The Theory of Life
By Kabuki
March, 2000
A Speculative Vampire Chronicles fiction written in essay form from David Talbot's early days before becoming Superior General. Spoilers up through the seventh VC book. These are my vampire theories spoken through David so please be kind. If you wish to debate my theories please do so! I'm interested to see how this will be taken
Characters: None. David's words in a rather casual (by my standards) written essay in his younger years after observations and study.
~~~~~
c/o Douglas J. McCarthy
Superior General
Lamia Board of Theoretical Analysis
Talamasca Motherhouse, England
A Compilation of Vampire Knowledge:
Proposition of Life Theory
Recently an argument was brought up concerning the placement of vampires in the order of the natural world between a companion and myself. My comrade argued, as would most, that a vampire is in fact a dead and unnatural creature. I on the other hand tend to see vampirism as another form of life. Vampires, though commonly reduced to the level of demons and beasts in the minds of most men, appear through careful study to be quite capable of finding a niche in the evolutionary system of things.
Here I shall list the common and scientifically accepted characteristics of all living things originating on the earth.
Characteristics of Living Things:
1) Complex and very organized physical structure in ecosystems
2) Exhibits homeostasis (stable internal condition)
3) Ability to grow
4) Utilize energy
5) Perceive and respond to stimuli
6) Reproduce DNA as hereditary molecule
7) Evolve; production of offspring with modifications
Now allow me a moment to list all of the basic characteristics of a vampire and what it requires to survive. Some might argue the essentiality of fire being kept far from vampires, but I assume this to be a given, seeing as humans are also prone to being damaged by flame and burning.
Conditions Necessary for Vampiric Life:
1) Other living creatures for prey (primarily humans)
2) A dark place to retreat from sunlight
3) Companionship
Some vampires can survive without the final condition, yet many older vampires crave the attentions and affections of their own kind. Those who tend to seclude themselves completely do not often live as long as those who seek companions. Being older, the feelings of these vampires are weighed more heavily than those of younger and more unstable "fledglings" for the obvious reason that elder vampires have survived for a much longer period of time whilst in their present condition. Debates may arise concerning the inclusion of companionship as that which might become necessary to a vampire's existence. Regardless, there has yet to be a vampire to survive over fifty years without the friendship, or at least the presence, of at least one member of it's own kind in the archives and recordings of the Talamasca. Covens and the siring of fledglings are the direct result of this according to the findings of Aaron Lightner, and as such his hypothesis shall stand firm here.
That vampires require the blood of other living creatures is a given. The requirement for primarily human blood in a human-born vampire has been determined through history by various vampires who attempted to feed only upon the blood of animals and their failures (see the case of Louis de Pointe du Lac).
Sunlight, though not fatal to the eldest of vampires, is still harmful and as such may retain some amount of threat even in old age. Thus, darkness is required by day.
These being accepted, I shall proceed on to the more direct accounts in the hopes of proving that indeed vampires may be classified as living things instead of lifeless or reanimated corpses. A complex and organized placement in the ecology of a modern ecosystem is very much a trait of the current race of vampires. As has been recently noted around the globe, the human race has bred far more than could possibly be safe for the ecosystem of earth. Vampires, then, provide the perfect predators for mankind, blending in with their prey and taking enough life to reduce the population of an area in a significant, but normally not drastic, manner. The trend of vampires lately to prey upon the evil-doer or those who desire death is no different from the habit of most pack-hunting predators in the natural world. Picking off the weak or stray members of a herd is certainly not uncommon, and the vampire succeeds in this method by only alerting the majority of the hunted to their presence on rare occasions.
Often two vampires will hunt together, allowing one to lure the victims and the other to spring a trap. This behavior may be influenced by a hunting instinct present in their nature, yet could also be explained by the study of animal behavior in mortal or vampire life. The difficulty in distinguishing instinct from assumed behavior in vampires is still difficult considering their habit of living close to their food source. The beauty of the vampire as a race is their ability to remain at the top of the food chain without mankind becoming alerted or alarmed.
Unfortunately living creatures must exhibit homeostasis as well in order to be classified as such. How, one may ask, could a vampire which required blood as nourishment, be capable of a stable internal condition if blood diminishes through day sleep? The answer may be simpler than expected. All living creatures require some form of nourishment. Carnivorous creatures require fresh meat on a daily, or nightly, basis. Those beasts, which eat the blood of other creatures, are no different. Blood is not lost during the day, but processed and diverted through the bodily system in much the same manner as carbohydrates are distributed throughout the human body. That a vampire thirsts upon waking is no different from a human desire for breakfast in such a sense. The explanation for the extremity of fledgling thirst may be explained as well in reference to the cravings of an adolescent. The body is growing and changing for several hundred years after a vampire is created, thus the need for blood is more intense than that of a Child of the Millennia. This explains then the cravings Lestat de Lioncourt still requires even after an infusion of powerful blood. The power does not make blood lust a moot point, but it does allow the body to age and mature at a faster rate.
A vampire also has the ability to grow, though not in the same manner as other living beings. A vampire grows and matures through the strengthening of telekinetic abilities, the hardening and polishing of skin, and the ability to hold more information within the brain. Recent findings indicate that a newly created fledgling has the same ratio of brain availability to usage as a human, yet a vampire who has become adept at his telekinetic abilities will use more of the brain. Synapses become capable of moving much faster, at least 65.3% faster in the case of Benjamin the Devil (Khayman) in the study of 1979 C.E.
The utilization of energy in vampires is evident from the lethargy and desperation before the infusion of blood in comparison to the contented or curious nature afterwards. Were energy not utilized by a vampire metabolism such a change would not be visible even to the untrained eye. The nutrition a vampire body requires is found only in blood, specifically blood of the species to which they were the most related upon the first death and the change. A vampire canine would crave the blood of non-vampiric dogs, and a vampire man is much the same. Sexual preference seems to have little effect though the preference of a female vampire to a female mortal is evident. Perhaps hormones are transferred through the bloodstream, initiating a craving for the young and hormonal.
Reactions to sunlight, candle light, electric light, flames, and closed spaces are documented by the observations of vampires in captivity and in the field. Sunlight burns vampire flesh, even in the very old. Darkness will find the vampire pupils in complete dilation while candlelight and electric light have the reverse effect to varied degrees. Exposure to uncontrolled flames results in a near panic in most, and closed spaces may result in claustrophobia. These results could indicate the retaining of mortal traits even in vampiric nature, which would explain a number of noted reactions and fly against the Mendez Theory of Mimicry. This evidence, to the contrary, seems to prove the vampires have real emotional reaction and not simply a response based upon what they might have seen or heard about from others of their own kind or mortals nearby. A marked sensitivity to bright lights is found in a variety of vampires, resulting in a preference to candles or in extreme cases pitch darkness (See Louis de Pointe du Lac, Nicholas de Lenfent, Gabrielle de Lioncourt).
This characteristic of an aversion to light seems to be a fairly new development and only is passed through the blood of Lestat de Lioncourt or one of his children. It appears to be a regressive genetic trait. Further testing may be necessary, but a sample of the de Lioncourt blood from Lestat himself, compared to that of Gabrielle and Louis seems to indicate an extra genetic code, making vampires indeed a new species instead of a simple mutation. This could in fact lead to the proof Aaron Lightner searched for that vampires are indeed evolving though the new bloodlines.
My theory then is simple: That vampires are indeed a new life form capable of reproduction, emotional and physical response, evolution, and maturation.
David L. Talbot
1982, June 14