<strong>Sabien Theunissen</strong><br/><br/>Deep inside a laboratory under one of the federal buildings in the city, a vampire sits at her desk, scribbling notes for references to her ongoing studies in the various collections and ancient tomes that she keeps.  The dim light of the lab bothers her not at all, her eyes having long ago adjusted to the dim light of the lab.<br/><br/>A soft tap comes from the door a moment before opening, her slender 'lab assistant' slipping in with a bag of various groceries and such.  Tiphanie nods a bit, setting her things down and putting some of the items in the minifridge under the desk.  "So...the rumors are running again..."  the lab assistant murmurs while putting things away.<br/><br/>The elder vampire sighs and leans back in her chair, looking for a moment at the much younger mortal woman.  "Rumors about<em>what</em>, pray tell?  Or, dare I hazard a guess...the dhampir?"  She quirks one perfectly sculpted dark brow to her assistant.<br/><br/>The woman shakes her head and smirks a bit, "you make it sound almost dirty, mistress.  After so many rounds of rumors, there must be some truth to them.  If you spent some time socializing with your own kind you might hear something about what's going on.  You know...beyond the arguments about your budget and methods and sending me to meetings.  Actual socializing?"<br/><br/>The vampire shakes her head and smiles a bit, "I have done so before, youngling, and I ask you to keep such in mind.  And really, what is there to say about these rumors, hm?"  She gestures at her collection of books in the room, standing in shelf after shelf, in stacks on tables and elsewhere.  "The one thing that every one of these tomes agrees on is that such a thing is impossible, that nothing like what is proposed has happened before.  The one and only exception is that," she points at a case with a lock on it, "tome which claims to be prophesies from a mad vampiric priest from the plague era.  None of it is trustworthy, half of it is completely wrong or so incomprehensible as to be useless and the other half is cryptic, depraved, or impossible.  Such as the idea of a human, vampire crossing."  She looks back to her aid and rolls her eyes at the expression she gets from her.  "Alright...Alright, alright, if it makes you feel any better, I will at least go out and seek the others and see what is going on.  I am certain that there is something completely normal going on and I can get back to my work.  I<em>do</em>have more important things to do with my time than chasing ghosts and talking with cults.  Ghosts are notoriously uncooperative and cults have their own agendas."<br/><br/>With that, she slips on her long coat and gathers a few supplies, heading out into the dark of the night once more.