Surprising Information

Iago glared at me, “Something funny, Shade?” I shook my head and then reconsidered. For better or worse, these people knew me. These vampires. “It’s just a copy. None of that stuff works if you don’t have the actual Book,” I explained. Now it was Sunshine and Iago’s turn to laugh. “And just why, precisely, would a copy of a book no longer be as effective as the original?” asked Sunshine. Iago was far more to the point. “So you’ve seen the Book yourself? Handled it? How do you know this?” I pause for a moment and try to size up who knows what at this point. Don’t forget what your grandfather said, withhold enough information to stay alive. “I never got to touch it. But one of their scientists explained how baffling it was to them. Only the actual Book can do the stuff it claims,” I say. Iago begins flipping through the copy and Sunshine looks at me. “Who told you that? One of their scientists? He was probably just keeping you mis-informed. Even the Book itself must be some sort of distraction, some sort of cover for the real truth,” Sunshine says. I glance at the place where his arm used to be and his face reddens. “You seemed pretty alarmed by that gun,” I reply. Iago is furiously scanning the pages of the book. The copy, anyways. “Mind telling me where you got that?” I ask, gesturing at the copy “I’d love to keep this little reunion up, but I’m kinda on the job right now.” Iago blinks and looks up from the pages. “I’m not above having you slapped in the face right now. That right cheek is looking a bit red these days though, so perhaps you had better turn the other one,” he replies snidely. Like I said, the Enlightenment was just the same as the Paladins and the Guild when you boiled it down. They treated their own members differently, but they treated anyone else just like the Nod freaks treated non-members. Like they were less than.