1
00:00:52,709 --> 00:00:55,001
We shall miss your conversation

2
00:00:55,084 --> 00:00:57,001
on the rest of our voyage, Dr. Afriel.

3
00:00:57,501 --> 00:00:58,918
And I yours.

4
00:00:59,001 --> 00:01:03,043
Our exchange of information
has been extremely valuable to me.

5
00:01:03,126 --> 00:01:05,584
Humanity is the kind of race

6
00:01:05,668 --> 00:01:07,501
we enjoy doing business with.

7
00:01:07,584 --> 00:01:09,334
Young, eager, flexible.

8
00:01:09,418 --> 00:01:12,751
But we do not understand
the profit you seek in studying the swarm.

9
00:01:12,834 --> 00:01:16,293
They are merely well-organized animals.

10
00:01:16,376 --> 00:01:20,168
Hmm.
Well, we <i>humans</i> learn wherever we can.

11
00:01:21,376 --> 00:01:22,626
Dr. Afriel.

12
00:01:26,043 --> 00:01:31,751
Per our transit contract,
we shall return in 600 of your days.

13
00:02:17,543 --> 00:02:19,043
Dr. Afriel.

14
00:02:20,293 --> 00:02:21,168
Welcome.

15
00:02:21,751 --> 00:02:24,793
Dr. Mirny. An honor to meet you.

16
00:02:25,876 --> 00:02:27,209
And I you.

17
00:02:27,293 --> 00:02:29,251
It's good to see another human face.

18
00:02:29,751 --> 00:02:32,209
And please, call me Galina.

19
00:02:33,209 --> 00:02:35,418
-What?
-Don't be alarmed.

20
00:02:36,126 --> 00:02:38,334
It will convey your pheromones
to the queen.

21
00:02:40,209 --> 00:02:43,084
Otherwise, you might be considered
an invader and killed.

22
00:02:45,626 --> 00:02:49,168
I followed your study of the Swarm
with tremendous interest, Doctor.

23
00:02:49,251 --> 00:02:52,293
But I had no idea you'd learned
to communicate with them.

24
00:02:52,376 --> 00:02:54,084
Not exactly.

25
00:02:55,168 --> 00:02:57,959
I found
no Swarm castes that use language,

26
00:02:58,043 --> 00:03:00,501
but several symbiote species still do.

27
00:03:01,001 --> 00:03:03,751
I call these springtails.

28
00:03:03,834 --> 00:03:06,168
I believe
they were once a spacefaring race

29
00:03:06,251 --> 00:03:09,543
who discovered the Swarm
and were absorbed by it.

30
00:03:10,043 --> 00:03:12,668
But now they are
little more than parasitic savages.

31
00:03:18,501 --> 00:03:21,418
So far,
I've identified 15 unique symbiotic aliens

32
00:03:21,501 --> 00:03:25,251
living among the hundreds
of specialized castes native to the Swarm.

33
00:03:30,834 --> 00:03:34,959
Various strains of nutrient-rich fungi
are the hive's main food source.

34
00:03:35,876 --> 00:03:39,001
Since our basic biochemistry is similar,
it's perfectly edible.

35
00:03:48,168 --> 00:03:51,793
I've learned to solicit food
with a pattern of reflex tapping.

36
00:03:53,418 --> 00:03:55,418
Fermentation in the worker's gut…

37
00:03:57,334 --> 00:03:58,709
…adds nutritional value.

38
00:03:59,876 --> 00:04:01,293
Makes it taste better too.

39
00:04:05,793 --> 00:04:07,918
Mmm. It's wonderful.

40
00:04:12,043 --> 00:04:13,084
Tunneler.

41
00:04:15,001 --> 00:04:16,918
It can take us further into the Nest.

42
00:04:42,459 --> 00:04:43,459
The queen.

43
00:04:45,334 --> 00:04:46,793
Heart of the Nest.

44
00:04:50,459 --> 00:04:52,668
Whatever caste of worker is needed,

45
00:04:53,334 --> 00:04:54,918
she can create it.

46
00:04:55,668 --> 00:04:59,668
The entire Nest is a wonder
of genetic automation.

47
00:05:01,501 --> 00:05:04,459
It is truly amazing.

48
00:05:08,543 --> 00:05:11,043
Warrior caste. Very deadly.

49
00:05:14,584 --> 00:05:17,584
But only if you mean harm
to the queen and her eggs.

50
00:05:24,501 --> 00:05:28,376
Dr. Afriel, I think it's time
you told me exactly why you're here.

51
00:05:29,959 --> 00:05:31,209
As you've discovered,

52
00:05:31,293 --> 00:05:34,043
the Swarm
is a near-perfect organic system.

53
00:05:35,084 --> 00:05:39,918
With a resource like this, we can bring
order to the chaos of human expansion.

