Seven more days pass, and the levee breaks open. The government exhausts its resources trying to contain the infection, which spreads to more cities. More outbreaks occur across the world, and no country can stop them. In NYC, the citizens hold the battle lines against the evolving strigoi.
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At Prospect Park, Dutch and Eph play chess, and Dutch informs him that he's already lost. Strigoi move in the darkness, and Dutch admits that she was bluffing. Eph points out the strigoi moving in and more move in on him. The two of them stand up and fight the strigoi. Eph uses the bioweapon on the last one. They take it back to his lab and strap it to a table.
Vasiliy drives to a street where a strigoi is feeding and tags it. another one charges out and Vasiliy tags it as well before driving off. He then takes out a tracker and watches their movements.
Quinlan and Abraham go over copies of the Lumen pages, and Quinlan points out that many of the hunters chronicled are lone hunters who appear monomaniacal. They note that it doesn't apply to either of them.
Amsterdam - 1972
Abraham goes to a strip club and scans the crowd. He then goes into the back room and the brothel owner, Saskia Van Orden greets him under the alias that he's using. She says that she has passed on the letters of providence to her associate, Dr. Kruger, and his interest in the Lumen item is greater than ever. Abraham says that he knows Kruger is using an alias, and asks Saskia to verify that he's a German loyal to the Fatherland during the war. When she does, Abraham asks her if Kruger was doing good work but Saskia doesn't respond. She warns that others have tried to sell Kruger the Lumen and have come to unhappy ends, and Abraham assures her that his transaction will be honorable.
Now
Eldritch is in his office reviewing advertisements for the Stoneheart freedom centers when Eichhorst and another man come in. the billionaire collapses and Eichhorst calls for Eldritch's nurse. She helps him to his chair and Eldritch insists that he's fine. The man with Eichhorst, Sanjay Desai, introduces himself and Eichhorst says that he's a new associate providing vital services. Sanjay says that Eichhorst is facilitating an important shipment for them and it is his business. Eichhorst asks about the status of the Aurora cutlass and Eldritch confirms that it left Egypt as scheduled. Sanjay and Eichhorst both tell Eldritch to make sure that it reaches the docks, and to notify them when it arrives. With that, they leave.
Dutch wakes up and finds Eph still at working analyzing the strigoi parasite. The tissue is necrotic and it's infested with worms. The worms make up the parasite's nervous system, Dutch microwaves some coffee and the worms react to it. Eph notices and points out the increased activity to Dutch.
Justine and Kowalski check out what was supposed to be a secure area. The strigoi attacked and Kowalski figures that the creatures are coming from underground. Justine warns that they're moving backwards and tells Kowalski to try harder, and leaves.
Vasiliy follows the GPS tracker to a hippy shop. He breaks in and finds a tunnel leading down into the tunnels.
Justine visits Eph and asks if he's got the powder working. He shows her what he believes is the communication center of the strigoi brain, and demonstrates how the two captive strigoi he has communicate with each other. Justine insists that she needs a new weapon, and Eph says that if they can shut down their communication then they can pull it off. Justine tells him to do it and do it fast, and leaves.
Vasiliy crawls down the tunnel and emerges into a large chamber. Following the GPS signal, he continues on and finds digging repair machinery. There's a strigoi worker who turns when Vasiliy approaches him, and Vasiliy fights it. More strigoi move in and one turns on the digger. The others try to drive Vasiliy into it, but he grabs the remaining one and throws it into the digger, tearing it apart.
Dutch takes apart the microwave and removes the magnetron. She figures that once she rigs it to a dead station, she can use it to block out the strigoi communication. They banter about getting Justine laid, and Eph asks about Dutch's relationship with Vasiliy. He wonders if they're going to try reconnect, and Dutch figures that Vasiliy made it clear he wants nothing more to do with her. Dutch turns on the scrambler and Eph tortures one strigoi, and the other one doesn't react. Eph figures that they need to test it with real strigoi in the field.
Quinlan finds a reference to a vampire hunter in ancient Egypt burying the plague. Abraham checks his pages and finds a reference to the seven Ancients, and suggests that the Egyptian canceled one of them. He grabs Quinlan's pages and figures that the illustrations might contain a hidden meaning. Quinlan points out that it would be easier to find if they were looking at the real Lumen, and insists that he's not going to steal it again. The half-breed says that he wants the answers just as much as Abraham does, and Abraham tells him to wait there. He goes to the vault and gets the Lumen.
