Brian Saves the World, Maybe

Chapter 2 - Meteor Strike

The next morning, Brian awoke feeling refreshed, his headache gone. Rubbing his eyes, he slowly rolled out of bed. As he sat on the edge of the bed, he recalled the bizarre dream conversation with Bill Murray and grimaced. I sure hope that voice is gone.

Still here.

Brian put his head in his hands and groaned. I just can't get rid of this guy. And now he sounds like Bill Murray. He threw a pillow across the room. It hit the far wall, the shock of it causing a book to fall off a nearby shelf, which in turn knocked over a glass of water on the bureau beneath. He scowled. Guess today is going to be a sick day.

Brian, we don't have a lot of time. We need to get to work.

Oh, the voice in my head thinks I should go to work today? Well sure, I'll just hop in the car, and off we go.

No, take your sick day. We need to devise a plan to stop the Borae.

Brian took a deep breath and fell back on his bed. Maybe if I just humor this voice for a while, whatever went wrong in my brain will eventually right itself.

There's nothing wrong with your brain.

Says the voice in my head.

* * *

The eggs sizzled on the skillet. Brian put a couple slices of bread in the toaster and poured some coffee.

We need to talk, Brian.

Uh-huh. By the way, since I can't seem to get rid of you, can you do anything useful, like, give me the weather or something?

I believe I can offer valuable assistance in many ways.

Can you play music?

No.

Audiobooks?

No.

You're no Alexa, then.

My capabilities far advance a mere voice assistant designed by humans.

You're a voice in my head, offering assistance. What's the difference?

Semantics.

Oh, did I hurt your feelings?

I do not have feelings.

Sure, whatever. So, you're from another world, far, far away. How is it you understand Earth English?

Your planet is noisy. My sensors have been picking up signals from Earth for decades. That is how I learned your languages and about your cultures.

Right, okay.

The toast popped. He put it on a plate next to his eggs and walked to the dining room table.

Tell me about these aliens that want to take over the world. The Borae? You said they've been spying on us?

The Borae began spying on earth in the late 1960s. It was part of their normal exploration and discovery protocol. They found that the earth was rich in resources of great value to the Borae. As they were a peaceful race with strict ethics laws forbidding them from taking over another planet with intelligent life, the Borae were content to wait for humans to die off. Early Observers estimated that humans would be extinct by 2050, resulting from a world-wide nuclear war.

Oh, they're just waiting for their turn? Polite.

They planted thousands of Observers; artificial humanoids created from the morphed genetics of multiple human samples. Their role was two-fold. First, to study humans in order to record and preserve their way of life, as a kind of memoir. The Borae are fascinated by divergent cultures, seeking to understand and document them, and even now some remain captivated by human behavior.