Three guys on a ladder are almost done hooking him up to the light pole, tire hanging from a thick chain.

"Brasilio's crew and the 11th streeters, I think. Good on 'em, too!"

"Nothing's worse than a cannibal. Disgusting, utterly disgusting. You've got to make examples, got to spread the word that this is what happens if you eat people."

"It's not popular where I'm from, what drives someone to do that?"

"Who fucking knows? Maybe he did it for the thrill."

"Yeah, like some fucking rich kid slumming it for thrills. Or was just wacked out on meth or something."

"There's people who trade in flesh. It's fucked. Death to 'em all!"

"Yeah, but cooking him? Isn't that a little too ironic?"

They give him funny looks.

"It's what they deserve."

The ladder is being moved away. The guy is still unconscious.

Tiny model humans this guy has eaten.

Six. Old man, old woman, young woman, young woman, young man, young woman.

Jesus. Okay. He ballparks enough morphine to keep the guy out while they burn him and moves on.

The fire is burning soon enough. A Tower Group patrol stops at the end of the street and just watches.

Army surplus store. Abandoned warehouses. Beggars. Bars. A little park, sad and wilted and surrounded by concrete walls, with a cookout going on in it. Seems like a gang spot- Everyone's wearing the same dark coat and slick hairstyle, lots of guns and lots of side-eyes if he lingers.

It's getting on to evening. More and more drugs and hookers come out. He hears gunshots in the distance, once or twice.

He doesn't linger. He heads back to the hospital to see if he can take his test.

It's still pretty crowded and miserable. Maybe somewhat less. Either his stuff is helping or he caught them at a good time.

And sure, they can take the tests. They have to go through a bit of paegentry with a proctor and a faraday cage, though.

So valid of them. Test test test. He did indeed read up on all the this-timeline drug innovations.

There's a bunch of rounds of tests. Including a couple practicals on simulated patients.

He is then qualified to do pharmacy and basic surgery, but not for anything to do with implants.

He is not actually amazing at sutures but he does know how.

Certifications are printed on a little card and entered into some databases somewhere. The St. Joe's staff would still rather he act as an orderly or something than do anything obviously supernatural, but maybe he can make suspiciously good cloned organs while helping with surgeries. Get to the heart of the issue, as it were.

He will be happy to make suspiciously good cloned organs on an irregular basis; he doesn't know much about his availability schedule going forward but it's nice to have something productive to fill the time. Does anyone have a second to explain how cannibalism got to be a popular activity??

"Oh, some fuckhead decided to invent vampires I think back in the 60s," hexagon-eyes guy, his contact at the hospital, explains. "And then, you know, things kind of went from there and societal evolution is almost never just one thing."

"There are real vampires? Wow, the more you know, what's up with those?"

"Genetic and cybernetic engineering to create something with all the classic vampire strengths and weaknesses, as far as I can tell. Incredible strength and speed, vulnerable to sunlight, require other peoples' blood to live. We don't exactly have willing volunteers for clinical trials. It's ridiculous, who does such a thing?"

"No kidding, was this engineering adults or embryos?"

"It's not like I have the records, or a talkative vampire, but my gut says adults."

"Dang. Do they like, have baby vampires, or turn people into vampires when they bite them, or are they being actively replaced by some jerk, or are they dying out?"

"I think someone's manufacturing 'em. They would be good at spy work."

"Would they? Seems kind of conspicuous if you can wave a UV light at them."

Shrug. "Clothes exist and it's not like it's instant. I'm just guessing, though."