. "I am still uncertain what you mean by redemption, beyond being provoking and blasphemous that is, but I believe I know how you intend this new revelation to be used defensively."
"Do tell." Said Alucard sarcastically.
"Shut it." Said Sir Integra. "I'm still annoyed with you."
Instead of getting angry, Alucard looked mildly pleased. I guess we were finally trending in the direction he wished us to go. Or maybe he just likes mean women.
Walter simply ignored the rude remark. "While Ms. Doyle's tears most definitely have an extremely caustic effect on vampire flesh," He said as he continued to process the slides. "They seem to have no negative effect on normal human tissue and only a mild irritation, similar to rosacea, on her own. Quite the opposite actually, her tears may possibly contain certain healing qualities." He paused a moment to retrieve one of the pipettes and Seras' samples.
We waited expectantly for him to continue.
"What," He asked as he added a small drop of some clear liquid to the blood on two of the slides. "is the gravest danger our officers face when fighting a vampire or a ghoul?"
"Being bitten." Said Sir Integra her eyes flashing with some unholy emotion. "Or chipped." She continued with distaste.
"Precisely." Said Walter, his steely eyes reflecting Sir Integra's. "Once infected, however they are infected, there is no saving them. They will turn."
"Yes." Said Sir Integra flatly.
"There is no cure Ms. Doyle," He continued, catching my eye. "Only living death or the mercy of a bullet to the head."
"You suspect..." Began Sir Integra.
He nodded.
Her face and demeanour were absolutely calm but I could practically feel the emotions boiling beneath the surface. "Could it be possible?" She said almost absently to herself. She watched intently as Walter added my tears to one of the two 'infected' slides and slid them both into place in the microscopes. Then, practically vibrating with tension, she strode purposefully over to where Walter stood. He made room for her and they silently took turns peering into the different microscopes.
Finally, they looked up from the eyepieces and at each other. Sir Integra laid a hand on the microscope containing the treated slide. "This could mean..."
"Yes." Said Walter. "There of course must be more research but..."
"Yes." She said.
Their eyes locked and they spent several moments in wordless but obviously meaningful conversation.
"So it's actually possible." She said with wonder bordering on awe. "I had almost given up."
Walter's eyes softened a bit then he murmured something too low for me to hear.
"...Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." Finished Alucard. "Yes, yes" He said. "Very moving. Father would be so proud."
Indifferent mask back in place, she turned to Alucard. "Feeling neglected are we?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well," He said philosophically. "Not that I mind throwing the old dog a bone once in a while but I believe the triumph is in fact mine."
Her lips quirked a bit and she turned to Walter. "Well old man, apparently the light we currently bask in is Alucard."
"A wonder one can see at all for the glare." Said Walter driely.
"Better?" She asked Alucard.
It was an oddly relaxed moment. Old and comfortable, almost a reminiscence. Even Alucard seemed inclined to play.
"Well, I did in fact make her." He grumbled with mock petulance.
"My parents might disagree." I muttered.
"Ah, but that is where you are wrong my sulky little lab rat. Your parents may have conceived and birthed a child named Corrine Doyle but she perished that night in the theatre and was reborn. You, Angel, are my creation not theirs and the sooner you stop clinging to that poor, dead, pathetic creature you were and embrace what you have become, the happier we shall all be."
"As always, trying to remake us in your image Alucard." Chortled Sir Integra.
"Oh no," Said Alucard earnestly. "That is a privilege I reserve solely for you my dear master. Others, I simply 'improve'...or destroy."
"Hmmm" She said non-committally. "It's hard to know whom to feel most sorry for in that scenario."
He grinned. "The ones I improve, most definitely." He said winking at me. "Of course, it is often fun to do both." His grin broadened to a leer.
"Pft." I said, waiving away the remark. Death threats were old news to me. "Yes, yes, wretched, ungrateful, balanced on the knife's edge between death and pain I know but will someone please just tell me what's going on?"
"Saucy little baggage this evening aren't you?" He smirked. "And slow. Are you sure Walter didn't drop you on your head earlier? Your tears, dolt, are the weapon!"
"Yes I know my tears are a weapon." I said patently refusing to rise to the bait. He, after all, called me 'dolt' so often that one might justifiably begin to suspect it merely a mispronunciation of my last name. "It is a fact that has been graphically demonstrated to me this evening thank you but how," I said emphasizing each word. "is this to be used as a defensive weapon?"
"Oh I despair of you at times Angel. We just explained it all to you. Did you not hear a word?"
