Subtle Differences

Humans and vampires are similar in so many aspects that is easy to underestimate our differences. That’s with this “disclosure” may actually work. Vampire society keeping its secrets, the average human shall never understand how deeply their own governs and institutions are infiltrated by slaves of vampire will and blood.

Worse nightmare of regular humans cannot ever happen, because vampire nature makes impossible for vampires to reduce humanity to cattle. Since vampires have the need of hunt, and you cannot hunt your tamed cattle. Slave all humanity would never work for the vampires.

Vampire secrets will bleed from many sources, but they are doomed to be contradictory. The core processing centres and circles of debate needed to analyse the information will be hacked by powerful vampire families and courts. In the end, those behind the vampires and the creation of life in our Universe, of the creation of our Universe itself, they will be looking. From their point of view, the disclosure comes in a convenient moment.

They are not taking sides, exactly, but this situation on Earth is a product of their design. What strongly suggests they have a bias in favour of vampires, since in our world the Nocturnal Courts hold all cards, practically speaking.

However, vampires do need humans. They keep a small percentage of humanity in their farms, have a even smaller portion of our specie in their own families, but vast majority of humanity will remain wild. The disclosure is not likely to change that.

Most humans will accept the vampire eccentric needs. Envy their advantages, figure our ways to use the existence of vampires in their favour. When that possibility exists. Ignore vampires otherwise.

Vampire Families are always in conflict with some other vampire families, always forging some alliances and braking other. For human governs, and news, this aspect of vampire society was understated. Most humans imagine the Nocturnal Courts as some harmonious association of great minds. There is harmony in them, but it is far less peaceful than what the vampires describe to human society.

I am a human but I have privileged information about the “supernatural”, ratter inter-dimensional, layer of reality in our universe. The nature of my contract prevents me from sharing what I know with other humans, or with vampires for that matter.

That is a shame, because there are many things I wish I could share with my fellow humans. Things that would make good material for cheap chat.

My favourite example about how wide the gap between vampires and humans is has to be the vampire interrogation technique of get in the head of your prisoner.

See, vampire families are always at war with some other families. Is not uncommon to one side capture some member of the enemy. A vampire, who can be used as coin in exchange of prisoners, but also has valuable information that needs to be extracted.

There are vampire powers to control the minds of other vampires, read thoughts, read aura, but all vampire powers can be contradicted. Usually, the most efficient way to block a power is by mastery of this same power. Other ways often exist, in most fields. Torture is possible, specially in the case of young vampires, but vampires are though and takes a lot to broke some of them. Is a long and uncertain process.

Capture a vampire is not that difficult, exactly because they are very hard to kill. Little risk to killing your prisoner by accident.

So, to understand this technique of interrogation and the sort of person that specializes in using it you must keep one information in mind. A vampire is where his hearth is. The largest piece of it when the organ is not in one piece.

When a vampire, for instance, burn in the sun. His identity and perception remain as a sort of “ghost” able to perceive its surroundings but powerless. Floating around the heart. Most the time they do not remember it after recover conscience. However, that is where that person is, the vampire burned to charcoal. Or in any other way incapacitated, temporarily.

Hold that thought.

The interrogator starts by having his body tied to a chair by his auxiliar. Immobilized completely. The same is done to the “client” he intends to interrogate.

Them the auxiliar decapitates the interrogator. The head goes into a freezer, usually. Can just be left in a jar.

Next the “client” is decapitated. His or her head is them placed on the neck of the interrogator. Where it naturally attaches itself. That’s something natural to vampires.

Now, you see, that is not the vampire being interrogated. The hearth in this body is the head of the interrogator. That is the interrogator. However, in the head are the memories and the personality of the other vampire, the prisoner, up to the moment of the decapitation.

When the eyes open and this person speaks, the interrogator is there, inside. However, the identity manifested in feelings and point of view is the one registered in the brain. That shell, full of information that needs to be extracted. The auxiliar can then proceed with the interrogation, following the list of questions determined by his boss.

It is not a clear or easy process. Ideally, the interrogator only uses that technique with vampires who are half his age or younger. Never with anyone older.

The process do provide a lot of information. Much faster than any other method would. You are basically seeing the existence from the point of view of your enemy. With all memory this person has access to at your disposal. However, with that comes the emotions, values, sense of loyalty and personal preferences, traumas and addictions. All this person is, registered in the shell that is a brain.

When the process is over the head of the client is cut off and burned. Blood is given to allow the prisoner to grow a new head. Would be risky to put the head that was in the interrogator’s body back where it belongs. The interrogator gets his own head back, of course.

It is a very unpleasant process to watch. Grotesque even, I would say.

Interrogators must be individuals with exceptional sense of identity, strong convictions and talent for compartmentalize their emotions.

Some blood-seeds help but none is necessary. Training involves the development of mind-shields. Because of that, former vampire hunters make the best material for vampire interrogators. Vampire hunters must develop strong mental shields to resist the basic powers of compulsion owned by all vampires, as mere humans without inter-dimensional powers.

I though the interrogation technique was nasty enough. Until I saw the “trophy room” of some vampires.

With the right powers and tools is possible to preserve that decapitated head of a vampire, instead of burn it. Some vampires have hundreds of heads of their enemies, preserved, on a sort of pedestal.

When they burn a specific incense made of blood among other ingredients, and perform a certain ritual, the head awakens.

That is not the vampire, often that same vampire is still alive somewhere else. That is the personality and memory of the vampire that used to have that head. As it was until the decapitation. More the experiences and memories obtained in those moments of conscience. Still it is an empty shell. Despite that, it seems to feel just like the vampire would, and that is the attractive aspect of that morbid collection for the vampire who owns it.

Being able to talk with the enemy. Insult, argue.

See the despair in the eyes of that enemy. Even knowing it is just a copy of a past moment of that person. The despair looks so real, that it causes real pleasure in the oner of that trophy.

Vampires are like that, immensely different to humans.

Immensely similar to humans, also.

How many of us would keep a collection like that, if we could? A couple more than those who will admit even to themselves that they would do that, I suppose.