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.It is the mental changes in Layla Griffin that represent the most dangerous – and ominous – change in her status.Put simply, her entire ethical framework has been radically rewritten, twisted into a pattern that is literally inhuman.She now regards humans as nothing more than cattle, her prey to hunt as she sees fit.Like a number of patients with extreme mental conditions, she is incapable of empathising with normal humans on more than an abstract basis.She may feel some guilt at the prospect of eating livestock (humans) but is unlikely to become a ‘vegetarian.’In some ways, talking to her is like talking to a person from a very different culture.Her sense of right and wrong is very different, and almost completely selfish – by some extent, it may even be considered racist (discrimination against Unchanged humans).She attempts to manipulate the psychologists, doctors, and armed guards in her confinement, often using mental tricks to interfere with their minds.Four different people have been caught in the act of attempting to release her, without really being aware of what they were doing.Layla appears to consider such mental manipulation perfectly normal, without even a mild sense of guilt at her actions.Right now, we confess to some nervousness about the security precautions around her cell.Given the supernatural aspects of her condition, it is alarmingly likely that, sooner or later, she will succeed in breaking free.We cannot say if she can ever be termed ‘responsible’ for her own actions.She is not someone choosing to sin against what she believes to be right, but someone whose morals and ethical system is currently very different from our own.We do not believe that she is capable of recognising Unchanged humans as equals, or realising the need to curb her drives and appetites.Indeed, by her lights, her behaviour is natural and right.Given that her pre-Change mentality was by no means sociopathic, this bears testament to the sheer power of the Change – and how it has overwhelmed her.In short, she cannot be ever considered to be cured and released back into the civilian population.The convictions affecting her would make her incredibly dangerous even without the physical changes in her body.She will hunt and kill again if given the opportunity, no matter what she promises to us, because it is part of her Changed nature.Even if we do find some way to reverse the effects that Changed her, we may never be able to undo the mental damage.It is this office’s very strong recommendation that Layla Griffin be declared insane and committed to permanent confinement, without hope of release.In other words, Caitlyn thought, you want us to keep her locked up for the rest of eternity.And to hell with her constitutional rights.So far, the media hadn't quite picked up on that factor, but Senator Whitehall had.Caitlyn suspected that it wouldn't be very long before someone started pointing out that vampires weren't human and therefore were not entitled to human rights – and it was only a short jump from there to declaring that all the Changed were not entitled to legal rights.Even if they did have rights, the rest of the population had rights too – and leaving vampires in a position to prey on innocent human beings was a gross infringement of their rights.Besides, the longer they waited before coming up with some kind of legal framework, the more tragedies there were likely to be.And all of them would help propel Senator Whitehall forward, towards the White House.The advice she’d had from the legal advisors was complicated; clearly, they were being paid by the word.Or, perhaps, they were unwilling to offer a blunt legal opinion because it might come back to haunt them later.Caitlyn had been a junior agent when Wikileaks had published classified diplomatic telegrams and she’d heard of a number of careers that had been blighted because of advice they’d given, advice that was meant to remain confidential.The result had been inevitable; advisors concentrated more on covering their asses rather than on providing proper advice.On the face of it, the advisors agreed, Layla Griffin was likely to remain a permanent danger to the population and could therefore be legally confined permanently.However, a minority opinion suggested that she was an escape risk wherever they put her and recommended executing her, simply because she was too dangerous to leave alive.Caitlyn was tempted to agree with that suggestion, although the advisers warned that it might require legal backing from the Supreme Court.Perhaps it would have been better to ask Matt to kill her rather than trying to take her alive.She glanced over at where Matt’s body lay under the covers and smiled.They’d fallen into bed together the day after Matt had captured the vampire, the result of stress and mutual attraction, and they’d spent the following nights together.Matt was now a hero, according to the press, although the media hadn't worked out his true nature.Caitlyn was hoping that they’d find a way to identify more Hunters, but so far they hadn't isolated the DNA strands that separated Hunters from normal humans.Their best hope lay with Matt’s relatives, the doctors had decided, yet so far nothing had happened.Shaking her head, she pushed the report to one side and glanced at the stream of new incidents that had been reported to the FBI.Every day, something new and bizarre came in, only to be pushed aside the following day by something even worse.Today, according to the police report that had been forwarded to the FBI, who had in turn forwarded it to the Mage Force, a man had visited a tattoo parlour and insisted on having his back tattooed with an ancient invocation for bringing good luck [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]