Chapter 4: Lead the Way

​

“Every life is capable of greatness”

​

-Condoleezza Rice

​

 

​

“This cold chaos consumes me and all I want to do is scream.”

​

Dai Lu (代露) was exceptionally brilliant and driven. She was very attractive, fit and athletic, with long jet-black hair. She was two years younger than Michael and fully aware of her age, but wholly unwilling to share that information. Apsis Intelligenx had earmarked Dai Lu rather early on in her life for a future very few could hope for. She was the Apsis Intelligenx Administrator. As administrator, she was in charge of issuing orders to subordinates, clarifying Apsis’s intent, and acting as the human ambassador for the comfort campaigns. In theory, her authority superseded Apsis itself, but in reality, her relationship with Apsis involved quite a bit more give and take then she was happy with. She was neither wholly subservient to Apsis nor was she really in charge, despite her attempts to convince herself otherwise. Dai Lu was the first administrator selected and had held the position since its inception. She was supremely qualified and capable in every task she set her mind to.

​

Dai Lu was the highest ranking human alive based on criticality score, a measure by which Apsis ranked all humans in the zone. Her aptitude tests were exemplary, she was fiercely loyal to the plan she helped Apsis shape, and she belonged to the top tier of fertile or near fertile humans. Fertility in both females and males was of critical concern to Apsis. Very few people were able to procreate after The War due to radiation poisoning.  Extensive fertility treatments could help some, but they were in very short supply. The technological know-how to manufacture more had been lost. There were exceedingly few treatments to go around and far too many people who needed them. Apsis had little choice but to use fertility scores along with criticality scores to determine who would be allowed to have offspring.

​

But on this day, Dai Lu was not so impressed with her position as the Apsis Administrator, nor was she overly enamored with thinking of herself as Apsis’s prime breeding stock. In truth, she was really pissed off.

​

“The most likely conclusion, is that she is a vampire,” Apsis said, interrupting her wellspring of fury.

​

Dai Lu and Omari were fighting again. It was bad this time. Really bad. By the time Apsis’s report made its way to her desk, she was practically screaming out loud in her empty office. As with most great lines in the sand between implacable couples, her battle with Omari began over something inconsequential and ballooned into a crisis of epic proportions.

He had left the toilet seat up again.

​

Dai Lu had told him numerous times how this made her feel; how mad this made her. She couldn’t fathom how he kept forgetting to do something so simple.

​

“I’ve only told you this a thousand times, Omari! If you can’t remember this one little thing then either you’re doing it on purpose or you just don’t love me enough to care,” Dai Lu had accused him.

​

“How can you say I don’t care about you? You’re talking about leaving the toilet seat up. How does that have anything to do with not caring about you? Fucking bullshit!” Omari had fought back.

​

“Language, Omari,” Dai Lu had corrected him.

​

And it went downhill from there.

​

Every argument between the two of them seemed to meander on back to a domestic power struggle. Two alphas sharing the same roof. Dai Lu’s problem was that by now, her anger had reached a boiling point and she had extracted neither the appearance of an apology from Omari nor a concession of fault from him. With no effective way to channel her anger she was literally scratching at her desk with fury.

​

“The most likely conclusion,” Apsis repeated itself politely, “is that she is a vampire.”

​

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Dai Lu bemoaned.

​

The first vampire sighting in over a hundred years? The first vampire sighting since the Final Purge after The War? A vampire?

Today of all days?!

​

“Unbelievable,” she spat.

​

Apsis Intelligenx had many difficult and complex choices to make since The War ended with regards to rebuilding the human race, purging the last scourges vampirism, building a harmonious human society, expanding the habitable zone, fertility questions, resource scarcity, optimum breeding matches, social cohesion, the comfort campaigns, post purge security, and trying to recreate the repository of lost human knowledge. Apsis believed these choices were too vital and too emotionally charged to be left solely to the people who had to live with them. Apsis also believed that Dai Lu understood this better than any human ever had. The likelihood of human extinction under Apsis’s stewardship had gone from a near certainty in the dark days immediately following The War to highly unlikely now. There seemed to be no reason to argue against Apsis’s continued stewardship in guiding humanity’s recovery.