"What explanation?" I demanded. "Walter said my tears burn vampires but not humans." I said jabbing my iPod in Walter's direction. "Sir Integra," I said swinging the device over towards her. "confirmed that being bitten or chipped is literally a fate worse than death. He" I swung my arm back to Walter. "Said, 'No cure Ms. Doyle. Best shoot them in the head.' Then they," I swung my iPod to indicate both Walter and Sir Integra. "both got really excited over the slides. There was a warm and fuzzy moment, then you two," My iPod glinted in the light as I swung my arm back and forth between Walter and Alucard. "quoted Hamlet!"
"Precisely." Said Alucard. "I am not sure how one could make it clearer than that."
"Maybe if you repeated it all in Morse code." I snarked.
"You know, I'm beginning to like her." Said Sir Integra.
"One has to admit she was listening." Said Walter drily. "Although I think the accent was a bit over the top."
"Do you think so?" She asked. "I found it rather spot on if you ask me."
Walter sniffed his opinion then said. "Perhaps, Ms. Doyle, it would expedite matters if you simply came over and examined the slides."
I jumped down from the table and crossed over to the microscopes giving both Alucard and the first set of slides a wide berth. "All of them?" I asked, giving the first slides a look of distaste.
Sir Integra frowned at my lack of scientific curiosity and Alucard, of course, sneered at my cowardice but Walter simply said; "No Ms. Doyle, not if you do not wish to. These," He said gesturing to two fresh slides he was preparing. "are the ones pertinent to your question."
Cautiously, I peered into the eyepiece. I had seen blood sample slides before in biology class with their rubbery tire-like red blood cells, puffed, pollen-esk white and raggedy jaggedy platelets.
But this slide had something more: For mixed into the bucolic blood stream were several horribly disturbing small objects. They were round but not quite circular as they had two scythe like protrusions extruding from their perimeter. They arched out then back in towards the body like scimitars or a satellite view of the arms of a hurricane the ends tapered and tipped cruelly like claws or thorns. Their colour was that of old, dead blood.
They seemed to spin on some unseen current separate and faster than the other cells and as I watched, one of these "spinners" bumped into a red blood cell. Instantly, it spun itself until one of its scimitar arms slashed at the larger blood cell, its thorn-like tips easily penetrating and sinking into the surface. The object continued its rotation until it had spun itself completely inside the red blood cell.
Within moments, the rich opaque red became transparent and the deadly object could be seen turning within. Faster and faster it spun the blood cell becoming clearer and clearer, rapidly draining from red to pink to blush until no colour remained. The spinning became blur of motion then suddenly, the empty shell burst apart and there, where moments before a healthy red blood cell had been, were two of those terrible objects rotating in unison. I gasped in horror as this little scene was repeating itself over and over throughout the slide The objects doubling themselves exponentially every few seconds. Any white blood cells attempting to halt the attack were shredded like tissue and the hapless platelets simply shattered on contact.
"Dear God what are those things?" I asked.
"They are a pathogen, mutated blood cells actually, which are carried within a vampire's saliva and introduced into the victim's blood stream upon being bitten. As you can see, they spread quite rapidly destroying the blood cells until the body can no longer carry oxygen and the tissues suffocate."
"How horrible." I shuddered.
"Yes." Agreed Walter. "It is the fortunate victim who is actually drained by the vampire as death occurs more swiftly."
I shook my head and stepped back from the microscope as Walter prepared another slide.
"The broken down components of the victim's blood are ingested to feed the vampire and the pathogens are simply reabsorbed into its blood stream whey they revert to their dormant form until they are needed again at which time they are pumped into the saliva glands to be re-activated. A quantity are left behind in the victim's body which is how we believe the vampire can control their actions after death. Quite an elegant system actually."
His mouth quirked slightly at my look of horrified disbelief. "Terrible, but highly efficient."
"It's evil is what it is." I said
Walter's hard stare bored into me. "Yes Ms. Doyle," He said. "it is evil. It has long been this house's mission not to just destroy the vampire but to also find a counter agent to its bite. For decades we have risked lives to study and obtain samples of every stage of the turning. We have subjected infected human tissue to every test and substance imaginable and while we have gained a great deal of understanding of the process and can even tell you the biological conditions that will trigger the creation of a vampire instead of a ghoul, we have not, despite all of our research, been able to find a way to stop it. Nothing, I repeat nothing has ever come even remotely close to counteracting the pathogens once they are introduced." He placed the new slide under the microscope clips and stepped back gesturing to the eyepiece. "Until now."
