July 4 (Late Evening)

America.

A quiet night in is exactly what I needed. Viola invited me to a party with her friends, but I declined. A night of fireworks is no longer all that appealing. Rather than see me alone all night, she offered to come over after she left her party. She's due here any time.

It has only been a few short months, and I know that one in my position should aim for the long view, but if I've learned anything since my Embrace, it's that just because we are given tools to rise above humans, that does not mean that we are any less susceptible to our final end. So I find myself working quickly to enjoy a more relaxed pace later on. In that regard, I think that tonight I will enact my plan.

Ultor is fully up and running. We've even had our first requests for blood analysis come in. As a new lab with lower processing fees, I'm unsurprised that so many would flock to us. I'm looking forward to seeing what we're able to discover.

I visited the marker again last night. I simply sat there, unmoving, for several hours. I think my sire tried to tell me something, and I think my phone rang once or twice before I turned it off. As I sat there, I found myself amazed that someone I had known for such a short time could have this effect on me. From when I arrived in Chicago to the end of the fight with Birkin was only a span of two or so months. That's usually not even long enough to develop a good friendship, let alone a sense of family that some of us had fallen into. A highly dysfunctional, neurotic family, but a family nonetheless.

Ultor's going to have to tread carefully with this first team. Give them direction, but no step by step outline of procedure. Let them work together, let them succeed, let them fail...let them grow. Start off as a team, with a clear leader, and everyone knowing where they stand. Whatever we find in regards to their potential, don't let them get out of control. Teach them to respect themselves, each other, and the world around them, human and supernatural alike.

All it is is a couple of miracles, right?

Guillermo's come by a couple of times (to see me specifically, he comes by more to see Viviana). We'll sit, talk, drink, and laugh until nearly dawn, usually about nothing of consequence. I think I'm being observed, but I don't mind the company.

This week, Oliver will start training the two fireteams that we are able to fund. With some of the cream skimmed from the Soul's Army cache, plus the arms we've been able to acquire from various sources, the two should be sufficient to keep an eye on one team.

I plan on putting in a request to the Prince to claim the projects and the areas surrounding Ultor as a personal feeding ground, mainly to protect those that live there. I have not forgotten the Daeva, Sophia, or her unthinking predations on the people of Greenbriar. We're going to protect them, uplift them. I believe that my actions in defending Chicago give me a bit of capital I can spend, plus a bit of standing in the Camarilla, even though I am not as enmeshed in the politics as others. We'll see.