08:30, Robinson Road, 16 Jan 2075
“How’s Fudo?” Shawn asked as Joel drove him and Hai Yue down Robinson Road.
“Calm. Remorseful, but not for killing those gangsters, more for dragging me into the whole shit…”
“Shankar and the Commander convinced the diplomats to delay the decision regarding Fudo until Vance and the surviving Scorpions are charged in court,” Joel revealed.
“I see…”
“You two were close?”
“No, just sad to see a good man fall from grace like that.”
“I kind of get what you mean… Anyways, why are we going to Red Union Mechanics International?”
“I would like a little talk with its founder.”
“Aleksandër Eramuzg? Isn’t that vampire on the Council of our local Sanguine Court?”
“Yes, Shawn, and a Count to boot.”
“I heard from the Bloodhounds that he’s known as the Blood Debt Resolver. Sounds like a real stand-up guy, you know? As a human, I’m a bit ashamed to say this, but lots of Othersiders often get victimized by opportunistic human criminals. This vampire, Eramuzg, he helps them out, gets the problem resolved faster than VOID does,” Joel commented.
“So humans only heard good things about him, eh?”
“Please don’t tell me he’s faking it. Guy’s a well-known philanthropist. Society will go nuts if they find out he’s some kind of evil villain.”
“Let’s just say it’s complicated,” Hai Yue replied as she stared out at the window.
08:50, Union Mechanics International, Central Business District, 16 Jan 2075
Count Aleksandër Eramuzg was the very image of a gentleman philanthropist and a charming businessman, being intelligent, business savvy, good-looking and charismatic with a silver tongue. Despite being over six centuries old, he, like all vampires, stopped physically aging after a certain number of human years. In Eramuzg’s case, he stopped aging at around forty years of age.
Contrary to most stories about their kind, vampires are actually able to move about in the day and do have reflections on mirrors. In fact, Eramuzg was using one to adjust his hair when his intercom rang.
“Count Eramuzg? You have a visitor, she’s on her way up,” the voice of one of his receptionist was heard saying.
“Annalise? I thought I told you, all visitors need to book an appointment three days in advance before they can see me.”
“Apologies, sir, but your visitor’s the Ninth Princess of the Night-Sea. She doesn’t look happy.”
Eramuzg froze for a moment, then he put down his mirror.
“Is she alone?”
“No. She came with two humans… And I can hear one of them contacting her bodyguards.”
“I see. Well, let her through the rest of the security before she-”
The doors to his office opened, and Eramuzg found himself staring at a corridor which had been partially turned into a frozen tunnel, with ten of his personal bodyguards bruised, battered and half-frozen to the wall as Hai Yue, dressed in a black cropped tank-top and a pair of cargo pants with a navy blue flannel shirt wrapped around her hips, walked in, gloves still covered in wind frost and not caring that her boots was dirtying the carpet in Eramuzg’s office.
“Never mind that, Annalise, she’s here already. Have someone come to clean up the corridor outside my office,” Eramuzg said before switching off the intercom.
“Count,” Hai Yue greeted.
“Princess. You didn’t need to kill my bodyguards, you know?”
“Oh, those low-ranked bloodsuckers. Could have hired better. Besides, they’re not dead, just chilling out.”
“Amusing, but I appreciate that you left them alive. It would be awkward handing their last paychecks to their widows and orphans. Also, that’s a pretty bold attire to wear for someone of a royal status, don’t you think?”
“I don’t think so. What about you?”
“Well, a real man won’t turn his eyes away from a beauty that is confidant in her own body, unless he’s what humans call a self-righteous liberal hypocrite.”
“Perhaps, but I’m not here to discuss social politics. I’ve visited the Human Side enough times to know to leave that kind of bullshit to the Americans. You know why I’m here.”
“About Fudo, yes. I am aware of it. I’ll just cut to the chase and tell you frankly that you should have stayed out of it.”
“You and I are aware that we as Othersiders are not to meddle in the affairs of human law.”
“I don’t think you understand the situation, your Highness.”
“All I know is that you did something to Fudo. You were influencing his actions the moment you gave him your sigil. You made him unnecessarily cruel, nearly got him to destroy a murder case the humans were working on. A murder case related to his deceased beloved.”
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“And I also understand that you need to be able to prove that I was influencing Fudo’s actions through my sigil, and I can tell you honestly that I had no hand in his actions.”
“I never said you did it directly, did I? Your personal sigil falls under ‘Carnage’. It is powered by rage and fear. You gave him your sigil knowing full well that he was currently experiencing both mentioned emotions. Fudo’s rage and fear would do your dirty work automatically and you didn’t even need to get into his mind directly, right? A puppeteer who only leaves one string attached to his puppet, letting it dance by itself until you need to bring it off the stage.”
Aleksandër Eramuzg shook his head, never losing his calm even in the face of Hai Yue’s accusations as he got up from his seat and went over to stand by the window.
“He never used it in the end, no? I heard you and your bodyguards knocked him out before he could activate it.”
“True.”
“I see. He hesitated.”
“There were a lot of people around when we took him down. If he had activated the sigil-”
“A lot of innocent humans would have died.”
“And you don’t care about that, do you?”
“Do not assume I care so little for the lives of humans. I did not get exiled from the Night-Sea just to come to Singapore and make myself King of the Othersiders living in this country,” Eramuzg snapped, starting to show a bit of frustration.
