Vampiric Solar Inoculation

By Dr. Dystopia
March 27, 1999
 

To most Scientists, the vampire represents a contradiction of appeal. On the one hand, vampires represent an unimaginably rich source of Research material. How many studies could be performed, how many advances might be discovered if vampires were as willing to work for Humanity’s benefit as Scientists are. On the other hand, vampires pose a terrible threat to Mankind. There is little that a normal, rational mind finds more repulsive than the idea of one human hunting, killing and consuming another. And this is exactly the image conjured when the average person thinks of vampires. This is unfortunate for, just as one human’s behavior cannot unfailingly predict another’s, there are (admittedly few) vampires who still feel a connection to Humanity and wish to work for the Common Good. It is these individuals that the following is designed to help.

The Sun. Man is able to continue his Cosmic Loitering upon the Earth only because of the Sun’s light and heat. It also remains the only reason Mankind has not had to suffer dominance of the Earth by vampires. It is well known that the light of the Sun will quickly immolate an exposed vampire. However, while the rays of the Sun protect us, they make our vampiric allies or test subjects almost useless during the day. For the few vampires that are deemed friendly or useful to Humanity, Science provides a temporary solution.

It is unfortunate but true that the Scientific Community has yet to isolate and exclude the specific radiations and/or frequencies that cause the rapid desiccation and combustion commonly experienced by vampires exposed to the Sun. It is my belief that we can side step this problem by isolating and excluding the Sun’s emissions as a whole. By analyzing the entire spectrum of the Sun’s emissions (“sunlight”) and looking for features common to each, it is possible to develop a method that excludes those features, thereby excluding the emissions themselves. In my own studies I have found that all the various emissions of the Sun vibrate at a very specific frequency, one which I cannot yet reproduce in my laboratory. I have found this frequency inherent to only one other source: vampiric tissues. I must admit this surprised me, because I had previously theorized that, comparable to Prof. Wangenstein’s paper on the relationship between werewolves and silver, the innate frequencies of sunlight and vampiric tissue would be inverse to one another. It appears that the process of becoming a vampire fundamentally alters the atomic structure of the body, subverting living bone and tissue into entirely new substances. These new substances, while being preternaturally durable and flexible, cannot abide direct contact with sunlight. The possibility exists that vampiric tissue and sunlight are related, and that the addition of the sunlight’s extra energy somehow overloads the vampire’s body. My experiments have revealed that material samples almost identical in frequency to vampiric tissue are completely unaffected by sunlight as a whole. Normal processes (heating, radiation exposure, etc.) still occurred, but the severe reaction typical to the vampiric samples did not take place, indicating that the exact frequency is critical to the reaction. This suggests two solutions: alter the frequency of sunlight, or alter the frequency of vampiric tissues. The first solution is impractical for several reasons, the most compelling being the problems of securing a suitable rocket capable of reaching the Sun, launching it and actually having the payload work as intended. Not to mention the problem of having indiscriminately immunized all the Earth’s vampires to sunlight (thereby sacrificing Mankind’s greatest defense against their threat) for the sake of Scientific Curiosity. The second solution is obviously preferable, enabling us to select only deserving individuals for inoculation rather than the entire vampiric population.

By wearing an ultrasonic stabilizer and setting it to the exact inverse frequency of sunlight, the vampiric tissues can be made to take on a similar vibrational frequency. In so doing, the vampire and the sunlight no longer interact, rendering the individual immune to the usual effects of sunlight upon vampires. Unfortunately, such a brilliant and unique solution to this problem cannot come without its own, equally unique, side effects and limitations.

Because the ultrasonic stabilizer throws the vampire’s body out of vibrational synch with the sunlight, it no longer reflects off of him. As a result, a vampire made immune to sunlight in this manner is also rendered invisible so long as he is illuminated by no other light source. While I am certain that some of my Scientific brethren will read this with horror, they can be reassured that I am in no way releasing an invincible army of invisible vampires into the daylight. The vampire’s invisibility (and thus, its immunity) is based upon the maintenance of its inverse vibrational frequency. If the vampire touches anyone, that person’s innate frequencies will corrupt the frequency maintained by the stabilizer. The vampire will fade into sight, and promptly burst into flames as its immunity vanishes. The stabilizer can quickly reassert itself if the other person is released, but the wearer will take damage for the 5-10 seconds the stabilizer needs to decontaminate the vampire’s frequency. Experimentation has shown that, while contact with unliving materials do not seem to affect the vampire’s frequency, the frequencies of living beings appear to be too much for the stabilizer to correct.

