Chapter 2:
Elias Baumer was here

"So?" Sebastian asked as Dr. Baumer left the suite and closed the door.

The doctor sat beside him on the gold-laced red sofa and helped himself to the blood that was in a glass on the coffee table. He savored it for a moment, clicking his tongue, made a noise of approval, and drank the rest at once.

"From the maternity ward?"

"Always the best, Doctor," he replied, adding somewhat irritably, "But tell me, how is she?"

"She'll be fine."

"What's wrong with her, Doctor?" he asked with an irritated smile.

"The Network made contact. When they finish transmitting the message, she'll wake up. Until then, there's nothing to be done."

"What message are they transmitting?"

"You'll know when she wakes up. Or not." And he helped himself to more blood.

Sebastian forced a cordial and conciliatory smile, but only an impatient grimace came out. "I pay you very well, Dr. Baumer, because you're the only one here in Los Angeles who can handle the Malkavians and their peculiarities, but that doesn't mean you're irreplaceable. There are many others like you in Europe."

"Then take your pupil to Europe."

The two stared at each other for a moment. The doctor's expressionless face gave the impression that he could be a psychopath, a robot, an alien, or a Malkavian. Sebastian already knew it was the latter, but it still bothered him to have to summon rivers of patience from his guts to deal with this clan. If both weren't so useful, he would have already dispatched them to their final demise.

It's worse than dealing with teenagers, the Ventrue thought.

"How often do these episodes occur?"

"Twice a year. Three times if she's very important to the Network."

"And what do I do when that happens?"

"Put her in a comfortable place so she doesn't hurt herself, and wait."

"Anything else I should know?"

"She'll wake up a little disoriented and might go into a frenzy. Or not."

Sebastian smiled, trying to control himself.

"Or not," he whispered to himself.

He massaged his temples for a minute and stood up with a courteous smile.

"Very well, Dr. Baumer. Thank you for your visit. The money will be transfered to the same account as always. Have a good day."

The doctor placed the glass on the coffee table and stood up, buttoning his lilac suit.

"Actually, I would like you to make a donation in my name to the hospital for the terminally ill cancer patients."

Sebastian stared at him in surprise, with a raised eyebrow. He didn't believe, not for a moment, in the kindness of the Malkavian's heart, especially one who at no point hesitated to drink the blood of babies.

"Since the money will be coming from my account and is traceable, I would like to know the reason for the donation."

"I'm conducting an experiment and I need the hospital's board to be persuaded in my favor."

Sebastian grinned with interest, sat back down, and signaled the doctor to sit as well. He obeyed.

"A favor, huh? Perhaps I can persuade the hospital's board in a more convincing way. Of course, if you can contribute with something else." And he added suddenly, in a single breath, "The money for this consultation will be transfered to your account as usual."

"What do you want?"

"Controlled access to the Network."

Dr. Baumer examined him as if the Ventrue was one of his psychotic patients.

"There's no such thing as controlled access to the Network."

"With your impressive résumé and over a century of experience, wouldn't it be possible to manage access to the Network?"

"No."

"No?" asked Sebastian with a malicious smile, feeling in control of the situation again. "Think a little more, Doctor. For the future of Science."

"No Malkavian contacts the Network. The Network contacts us."

"Communication is a two-way street, Doctor."

"Not in this case."

Sebastian's face crumbled, returning to the look of an arrogant Frenchman.

"Well, as I said, the money will be transferred to your account, as usual. Have a good day, Doctor Baumer" he said, standing up and indicating the apartment door.

The doctor didn't insist on the donation and left without saying anything.

Sebastian sat at his desk and wrote an email to one of his agents ordering him to find out what the hospital board needed. Then he entered the suite and found the Malkavian moving around the room like an upside-down spider, with her belly exposed and her head backwards. The scene reminded Sebastian of a horror movie. She was speaking in an unknown language while grunting and making other indecipherable noises. The Ventrue decided to call Beckett.

🦇🦇🦇

"So?" Sebastian asked, already impatient with the whole thing.

Beckett closed the suite door, approached a bookshelf, and examined the volumes searching for something he had never read. Sebastian offered him blood, but he refused.

"It's not a human language," said the Gangrel.

"Not a human language? Is she speaking alien?"

"Perhaps, but let me rephrase it. It's not any known human language. It could be an alien language or a language known only to the Malkavians. Perhaps Elias Baumer can help her."

Sebastian laughed disdainfully and sat on the sofa.

"I already tried. He told me to wait it out."

"Then wait," the Gangrel said, pulling out a very old book. He leafed through it slowly, carefully, and realized he had already read a more modern copy.

