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January 2008
Peeps
by Scott Westerfeld
Okay, let’s clear up some myths about vampires.
First of all, you won’t see me using the V-word much. In the Night Watch, we prefer the term parasite-positives, or peeps, for short.
The main thing to remember is that there’s no magic involved. No flying. Humans don’t have hollow bones or wings – the disease doesn’t change that. No transforming into bats or rats either. It’s impossible to turn into something much smaller than yourself – where would the extra mass go?
On the other hand, I can see how people in centuries past got confused. Hordes of rats, and sometimes bats, accompany peeps. They get infected from feasting on peep left-overs. Rodents make good “reservoirs,” which means they’re like storage containers for the disease. Rats give the parasite a place to hide in case the peep gets hunted down.
Infected rats are devoted to their peeps, tracking them by smell. The rat brood also serves as a handy food source for the peep when there aren’t humans around to hunt. (Icky, I know. But that’s nature for you.)
Cal is a nineteen-year-old college freshman who hails from Texas and is now living in New York City. He has an unfortunate one-night stand and contracts a sexually transmitted disease - a particularly hideous STD. In its full-blown state, it turns people into insane cannibalistic vampires that lurk in the dark. Luckily for Cal, he is only a carrier. While he could infect people (if he wanted to) his disease will not progress to the cannibalistic level. As a carrier, he has developed some remarkable powers: night vision, superhuman strength and cat-like agility. Because of his unique attributes, Cal has been recruited by the Night Watch, a secret branch of city government, to track down peeps (i.e. vampires) and render them harmless.
This synopsis was written by a San José Public Library
librarian.
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This page last updated September 26, 2008 by the Web Team
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