If I didn't have money to pay for my rent, then the obvious question that arises is how did I have the money to pay for the medical equipment. The obvious answer to that question is I did not have the money, so I had to drain some of my own blood into a pint sized bottle before heading off to the merchant's stall.
While vampire blood does not taste good in any sense, it is still a usable form of payment. No one would bat an eyelid at a jar full of their own species' blood most of the time. Unless the blood was rotten or impure, blood was blood. It was the custom to not ask where it was from unless you wanted to insult the person offering pay. Most people kept quiet as vampire blood was worth more than animal blood. That and the fact that being rude to a vampire who was stronger than you would most likely end up with you inside the next bottle.
The medical waste merchant sniffed the bottle after popping open the lid, much like a human sniffing a bloody Cesar. With his eyes narrowing slightly, he nodded his head, accepting the payment.
"What can I interest you in today, my friend?" It was easy to confuse a vampire's business lingo with friendliness, but this character had likely traded thousands of shady deals to overpaying customers. He was a true merchant at heart, and one that would suck the literal blood of his prey if given the chance.
"I'm looking to separate different fluids from one another in rather large batches." I eyed the various medical tools and apparatus that he had stacked on one another and in the counter facing the street. I recognized some tools like the scalpel and medical scissors, but many of the objects were foreign to me. I had never gone to university back when I was a human, something more important had been going on at that point in my life, so how to use most specialized instruments was not in my skill list. Plus, being a vampire gave its own perk of self regeneration, which was quite nice as the wound I drained blood from had already healed in a matter of hours. There was therefore no need to go see a doctor.
"You'd be looking for a centrifuge or a fractional column." He scratched his stubble and looked around. "Do you have any experience with chemical separations, or use of those equipment?"
I shook my head as there was no point in lying here.
"Do you have access to a hotplate and running water where you want to use this stuff?" I shook my head once more. "Then that leaves the centrifuge, assuming you have access to electricity."
He walked over to a rather small machine that resembled a printer. Placing one hand on it, he dusted off the layer of grime that had settled over time.
"Large batches of liquids can be separated through large centrifuges, which are extremely expensive, we are talking close to a hundred bottles of blood for a used one. For a brand new model, it would be closer to a thousand bottles." With a small pat on the top of the machine he continued to explain why I would want this specific item. "Now this wont be able to do huge quantities of liquid separation, but its the best I can do for how much you have. At most, this can separate about 80 millilitres in one go."
80 millilitres was a little under a third of your average soft drink can. It was a rather pitiful amount, but with no other idea coming to mind it seemed like the best bet. Worst case, I would just run the machine many times to extract the blood from the waste water. Sounded monotonous but it seemed useful, plus I could afford the error.
After explaining to me how the machine operated, repeating many times that the equipment had to be on a stable surface and that it had to always be balanced with the test tubes I placed inside. The test tubes were cheap to buy and I could always buy more if I accidentally dropped one, the merchant had a whole bin of them. The machine itself was prone to jumping off of surfaces if incorrectly used, so equal weight within the test tubes placed inside was a must.
Since the machine was quite dirty and I had paid a rather expensive price for it, I managed to haggle in a few more items that I wanted from the store. Added to the purchase were cheap goods such as surgical tubing, a funnel, phlebotomy needles (which I learned was the correct name for blood collection needles), blood collection jars, some clamps, medical thread and needle. They were still essential for my plan with Clemen as I could not always be there dumping waste into him every hour when his stomach emptied. If everything worked well, I would only need to check in on him at the start and at the end of my shifts.
Both parties looked happy as the transaction was completed. Not that many people must be interested in purchasing used medical equipment, but since the shop existed there must be a market for it. If anything, I would must likely need to come back to refresh my med supplies, so he had made himself a new regular customer.
With my box full of supplies I made my way near the slaughterhouse. With the equipment purchased, one step was completed. Now came the hard part of trying to sneak this into the building without getting caught. While they were not the most alarming objects to bring in with me, the act would probably raise quite a few questions which I would prefer to avoid.