As I stated above, an affected vampire will be invisible only while illuminated solely by the sun. If the individual is inside an office lit by fluorescent lights, he will be completely visible. Similarly, if the vampire is outside, and someone shines another light source upon him, he will be as visible as if lit by the same light source in otherwise complete darkness. The vampire is not blind while sunlit (and unable to even perceive sunlight) due to the fact that the sunlight is reflected off of other objects before reaching the vampire’s eyes. This reflection may be just enough to alter the light’s visible portion, allowing the vampire to see it and anything off which it reflects. Despite the vampire’s invisibility to sunlight, he may become ‘sunburned’, and may feel a tingling or numbness in his extremities due to prolonged vibration by the ultrasonic stabilizer. These appear to be Paradox-related effects that fade after exposure to the stabilizer ceases.

One thing that the ultrasonic stabilizer cannot affect is the learned fear of the Sun that all vampires gain after their first undead sunrise. My tests have shown that a vampire protected by this Process will retain its conditioned reflexes regarding sunlight. They will flinch or even retreat at any sudden exposure to the Sun. It will take some time practicing with the stabilizer before they can confidently stride into sunlight without some visible (to those who can see them) sign of their discomfort. Another consideration is the vampire’s propensity to sleep during the daytime. I haven’t seen any solid research that proves whether their nocturnal schedule is as learned as their fear of sunlight or if it is somehow inherent to their condition. I would therefore advise anyone attempting to use the stabilizer for this purpose to make sure their subject gets a good night’s rest beforehand. Additionally, vampiric abilities involving being hidden will be enhanced, while those that require actually seeing the vampire will be severely curtailed.

Finally, I must stress that the specifics of this Process should be kept closely guarded. It would be beyond a disaster for the general vampire population to gain access to a source of immunity to sunlight, via either their blood magicks or a hapless Scientist bound to their cause. I can only trust that those Scientists who read this now will take the proper measures to insure its security.
 

GAME NOTES

(Second Edition.) Using Forces •••••, Prime ••••• and Matter ••••, the Scientist can temporarily nullify a vampire’s aversion to sunlight. This Effect is always vulgar (countering the vampire’s major weakness is like inventing a cure for silver for werewolves or iron for the Fae, or Paradox for Mages, for that matter) and costs one Quintessence per hour to maintain. (I suppose someone clever enough to carry out this Effect could attach a battery to it or rig an auto-syringe so that the vampire could expend a Blood Point in order to maintain it…) The vampire can move about normally (clothing and other Matter don’t affect this Effect, except at the Storyteller’s discretion, of course), but cannot touch anything living. Doing so ‘interrupts’ the Effect, but does not cancel it. The vampire takes normal, aggravated sunlight damage (and becomes visible) until the round after he stops touching the living being. Even a punch or momentary brush will suspend the Effect, causing the vampire to suffer one round of sunlight damage as the ultrasonic stabilizer reasserts itself. Also, remember that any other light source reflects off the vampire normally. (Noon. No vampire. Turn on that flashlight. Surprise!) The Storyteller can mandate sunburns, numb/tingling limbs, even blindness in order for this Effect to go through. Also, the vampire’s Obfuscation/Domination Disciplines, daytime sleeping and fear of sunlight have to be considered when using this Effect. Don't be afraid to apply other Paradox-type Effects.

Alternately, the Storyteller may consider the vampire to be only ‘mostly’ out of synch with sunlight. Some visible light still reflects off of the vampire. He may appear to be in black and white, or shades of blue or something completely different. My first thought was that even at noon the vampire would appear to be darkly lit, shadowy, as if very little light was upon him.

Alternately, the Storyteller who gets this from a player may tell him/her (and me) to go to Hell.

I wrote this in response to a Forum question wherein a player group had one vampire in their midst, did most of their killing/dying during the day and wondered if there was any way for a vampire to go out during the day. I decided that there was. Vampires can now move about during the day. This method isn’t perfect, but then there shouldn’t be an easy way for vampires to dawdle in the daytime. That’s our job. It’s a risky venture, but hey, we’re talking about a vampire in sunlight, for crying out loud.

1999 Derek D. Bass
 

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