"A long time ago, when the earth was still young and we had not yet fully understood how delicate the balance of live was in the universe, we received a distress call from a far away planet. Their ecosystems were collapsing and with it, the ley lines. As their ecosystems collapsed, so too did the ecosystems of the neighboring planets on their ley line.

"We discovered that even a single planet experiencing a mass extinction event can cause a chain reaction across all of space.

"At the same time, humanity was beginning to stand on it's own feet. Greed had sprouted, and man wanted to seperate themselves from the other races that helped them stand. They started to hunt us, believing we were causing them more harm than good.

"We knew that a contingent of us would have to go to the other world, but we disagreed on how many would go and for what duration.

"The other planet had a race similar to humanity that had learned their lessons about the delicate balance of life. They would welcome any travelers from our planet with open arms. So very unlike the humans of our world prepared to shun and hunt us to extinction.

"Our people divided.

"One faction believed in the interconnectivity of the planets via the ley lines. They ran tests that seemed to prove this hypothesis. If their hypothesis was correct, then all of us abandoning the planet would cause mass extinction on the earth that would spread slowly through the galaxy. They also believed in the general goodness of our humans. They thought this violence the humans directed around them and towards the planet was a short phase that would eventually taper off.

"The other faction believed humans were a mistake. A virus the planet accidentally created that needed to be wiped out for the good of the universe. They believed humanity would create mass extinction events as they used up the resources. In their opinion, the best thing to do was for us all to leave and watch humanity destroy itself. When it was gone, many of us would return to our home and tend to the planet's ballance—a much easier prospect without human greed.

"The two factions were on the brink of war. One side set on destroying humanity, the other set on preserving it. In the end, we wrote a treaty: those who wanted humanity destroyed would leave and those who wanted it preserved would stay and hopefully guid humanity to a less violent and more tolerant state. Those who remained behind would only contact those who left under one condition: if we had failed in our experiment and needed to be rescued. In that case, the plan was to destroy humanity from orbit before helping us restore balance to the planet."

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Vulcan delivers his speech more like he is telling a bedtime story than imparting a grave history.

"What if you had succeeded in teaching humanity about balance and then wanted to join together in the larger galactic community?" Damian asks. His eyes are unfocused as he tries to process all this information looking for loopholes.

"In that case, we would not reach out. The humans would, with their own technology, in their own voice." Vulcan walks over to his desk, types something on his computer, before turning the screen to face us. He has brought up the nightly news, where they are reporting on a children's hospital that was just bombed. "Half the world experiences famine, even though the earth grows enough to feed everyone. A new species goes extinct every day. Children and women are murdered and raped." He points at the screen, "Half the world is embroiled in war. Our experiment has failed. If you call the others back, they will kill every last human. All 8 billion of them. And that would be fine, except," he changes the channel to another news station, this one reporting on climate protests, "there is hope. Humanity is on the brink of the same brakethrough as that other planet. This could still turn around. They are growing."

"Not fast enough," Damian counters.

"No, not fast enough," Vulcan agrees, "but we are strong enough to prevent them from causing irreparable damage for a time. The elders of all the races hope they will learn from their mistakes soon and correct."

"How are they supposed to do that?" I interject, "They don't know about the ballance, they don't know about the ley lines, or that their greed is destroying everything. How are they supposed to know how to contact the other planets. You elders aren't helping, you are just sitting there watching! Waiting for the humans to damn themselves!" I'm shouting by the end. Embarrassed that I've lost my cool, I storm out into the hall and slam the door.

Unfortunately, these doors aren't made to block vampire hearing. "She has a point," Damian says after a beat of silence.

"I suppose she does," Vulcan sounds intrigued by the notion, "perhaps we have become complacent. What do you propose we do about it? Humanity will discover us soon, and they are far to violent for that to end in anything other than war. Do you young ones see a peaceful path?"

Damian is quiet for a moment. Thinking. Planning. Plotting. It is what he is good at, but it usually takes him time to run scenarios. Vulcan doesn't seem to be willing to spare that time right now. Finally, "There must be a way, but I need time to consider all the variables."

Vulcan picks up his blazer. "You have until tomorrow morning to come up with a plan. I am going to lock you both in my office for the night and set the alarm. If you leave at any time, I'm calling Remus. If your plan in the morning is unsatisfactory, I'm calling Remus. If you leave this room, I'm calling Remus. I'm trusting you both to act in good faith." I can hear him adjusting his blazer and grabbing his bag.

"If we come up with a good plan, then…"

"Then I will present the plan to the council, and help you build the team to enact it." He opens the door, and holds it open for me while gesturing that I should go inside. "Oh, and Johnathan?"

"Sir?"

"Don't ruin my microwave with your blood packets."