1972
Abraham goes to see Kruger, and finds Dr. Draverhaven there. The hunter quickly hides the cane that he stole from the ex-Nazi, and leaves it behind when Draverhaven invites him in. Draverhaven dismisses the book's supernatural rumors as nothing, and says that he is a man who embraces the accursed. He takes out the money and asks for the Lumen. Abraham takes it out of his case and takes it to Draverhaven. He tells the ex-Nazi to take it and feel the silver binding, and Draverhaven says that it is a fake and tries to sting Abraham. Abraham blocks it with the Lumen and takes out a silver grenade, tosses it on the floor, and ducks for cover. Draverhaven is badly burned, and Abraham says that he was hoping to find Eichhorst. However, he'll settle for Draverhaven... and puts a muzzle on him.
Now
Abraham and Quinlan examine the Lumen, and Abraham figures that it's somehow hiding its secrets. He finds a reference to the sun and quickly shuts the book, and then tells Quinlan to come with him. Abraham then goes to the roof and Quinlan remains in the shadows. The old man holds the page to the sunlight and explains that the writers used the sunlight to hide their secrets so that the strigoi would never read it. The hidden writing is revealed, talking about how the living plague was contained within a stone sarcophagus lined with an alloy of silver and lead that trapped the crimson worm.
1972
Abraham searches Draverhaven's shop but finds nothing. He opens the drapes, warning that the sunlight will be on Draverhaven in a few minutes. Draverhaven says that he's not afraid of death, and Abraham realizes that there's a hidden room. He locates it while Draverhaven sings a German song to himself. Abraham enters the hidden room, sword drawn, and turns on the light. Inside is a laboratory and a dentist's chair. Behind a curtain are stacks of body parts and buckets of blood, with flies buzzing everywhere.
Back in the main room, Abraham demands to know who the dead men are. Draverhaven says that they're Saskia's clients who harmed her girls, and Abraham drags Draverhaven into the laboratory and straps him down. He then drags down a trunk and closes the door, and Draverhaven nervously warns that Abraham doesn't know what he's doing. Abraham says that he does know that Draverhaven has an amazing ability to heal. However, he figures that if Draverhaven were to lose a limb then it would never grow back. Later after sawing off all four of Draverhaven's arms and legs, Abraham binds Draverhaven's face and leaves.
Now
Vasiliy descends further into the digging site where he found the strigoi and uses his map of the tunnels to continue on. He comes to a chamber filled with thousands of strigoi lying together, and realizes that he's found the main nest. Vasiliy returns to the surface and discovers that he's in Central Park.
Later at the command center, Vasiliy tells Justine that the strigoi are digging their own tunnels and coming up inside the safe tunnels. Justine says that they go after the nest with everything they've got.
Eph figures that if they can block the strigoi signals then they'll turn back into dumb animals. He releases one of the strigoi inside a cage and it tries to get at the bowl of blood just outside the cage. Eph points out that it can use a nearby pipe to pull it toward him, but the strigoi tries to pick the lock on the cage door. Eph has Dutch turn on the scrambler, and the creature loses its intelligence. However, after a moment it goes back to working on the lock. The strigoi gets the door open and Eph shoots it. As they share a drink, they realize that the scrambler doesn't work and figure the strigoi have found a way to get around the interference. Dutch assures Eph that they can figure it out and they just have to find a way to make things better.
Abraham tries to work out where the sarcophagus is, and says that he saw something similar with Draverhaven.
1972
On a boat in the North Sea, Abraham dumps the trunk over the side. It sinks to the bottom, with Draverhaven screaming all the way.
Now
Abraham tells Quinlan that he came close to madness then. Quinlan looks at the pages and says that good things can come out of madness. He figures that if they can imprison the Master's crimson worm inside of silver and lead, then they can render the master powerless. Abraham says that there is one person who could find out who the Master is currently occupying.
Later, Abraham meets with Eldritch and says that he will give him a dose of the White. In exchange, Eldritch will find out whose body the Master has taken. Abraham realizes that Eldritch didn't know that the Master had lost Bolivar's body, and Eldritch insists that the Master still needs him... or he's already be dead. The billionaire insists that he can and will find the Master, and offers his hand. He proposes a new alliance, and Abraham reluctantly shakes.
Written by Gadfly on Sep 26, 2016