Brian Saves the World, Maybe

Zedvaska Ka'vwar-Dren

From TV's Data Banks

Until 1984, Zedvaska Ka'vwar-Dren had led the Borae team of researchers tasked with recording human capabilities and behaviors. This was the way of the Borae. On each new subject planet, they would replace samples of the dominant species with clones, then observe the behaviors of the species.

Zedvaska had studied numerous subjects from dozens of worlds, but none were quite like humans. Most lacked the Supreme Awareness; defined by the Borae as exhibiting certain essential behaviors, including things like practicing world love (taking proper care of their home planet), placing their space junk in the appropriately-labeled recycle bin, cleaning up their messes after visiting another planet (leave no trace), being a good interstellar neighbor, etc.

While humans were lacking in most of these areas, they could do so many other amazing things. They observed and studied their world, seeking to understand every element of it. They not only kept a historical record of their world, but they sought to determine how it came into being as well.

And they had religions! They desired to understand their existence and purpose.

Zedvaska loved written language, and he found human writings to be very unique, in that, in addition to factual literature, humans created fanciful stories for entertainment! 

The notion of entertainment was altogether foreign to the Borae, and the concept was profoundly interesting to Zedvaska.

The recent emergence of personal computers in the late 1970s had greatly advanced the possibilities! He soon discovered a new type of entertainment in the form of text adventure games, which began to be popular in the early 1980s. Something about reading descriptions of one's surroundings and interfacing with a keyboard tickled his fancy in an unexplainable way. Zedvaska enjoyed solving the puzzles these games presented, whether the goal was to escape from a room, to find hidden treasure, or to save the world from impending danger.

Because the breadth of the task of capturing the human experience was much greater than any other species Zedvaska had studied, his team had spent over twenty years on the effort, when it was prematurely shut down in 1984.

Had his study continued, he would surely have been astounded by the advances that had taken place since that time. Zedvaska had petitioned to personally continue his study, but the request was denied.

Khaub Ve'ish-Dee had newly assumed the mantle of the Superior from his father, and the political landscape was shifting.

If the Council received Zedvaska's full findings, they would surely classify the human world as a High World, meaning the Borae would be required to preserve and protect it, rather than Harvest it.

But the Earth was too valuable, and the Borae could not risk losing it. Its resources could prove essential to their continued existence. This was Khaub's view. And as the Superior, he largely controlled what was brought before the Council.

Zedvaska sensed that his awe of humankind was not shared by the new Superior. He feared that this new leader might one day seek to wipe out humans in the name of Borae preservation. What was Zedvaska to do? Humans, along with their beautiful text-based entertainments, had to be saved.

And that is why Zedvaska left behind his own puzzle to be solved.