Page 66 of Curiosity Killed The Vampire

He reached into his coat, pulled out his phone, and scrolled through his contacts with the same focus he used in combat.

“Who are you calling?” I asked, though I already knew.

“William,” he said. “If we’re going to dig into human organizations, we need clearance. PSO has eyes everywhere. I’d rather not start a political war before the real one.”

He hit the contact and set the phone on the table, pressing speaker. The rhythmic buzz of the ringing filled the room, each tone underlining the tension coiled in the air.

Julian crossed his arms and leaned against the far wall, watching silently. I stood beside Con, arms folded, the glow of the artifact still pulsing near the corner of the table.

The ringing cut off. A familiar, clipped voice answered. “Hello.”

“William,” Con said, tone measured and professional. “It’s Constantine.”

A pause on the other end. “You don’t usually call me directly. I assume this isn’t a social check-in.”

“No,” Con replied. “We retrieved the artifact, but we encountered more of the enhanced humans. They’re organized. There are signs of military involvement.”

The line stayed quiet for several seconds. I could almost hear William thinking, his careful mind running through possibilities, contingencies, fallout.

When he spoke again, his tone was slower, more deliberate. “That’s a serious accusation, Constantine. You’re certain about the military link?”

“Yes,” Con said. “Julian’s been compiling evidence along with all the information we obtained from the lab. Personnel records, missing operatives, genetic data—it all points to a larger structure. If humans are creating augmented soldiers, someone in authority is enabling it.”

“Or looking the other way,” I added.

William exhaled, the sound rough through the speaker. “You realize that investigating human organizations falls under PSO jurisdiction. If you push too hard, you could blow up every treaty we’ve spent decades holding together.”

Con’s gaze flicked briefly toward me before returning to the phone. “I’m aware. But we can’t ignore this. We’ve seen these enhanced humans in the field—they’re not prototypes. They’re deployment-ready. Someone is weaponizing them, and they already know we exist.”

The silence dragged again. Even through the static, I could feel William weighing risk against necessity.

Finally, he said, “You have my authorization to proceed. But understand this, Constantine—these humans fall under PSO law. If you move against them without coordination, it becomes an act of aggression.”

“We’ll proceed carefully,” Con said. “You’ll be informed of everything we do regarding them.”

“See that I am,” William replied. His voice softened by a fraction, though the edge remained. “If what you’re saying is accurate, we’re staring at a new kind of war. And if we’re not careful, we’ll be fighting it on their terms.”

Con’s jaw tightened. “Then we change the terms.”

A brief pause, then a humorless snort. “You always did prefer the hard way.”

The line clicked, and the call ended.

The sudden quiet in the room felt heavier than before. The hum of the overhead lights seemed louder, pressing at the edges of my senses. Con picked up his phone and slipped it back into his pocket without looking at either of us.

“Well,” I said at last, breaking the tension, “this should get interesting.”

Julian huffed under his breath, gathering his notes. “Interesting is one word. I’d go with suicidal.”

Con leaned back in his chair, eyes distant but burning. “Maybe. But if humans are building soldiers stronger than us, we can’t afford to stay blind. We cut this off before it erupts.”

The artifact’s golden light flickered once more across the polished table, catching the hard line of his jaw and the quiet fire in his gaze.

And even though none of us said it aloud, we were all thinking the same thing.

The humans weren’t experimenting anymore.

They were getting ready for war.