System — My Vampire

First, he was dying. The bone-white lesions on his forearm had spread to his neck, a slow, calcifying rot the doctors called “Cellular Decay Syndrome.” It was a death sentence for anyone without the credits for gene-therapy. Quinn, an orphan scraping by on the fringe colony of Atlas-7, had no credits.

Quinn discovered he couldn’t just bite anyone. The moment he tried, his incomplete hybrid nature caused the victim’s System to flag him as an . A colony-wide alert would follow. He learned to be surgical: a tiny incision, a stolen blood-pack from the medical incinerator, a drop of his own saliva to seal the wound. My Vampire System

He let his drop. The Lurkers saw him. They charged. The first one’s claws raked his chest, drawing blood— his blood. The System pinged. First, he was dying

He looked at his bloodstained hands. The hunger purred. Quinn discovered he couldn’t just bite anyone

And then the new System screen appeared.

So when a strange, crimson notification flickered across his vision as he coughed blood into his palm, he assumed it was a hallucination.