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Episode 10: Dads and Monsters In a mysterious boardroom a sharp suited and sharp nailed man tells an unseen figure about reports of strange happenings at Mansbridge Academy. He senses the involvement of the Convocation, and orders the other individual to go to Mansbridge to find out what's going on. The shadowy figure steps forward to reveal his monstrous face as he agrees to his master Shakari's plan. "The Mansbridge Experiment has proved trying. Hence I welcome some quiet time as the day school classes are cancelled for 24 hours while I do their term evaluations, and likewise those of their night school counterparts." Sherry is waiting in the Solarium for her father to arrive, making it quite clear to Malcolm that she is not happy about it. Malcolm tells her that his own father can't make it, as he is away on business. A horn sounds outside and Malcolm wishes Sherry good luck as she leaves. A delivery man arrives with a package for Murdoch. Malcolm turns away to go and look for him, but when he turns back the man has vanished. At the roadhouse in town Sherry and her dad are having dinner. When Sherry questions why her mother isn't there, he tells her that she is too busy. Sherry is unimpressed; her mother is always too busy. Her father reminds her that she has been kicked out of five schools in the past three years. He wants her to find a direction in life, to have the drive for a good career. Sherry retorts that she wonders how he and her mother managed to find time in their schedules to conceive her. He tells her that her life is a fairy tale, an illusion that will crumble around her. In the Mansbridge basement Drew is playing cards on the computer while he and Merrill wait for their evaluation interviews with Murdoch. Drew is again felling trapped by the Experiment and Merrill tries to remind him why they are there, and that Mansbridge protects them from mortals and the Fury. Drew tells her that he believes Shakari, the leader of the Fury, is invincible. Nick comes into the Solarium to find the delivery man sniffing Murdoch's office door. Nick offers to sign for the package, but when he looks up the man is showing his true, demonic face. He jumps into Nick's body, whose irises turn black. In Murdoch's office Drew is having his evaluation. He doesn't feel that he has learnt much from the experience. Murdoch asks him why he hates life so much, and the young vampire replies that nothing he does has any meaning. Murdoch retorts that becoming a vampire just gave Drew another reason to fell sorry for himself, when he is capable of so much more. Going up to his room, Malcolm sees 'Nick' fiddling with one of the security cameras. When he asks him what he's doing, the possessed teen orders him to go away. Back at the roadhouse Sherry and her father are finishing their dinner. She asks him why he bothered to come and he reminds her that she is his daughter. She replies that he makes her sound like an obligation. He counters with the typical parental explanation that he just wants what's best for her. She asks him why then she can't take a year out of school to figure out what she wants to do with her life. When he asks her "one whose expense account?" she tells him that she doesn't want his money. She believes that his inability to let her make her own decisions is because he is so afraid of making his own, having always taken the safe option. He tells her that she is ignorant as well as selfish and vain, having no regard for anything but her own feelings. He orders her to stay when she makes to leave, but she tells him that he has lost that privilege. Drew enters the basement and tells Merrill that it is her turn for a grilling from Murdoch. She asks him if being a vampire frightens him. He replies that he did at first, but he got used to it. She tells him that she never has, and the blood makes her sick to her stomach, but her fear of death is greater. She asks him why he refuses to make the best of what he is, and tells him that she feels sorry for him. Murdoch exits his study into the Solarium to find 'Nick' still awake, who tells him that he can't sleep. Murdoch asks him if he is unwell or needs to talk about something, but 'Nick' says no. He advances on the older man, who turns with a cup of tea in his hand to be confronted by 'Nick's' cold black eyes. Merrill enters Murdoch's office to find it empty. Looking through the two-way mirror she sees Murdoch's spilt tea. Back downstairs she and Drew watch the security tape. Merrill assumes that Murdoch left the room to find something to clean up the tea, but Drew remarks that the camera hasn't moved like it is supposed to. They see Nick walk up to Murdoch, and notice that all the cameras are focused on their teacher's office. They decide to go upstairs to check it out. Elsewhere, 'Nick' watches through the security cameras with a laptop. He sees Merrill and Drew leave Murdoch's office, and recognizes Drew as a vampire. Drew gets Merrill to search for Murdoch with her mind, but she cannot sense anything so Drew attempts it himself. His mind's eye moves through the school, and there is a sudden flash of someone's bound hands. Drew realises that something is very wrong, and the pair see 'Nick' enter Murdoch's office. He starts sniffing through the study and finds the doorway to the basement, but before he can open it he is drawn away by a returning Sherry. Merrill and Drew realise that the mortal is possessed by a scout for Shakari, and Drew rushes upstairs. Nick gets his scent and confronts the vampire. Drew tells him that he is the only vampire at Mansbridge, and asks the demon to take him to Shakari. Merrill appears to stop them, telling Drew that they must kill it. The monster dives from Nick's body and the other's vamp out and kill it, almost losing control. "How does one evaluate the progress of a vampire? Is it only in the ability to curb their instincts?" In the library Drew and Merrill free a bruised Murdoch from his bonds. "With mortal students as well, progress is difficult to gauge." In the Solarium Sherry goes down to meet her father. He apologises for some of the things he said, and she apologises in return. He tells her that he doesn't want to be the monster in her life any more. Nick walks through the room looking like Hell and wondering how he ended up asleep on the Solarium floor. "In both worlds, vampire and mortal, evaluating change is a never ending struggle." Downstairs Merrill tells Drew that he almost got his wish to end it all, but instead he chose to live. He replies with "for now". On the table in the middle of the basement, the demon's body burns.
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