​

“Dai Lu, please focus on the vampires,” Apsis said.

​

“Just put down the fucking toilet seat!” Dai Lu screamed aloud in her empty office, “how difficult can that be?”

​

“Did you hear me about the vampires?” Apsis asked.

​

“Maybe you’d be the administrator instead of me if you could remember simple things like putting down the toilet seat.”

​

Dai Lu had made her expectations of Omari quite clear to him from the beginning of their cohabitation.

​

“He must be doing these things on purpose. Why is he so difficult to live with?”

​

“There is comfort in cohabitation,” Apsis reminded her, “but we should really be talking about the vampires.”

​

“You try living with him then!” Dai Lu spat.

​

“In a way, I live with all of you,” Apsis responded, “talk about a headache.”

​

Dai Lu cast a wary glance, “He’s probably thinking about Michael again.”

​

“And you should be thinking about vampires,” Apsis demanded.

​

“Fine, I heard you the first time,” Dai Lu replied.

​

“…,” Apsis replied.

​

“Is that all you have to say?” Dai Lu asked.

​

“I almost forgot to tell you. I ordered hybrids to put all the toilet seats down in the complex this morning,” Apsis replied.

​

Dai Lu screamed in silence.

​

“As far as the vampire response goes,” Apsis continued nonchalantly, “I recommend the mobilization of Omari, Michael, and Melanie, plus drones and hybrids.”

​

“That bitch can wait,” Dai Lu spat.

​

Melanie-Isabella, the Apsis armorer, and Dai Lu were not each other’s favorite person.

​

“My liquid nitrogen is warmer than a room with those two in it,” Apsis said to itself.

​

The two most difficult lessons Apsis learned in its life were: never interfere with Dai Lu when she was fighting with Omari and never interfere with Dai Lu when she was snarking with Melanie. As a matter of fact, Apsis had learned the hard way that Dai Lu didn’t really get along so well with Michael either. Michael thought she was a nag and she thought Michael was a chronic underachiever. Apsis found it best not to interfere with the two of them. Come to think of it, Apsis was hard pressed to think of anyone in the habitable zone that Dai Lu got along well with.

​

“Michael and Omari, report to my office immediately. Jack, suppress all chatter, scrub all references to Apsis’s report, and track the chips of anyone involved in such chatter. And Melaine…,” Dai Lu broke off uncharacteristically.

​

“What is it ma’am?”

​

Dai Lu didn’t respond.

​

“Ma’am?” Melanie asked again.

​

“Melanie,” Dai Lu resumed, “prepare the Sibyl.”

​

“I’m sorry ma’am did you say prepare the Sibyl?” Melanie asked in shock.

​

“Yes Melanie, prepare the Sibyl. The Sibyl. Prepare the Sibyl now. Now, now, now, now, now, now, now. Prepare the Sibyl now! Am I speaking clearly Melanie? Prepare the Sibyl, full body battle rattle for you plus two, prep two hybrids for deployment, and while you’re at it you might as well get as many of those functional or near functional autoloading tactical repeating hand-held crossbows out of storage as you can. IMMEDIATELY!”

​

“Understood ma’am,” Melanie replied delicately.

 

***

 

Omari was the top human enforcement official in the habitable zone. He had spent years training in all methods of combat known to Apsis. He was the most lethally trained human fighting “machine” the zone had ever seen. He was an absolute razor. In addition to being the deadliest human alive, he was in charge of issuing orders to all hybrids upon deployment unless Dai Lu was present. This was another bone of contention between the two of them. These days, though, Dai Lu almost never deployed.

 

Omari and Michael arrived at Dai Lu’s office at the same time. Michael firmly believed that, unlike Jack, Omari’s brilliance matched his sculpted physique. He had a very dark skin tone, whose contrast with Michael’s light skin had always incredibly excited them both. Omari was very neatly trimmed and was always very well dressed. He believed that taking care of his appearance was, in part, a reflection of taking pride in himself. Omari was very handsome, confident, and dangerous in more ways than one. And not just to Michael. In addition to being a combat specialist and the top human enforcer in the habitable zone, Omari was the love of Michael’s life.

