The Doctor wandered into his kitchen, tired and not fully awake. He poured some milk into a bowl and then added some Bleary-Os Cereal¹ to the mix. He picked up the Vampirical Times and skimmed through a few interesting articles. Nothing especially exciting, just the usual stuff… campus riots by the Campaign for Vampires, new store opening manned by… er, vampired by Vampires for Vampires, all the usual stuff you'd find in a quiet campus town. The Doctor stretched and yawned before getting up and opening the curtains.

"What a beautiful day… let's see, its Tuesday, so I best get to the clinic."

He fetched his Oxfords from the closet and put them on. He reached for his overcoat, but on second thought decided against it. He opened the door and stepped into the noon Californian sunlight. He breathed in the fresh air and started walking to the campus that dominated the horizon.

Professor von Carpworth's Center for the Chromatically Challenged was on the third floor of the Pyshcoptrics Department here at UC Berkeley. The Doctor walked into the lobby.

"Doctor Dracule, the Professor will be ready in a moment… He's just finishing his… breakfast," Malicia Craven said as the Doctor entered. The Cravens were an old family that followed maintained many of the old traditions, but still were 'modern' and 'civilized' enough to hold real jobs. From the way the Professor talked about her she seemed to be a great secretary.

The door opened and whispering could be heard between the Professor and his secretary. The door closed again and Malicia sighed, "We really need to get that intercom fixed. Anyway, the Professor says you can enter now."

The Doctor shrugged and headed into ...

Dr. Sasha Cornelius gazed at the new Xenobiology Lab through the visor on her pressure suit. She smiled her first smile since leaving Freedom Station and Earth Orbit as she placed her stuff on the Martian dust. Pressing the large entrance button she waited until the Retina scanner completed and opened the Airlock. Picking up her things once more she wiped off her things and proceeded into the Airlock.

The Airlock cycled, and she removed her pressure suit and placed it into the laundry chute. Gathering her courage she entered into the Lab. The man on the inside, Dr. Frederick Garcia according to his dossier that she had read in the shuttle, looked up as she entered.

"Ah, Dr. Cornelius, welcome to Mars!" and he smiled at her.

She smiled a weak smile back, "Nice to meet you Dr. Garcia, quite a place you have here!"

Fred glanced around the Lab as if he was seeing it for the first time, "Ah… Yes, well, I remember how it is to come straight out of College to the outer colonies… and I am sure it's a scary feeling dropping out of orbit like a rock and then putting all your trust in a pressure suit for the first time… Ops says that the Spaceport and Station should be completed in a few months, which… Er, I gabble on too much don't I? Well, you can call me Fred like everyone else does," and he stuck his hand out.

Sasha took his hand and gave him a weak shake. She looked over Fred, a partially gray man with Black hair, a bony frame, and eyeglasses. The dossier stated, "Resistance to Laser Surgery…" but she saw it more as a ...