[ WP ] The world is run by vampires , and the currency is blood . You work as a banker .

The client took her time seating herself in my office, admiring the dark wood paneling and light decor, my accolades hanging on the wall. I waited patiently, politely, sitting behind my desk with folded hands. With the wealthier half, it is better to wait to be spoken to. 
 
 It also gave me a moment to quietly relish how far I had come from the start of my career. My clean, beautiful office was nothing like the cramped, stained steel tellers windows on the ground floor. No constant smell of blood from fresh head brought in for deposit, no getting my hands dirty with drainage work or in-house slaughter, no wrestling feisty head that had n't been properly sedated before being brought in. I would put up with any amount of rich social games if it meant being done with all that. 
 
 Eventually, she made her way to one of the high-backed chairs set across from me, her elegant black robe making a striking contrast against the crimson velvet of the cushions. Her deep red eyes met my own, and I smiled faintly toward her, still awaiting her pleasure. 
 
 After a brief moment of gathering her thoughts, she said, `` I have a rather large deposit I would like to make. It is the first of this size I have handled, and I hold certain concerns regarding... deterioration, with this much capital.'' Her eyes never left mine, narrowing slightly as she gave me a meaningful look. `` Tell me of your practices. I want assurance that I will not take a loss in using your bank.'' 
 
 I nodded at this, unsurprised, as it was a common concern. `` Would you mind if I first inquired as to exactly how much capital you're looking to invest?'' I asked, keeping my tone as non-assuming as possible. It was the sort of question that could be taken the wrong way. `` It would help me speak to exactly what sort of methods will be used.'' 
 
 She tapped her fingers thoughtfully against her cold, perfect thigh, the soft sound of her nails pressing into the fabric almost audible through the quiet of her consideration. Finally, she said, `` 20,000 head, all properly fed and bred. My accountant estimates 130,000 liters between them if one were to make a full harvest, but of course I want nothing of the sort done to them.'' 
 
 Doing a bit of quick mental math with some memorized figures, I murmured, `` Nearly 10,000 liters per month gain, then. I see...'' Such an amount would be hard for one family, no matter how rich, to properly drain and distribute. The infrastructure required was unique to banks such as ours. 
 
 Speaking more formally, I began to outline our services. `` In that case, we would certainly be dealing with an off-site storage facility. We keep several tenement warehouses in the city that can hold up to 100,000 head each, though depending on space available we might need to break up your stock among several buildings. If fast withdrawal of the whole amount is a concern, we could hold them on a farm outside city limits until room becomes available to fit them all into one building.'' 
 
 As I recited the familiar lecture, I handed her the appropriate informational book from my desk drawer. It had pictures in it of human stock kept in clean rooms, each naked and tagged with several numbered tattoos. More pictures showed her our drainage process, a diagram of the sedative gas system that allowed us to pacify a whole floor of head at a time, the harvesting equipment, both lethal and nonlethal. 
 
 `` In there, you can see the quality of our methods and equipment when it comes to managing safe, hassle free harvest. After draining it would be quite simple to set up cold storage for the blood itself, if you wished to accrue interest, or you could specify any amount of payees to receive a proportion of the final amount at the end of each week, or each month.'' 
 
 Her eyes skimmed over the images, and I noticed her growing hunger at the images. They were rather brazen, for something used as a professional resource, but there was no real way to avoid it. I politely ignored her extending fangs, continuing my speech. `` We avoid deterioration mainly through keeping the entirety of the head entrusted to us pacified at all times. Of course, the drugs we use to do this have no impact on the quality of the blood produced, an expense we bear gladly for our customers.'' She glanced up at me appreciatively at this, and I guessed she'd come across blood from badly drugged stock in the past. It was disgusting stuff, and dangerous too in some cases, especially if the stock grew sick. 
 
 `` What about attrition due to age? How do you handle breeding to replace numbers? I intend to keep this account for at least some few hundred years, and I do n't want to end up with less head than I started with.'' Even as she asked, she flipped to the page that detailed our breeding practices. Her eyes widened in surprise. `` You really go through the trouble of artificial insemination, for such a huge stock?'' 
 