Sebastian sighed irritably.

"I have matters to attend to that depend on the Malkavian's ability."

"Find another oracle."

Sebastian stopped suddenly, like a statue. Beckett turned to face him.

"I've heard of the fortune teller," said the Gangrel. "She has assisted some of my acquaintances."

"You too?"

"No, but perhaps she would be useful in my research."

"How many Malkavian occultists do you know?"

"That I've heard of, few."

"How many are available?"

"In such a treatable way, none. You have a precious item in your hands, LaCroix."

"Do you understand now why I want her repaired as quickly as possible?"

Beckett chuckled.

"Not every price is paid in money."

Sebastian grinned and raised his glass as if in a toast.

"Are you sure you don't want to join me for a drink?"

"No, thanks."

"It's the finest blood you'll ever taste."

"I know. I'll pass." He returned the book to the shelf and added, "Have you spoken to Alistair Grout?"

"Nobody knows where he is."

"In the mansion?"

"I haven't found anyone who could get into that asylum yet. He might be there, but he could be anywhere else."

Beckett shrugged.

"There's nothing more I can do here. So, if you'll excuse me, have a good day, LaCroix." And he left without waiting for the Ventrue to accompany him to the door.

Sebastian placed the glass back on the coffee table and entered the suite. Karliah was lying on the floor, contorted inhumanly. The Ventrue approached carefully. The Malkavian let out a groan of discomfort. Sebastian gently straightened her limbs, picked her up, and placed her on the bed. She stared at him with a distant look, like someone who had just woken up.

"How are you?"

She blinked a few times, trying to focus her vision and organize her thoughts just enough to become sociable again.

"Dead."

Sebastian chuckled.

"In a way, yes. Do you remember what happened?"

Karliah saw an ocean of ​​disconnected information and images in her mind.

"The Network... called me."

"Yes. What message did they convey to you?"

Some images slid closer to others as if trying to group themselves by subject, but there was no chronological cohesion. She couldn't logically understand what it was, but she sensed what it was about.

"Gehenna."

Sebastian rolled his eyes in boredom and impatience. He stood up to leave, but Karliah grabbed his arm. As the images aligned in her mind, the Malkavian said:

"Give up the sarcophagus."

Sebastian stared at her, surprised and serious.

"The sarcophagus is my only chance to get what I want."

Karliah shook her head negatively.

"It isn't. There are other ways."

"You don't know what I want."

"To lower generations so you can have total control of the Americas."

He removed her hand from his arm, and sat on the bed with a furious, yet restrained, look. Not entirely because he had been discovered, but also because he had discovered that the Malkavian was more powerful than he had considered, and because he concluded that he could never let her see the light of day again.

"The sarcophagus is the only way," insisted the Ventrue.

"There is a Tremere who can do this without needing an Antediluvian."

Sebastian smiled.

"So there really is an Antediluvian in that sarcophagus?"

"I'm not absolutely sure, but it seems so."

"Even if there is another way, abandoning the sarcophagus is not an option, because my informant could sell this information to someone else if I don't proceed with the excavations."

"He already did. There's someone there who started digging recently."

Sebastian tensed, a hateful grimace showing through, and asked:

"Who?"

"An archaeologist named Anders Johansen."

"Kindred or kine?"

"Kine," she said, sitting on the bed and adjusting her hair.

Sebastian relaxed a little.

"It won't be so difficult to eliminate him him."

"But there's a problem."

"What?"

"A devout is looking for you."

Sebastian pondered for a moment.

"Does he have the True Faith?"

"Yes."

"Does he know about the archaeologist?"

"Yes."

Sebastian stood up and walked around the room.

"Did you discover all this while you were in contact with the Network?"

"Yes."

"Why is the Network trying to help me?"

"They're not. They're trying to prevent Gehenna."

"Gehenna is a myth."

"It isn't."

"Why would a bunch of crazy Malkavians, who could self-exterminate without a second thought, be trying to prevent the end of the world?"

Karliah shrugged.

"I don't know."

"Who is the antediluvian in the sarcophagus?"

"I don't know."

"Is he alive? If I open the sarcophagus, will he bring about the end of the world?"

"I don't know and I don't know."

Sebastian sighed irritably.

"What do you know then?"

"You mustn't diablerize the antediluvian; Johansen will bring him to the United States; a devout will try to kill you and, if he can't by ordinary means, he'll use Johansen and the sarcophagus to do it."

"Who is the devout?"

"We can't see. His faith repels us."

