MARS RED

Ah. How good to see the moon!

She is like a little piece of money. A little silver flower.

Yes, the moon is cold and chaste.

I am sure that she is a virgin.

The Lord hath arrived. The son of man is now with us.

Who was that who cried out?

Twas merely the voice of the prophet, Princess.

Ah, the prophet!

He of whom the Tetrarch is afraid?

It is thy mouth.

To kiss thy mouth.

My lips to thy lips.

My words and thine.

Won't you please be my co-star, mister?

I'd like that.

Major Yoshinobu Maeda, yes?

And you are?

Moriyama, Special Forces Unit Sixteen.

Lieutenant General Nakajima sent me

to see to your things and accompany you today.

If we're going to headquarters,

I can easily walk from here.

We have a different initial destination.

I'm to take you to Tsukishima Island.

What's there?

They can't swim across the water.

Makes a good prison.

Who's the vampire?

An actress from the Imperial Theater.

Six days ago she was involved

in what should have been fatal injuries onstage,

but survived.

Special forces were called in after that.

The Lieutenant General gave the order

to keep her alive and in custody.

Her symptoms?

We're still awaiting confirmation, sir.

Mental state?

Conversation is sometimes possible.

Can we bring her over to our side?

That decision is

entirely at your discretion, Major.

Understood.

Well, it's certainly deep.

I'm told it can be flooded in an emergency.

You've been away for six months. Does Tokyo feel different?

The Imperial Hotel renovations

will be finished this summer.

Wouldn't you love a night in a first-class joint like that?

Moriyama.

What can I do for you, sir?

You're awfully talkative for a special-forces man.

Uh, yeah, sorry. My wife always says the same thing.

Thinks I need to be more mindful

of my words since I'm a born talker.

So you're a married man.

Only recently. Our wedding was in the spring.

We were childhood friends.

A newlywed, huh?

It's only been three months,

but my folks are already pestering us

to give them grandkids.

Are you single, Major?

I have a fiancée, but I've never met her in person.

More stairs. Swell.

Are you ready, Major?

Open the door.

Look up to the glass.

What did you send?

It's the play she was in.

I was ordered to give her things from before her infection.

What a strange voice!

I would look closer at him.

I...

I would speak with him.

That's odd. Where is her voice coming from?

Getting this?

It's recording.

Ah, speak again. Please, Jokanaan.

Once more!

Ah. How good to see the moon!

She is like a little piece of money.

A little silver flower.

Yes, the moon is cold and chaste.

I am sure that she is a virgin.

The Lord hath arrived. The son of man is now with us.

Who was that who cried out?

Twas merely the voice of the prophet, Princess.

The prophet! He of whom the Tetrarch is afraid?

It is thy mouth.

Ever since our victories in the Great War,

we've seen Western technology and culture

steadily adopted into Japanese society.

Our navy's fond of boasting that it's invincible.

I won't say otherwise, however...

All who prosper will fall.

That's fast becoming your favored phrase, Okimura.

I have high hopes for your vampire unit plan, Nakajima,

and look forward to seeing it succeed.

Wise to borrow a secret tactic from the British.

I like the way your mind works.

Still...

I may be the secretary, but even I can't convince a cabinet

leaning toward arms reduction to support you

if you don't produce results soon.

That's a shame and a problem.

Jokanaan, thou wert the only man that I have loved.

All other men are hateful to me.

But thou... Thou wert beautiful!

Major Maeda.

The Lieutenant General is waiting for you sir.

Let's go.

I'm waiting, too.

Thine eyes that were so terrible,

full of rage and scorn.

Wherefore are they shut?

Art thou afraid of me?

Thy tongue...

Moriyama.

Yes, Major?

Your assessment?

I'm not sure.

I've never actually seen the real thing.

She has a stigmata on her tongue.

They appear at the point of infection.

That may be, but does being turned

automatically make her our enemy?

Hard to believe it's so black and white.

I was the same as you in the beginning.

Every vampire has the potential to become our enemy, though.

If we waver, we could end up like them.

We must protect our humanity.

Here with Major Maeda, Special Forces.

Major Maeda, reporting.

Lieutenant General,

I've returned to Special Forces Unit Sixteen.

Apologies for calling you back to active duty three days early.

So tell me, how's the arm treating you?

It works fine.

Good. And Tsukishima?

As far as I can judge from our observation,

her vital functions ceased due to the accident.

Given that her memories are

stuck in the moment of her near-death,

she was likely infected shortly thereafter.

Will she be of use to us? A new recruit?

Communication's sparse.

And if we attempt to train her as an agent,

I believe we would fail.

We'll dispose of her, then.

We could... if you command.

Mind that pity doesn't cloud your judgment, Maeda.

Sir, you needn't worry about it.

She's an extremely rare specimen

of the highest rank, but if she can't be of service...

The highest rank? Then, she was infected by no commoner.

Yes, someone older.

An ancient dweller of the night must be responsible.

Looking at reports, it seems we've had many

unconfirmed instances of vampires attacking humans.

The victims?

Three of them. Two were found dead from poisoning.

The last one is on Tsukishima Island.