“That would be one of the crueller choices,” Vermillion said.
The decision had been made to cut out the cancer and leave it to the Network, in hope of avoiding more painful procedures down the line. The man in question was never a Cabal elite; he was a relative made into a vampire out of compassion. Without being turned, he would have died from a fatal medical condition.
Anna was satisfied with the Cabal’s gesture, at least until she actually got her hands on the man in question to learn more. She turned the conversation to another topic.
“Why did you just let these blood servants keep running around?” she asked. “You had to understand that depriving them of blood would make them dangerous and volatile. I’m surprised your people didn’t kill them.”
“It was discussed,” Vermillion said. “In the end, it was Cabal members who approached the gang with promises and offers. Even if the members in question were far outside what would have been permitted, the Cabal was nonetheless responsible. Killing these men for becoming the thing we made them was ethically unsound.”
“You’re going to talk to me about mercy?” Anna asked. “Even disregarding the dead bikers, we have six civilian fatalities, and we aren’t even done counting the injured. This disaster has been broadcast to every corner of the globe, on my watch. Everyone from the Steering Committee to the Network Council to the goddamn Prime Minister has crawled up my arse and formed an orderly queue at the ‘punch Anna in the colon’ booth. That’s what your mercy has done.”
“Some violent lashing out would not fall outside the expectations of a known criminal motorcycle gang,” Vermillion explained. “If not instigated to this, they would have remained contained. I was already in the process of arranging to have them arrested so they could go through the withdrawal period in custody, where they could be locked up without hurting anyone.”
“That didn’t really work out, did it?”
“No,” Vermillion conceded. “Unfortunately, I was overruled on who should administer the winding down of the Blood Rider project. The one who started all this was the same one placed in charge of closing out the Blood Rider affair. It was meant to save face and be a lesson.”
“That seems like a recipe for disaster,” Anna said. “And now that recipe has been followed to the letter.”
“Quite,” Vermillion agreed.
“What about this rogue essence magician?” Anna asked.
“He is not opposed to meeting you,” Vermillion said. “I had already advised him to seek you out prior to this affair.”
“Out of the kindness of your heart, I suppose.”
“A weapon you are not equipped to wield is at least as much a danger to you as to your enemy,” Vermillion said. “I don’t know where this man came from, but he’s a naked edge, fresh from battle. A well-sharpened edge, at that. He went through the bikers like a chainsaw through pudding. Thirty blood servants and I don’t think he even saw them as a threat. It’s almost like he was testing out different ways to kill them, to see which ones worked. As it turns out, all of them did.”
“So, he’s a maniac.”
“I told you, Mrs Tilden, he’s fresh from some kind of battlefield. His instincts are still to react to any threat with definitive force.”
“You think being bloodthirsty gets him a pass?”
“I think that if we can help him rehabilitate, he’ll be a valuable ally,” Vermillion said. “If we forcefully suppress him, on the other hand, we’ll make a profoundly dangerous enemy. I suggest trying to understand him before taking action.”
“Well, if it’s understanding I need,” Anna said, “I know where to start.”
In a police station, Vermillion and Anna watched Hiro from the next room, through the interrogation room security camera. Hiro’s body language revealed none of the turmoil they could both read in his aura. From the moment he arrived in the police station, Hiro had played confused victim flawlessly. Once he found himself in an interrogation room, he had asked for a lawyer and said not another word.
“Hiro Asano has not been inducted into the secrets of our world,” Vermillion said. “By your own rules, that makes him hands-off.”
“I’ll acknowledge that if his nephew kept him in the dark like you said, that’s a good sign that the boy can act with decorum,” Anna conceded. “Will he continue to do so after today, though? He’s certainly going to tell his uncle, now.”
“Of course he will,” Vermillion said. “But Hiro hasn’t been told yet. Is today the day to play fast and loose with the rules?”
“There is such a thing as discretionary power, Mr Vermillion.”
“Mrs Tilden. You, like everyone else, saw this man’s nephew take apart a magically empowered gang of hardened bikers like they were a nice, crumbly cheddar. What you didn’t see was how he reacted when that situation began. He wasn’t scared when they came on us. He wasn’t worried, or even concerned. He was annoyed, maybe even a little excited.”
“He killed a dozen people.”
“Easily, and without hesitation. I would be very careful about how you treat his uncle.”
“You need to bring him to us,” Anna said.
“I told you that I’ve already agreed to set up a meeting. We can discuss the terms of that meeting now, if you like.”
“Terms? He can’t go running around using magic to kill people on television. He comes to us or we go get him.”
“Despite the nature of his power, Mrs Tilden, he isn’t one of your people. Somehow he gained the power that only your people wield without learning of your organisation before I told him about it yesterday.”
“Do you think I care? Do you think that the people I answer to care?”
Vermillion turned his head from the viewing window to look at Anna, his face softening.
“Mrs Tilden. Anna. We’ve known each other for a number of years and have, I think, a good working relationship. As such, I hope you take this advice in the spirit it is given: Do not provoke Jason Asano. I’ve seen only a little of his power and a little of his mind, but it has been my experience that he treats kind with kind. Show him courtesy and you’ll receive it in turn. Come at him with force and you might end up smeared across a highway on the news.”
“The Network is not a gang hopped up on vampire blood, Craig. If we decided to deal with him, there’s nothing he can do to stop us. Even if he’s inclined to stand against us, he won’t try once he realises the magnitude of what he’s up against.”
“Perhaps,” Vermillion said, “but I don’t think so. He may have the blood of the Japanese, but he has the spirit of Ned Kelly.”
“Ned Kelly made a stand against the authorities, getting friends, family and innocent bystanders killed in the process.”
“And became a folk hero, none of which invalidates my point. In case it sways your decision, it is the official position of the Cabal that Jason Asano’s liberty and independence be respected.”
“How did you get your people to agree to that?”