To Love A River

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"Centuries ago there were not only vastly more countries and nations than we know today, but they formed multiple continents. Nowadays we have just the Western and Eastern territories as well as a few footholds in places such as Antarctica, the Arctic, and North and South America.

You would have been informed during your schooling with the military that the Eastern territories began the Last War, but in reality it was more a case of mutual annihilation. After so many years, and after various original records were lost in the aftermath of conflict, no one can say for sure who struck first, it could very well have been the West and many believe it to have come from the Americas. 

The war was arduous and bloody, spanning across 15 years, it left deep scars in our planet as multiple sides unleashed both biological and nuclear weapons. Our own country had been able to avoid the worst, for the better part of the war, by intercepting and destroying most of the aircrafts that attempted to cross the mainland to reach our island.

Unfortunately this created a nearly uninhabitable zone ravaged by the effects of nuclear fallout, that encompassed almost the entirety of Central and Western Europe. Those who prevailed, retaliated, and eventually our defences were taken down and we were hit also. 

Just as we had done to others, our country was crippled by the aftermath, with just a single atom bomb, and after 15 long years the conflict came to a standstill. This was not because the warring territories had finally come to an agreement, or because a single side had emerged above the others. No - it was the simple fact that no side was able to continue, and all were unable to lose the little that they had left to cling onto. 

Yet many years later, the war continued in some sense, in the countries left behind. This time in the form of vast periods of famine and sickness. Crops refused to grow in barren farmlands, birth defects and cancers were widespread, and civil wars waged on as those in power stubbornly clung to their ideals at the cost of their own people. 

And it was at this time, when the hope of humanity was at its lowest that vampires revealed themselves.

It was slow at first with just a few groups within each territory approaching those in power. They offered solutions to some of humanity's most significant problems. Namely, food, safe water, clean air and medical aid. 

They showed us how to effectively clone animals for meat that was safe from radiation, as the beasts who had survived the radioactive fallout began to mutate and become harmful to the general populace. They helped to build large scale facilities for water filtration, and introduced supremely advanced technology such as the inner city barrier, photon weaponry and highly advanced medical technology. 

Close to 70% of the world population had been wiped off of the planet by the time the vampire's stepped in to bring these wondrous and life-saving revelations to each major territory that was left standing. 

I am sure the answer is obvious now but let me ask you this. Why would they opt to step forward at that point after spending thousands of years hidden away from humanity?"

Love didn't need a moment to think. "To protect their food source. To stop us from becoming extinct", she answered. 

General Del smiled as she took another sip of the amber liquid, which smelled strongly of alcohol. "Correct. To protect their food source." She swirled the liquid around in the glass and continued in the same wistful tone. Love's glass lay untouched in front of her.

"Hope can be a dangerous emotion. If someone brings you hope in a moment of utter despair, it can blind you to their deeper motivations. What if they wish harm in the long run? What if their goal all along was to make humans indebted to them?...What if they started the Last War?"

Her last words hung in the air and Love felt as though she was frozen to her seat. Surely that couldn't be true, why would they intentionally eradicate 70% of their food source? 

Surprisingly the voice in her mind was quiet during this discussion, but Love felt as though she could sense his contemplation, as if he too were considering the possibilities. 

Suddenly General Del leaned back in her chair and laughed loudly. Love had almost jumped at the sudden noise. 

"I'm sorry Miss Aikawa, these are just the ramblings of an older woman who reads too many history texts and should learn to lay off the brandy." She winked at Love before downing the last of her drink and continuing. 

"Now where was I? Ah yes, hope. It was a strange era during the devastating after effects of the Last War, humanity now had to accept that not only were vampires real, but that they came offering the one thing many had already thrown aside, the hope for survival. How could the powers of each continent decline their help when the world was on its knees?

Those who had begun to thrive, had only been able to do so with the aid of the vampire's counsel. The general populace, for the most part, understood this glaring fact, and were intrigued by their seemingly otherworldly beautiful appearance and inhuman physical abilities. However, others saw the latter as a reason to fear them, and nobody had truly forgotten what vampires needed to consume to survive.

Consequently, the few main representatives of the vampire population stepped forward to assure those opposed to their interference, that their intentions were only towards the betterment of vampire and human lives, both species yearned for an end to conflict and a safer world in which to rebuild their communities.

And so, after years of somewhat strained debates and minor civilian protests, a treaty was signed, and a large global medical facility introduced a synthetic blood substitute. Heralded as the ground-breaking result of the collaboration between the human and vampire medical professionals, they called it 'Synth-B', and distributed it with all of the propaganda and fanfare befitting of the next greatest advancement in the medical field. With this, the vampires vowed to never feed on or harm another human against their will.

But the main issue was, who would enforce this? Vampires were not yet trusted enough to police themselves and humanity wished for a force of their own that could fight back. It was at this point that the Helsing unit or rather, Unit 2-18, was created. The moniker is a very old reference to an ancient family of vampire hunters. Fitting considering that it was our own family that founded the organisation before joining the military." 

Love raised her eyebrows slightly. "Your family, ma'am?"

"Ah yes, the Hunter's of course, my full title is Head General Delilah Hunter. This unit has been under our name for the past 350 years. The next in line would be my son. I believe you've met."

**