<strong>Sabien Theunissen</strong><br/><br/>The cool of the night air did not bother the vampire in the slightest.  Time and exposure had worn away much of her concern about such minor things as moderately cool evening air.  That, and the fact that she was technically dead and wearing a long coat went some ways towards mitigating it.<br/><br/>Once outside of the building she pulls out a pack of cigarettes and lights one, holding it loosely in her lips.  It doesn't really do anything for her, beyond carrying something the persona she generally tried to present outside of the lab.  That and it gave a visual reminder of her breathing; something that she had been getting out of practice of with so much time spent in the lab.  Watching the glowing ember periodically brighten was an effective way to help with that.  Shaking her head a bit, she walked quietly down the side walk with Tiphanie, hands buried in the pockets of the long coat.  After a block or so of walking, she rolls the cigarette to the other side of her mouth and speaks quietly, "so...as you've been more out and about of late, what manner of rumors are circulating about this impossible creature?  I'm curious as to what could be causing a resurgence of these kinds of comments."  She smiles a bit at the expression from her assistant, "oh, yes...these rumors, or ones similar to them, have made the rounds before.  Vampires with magical powers, werewolf vampires and so forth.  The question is, what's bringing them up this time?"<br/><br/>Tiphanie shrugs a bit, looking up at the night sky.  "Mostly it's comments about something that doesn't feel right.  Someone who doesn't have the feeling of a vampire, but has that sort of vibe, you know?  And no, not the kind of vibe I give off, either.  There are plenty of mortal, um...assistants to vampires.  Samantha, one of the assistants that I have lunch with on occasion, was saying that she ran into someone on the street the other day.  Like, literally bumped into.  The thing that startled her was, well...you know how some of us are sensitive to others?  Samantha can generally get some idea what something is by touching them.  The person that she bumped into on the street gave her the feeling of a vampire sorta'.  Not a strong feeling, but like a watered down vampire.  Given that it was the middle of the day, in front of god and everyone, in front of a mirrored store front, Sam was startled so much she just stood drop jawed for a moment.  By the time that she came around to her senses, the woman she bumped in to was gone.  And there have been other stories as well.  The local hunter population seems to be a lot more antsy at the moment and have more people out on watch during the day than they usually do.  People just...watching people.  They didn't used to post watches in the day...sort of a moot point when the things that you're watching for only come out at night, but now something has them nervous."<br/><br/>Sabien takes in what Tiphanie says and takes a long drag of the cigarette, looking skyward herself for a moment.  "That is<em>hardly</em>strong scientific evidence for something being a half vampire, half mortal cross breed.  Where is the proof?  Something like documentary evidence, medical data, dental records, multiple and collaborative witness reports, video evidence, blood samples...something more concrete than ones lunch friends feelings about someone that they bumped in to.  Perhaps the woman had been severely drained by a vampire and survived with some manner of bleedover of the vampiric aura.  There is not much documentation in the way of such, you know as well as I."  She shrugs a bit and gives her assistant an understanding if somewhat patronizing smile when she suddenly stopped in midstep, sampling the air.<br/><br/>Glancing around, they were already a number of blocks from the lab, and the street that they were on was fairly quiet.  Nothing around seemed to give any obvious reason for her distraction.  Her nose twitched slightly and she turned slowly towards a nearby alley, stepping into the shadows of the buildings.  It wasn't the best neighborhood by far.  If she remembered properly there had been some furor about the state or the city talking about urban renewal plans or some such.  That wasn't what had her attention though.  Within a few moments, she comes to a stop looking at a relatively empty space of cement with a darker mark in the center of it.  She mumbles softly, more to herself than anything.  "Blood...recent...extreme oxidization, not wholly dried, limited clotting factor...pattern suggests fall from high altitude..." She looks up, considering to herself a moment, looking as if she is doing some math before looking down again.  "Likely from the level of the roofs, give or take 10 feet...difficult to calculate precise fall without knowing method of loss, windage and lacking precise measurements...location would suggest local transient, though lack of signs of struggle and the indicated altitude of the loss indicate something else."<br/><br/>She kneels down carefully, touching the blood spot with a finger, dabbing a small amount of the not quite dried blood on her fingertip and holding it up for closer examination.  "Texture and scent are consistent with human blood, though there is a further, more subtle scent, almost a sensation in aside of the scent that would indicate the essence of a vampire, albeit somewhat weakened from it's normal state.  The sensation is...difficult to properly explain, though I suspect it may be some manner of resonance with my personal essence."  She points at the drop spot to Tiphanie, "secondary analysis...would you touch the spot and tell me what you think?  If what I am feeling is correct, we may have some evidence of your rumor."