Walking through the streets and holding the box under one arm made me realize how strong the blood had made me compared to how I was before. The pure strength was easy to see as I held onto the 30 pound box in one hand quite easily, a task that would have required both hands to do before my thirst was quenched.
The second less visible difference was the acuteness of my senses. I could hear people mumbling as they walked by clearly if I concentrated, as well as the darkness of alleyways becoming much clearer and easy to see in as my eyes adjusted rapidly to light differences. I could walk by restaurants and smell the food and know immediately what was being cooked, instead of just thinking something smelt good or bad. All my senses had begun to increase in tandem with my physical ability, most likely to allow me to take full advantage of it. Perception and information gathering was just as important as speed or strength in dangerous situations, of which this city was full of.
If I had extra time on my hands I could probably find some low life looking for a fight, to test out how strong I had become. But, that idea had risks and I was starting to run short on time, rent was due in two days and I did not want to drain my own blood to pay it. Even lower on my list of priorities was wanting to feel the wrath of Mrs. Parrish, my landlord. Even though the old lady was stooped over and looked as thin as a bird under her witch-like cloak, she terrified me. Something about her was off, and I don't think I was ready to deal with it.
I arrived at a side street a block away from the main entrance of the slaughterhouse. A line of people waiting to be let in and a slow stream of people exiting as shifts ended and commenced. My own shift was starting in about four hours, I wasn't too worried about sleeping since I could easily stay awake for three days with my level of energy. I was starting to get nervous about how I could get the centrifuge and equipment into the building when I thought of all the security at the door that would immediately spot the box.
Clearly the front doors were a no go, janitors and sanitation personnel had no business bringing in their own equipment. I stared at the wall that isolated the giant building from the rest of the city. Maybe there would be a weakness somewhere within the wall, a side door of some sort.
Picking up my box, I decided to do a sweep of the perimeter. I had already walked around the building many times, but I had never paid much attention to the walls before. I doubt I would see anything, but the walk might just give me an idea.
The left side had absolutely nothing remarkable. No entrances, no side doors, not even a guard station. What a waste that this wall went on for 5 city blocks without any use for it other than keeping people out. Well, about every square inch of it was marked in some sort of graffiti or spray paint image, people saw a canvas where I saw an obstacle. Different priorities I guess.
The back of the building had another entry, one I seldom used. A line of people from various professions lined up here as well, waiting to start their day. I noted that every corner was occupied by a guard tower that jutted out of the wall. The wall was tall enough that whoever climbed it would most likely be extremely fit, so extra security was in place in case a breach did happen. I could not spot the guard occupying the tower as the windows were tinted and the lights off. This was probably a trick to making people think they were unoccupied. Another reason to think my plan through carefully.
The right side was occupied by a heavily guarded loading dock. Semi trucks and delivery trucks would frequently leave this area through a two way gate. Armed security kept an eye on the street traffic as trucks came and went, a gatekeeper checking the credentials of the drivers that entered.
I could not stop and stare since I was being watched by the security detail, but I got a decent look of the large open shipping bay. Trucks parked backwards into spots as cargo personnel unloaded the boxes or loaded them up. The boxes seemed to be already pre-marked and were delivered to forklift operators so that they can be distributed to their respective positions within the factory. The employees looked a bit stronger than the sanitation personnel that I worked with, most likely due to their job requiring more heavy lifting than mine did. That was not saying much as most employees still looked like starving zombies as they milled around stacking boxes.
My vision on the area soon came to end as I reached the next portion of the wall. It was seeing the underpaid ghouls that started the gears in my head. Unless I was all powerful or could teleport, physically bringing in my loot would be almost impossible. But if there was one thing that almost no blood starved vampire could say no to, it was blood. And since I had a nearly unlimited source on the inside of the building, all I had to do was bribe the right person to be my transporter.
The next shift, I packed a couple empty water bottles into my backpack and started head hunting.