Maria walked through the town with a clear goal in mind.
With her past experience as a mortal doctor, gaining access to information about orphanages was easier than she expected.
Beautiful dress with a nice-rented hover car, and a few well-placed "donations" was all she needed to gain access to the children to test their potential.
Most orphanages didn't even need that much but she tried to leave a good impression for further 'transactions.'
From one orphanage to another, she examined the children, checking their bodies with a portable med kit and Talent Crystal.
She carefully recorded every information about the potential awakeners, just as Jensen instructed although they weren't very much so she recorded other children with physical gifts.
Once she had gathered enough information on possible awakeners, she shifted her focus to other talents.
Afterall Talent was not limited to Power.
She began noting children and even young adults with other useful traits. From those that were naturally beautiful to those that were good with numbers and had the making of being good accountants etc.
All of them had value.
After finishing the orphanages, Maria turned her attention to the streets but that proved far more difficult.
Now that she was nicely dressed, the moment she approached most of the street children and tried to do anything apart from tipping them, they ran.
Some didn't even wait for her to speak, just her presence was enough to send them scattering.
She didn't change them because she understood why.
In this world, kindness from a stranger was often the beginning of something far worse.
They knew anyone offering help without reason was usually hiding something, and some of those children had learned that lesson the hard way.
So, she gave up.
She gave up and shifted her focus to something else.
She spent the rest of the day visiting guilds and workshop, where quietly observed awakened professionals.
From alchemists to runemasters to blacksmiths, as well as other skilled individuals who could be useful to the family.
But that path soon quickly hit a wall.
Every single one of them already held allegiance to someone else.
They were all tied down by contracts, loyalty or fear.
Even the weaker ones had backings with no easy way to pull them away and she didn't think it was the best idea to clash with such powers especially in their infant stage, so she let them be.
By the time the sun began to set, Maria stopped and returned home. She tried to brainstorm solutions, but she kept coming up short.
Afterall she wasn't exactly the best when it came to these sorts of things.
In the end she sighed and slowly reached into her spatial ring to pull out the number Jensen had given her.
She stared at it in silence; she wanted to complete the task on her own… she really didn't want to rely on anyone else, especially not someone she barely knew.
'Since Jensen provided her number, she should be fine.' Maria thought, 'But I must be careful with her.'
The more she thought about it, the clearer it became, failing to ask for help would be far worse than failing to complete the task itself especially since Jensen gave her the information.
She wondered what the lady would be like.
After a long pause, she let out a quiet breath and closed her eyes.
As she stood there, her thoughts drifted back to Jensen.
The more she thought about him, the more the change became clear.
It wasn't just that he had awakened.
It was everything.
The way he spoke, the way he acted and the way he looked at people.
The killing… that wasn't the issue.
In this world, killing was normal, it was as common as eating or breathing.
Afterall people died every day, and most of the time, no one cared.
The only reason the Human Alliance Police even bothered to look into Jack's death was because it happened inside a government settlement.
Like a safe zone of sort.
They were supposed to maintain order there, to give people a sense of security but even then, most cases were ignored unless too many bodies started piling up.
As for their little incest, although frowned upon because of genetic defects that often arose, it was almost as common.
(A.N: I don't know if I have said it before but even though this world is similar to ours the moral compass is very much different.)
***
Maria went to bed and slept relatively well that night.
For the first time in a long time, her body felt light when she woke up. One of the benefits of being a Vampyre was how good it felt to be in her own body although she still felt something was missing.
The feeling was so underrated.
She slowly got out of bed, cleaned herself, dressed up and prepared a quick breakfast.
After she finished her breakfast, Maria wiped her hands before reaching for her communication device and immediately dialled the number Jensen had given her.
The call rang three times before it was finally answered.
On the other end, Lily frowned slightly as she looked at her device. Very few people had her personal contact information.
She hesitated briefly before answering.
"Hello, may I know who is speaking and how I can help you?" Lily said, her tone calm but guarded.
Maria held the device closer to her ear.
"Hello." There was a short pause.
"Is this Lily?" Maria asked.
"Yes," Lily replied, her voice steady. "How can I help you?"
"Jensen asked me to contact you if I needed help."
Silence followed for a short while.
On the other side, Lily's expression shifted slightly the moment Jensen's name was mentioned.
She didn't ask unnecessary questions.
"Very well," Lily said after a brief pause. "Come to this address."
She calmly gave Maria her home location and Maria listened carefully, memorizing every detail.
"I'll be there," she said simply and the call ended.
Maria lowered the device slowly and stood there for a moment.
Then, without wasting any more time, she picked up her things and prepared to leave.