"Isis, can you, the Elven, and the Phoenix delegations work together to create dossiers and on each of the elders they might send that you know of? From that, we can come up with strategies for convincing each one. We are going to need to approach this delicately, or our extraterrestrial counterparts may still decide to nuke the humans from orbit." I delegate. We can't move forward on this path without more information, and we need to decide if this is the path we really want to take.

"Of course," Isis glances at Belenus and Inari, "we can get started in our next break."

I sift through the notes I've taken. "We need to form a committee to assemble the terraforming and first contact teams. Do we have anyone willing to volunteer?"

Oberon, Amphitrite, Lilith, Luci, Thor, and Alyssa raise their hands.

"We should bring Stata in as well. Has anyone called her yet?" Lilith points out. "We are going to need the dragon's hoards as initial supplies."

"I can contact her. We are old friends," Remus offers.

I nod, writing all that down. "Is there anything else we need to discuss before our next break?"

"What is the status on the signal? Are the humans reacting well? Have they found the technology they need to send a signal back?" Poseidon asks rapid fire. He is leaned forward in his chair like a five year old anticipating cake.

"The signal played for 48 hours before stopping in all 24 time zones on every ham radio channel except those used for emergencies." Hestia reports, "we do have confirmation that every signal was successfully recorded and there is a new subreddit open about decoding the signals that has over a billion followers and several million active members. I am also seeing a lot of governmental chatter about decoding the signals. SETI is over the moon, and it is rapidly causing a race to see who will decode and have the technology to respond first."

"What is their progress on decoding the message?" Frigg asks.

"They have determined that the message in time zone one is basically the decoder ring to decode the rest of the messages. They are maybe five to ten percent decoded, though. It is taking them longer than I thought it would."

"Is there a way to help them along?" Puck asks, while raising his still bandaged hand like a schoolchild.

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"We could create an account and solve part of the puzzle on the subreddit. We would just need to make sure the IP address comes from somewhere known and public," Alyssa offers.

"That is easily done. I can make it appear as if the user is logged onto an account in any internet bar in the world," Hestia adds.

"Hestia and I can do that in the next break, if everyone is in agreement," I add it to my ever expanding to do list when the elders murmur and nod in the affirmative. "How are we doing on the technology front?" I turn to her and ask.

"Not as well as I would like. I thought they would be able to put the pieces together on their own, but they just aren't seeing how they fit. We need to help them along, but I'm not quite sure how."

"Puck, Zeev, do you want to help us look that over and figure out a path for the humans to follow?" I ask.

"Of course."

"Yep, sounds good."

"Well then, it sounds like we all need some time to solve some problems, and it is well past midnight. Some of our members need sleep. Let's pick this up again at noon tomorrow?" Minsi suggests, looking exhausted.

Everyone nods and makes sounds of agreements while packing up their notes and tidying their areas. Isis and Samara meet up to go take care of their patients. About half of our members look like they are going to rest. Not all of us can be conscious for days at a time.

Puck and Zeev look exhausted. Puck is still healing and Zeev looks like he's been on the move for days. "Hey guys, why don't we meet up at seven? I've got quite a bit to do and you both need rest."

Puck sighs, they both look incredibly relieved. Some pleasantries and congratulations later, and I'm escorting them to the door so they can go to bed. They look so tired,I would bed they are both going to pass out in their rooms on top of their covers with their clothes on.

Once we have made our excuses and left Corridor B, Hestia grabs my hand and stears me to our rooms. When the door is firmly closed, she turns to me, and with sad eyes says "I'm sorry," before enveloping me in a hug. "I know you never wanted to be an elder. That kind of legitimacy and responsibility is not you." She burrows her face into my neck before whispering, "but I am so relieved you are in charge."

I wrap my arms around her. "I never let myself believe I would ever be an elder. I am not really elder material."

She squeezes me harder. "You are, and always have been, elder material." Then she bites me and starts drinking.

"Hungry?"

"Mhmm…mmmmmmm," she sighs into my neck, and I move my hands to her stomach. If the blood she is taking is not enough to the point of needing vampire blood as well, then the baby is developing well. I need to start drinking more blood to keep her and the baby fed.

"I want you to see Isis in the morning. This has been a lot of stress. You are indispensable to these proceedings, but I will find someone to replace you if this jeopardizes you or the little one."

She makes a noise of protest, but can't bring herself to release my neck to argue back, and that tells me all I need to know. She will argue with me, but in the end she will listen if I need to take her off these projects.

Careful not to disrupt her hold, I steer us towards the kitchen and grab a blood pack for myself. Looks like we need a small break before we start getting back to work.