The Search for Serena and Uncovering Inter-species Animosity

Key Insight

The protagonist initiated an extensive, round-the-clock search for Lowe Moreland, driven by an instinctive belief he was involved in Serena's disappearance. Initial online searches for 'L. E. Moreland' were futile, yielding only a deceased real estate agent (died 1999) obsessed with Yorkies and an 'infinite vastness of nothing.' Employing aggressive 'penetration tester' methods, the protagonist eventually uncovered a hidden memo on a Human server, linked to the governor's office, mentioning a summit attended by 'Lowe Moreland and M. Garcia' around the time Serena vanished.

The revelation that Lowe was a Were, confirmed by the protagonist's father, explained the difficulty in finding information. Weres maintain 'exceptional' firewalls and 'hack-proof' networks, with Lowe's 'digital footprint' being expertly erased, almost as well as the protagonist's own highly skilled efforts. Realizing remote access was impossible, the protagonist's 'plan' became to physically infiltrate Lowe's home, access a computer, and 'scour every single document and piece of communication the Weres have' to locate Serena, acknowledging the high risk of failure for this endeavor.

While attempting to find Lowe's office, the protagonist is confronted by Max, a young Were (around eighteen). Max reveals deep-seated animosity, accusing Vampyres of taking things from his people, including hunting relatives and mounting their 'embalmed heads to their walls,' and claims his father and older sister were murdered by Vampyres, with his sister dying at age nine while patrolling a border Vampyres crossed 'just for fun.' The protagonist counters, stating Weres have 'made wine out of the blood of mine and then mixed it with livestock feed.' The verbal exchange escalates into a physical attack by Max, who is quickly subdued by the protagonist through trained combat (knee to groin), revealing fangs to ensure Max's compliance before Lowe intervenes with overwhelming strength.