“You were exiled for endangering human lives by giving vengeful Othersiders living in the Human Side your sigil, causing them to go on rampages all around Southeast Asia. More than two thousand humans dead, four hundred and thirteen alone in the Philippines! My father stayed his hand out of respect for the Sanguine Court.”
“A sin I can never redeem myself for, but look at how humans treat our kind in their world. Even Singapore, a human nation that had achieved true union between humans and Othersiders, have holes in their laws. I encounter a new case of an Othersider that had been victimized by human cruelty every day, and since no one is doing anything about it, especially the Violent Othersider Incidents Division, someone had to step up. If not me, then who else?”
“By encouraging them to kill their human tormentors? Vigilantism is one thing, murder is another.”
“I’m not stupid or careless. Anyone whom I’ve bestowed my sigil upon, I can sense their intentions and I can stop them from going too far with a single thought via my sigil. Do you really believe I would let Fudo start a bloody massacre of human police officers and bystanders once he had killed the man who murdered his human lover? My familiar was keeping an eye on things, making sure that the situation does not go out of control.”
“It doesn’t matter. This is their world, not ours. VOID serves not just human interests but also Othersider interests, and if Othersiders living in this country can’t trust VOID, there’s an attachment of marshals from the Night-Sea Patrol ready to assist. All they had to do is ask, but instead, they’re asking you.”
“Then perhaps VOID is in need of a skilled public relations officer. If the humans can’t win the trust of Othersiders, don’t blame me for them coming to me for help instead of human law enforcement.”
“You have a point, but right now, I suggest you take a back seat and stop promoting vigilantism. I come across another fatal interaction between humans and Othersiders and I find your sigil involved in the case, I’m coming in here, and you can forget about having the protection of diplomatic immunity.”
With that, Hai Yue turned and left the office, untying her flannel shirt and putting it back on as she walked towards the elevator while Count Aleksandër Eramuzg merely sighed.
“If only you could see the bigger picture, Princess,” he muttered as he sat back down on his desk and began making calls…
09:12, Robinson Road, 16 Jan 2075
“If it wasn’t for the Sanguine Court Council members having diplomatic immunity, I would have froze his face and balls off,” Hai Yue complained as she, Shawn and Joel drove back to headquarters.
“Never thought you would actually go pick a fight with a vampire count. He might make a complaint, you know, since he’s got diplomatic immunity,” Shawn commented.
“Yeah, well, my father can just demand the Sanguine Court strip him of his status as one of their council members. Diplomatic immunity is removed once that happens, and Eramuzg knows my father will do it.”
“Guess you’re not afraid to use your royal status when push comes to shove, eh?” Joel commented.
“I try not to. It’s like abuse of authority.”
“But sometimes, certain situations call for an exertion of one’s powers, right?”
“I suppose so.”
“By the way, your bodyguards, Kuang Land and Kuang Bing, they want to know if you have quote, ‘ripped that bloodsucking bastard’s head off his shoulders’. You all have some sort of history with Aleksandër Eramuzg?”
“Like I said, my father kicked him out of the Night-Sea. Not sure why the Sanguine Court of Southeast Asia took a risk and let him into their council in the first place… About those Scorpion guys, the ones Fudo wanted to kill, any idea on when they’re going to go to court?”
“The judges are bringing it forward. They probably want to get the whole thing settled. That sole witness, Maxwell Singh? He’s testifying in court today. Meanwhile, Vance and his surviving lieutenants are being held without bail. Judges don’t want him or the remaining three escaping.”
“The cop whom Vance ran over when he tried to escape. How is he?”
“Tom and Miguel went to check on him last night. Seems he’ll make a full recovery, but he’s going to stuck at his desk for at least two month after he’s discharged next week.”
“That’s good to hear,” Hai Yue said softly as she stared out the window of the SUV.
“Something on your mind?” Shawn asked.
“Quite a lot, but I think I’ll stick them in a box somewhere in my head for now,” Hai Yue replied before suddenly grinning as she asked, “More importantly, what are we having for breakfast?”
“I don't know, how about roti prata?”
“You just had that yesterday! Let’s go to Maxwell Road and get their chicken rice instead.”
“I am not U-turning back, Shawn. You should have said so earlier.”
“Fine, let’s go get fish congee with century eggs instead. And some you tiaos to go with the congee.”
“What’s a you tiao?”
“Wait, you don’t know what a you tiao is? I thought you visited Singapore a lot of times!”
“I didn’t eat everything in Singapore, you know?”
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23:59, Blk 100 Potong Pasir Avenue 1, 30 Jan 2075
An individual in a hoodie jacket made sure no one was following them before getting into a black van, carefully placing a box on the passenger seat as they started the engine and carefully drove out the carpark.
Entering the PIE before making a switch to the CTE, the individual maintained a steady speed of forty kilometres per hour, completely ignoring the honks from impatient drivers, even allowing them to cut in front of them with some sticking their hands out the window to flip them off. All they cared about was reaching their destination with their box intact.
The van eventually arrived at what appears to be a school building, where the lights were still on in one of the rooms on the second floor. The individual opened the box and took out a test tube sealed with a cork and containing what looked like a grasshopper before exiting the van, staring at the lit room with clear intent in their eyes.
Sticking to the shadows to avoid the security cameras, the individual got to their knees next the the bushes near the front gates of the building and unsealed the test tube, with the grasshopper exiting and landing on a leaf.
“Anda tahu apa yang perlu dilakukan,” the individual whispered, and the grasshopper immedaitely opened its wings and took flight, heading directly towards the lit room…
[Next Case: The Cursed Alumni Case]