The Bromeris are not the homogenous society that they appear to be from a universal perspective. There is just one centralized government on the planet, the Ultimate Library that is helmed by the Nexus who serves as the planet’s political leader, but the planet Bromeran is twice the size of the planet Earth and has more habitable landmass than any other planet inhabited by a sentient population. Much of the population is governed by local branches of the Ultimate Library that are controlled by Executive Librarians. The majority of active debate factions organize around the jurisdictions of these local branches, though some spring up with independent funding from wealthy Bromeris who do not work directly with the Ultimate Library. This has led to a Bromeris population that is unified in the planet-wide goal of amassing information, but that has different motivations for this aim. Most Bromeris inherit the goal of the people and do not question it rigorously, but depending on the UL branch of employment or jurisdiction, they become exposed to the ideas of the prominent thinkers of their jurisdiction who influence their opinions on various debate topics.
The 96 branches of the UL generally represent 96 different views of debate topics that can range from taxation to urban planning, planet-wide laws and regulations. The Bromeris vigorously debate everything to establish a code of conduct that is generally adopted by the population as they present themselves within their own society and when they are off planet. Each debate presented before the Nexus is limited to just 5 factions that are chosen based on smaller debate presentations before Executive Librarians. There are a large number of state sanctioned debates on the planet Bromeran. It is estimated that 8 debates start on the planet Bromeran every 2 minutes RET (or Relative Earth Time).
66 total factions participated in the Prab debates that started with tertiary debates intended to narrow down the faction field to 33. From the 33 factions chosen to advance, definitions were established for secondary debates. As a result of the tertiary debates, the terms ‘worthiness’ and ‘eternity’ were modified in the Standard Bromeran Dictionary. The current definition of ‘worthiness’ is expanded to include this definition: fitness for utilizing a specific tool or set of skills; fitness measured by benevolent intent and mastery of all aspects of said tool or skill (benevolent intention to use said tool or skill for the betterment of all sentient inhabitants of the universe). The current definition of ‘eternity’ is the complete, objective account of every moment from the start of existence to the relative present; ‘relative present’ defined as the current moment of existence for whomever is taking note (the start of existence is still a mystery to the Bromeris, they do not generally theorize about the start of existence as they know it and instead endeavor to eventually uncover that information as it actually happened through whatever means are available or will eventually become available). The definition of ‘sentient’ remained unchanged and is defined as the ability to recount a past experience (verbally or otherwise) that can be corroborated by another sentient being.
The secondary debates addressed Solse’s central question: Is any sentient being in the known universe worthy of access to eternity? The presentations to the Executive Librarians were vigorous; all 33 factions represented at the secondary level were eager to present their arguments before the Nexus because of the lofty nature of the topic. It is true that many Bromeran are almost afraid to postulate on the subject of eternity; the question supposes that access to eternity is possible which they all had to believe because of their up bringing, but practically, it seemed impossible to gather together the true timeline of existence. For this reason, there are few debates of this type in Bromeran history and there were enough factions that who were eager to tackle it despite any sensitivities. The definitions of words change often in the Standard Bromeran Dictionary because of the constant debating of ideas, but it is worth mentioning that the term eternity has not been updated in at least a century RET. This is due to the general unspoken consensus that debating the topic of eternity could lead to the undermining of the Bromeris prime objective of completing their Eternity Archive.
The primary debates featured the five faction-arguments that were chosen for presentation before the Nexus and his assistants.
Of the five arguments, only two were persuasive to the Nexus and he summarily dismissed three factions after the first presentation of arguments.
The Private Bromeran Association of Transcribers is an independent debate faction that is made up of contract workers who do transcribing work for various businesses and governments on many planets. The Transcribers were one of the factions chosen by the Nexus for their persuasive argument. They argued that most sentient populations are worthy of access to eternity because they believe that within every sentient society there are thinkers who will be able to use the information for the betterment of all sentient life. They argued that the possibility of eternal knowledge falling into malevolent hands was outweighed by the potential benefits. Because eternal knowledge would be such an incredible data set, the Transcribers believe that any sentient being could do amazing things to benefit sentient beings in all corners of the universe. They argued that the Bromeris were the best equipped to use eternal knowledge because of the civilizations extensive experience with organizing information. The Transcribers cited the Bromeran extensive study of history that has produced the field of study known as Future Forecasting that supposes that from an extensive data set on any sentient population, theorems and assumptions can be extrapolated to predict that populations future actions. The Transcribers acknowledged that Future Forecasting is not an exact science, but that it has been helpful in predicting future tax rates for various districts on Bromeran by estimating population growth and density. Future Forecasting correctly predicted the Fhetatian attack on the Rhasdwiis that led to continuing conflict between those cultures, but it is notable that no forecast was made to warn of the surprise attack from the Hafjeris that started the prolonged conflict between the Bromeris and the Hafjeris. The Transcribers noted that with Bromeris guidance, any sentient being can be trained to make beneficial future forecasts in every corner of the universe.
The other faction chosen by the Nexus was UL Branch 3, that is known for its strict adherence to the Bromeris prime objective. They argued that the Bromeris above all other sentient civilization in the universe was the most worthy of access to eternal knowledge because only the Bromeris understood the true benefit of the aim. Branch 3 asserted that the Bromeris seek universal knowledge to approach the perfect eternity of the universe’s creator to which all things in the universe owed their existence. They argued that the purpose of sentient life is to replicate the sentience of the creator with the hope of proving worthy to this creator. They claim it is the goal of sentience in the universe to demonstrate to the creator that sentient life within its creation was capable of communion with it, and by obtaining that communion, the creator god could be appealed to directly in times of dire need. Essentially, Branch 3 argued that because eternal knowledge afforded access to the creator, only those sentient populations with sophisticated technology sufficient to amass eternal knowledge could even think of communing with the creator and only the Bromeris were capable of this because they organized their entire society around that goal. Branch 3 acknowledged that the Bromeris prime objective made no mention of access to a creator being and the official stance of Bromeris is that until evidence of a creator is found, the creation of the universe cannot be ascribed to a creator. But the Nexus accepted the argument because of the general speculative nature of the central debate question that itself could not be substantiated.
After the Transcribers and Branch 3 reviewed their arguments before the Nexus and his assistants, the Nexus entered the longest period of deliberation in debate history and his decision was also historical. He found that both had presented persuasive enough arguments and chose both factions as winners. It was then, before the packed UL debate hall audience, that Solse was permitted to pose his final question.
Do you sincerely believe that the Bromeris will complete the Eternity Archive, or that the goal of completing it is even possible?
Both factions were baffled by the audacity of the question. None in attendance, including the Nexus, truly believed that the archive could be completed, but they would never say so explicitly.
The Nexus spoke over the whispers in the debate hall. “This exercise was beneficial in many ways, but it seems that you are most concerned with undermining the Bromeris prime objective. Am I wrong?” The Nexus was angry and onlookers were silent during the tense silence after he spoke.
Solse was measured and responded, “We all undermine that objective everyday. We debated my questions vigorously, but what is more important than this practical question? What is your answer, Nexus Brom? Are you asking the Bromeris to devote their lives and hard work to an impossible task that even you do not believe we can achieve?”
The Nexus was flustered by the audacity and there was commotion in the hall. The Nexus, after a short deliberation with his assistants, ordered Solse to retract his words and make amends to the office of the Nexus and the Bromeris population. When Solse refused, he was jailed until such time that his banishment from the planet Bromeran was executed.
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