Back at the Hiyori Nightclub, the situation had already come apart.
Outside, IFSA helicopters in red and blue swept across the city in a wide-area search pattern, responding to reports of a high-profile vampire sighting.
The city had barely recovered from one emergency before finding itself inside a second, and the mood on the ground reflected that, the kind of disoriented unease that sets in when official channels stop being reassuring and start adding to the noise.
Nightless Street, which had been packed with people an hour ago, had emptied out with remarkable speed. Vendors stood in front of shuttered displays and asked each other what was happening.
Roughly ten minutes after the initial disturbance, a line of black sedans pulled up outside the Hiyori. Armored personnel climbed out and began establishing a perimeter, the logo of a private security company on their shoulders.
