History has forgotten the origin of the Qurators, but historians are still trying to remember. Postconstructionists claim the Qurators were created by the Intoans to maintain the Bkmma some twelve thousand years ago, and thus represent the last functioning remnants of that once-great civilization. Preconstructionists, on the other hand, trace their origins back even further, insisting the ancient archivists outlived both the civilization that built them and the artifacts they were created to protect, and constructed the Bkmma themselves in order to reacquire a sense of purpose. Both theories are rejected by aconstructionists, who believe that neither the Bkmma nor the Qurators were “built” in any conventional sense, but evolved together over the course of millennia to form a symmechanical relationship.

The Qurators themselves have traditionally had little to say on the subject, responding to questions about their past with the characteristic tilted head and whirring sound used to signal irritation. The Qurators, after all, are not history’s chroniclers but its custodians, charged with the maintenance of the Bkmma and its countless artifacts and exhibits, from the subtle tendrils of the Eschatological Gardens to the labyrinthine carrels of the Library of Days to the voracious appetites of the Yesterday Pit. These peculiar wonders, among myriad others, may be viewed on those rare occasions when the Qurators are moved to offer limited tours to the general public; absent their assistance the Bkmma is generally considered unnavigable, and has become the final resting place of any number of uninvited visitors over the millennia, from would-be Vermailian occupiers in 5301 to a Tomorrow Hive survey team in 6236.

Two additional duties occupy the Qurators’ time: the acquisition of new artifacts for the Bkmma and the assembly of future Qurators. Both activities appear to escalate in anticipation of certain civilizational catastrophes, suggesting that the Qurators are, at heart, preservationists of a sort. A recent visit to the Great Hall of the Lost revealed an impressive collection of Almnetian and human relics, and the Qurator General expressed hope for a new wing devoted to the contemporary era.

—Recorder 3000-21