The Gordian Fetish

How important is consciousness? How rare is it in the universe? It is incredibly rare but not many people here on Earth seem to care about that. But the Gordian's do - they value it - they seek it out and look to protect it. They have an institute funded by their government that is geared to the conservation of endangered alien sentient beings.Unfortunately a new Gordian leader has come along who believes in austerity. He is threatening to close the institute.Humans are sentient and have a modicum of intelligence. They can hardly be termed endangered though. There are 4000 billion of them. But they are incredibly interesting. They have sex. They also have politics and religion. They pretend to be clever and civilised but they are nowhere near as clever and civilised as they think they are.Most Gordian's are intrigued by humans. They find sex astounding and humans cute.Being cute and having sex might just be their saving graces.