'Slaughter of Kilo Point: First Sign of Revolt'?

So read the headline of the papers Mathew had opened, as he scanned the article. His own connections had already gathered information on the case, of course - a skirmish of such size could not occur without drawing the attention of his employees. The mobilization of the Purge had also been mentioned to him, and he had suspected that this might happen. Rumours stolen from the heart of SOLDIER, however, would suggest that this newspaper was far closer to the truth than one might think. With the presence of that many Oldbloods, there was no doubt in his mind that something was going on. A revolt? Maybe. However, if the vampires were making a move, he would definitely need to get involved - he had stakes in this war, after all. And whether some might not realize it yet, everyone did.

"Lucy, bring me my coffee, and a list of my British connections. I have a man I need to track down."

[Yes sir, coffee will arrive in 32 seconds]

A list of figures appeared on his screen, businessmen and scoundrels, from both sides of the market. Britain, as the world's only real vampire nation, would be caught in the middle of this. Furthermore, there was a certain figure in Britain that had interested Mathew for some time now. The Collector. Whilst on the surface he seemed nothing more than an unusually secretive collector, as the name would imply, his identity and estates could be traced to several earlier aliases, in a consistent line that goes back to before the existence of bureaucracy itself. Several of these aliases were vampires, although all of them were considered death. It was a solid ruse, but after careful investigation of the trade lines, estate ownership and possessions, they always moved on to the next alias.

The Collector was not the only vampire to move from alias to alias by far, over the history of the world this had become a rather well known technique. What was more unique, however, was how thoroughly he had hidden the trails. The transfer of estate had usually occurred through several travels, moving through the underworld as well as through legal documentations. Trade partners were rapidly exchanged with different members, who would then seem to naturally grow into business partners with the new alias. Tracking down the collector's true identity was impossible, all Mathew could do was speculate on the origin of this line. And when somebody could hide information that he couldn't get to, even with his more clandestine connections, it sparked an interest.

Several individuals who had been associated with either the Collector or previous aliases, mostly paid through black market methods, straight in cache, or through previously left documents at several secure locations, had been discovered. Amusingly enough, this time it had been them trying to gain information from Mathew's own favorite connections, rumourmongers and businessmen who knew the value of knowledge. Supposedly, they were looking for information on the Purge, which indicated that the Collector was involved with the battle at Kilo Point somehow, either directly or indirectly.

In war, the best business proposals are born. "Send a message to the people of the Collector. Give him my business number, I'd like to have a chat with him. He's Brittish, so I'll be expecting him rather soon. Anyone who gives him any information outside of the approved list is to be removed from the payroll, and to be placed on the.... Black List."

[I will forward the message, sir.]

"Thank you Lucy, what would I do without you?" Smiling, Mathew took out a cigarette and lighter. Not the cheap knockoffs. A genuine cigar, in the oldfashioned style. A classic. Anything that was worth doing, was worth doing in style.