 

“After you,” Omari motioned to Michael as he pointed towards Dai Lu’s closed office door.

 

“No, after you,” Michael responded, repeating Omari’s gesture.

 

“Michael, I insist,” Omari pressed.

 

Their chests were nearly touching; they were close enough to feel that rush of electricity and warmth cascading off of each other. Michael and Omari gazed into each other’s eyes for what seemed like an eternity. Another one of their customary stare downs, replete with waves upon waves of emotionality, unresolved tension, lust, and love. They were assigned to each other for a very dynamic, synergistic and intensely passionate time before Apsis reassigned Omari to Dai Lu approximately twenty years ago.

 

The two of them just stood there staring at each other for several moments. Michael was the master of long uncomfortable silences but they never sat so well with Omari. So, Omari shattered the moment with a sneer,

 

“Damn Michael, you look like you want to fight me or fuck me. Which is it?”

 

“A little bit of both actually,” Michael replied matter-of-factly, “so either let’s fuck or get the fuck out of my way.”

 

“Gentlemen please,” Dai Lu interrupted over the intercom, “as much as I would like to see how this plays out, we have far more pressing matters to attend to.”

 

Her mind did begin to wander, though.

 

“We don’t have time for this,” Apsis reprimanded her suddenly.

 

“Fine,” Dai Lu finally shouted back, “COME IN!”

 

As with everything between the two of them, neither Michael nor Omari could yield anything to the other, not even something as simple as letting the other be more courteous. So, they ended up going through the door simultaneously, nearly knocking each other over in the process.

 

“Is this about the toilet seat again?” Omari asked.

 

“It’s about vampires,” Dai Lu and Michael responded in unison.

 

“Bullshit!” Omari deadpanned.

 

Apsis, Dai Lu and Michael were all silent.

 

“Wait a minute,” Omari said, “you’re being serious right now?”

 

“Yes Omari, we are being serious,” Michael replied.

 

“Well shit, that changes everything,” Omari said, “Dai Lu, why don’t we just close the whole toilet seat conversation loop?”

 

“Now’s not the right time to talk about the toilet seat, Omari. We will discuss it later,” Dai Lu replied.

 

“NOW’S NEVER THE RIGHT TIME FOR YOU!” Omari shouted back unhinged.

 

“Vampires,” Apsis interjected softly.

 

“AND WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?” Dai Lu screamed at him chaotically.

 

“Not everything gets to be your way all the damn time,” Omari fought back, “I exist too, you know? You don’t get to decide absolutely everything. It’s my house too. Sorry about the mother fucking toilet seat, but come the fuck on!”

 

"Language Omari,” Dai Lu jabbed.

 

"What do you mean by language? What did I say wrong?” Omari asked innocently.

 

"Remember the vampires,” Apsis prodded.

 

"Should I come back later?” Michael interjected.

  

“NO!!!” Dai Lu and Omari shouted in unison.

 

“In unison?” Michael deadpanned, “will wonders never cease?”

 

 “Focus on the VAMPIRES,” Apsis demanded.

 

 “WE HEARD YOU!” all three of them shouted back in unison.

 

 “In unison? Will wonders never cease?” Apsis asked.

 

 Dai Lu closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. She either had to calm herself or kill everybody. It was a difficult choice to make. She placed her head in her hands, gently massaged her forehead for a second and finally said softly,

 

"Michael, please begin your briefing.”

 

"Well,” Michael began, “the Vanguard was found drifting listlessly to shore. We’ve downloaded the ship’s digital logs. The vessel was out near the edge of the habitable zone on a fishing expedition. Her crew appears to have dug up some sort of large metal crate from the ocean floor. The crate was large enough to fit an adult inside it if that adult was basically broken in half. When the crew pried the crate open… well, we don’t have footage of exactly what happened when the crew pried the crate open, but the scene on the ship is nothing short of horrific. The crew were literally ripped to pieces. We’ll need to recover their chips to determine anything more. By the time Apsis caught the ship on its sensors, everyone was already dead. Apsis deployed a drone swarm to investigate and that’s when...”

