Vampire romance was big at the time," Julian says with a shrug. "And I changed our names. I still don't know why no one wanted to buy it. But I wasn't just writing vampire erotica for money! I had a plan. Which brings me to Clan Tremere. And the things they get up to in their research. I've been working with Jasper Knowles lately. Terrible what happened to Jasper. Of course, it's also terrible what he did to that Sewer Rat. And that Outlander. And that…anyway. What's worse is that lately I've been working with Jasper, not Cainite to Cainite, but man to man, as it were. Of course, Jasper went and screwed it all up with his experiments, and I had to get rid of his…" Julian studies you for a moment, then his eyes widen. "You found the damn knife," he says. "You're too clever for your own good."
Hard living has made you dull, Krarr," the Banu Haqim says. "Fine. Since the Convention of Thorns, the Masquerade has protected us from mortal scrutiny. We hide what we are. We live in the shadows. But that can't last." He tosses the USB webcam up and down. "The Second Inquisition should have taught us that. One day soon, mortals will learn the truth. This is inevitable. Do you know why Jasper Knowles decided to end his experiments with that Nosferatu? Because someone filmed it when it got out. Then he called me to turn the video from a Masquerade breach into a trailer to a new student horror film. I had to fake some date stamps, but the Tremere paid me well.
"That's going to happen more and more, Krarr. And eventually it's going to be happening every night. All the time. Always on. Constant streaming. We must stop offering a hard wall against this inevitability and start creating a guided path for the mortals."
"I'm glad you're interested," Julian says. "This is all speculative, of course. Anything real is years away. But we need to begin now. Honestly we should have begun the moment people got camcorders, but we might still have time.
"Tomorrow, now that you have this beautiful machine," Julian says, banging the hood of your Mitsubishi, "Prince Lettow will give you one of three USBs. Would you like to know what's on them?" He doesn't let you answer. "One warns the Brujah Pattermuster about renovations to his hospital that will expose his followers. One informs the Tremere Invidia Caul that her mentor Jasper Knowles is dead and that her funding is cut off because her facility's contacts with mundane biomedical research firms threatens the Masquerade. One tells your sire, Elin Olivecrona, that the Second Inquisition is coming for her little prison-buffet down at the border. Wherever you go, the people there will use you—or destroy you—to escape what's coming. And it's all happening because of Jasper's experiments.
"I want you to keep your head up for information about the Second Inquisition that might affect my work. That's all. I won't even ask you to work against Prince Lettow or the Camarilla. Just watch for the SI. But first, let me demonstrate how disposable you are to the Prince. Now think back to what I taught you. Where is the best place to begin, Krarr? The walls? Lettow's thralls? His pet bird, Riga?"
Another damn test. Julian used to love these. But your relationship with the Camarilla and its Traditions is cool at best, and Julian always had a knack for spotting spies. He watches you as you look around your little garage.