She couldn't help but think that it was awfully convenient, having a thing like this so close to the lab. Or to labs that did all sorts of mysterious, biological things. She imagined grisly scenarios in which mistakes had gone down this chute, and shivered.
When she turned around, empty bag in hand, Jesse was standing in the incinerator room watching her. The sudden appearance of the woman made Claire's hackles rise on the back of her neck, and at the same time she felt an uncomfortable flush on her skin. Something about Jesse invited contradictory impulses, seemed like. She looked just as calm and composed as she had the night before, though she wasn't wearing leather just now; she'd changed into a loose black shirt, jeans, and heavy boots that Eve would have swooned over, considering all the buckles. Her red hair was twisted back in a loose, sloppy bun and fixed with a pair of chopsticks.
'Hey,' Jesse said. 'Irene sent me to find out if you were done. Looks like you are.'
Claire rattled the bag. 'Looks like.'
Jesse was sizing her up in an odd sort of way, she thought, and as the two of them walked back toward the lab through the clean white hall, Claire finally said, 'Do I have a big ink stain on my face, or ...?'
'No,' Jesse said, and smiled slowly. 'I was just thinking that there's more to you than meets the eye, that's all. You inspire a certain reckless passion in others, did you know that?'
'I do? In who?'
Jesse didn't answer that. She badged through into Anderson's lab, and Claire had to wait to follow; by the time she was inside, Jesse was at the table with the professor, and the device - VLAD - was laid out on a lab table on top of a foam cushion. 'Doesn't look like much,' Jesse said. 'You're sure, Irene?'
'No, of course I'm not sure, or I wouldn't have asked you here,' Anderson said, a touch impatiently. 'And I don't like doing it, either; I don't really know what the outcome's going to be. But we need to have a baseline, and like it or not, you're the only game I have in town.'
'Only game in ...' Claire repeated, and felt the truth hit home with a vengeance. She fixed her gaze solidly on Jesse. 'You're a vampire?'
'The kid's sharp,' Jesse said. 'Yes, sweetie, I'm a card-carrying member of the undead. Remember how I didn't come into your house, but Pete did, to get the box? I thought that would tip you off, being a Morganville kid and all, but you didn't seem to suspect anything.'
'I would have, if we'd been back home, but I didn't expect to find ... one of you here.'
'Mistakes like that get you killed,' Jesse said. 'There aren't a lot of us out in the wild, sure, but there are still a few, and most of them aren't as nice as I am.' She flashed Claire a grin that wouldn't have been out of place on Eve's face. 'Relax. I don't bite.'
'Oh, she does,' Anderson said. 'Just not unless she's invited to.'
'Well, you should know,' Jesse purred, and laughed when Dr Anderson's cheeks turned pink.
'All right, now that you've made your point, sit over there, Jesse. What's going to happen is that I'm going to point this weapon at you and press the trigger, and you should report to me exactly what it feels like. It shouldn't hurt you.'
'Shouldn't?' Jesse's eyebrows climbed higher. 'Not sure I like the variable in that statement. Claire, you tried this on any other vampires before?'
'Myrnin,' Claire said.
'Did it hurt him?'
'I don't think so.'
'Well, I'm not Myrnin, and I'm not so willing to hop on the crazy train, but all right. Just for you, Reenie.'
Anderson rolled her eyes. 'God, please don't call me that name. Just go sit in the chair. I promise, it'll be a very brief exposure.'
Jesse crossed the room to the plain aluminium chair that sat against the wall, put her hand on it, and said, 'Here?'
'Yes, please.'
Jesse sat down, crossed her legs, and folded her hands in her lap like a church lady, which she was most certainly not. 'Ready, aim, fire.'
'Not funny,' Anderson said softly, but she raised VLAD, sighted and pulled the trigger.
Nothing came out of the gun - no rays or smoke or visible sign of any kind - but Jesse sat up very straight, eyes opening wide. Anderson immediately let go of the trigger and replaced VLAD on the foam pad. 'Are you all right?' she asked, and took a step forward. 'Jesse?'
