Alexei glanced over Paul with a raised eyebrow. "Unless a better hypothesis presents itself, we are looking at empowered hunters. But how? Is it possible that more hunters were made Eternal, perhaps by one of our own looking to cull back the numbers?" He had extensive information on all three, but it was hard to see why others might go after Richard or Giorgio. He was working off Nima's thought that it could be hunters made Eternal. That would mean a rebellion in the ranks.

The problem he kept arriving at was that Anna Smith wasn't heavily involved in Eternal politics. She was young, devious and well-regarded, with few enemies. Giorgio Spada? Well, he had more enemies, but little in the last century or so. Richard Mullen? He'd always been caught up in hunting prey and cared little for the politics.

"With all respect due to your rights as a sire, my Lady Klotho is interested in the insights of your progeny, and if she has something to add, we should do well to heed. We are in a delicate situation of peril to Eternal, and you know as well as I do that in such a situation, our kind react badly." 

And, it was implied, obviously. Alexei, and his lady, did not want the whole thing to blow out into the open. Enough humans, and the Eternal could be overwhelmed. The cost to everyone, of course, would be considerable. Corner humanity, focus their attention on the Eternal, and they might devise a solution to the problem. The Eternal gave up a lot of their creativity with their mortality, or at least had a hard time focusing on mundane matters, especially as they advanced in age. They shed their humanity and became more preoccupied with the urges of their hunger. They were more powerful, of course, but they lost their creativity. They became creatures of habit.

He might have worried about Paul's reaction to his breach of the protocol of seniority, but he had a powerful patroness, one who was a tad more enlightened than her other ancient elders. She relied upon the young, which was seen as an idiosyncrasy, but those youthful Eternal helped keep her and her resources in touch with the world even as it changed.

"So what was the thought?"

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