Michael Hardon looked up from his desk as Lorenzo entered and he motioned the Case Officer to a leather chair. "I am sorry to bring you into this one. The last three days have been rather involved with interviews and tests since your return. And now we have Dirk and Zac beginning training with Sebastian and Luther. Therefore they will not be assigned to this particular case."
"How long have you known about this?" Lorenzo asked. He, along with the other investigators had seen Sebastian and Luther talking with Zac and Dirk. Both Sebastian and Luther had been referred to by other Legacy staff members as "Watchmen", advisors and trouble-shooters for the Legacy.
Michael Hardon thought for a moment before replying. "I have known you possessed awakened avatars during the case with Michael Rand, here in Washington. It is the main reason why we offered each of you employment in the Legacy. Since you had encountered the supernatural during that case, there was every chance that you would be approached sooner or later by members of the Traditions or just taken by the Technocracy. The Legacy needed new teams, and two awakened teams are a bonus we could only have prayed for. What happens now and in the future will not change Lorenzo, only your perception of it. There has been some question as to how much, we as the Legacy know about those you have encountered before. Our knowledge base is extensive and goes back twenty or so thousand years. However, putting names, identities, peoples, and creatures to the events and case studies is another matter entirely. Which is why we have you as investigators and security team members.
"Not everyone that is employed at the Legacy has awakened avatars. Only twenty of the ninety five staff are awakened or know of the awakened. And those include the "Watchmen", those who advise and assist us in their own way. Therefore you are to advise both members of the teams that they should not speak about matters related to the mages, until all the staff have been fully briefed. I intend to do this over the next few weeks personally. It is now a matter of necessity, as we are drawing near to the event that Ezra fortold in 1875 and that led to the foundation of the Legacy.
"Now, we must speak of your case. It is a matter of urgency and the life of a young child may be at risk. At eleven thirty last night, I received a call from Patrick Mannus. He is the director of the Edgar Cayce Foundation in San Francisco. I am not sure whether you know about Edgar Cayce, but he is probably the most famous psychic of this century. He was known as the "sleeping prophet", a clairvoyant, psychic diagnostician, and a famous trance healer. He prophesized global chaos, the second coming of Christ in 1998, which we believe has not occurred, and the return of Atlantis in 1968 or 1969. We believe that there is evidence to verify the existence of an extensive civilization off the coast of Bimini Island, where he predicted the return of Atlantis would be heralded. He also predicted a cataclysmic pole shift that could cause superquakes all over the world. He said that an Atlantean library existed beneath the Sphinx and Edgar Cayce saw himself being reborn in Nebraska in AD2100.
"Edgar Cayce died in 1945. His foundation, which included the Edgar Cayce Foundation, The Atlantic University, The Harold J Reilly School of Massotherapy and the A.R.E - Association for Research and Enlightenment, were continued by his children. In 1996 Patrick Mannus, became director of the West Coast headquarters of the foundation. Patrick Mannus himself is considered a powerful clairvoyant and is believed to have been in contact with Edgar Cayce during the late 1990's.
"Last night, Patrick Mannus held a garden party at his residence in San Francisco. His residence overlooks the Golden Gate and San Francisco Bay and he is well known as a patron of the arts and sciences in the city. After the evening was complete, he was preparing to retire to bed when his son, Michael came into the room, looking deathly afraid. They talked for a time and what Patrick heard shocked him. Michael is a 14 year old boy with strong psychic and clairvoyant powers. Last year at the behest of the family, we sent a tracker team and conducted a number of tests on Michael, and I can assure you his powers are impressive, impulsive and untrained.
"It seemed that Michael was a little curious about the party and sneaked down from his room to the balcony to have a look at all the guests. Now Michael is receptive to peoples thoughts, the stronger the emotion, the stronger he feels it. He is learning to shut off all the talking noise he hears, but this is a process that takes time and training. One mind horrified him. He saw the lust of this man on one of the other guests, a woman in the company of a U.S Navy Captain. But the lust was for the blood, and the fulfillment it would bring him. Then the thought abruptly turned to the boy and the man looked up, his eyes glowed red and for a moment Michael saw his fanged teeth bared at him in anger. Michael ran back into this room and hid under the bed until the party was over. Then he ran to his parents room and told his father. The man that Michael described is Renaldo Curiour, director of Manticore Electronics Corporation that makes computer games. Curiour himself is a major contributor to the Foundation.
"Patrick contacted the police. They were questioned by the police and Patrick identified Curiour as a man who was about to commit murder. His psychic powers were known to the police and in the past his advice had been sought on a number of cases. He then contacted me. I have just been talking to him again. Apparently the police has not followed through with the investigation. Furthermore, an attempt was made to take Michael earlier this morning. A man came into Michael's bedroom and tried to control the boy's mind. Michael was still awake, finding it difficult to sleep. The attempt to control the boy's mind failed and the man tried to physically take him, but Michael screamed and the man fled out the window, from where he had entered.
"The police were called again. They responded and made a full report. Then Patrick received a call from a police contact of his, and stated that the Investigating officers had been interviewed by members of Manticore Corporation, most notably those that have been frequently seen in the company of Renaldo Curiour, a Andreas Stamos and Henrick Dortisch. We believe they are advisors, more like body guards most probably. An hour ago, the body of one Celene Destiny was found in San Francisco Bay harbor area. Miss Destiny was the woman that Curiour had his attentions towards, when his thoughts were detected by young Michael. The police have ruled it as suicide. Patrick Mannus believes it is murder. I believe we have a vampire in the midst of San Francisco, and if this is the case, he is a vampire inside corporate America.
"You will leave in two hours. Martha is away today, so my personal secretary, Diana Prince has your travel arrangements. The Mannus family has offered their residence as a place to stay, but we have booked accommodation at the Hilton in the city, should it be necessary. Two hired vehicles will be at the airport when you arrive. Other than the Mannus family and their servants, we have one person staying there. Her name is Veronica Stapleton. She is a powerful psychic and is teaching Michael to control his gifts. And for a boy of that age, that task is not easy.
"We have a possible existence of a vampire in corporate America. How do they exist without detection, without discovery. We need to know this Lorenzo. So find out all you can about Renaldo Curiour, most notably his evening lifestyle etc. Let us see if we can build a good case on how the vampires are able to work so successfully within our society. And if he represents a threat to the Mannus family, he will have to be dealt with. You will not have Dirk nor Zac. So there will be two less security members in Alpha Team. It is up to you whether you want them replaced for this case, but I will need to know before you leave, so that applicable arrangements can be made."