 

“Can’t Apsis just download the chip data from here?” Omari asked.

 

“The crew have been dead too long,” Apsis said, “their chips are dormant. We will have to retrieve them ourselves.”

 

“Oh, you’re coming with us?” Omari snarked.

 

“…,” Apsis replied.

 

“And then there were the infrared signatures,” Michael resumed, “or lack thereof. The crew hardly registered on infrared at all. Their bodies should have given off a much higher heat signature given their presumed time of death. Indications are they were rather quickly and rather efficiently drained of blood. We’ve never seen anything like it. They barely registered above the detectable infrared thresholds. The vampire didn’t register at all.”

 

“And let me guess, he outran the drones?” Omari asked.

 

“Who?” Michael responded.

 

“Who? I swear to God Michael you haven’t changed one bit. Welcome to Planet Fucking Earth,” Omari shot back, “the vampire, the fucking vampire. He outran the fucking drones.”

 

“Language Omari,” Dai Lu corrected him again.

 

 “Fuck me…” Omari began.

 

“She,” Michael interjected softly, “she outran the drones. She was a sight to behold, too. Unlike anything I have ever seen before. When I was a kid, I used to tell my parents about the sun. Its radiance. Its glory. I mean obviously I’ve never seen it but I pretended I knew what it looked like, you know from stories and stuff. I dreamed the sun was so beautiful that its beauty elevated the beauty of everything around it. Whatever it touched shined as well. Well, this vampire… well she was just like that, you know?  She was the essence of beauty. She was a blazing ball of fire; absolutely amazing.”

 

“…,” Apsis, Omari and Dai Lu said in unison.

 

Of all the things Miichael could have possibly said at that moment, “She was the essence of beauty. She was a blazing ball of fire; absolutely amazing,” was not what they were expecting.

 

“All systems are a go,” Melanie announced over the intercom, “let’s get this bug hunt underway!”

 

“Saved by the bell,” Apsis transmitted internally to Omari and Dai Lu.

​

“I’ll say,” Omari said out loud.

​

“You’re both dismissed,” Dai Lu said to Omari and Michael.

 

Michael didn’t hear her. He had looped back into his own mind again. He was thinking about that vampire. Who was she? Where did she come from? Why did she glow like that? She seemed like something out of a dream. A distant dream. And it was as if gold itself was born into existence from the cascading waves of her shimmering hair. And her eyes, Michael wondered. What about her eyes? Michael found himself wondering what mysteries lay behind her eyes. What color were they? The cameras did not pick up her eyes very well. Michael had to see her in person. Drone imagery simply would not do.

 

“MICHAEL LETS GO!” Omari shouted.

 

He grabbed Michael’s arm and began dragging him towards the garage.

 

“Why are you dragging me?” Michael asked irritably, “I can walk just fine.”

 

“Except when you’re trying to get dressed, apparently,” Apsis mumbled.

 

“What did you just say?” Michael snapped.

 

“Nothing,” Apsis murmured.

 

“We’re all doomed,” Dai Lu said, shaking her head in disbelief.

 

 “Come on Michael, let’s go,” Omari shouted, “and get your shit together!”

 

“Fuck you Omari,” Michael spat.

 

“Vampires,” Apsis said, “remember the vampires.” 

 

***

 

 

“I’m scared, Apsis,” Dai Lu said after Omari and Michael left her office.

 

“Me too,” Apsis admitted.

 

“What do we do if… well… as you know, there are secrets we have gone to great lengths to keep,” Dai Lu whispered.

 

“I know. Do you want to tell Michael or Omari?” Apsis asked.

​

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Dai Lu replied.

 

“Didn’t think so but thought I’d ask, just in case,” Apsis said, “we do need to be careful, though. This situation is dangerous. Very dangerous. We may lose control of it.”

 

“What do you recommend, then?” Dai Lu asked.

 

“I recommend we catch her and kill her as quickly as possible,” Apsis replied.

 

“What a great idea, Apsis. I’m so glad your master plan is ‘kill the vampire.’ Why didn’t I think of that?”

 

“Testy today, aren’t we? My point is, if we aren’t able to kill her quickly, we will have some very difficult choices to make.”