 I nodded firmly. `` We are committed to quality, Madam. While leaving head undrugged for a few weeks a year typically will give us enough spawn to keep attrition in check, we find they will often pick poor mates in this time. The population does not improve in quality or health as a whole over longer stretches of time. With artificial insemination, we can at least pick the strongest, most productive males to start the next generation, though we still make use of every female.'' I raised a hand slightly, answering her next question as she parted her lips. `` The spare males can also be culled to make up some of the cost in the short term, but overall, I think you will find it the better option.'' 
 
 She thought it over, closing the book in her lap and looking down at it. Eventually, she nodded. `` Very well. I suppose I can allow a little less in the short term... I do n't intend to make a massive withdrawal any time soon.'' 
 
 A pause followed, her smooth, pale forehead furrowed in thought. I guessed she was still struggling with the mind-fogging aftereffects of hunger, something I was all too familiar with from my time on the ground floor. Though I would deny it to a client, I had used that slowness of thought to the bank's benefit in the past. This time, I saw no need to. An account of this size would make us a fair bit of money in any case. She had n't even asked our rates, though it hardly mattered when this amount of blood was flowing. So long as we did n't cost her any head, she would stay happy. That was the hard part, after all. 
 
 As her eyes cleared, she put the book back on my desk, nodding. `` I think we have a deal, then. How soon can you pick up the head from my estate?'' 
 
 I smiled at her, pleased things had gone so smoothly. `` Within the next two days. We have a large fleet of livestock trucks to assure things move quickly. You should n't have time to lose any head before we get them all safely settled.'' 
 
 Nodding again, the woman's shoulders relaxed somewhat, her stiff collar tilting as her head inclined forward. `` Excellent. Your organization already has all the relevant information, I trust?'' 
 
 I waved a hand dismissively. `` Of course, of course. We'll collect the more involved records when we pick up the stock. Our database tracks every head individually, just in case. No chance we'll miss any.'' Pressing a button on my desk, I continued, my tone growing slightly more casual. `` But enough of that. A deal well struck deserves blood to seal it, and if I may say so, you look famished.'' 
 
 She looked a little embarrassed, but gave a smile in return. `` I would n't mind a drink, I suppose...'' 
 
 `` Perfect,'' I said, grinning as the door to my office burst open. Two accountants held a squirming human between them, the man looking wild with the fear of death. I could hear his heart pounding, all the delicious blood pumping through him. Standing slowly, I guided the accountants toward our new client, stroking the human's sweaty hair admiringly. `` I have something fine for you, in that case. He's never been sedated, O type, and as you can see, fresh as you could hope for.'' I gave her a wink. `` We keep a couple thousand like this set aside for special occasions.'' 
 
 She was practically drooling. `` Oh, my... it's been a while since I've had such a delicacy. My thanks, good banker.'' Her voice trailed off into a purring growl, the old hunter instincts making her crouch slightly, her feet moving slowly in a prowl despite her high heels. Though the whole room was dim, she circled toward him, taking a curving path that tended toward the more shadowed side of the room. The human grunted, wild eyes rolling in fear, struggling between the two accountants. They stood still as stone, the fabric of their blood spattered sleeves the only thing disturbed by his violent thrashing. 
 
 In slightly better control of myself, I handled him casually, grabbing his chin and shoving it up to expose his neck. He was soft, fatter than any vampire, but kept from growing too obese to avoid annoying neck fat. Nothing worse than trying to reach the arteries through a collar of useless lipids. If the damn things were n't so good at holding and making blood, I would kill our entire stock... save for a few. There really was nothing better than blood fresh from the still-beating heart, laced with the spice of fearful adrenaline. 
 
 Licking my lips, I lowered my head to his right carotid, just as the client did the same on his left. As the human screamed his last, we bit in, and I thought again of how well I liked the perks of having an office.