"If the sarcophagus comes to the United States, I will definitely bring it here and diablerize the Antediluvian. No one will stop me. Wouldn't it be better if your Network didn't warn me about the devout and let him kill me before I diablerize the Antediluvian?"

"If you bring the sarcophagus here, you, I, and anyone else present will die."

"Why?"

"The sarcophagus will be intercepted before it comes to the Tower."

"By the devout?"

"Smiling Jack."

Sebastian remembered the conversation they had the previous day.

"Why are you helping me?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"With the information the Network gave you, you could let me die and escape. You would regain your freedom and no one would blame you for my death, since many here hate me, even within the Camarilla."

"If you die, you won't be alone."

Sebastian grinned, satisfied to know that the Madness Network wasn't being kind to him, but merely trying to save one of their own. The Gehenna story was just an excuse. However, nothing could shake the feeling that the Network might try to save Karliah without revealing too much information to him. He thought the Network had great potential, but no strategy, and how invaluable it would be to have access to a network of information about the future.

He sat down beside her on the bed again. Touched her hair and her pale face. If they had met before their Embrace, he could have taken her to meet his family. Perhaps he would even feel something for her, and they would have little LaCroixs that would torment him, running around the house. They would die of typhus, cholera, or bubonic plague. Sebastian would bury them in the family tomb. Perhaps they would have other children, or perhaps Karliah would fall ill with sadness and die of a mysterious fever, something that commonly afflicted women. He would go to war, as he had done, and perhaps he would grieve her passing and succumb to death in one of the battles. Or else he would be Embraced as he had been, and his life would continue in the same way up to that point. She would be just one of the many memories that no longer mattered so much to him, and perhaps, in the future, when he has diablerized the antediluvian, Karliah will indeed be just another one of his many insignificant memories.

"What is the Network like?"

"It is everything."

"Everything what?"

"Everything that is, that was, and that will be."

"What is it like to enter it?"

"It's like sinking into an ocean of thoughts, images, sounds, and information."

"Can you navigate it?"

"No. We are caught by The Voice."

"What voice?"

"I don't know."

Sebastian took a deep breath, seeking patience.

"Have you ever accessed the Network on your own?"

"No."

"Have you at least tried?"

"No."

Sebastian smiled, a little irritated.

"Then try. And when you feel you're succeeding, let me know." He stood up to leave.

"Elias Baumer was here."

Sebastian turned to her.

"I know, I was the one who called him."

"No. He was with me in the Network here," she said, indicating the room.

Sebastian approached her slowly with an incredulous and curious expression.

"You're telling me that Baumer entered the Network here with you? That he deliberately chose to access the Network from this room?"

"Yes. Yes."

Sebastian laughed loudly, filtering the hatred he was feeling. Then he took a deep breath, faced the Malkavian and asked:

"Did you know each other before?"

"No."

"Then how did you know it was him?"

"He picked me up in the Network."

"You told me you couldn't navigate the Network."

"We can't, but he apparently can."

"You who?"

"Me and the voices."

"She hears voices..." he whispered, controlling himself so as not to command her to jump out the window.

Sebastian rubbed his temples, organizing all the events of that day. He concluded that Baumer was plotting something and decided he would find out what it was. Furthermore, he needed to identify and track down the archaeologist, pay a spy to report on Smiling Jack, and put an alert on some devout.

"I'm hungry," said Karliah.

"I'll bring you something."

"I want normal blood."

"What I have is better."

"I don't want the babies, I want normal."

"I'll get it, mademoiselle. In the meantime, try to access the Network." And he left before she could speak or object.

He locked the suite door, sat down at his desk again, used the phone to ask his secretary to get normal blood, and sent several emails to his agents with the new missions. As soon as the first agent returned with the hospital information, Sebastian would begin preparations to persuade the board to his side. Then he would do the same in all the other hospitals in California, as well as clinics, nursing homes, retirement homes, orphanages, and shelters. He would cut off all sources of patients and test subjects that Dr. Baumer might have. The Malkavian would be forced to leave the state or submit to his authority and access the Network as he had proposed. If he chose to leave, it would be a pity, but it would no longer be LaCroix's problem. Having at least Karliah under his control, Sebastian would win either way.

The phone rang, it was the secretary informing him that one of the anarchists was in the building and wanted to speak with him.

"About what?" asked the Ventrue.

"He refuses to say, sir."

Sebastian suspected it had something to do with the Malkavian, but he wasn't sure. He had so many schemes underway that it could be about anything. He found it interesting that they had sent an agent to talk instead of picking a fight like the savages they were.

"Have the Sheriff escort him here."