'Stop,' Jesse said, and held her hand out. She looked ... odd, and her face was utterly expressionless. 'Irene, stop right there, please.'
Dr Anderson did, looking very worried, until Jesse finally dropped her hand back to her lap and relaxed. 'That was ... interesting.'
'Apparently,' Dr Anderson said, and smiled, though it was clearly a troubled sort of smile. 'What just happened to you?'
'I'm not really quite sure. I can tell you that when I sat down, I was feeling a little nervous about what was about to happen, and I was also feeling a little' - Jesse cut her glance toward Claire for a second, and probably amended what she was going to say - 'a little amused, I suppose. And all of a sudden I was both those things, still, but ramped up to eleven. It was ... disconcerting, because those are not two emotions that go very well together. You understand?'
'It amplifies,' Claire said. They both focused on her. 'The way I set it up to start with, whatever the vampire feels, it's amplified by the device. I think it kind of works on humans, too. But more on vampires, obviously.'
'Well, if your question was, did it work ... it works.' Jesse started to stand up, and - incredibly - suddenly faltered and braced herself against the wall. 'Whoa. It also makes you wicked dizzy, in case you didn't know that.'
'I didn't,' Claire confessed. 'Are you okay?'
'Fine. Just have to shake it off.' Jesse pushed away from the wall and smiled at Dr Anderson. 'I'm not a wilting flower, unless that gets me extra special treats.'
'It might,' Dr Anderson said. 'I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked you to do that, but I needed to know if this was something that had potential, or just another empty promise.'
'Oh, it's got potential all right,' Jesse said. 'If I'd been hungry and that thing had hit me, I'd have gone for your veins, and you'd have had to stop me any way you could. So be warned. It's not a toy, and it might make an angry vampire damn angry.'
'The idea is to reverse those emotions,' Claire offered. 'To make an angry vampire less angry, a hungry one less hungry ... and like you said, it's disconcerting. I suppose it could be used kind of like a vampire stun gun, I guess.'
'You're looking for something non-lethal to use to defend yourself,' Jesse said. 'Well, that's not a bad goal, and it's not a bad start. I suppose I'd be okay with testing it for you when you take it to the next step. But just remember: I'm not the usual vampire, either. I've got a pretty good grip on myself. The next one you run into might not be quite so in control.'
'Jesse - I'm not ready to report to Amelie about this thing. Myrnin kept it from her for a reason when Claire was working on it; I'm quite sure she'd have shut it down if she'd known. I'd really like to proceed with this line of enquiry, but I'm afraid that she would object. So can we agree to keep it quiet, for now? Please?'
Jesse was silent for a long, long moment, frowning. She crossed her arms and paced a bit, and then finally bit her lip and nodded. 'For a while,' she said. 'But you know I can't keep it from her for long. And if she asks me a direct question about it, I can't lie.'
'I know,' Anderson said. 'You've always made it quite clear where your real loyalty lies.'
There was something strange in her smile, something almost a little angry, and she and Jesse locked stares for a moment that stretched on too long for comfort.
Then Jesse smiled, too. 'You know, this is super fun, but I actually have to go sling some drinks tonight, and I need to get ready. Being this gorgeous ain't easy, you know.'
'So you tell me,' Anderson said. 'Go on, and stay out of the sun.'
'Nag. I'm wearing the super sunblock, don't you worry.' Jesse stuck her tongue out, just like a three-year-old, and Claire had to laugh. There was something oddly childlike about her, considering she was also capable of turning cold at a moment's notice, like any vampire. She was certainly old to be so nonchalant about roaming around during the day, and she wasn't even wearing the thick layers of protective coats and hats that most vampires preferred. 'You two don't get up to anything funny around here. I'm done bailing people out of trouble for the next couple of days. It's been busy.'
'Yeah? Who'd you bail out today?'
For no apparent reason, Jesse smiled, and made a locking motion at her lips. 'Can't say,' she said, 'but he was real, real cute. Maybe I'll tell you the story later.'
'You'd better.'
Jesse waggled her fingertips and swiped her badge to get out of the lab, and it felt like half the light had left the room, somehow. She was ... intense, Claire thought. And really, kind of cool.