A small male vampire appeared, frozen in his body’s middle age by his Turning. Small in stature, he had the look of what had once been a meek and mild bookkeeper.

Tanya had met him before, many times, yet found him reticent to the point of being socially frozen. His intelligence and personality only came alive in his notes and financial summaries. Tanya had heard him speak only a handful of times, yet many were the reports she had read, each brilliantly summarizing the statistical metrics of the Coven’s financial and logistical health. The rumor was that he’d been turned to preserve his organizational talents for the Coven’s use.

“Seneschal, how fares our general business interests in this newly awakened world?” Mausya asked.

“Holdings in most regions are down in both valuation and earnings numbers,” he said in a surprisingly deep voice with absolutely no expression.

“Seneschal, is the total gross value of the Coven up or down? And what about total gross earnings?” Tanya asked, earning herself a quick look from Mausya, the equivalent of a glare.

“Gross numbers are up for both earnings and capital values,” he answered, as mechanical as any of Omega’s drones.

“How is that reconcilable?” Tan asked, a frown on his otherwise handsome features.

Tanya was watching the Seneschal when the words were spoken or she would have missed the tiny flicker of annoyance.

“The original question was regarding our general business interests. The organization’s total figures include other, more alternative investments that have performed exceedingly well,” the Seneschal said, ignoring Elder Mauya’s glare. Another rumor had it that he was completely without a damn to give regarding Patrons, Elders, or anyone else’s feelings or egos. And he was just too valuable to criticize or punish.

“What investments are those?” Lison asked, leaning forward with her first sign of interest in the proceedings.

“Those would be the Coven’s position in Demidova Incorporated, as well as the long-term general reserve fund managed under Elder Senka’s offices,” the Seneschal said.

“Elder Senka, who have you made responsible for investing the reserve fund?” Gault asked.

“Tatiana, although she has informed me that she turned over much of the day-to-day maintenance to the Omega computer,” Senka replied without looking away from her stare at the other two elders.

Most of the room looked at Tanya. She shrugged. “Omega is much faster at spotting trends and reacting to news. He may also be hacking some otherwise proprietary systems to gain an advantage,” she said. The Patrons, at least, were highly interested. Vampires love knowing information others didn’t.

“The account’s year-to-date return is one hundred and seventy-three percent,” the Seneschal reported without prompting.

“The machine is working for us?” Atta asked.

“Omega works with us. It’s sentient and independent. So it’s a partnership, not an ownership.”

“Partnerships can implode,” Gault noted.