Crossover

Crossover is a term used to describe several things in the vampire world, including the point at which a human becomes a member of the vampire species as well as the time in which a Newbreed vampire is adjusting to life as a vampire, becoming attuned to new skills and learning to develop and control their Extra. When using the term to denote the change from human to vampire the terms can also be seen as a 'rebirth', as people are likely to ask how long one has been "crossed over".

Whether it is done willingly or unwillingly, a human has to be bitten by a vampire (who then becomes their Sire with the human being the Childe). When bitten the Sire releases a series of toxins into the human's bloodstream, which begins the extremely painful process of physical change that the body undgergoes. This process can take several weeks, for which the Childe is unconscious for the majority of the time. At the same time as releasing the toxins, the Sire will drink a sizeable amount of the Childe's blood, which causes their human body to 'die' and allows the vampire toxins to restructure the body. It is at this point that the body ceases to age, or grow, or change in any way; a vampire's body is 'frozen in time' in every conceivable way and is regenerated afresh with each Sleep Cycle.

The body goes under many changes when crossing over, the majority of which are beneficial including sensory enhancements and possessing an Extra. However there are two major changes which have distinctly negative effects. The first change is the reason why vampires are hematophagous (feed on blood), and that is that the body loses the ability to produce red blood cells, which carry oxygen to all parts of the body. The average red blood cell will live for approximately a month, and thus a vampire's supplies of fresh blood must be replenished at roughly the same interval. The other major 'down side' to becoming a vampire is that the skin develops an intense sensitivity to sunlight and absolutely any exposure to sunlight can cause Sunburn and eventually death. It is therefore essential that vampires are only active during the hours of the night and have light-proof shelter during the day.