54
00:05:40,418 --> 00:05:42,334
We must harness its power.

55
00:05:42,834 --> 00:05:44,751
Exploit it, you mean.

56
00:05:46,334 --> 00:05:48,501
If order is what you want,

57
00:05:49,418 --> 00:05:50,959
look around.

58
00:05:51,043 --> 00:05:55,001
It's always warm, it smells good,
and there's plenty of food.

59
00:05:55,501 --> 00:06:00,543
This Nest has been here
for millions of years.

60
00:06:01,293 --> 00:06:03,959
Who will remember humanity
in even a thousand?

61
00:06:05,376 --> 00:06:08,043
Even though I won't live
to see our race triumph,

62
00:06:08,126 --> 00:06:10,584
it's enough that I can foresee that day.

63
00:06:12,001 --> 00:06:13,126
Arrogance.

64
00:06:18,918 --> 00:06:21,751
These creatures
are primordially innocent, Doctor.

65
00:06:21,834 --> 00:06:25,543
They should never become pawns
in some power struggle light-years away.

66
00:06:26,668 --> 00:06:30,001
But we only need
the genetic information from one egg.

67
00:06:30,084 --> 00:06:32,168
With that, we can grow our <i>own</i> queen.

68
00:06:32,668 --> 00:06:35,209
Her offspring will build a new nest.

69
00:06:35,293 --> 00:06:36,459
They would be useless

70
00:06:36,543 --> 00:06:39,043
without the Nest's pheromones
to control them.

71
00:06:39,126 --> 00:06:41,168
Mm. Artificial vein.

72
00:06:41,251 --> 00:06:43,376
This slipped past the Investor quarantine.

73
00:06:43,459 --> 00:06:47,084
Inside is a selection
of the Swarm pheromones we synthesized

74
00:06:47,168 --> 00:06:48,626
based on your samples.

75
00:06:49,168 --> 00:06:52,459
If these work,
we could control millions of workers.

76
00:06:52,543 --> 00:06:53,751
Armies of warriors.

77
00:06:53,834 --> 00:06:57,043
-You are planning to breed a slave race.
-We could--

78
00:06:57,709 --> 00:07:00,584
You said yourself, they aren't sentient.

79
00:07:00,668 --> 00:07:02,459
They're organic machines.

80
00:07:02,543 --> 00:07:07,043
It's not as if they'd be staring up
at the stars pining for their freedom.

81
00:07:09,834 --> 00:07:10,918
It's true.

82
00:07:12,209 --> 00:07:15,418
Whether they work for us or the Swarm
will make no difference to them.

83
00:07:16,084 --> 00:07:19,293
And that is the beauty
of the idea, Doctor.

84
00:07:24,918 --> 00:07:28,459
As long as no harm comes to the Nest…

85
00:07:30,584 --> 00:07:31,501
I'll help you.

86
00:07:39,834 --> 00:07:41,959
<i>We'll need to test</i>
<i>the synthesized pheromones</i>

87
00:07:42,043 --> 00:07:43,709
<i>with a series of trials.</i>

88
00:07:45,001 --> 00:07:48,334
<i>First vial contains</i>
<i>the most basic pheromonal commands.</i>

89
00:07:49,209 --> 00:07:51,001
<i>A simple grouping stimulus.</i>

90
00:07:52,959 --> 00:07:54,668
<i>But to work most effectively,</i>

91
00:07:54,751 --> 00:07:57,709
<i>the pheromones need to be combined</i>
<i>in a chemical program.</i>

92
00:07:58,209 --> 00:07:59,876
<i>Gather, then dig.</i>

93
00:08:00,376 --> 00:08:02,668
<i>Grow food here, then harvest.</i>

94
00:08:04,084 --> 00:08:07,709
<i>-Or retrieve one fertilized egg.</i>

95
00:08:38,418 --> 00:08:41,501
<i>We humans</i>
<i>are not so very different.</i>

96
00:08:43,126 --> 00:08:46,168
<i>Adrift on ancient chemical tides.</i>

97
00:08:47,418 --> 00:08:51,293
<i>Submerged in the warm ebb and flow</i>

98
00:08:52,209 --> 00:08:53,043
<i>of life.</i>

99
00:09:03,251 --> 00:09:04,293
What is it?

100
00:09:04,376 --> 00:09:07,001
Food-giver no good. Not feed.

101
00:09:07,084 --> 00:09:08,584
Take me to her.

102
00:10:37,709 --> 00:10:40,293
Come on then, you mindless motherfuckers!

103
00:11:14,251 --> 00:11:15,168
Galina?

104
00:11:18,918 --> 00:11:21,126
I have no name,

105
00:11:22,084 --> 00:11:24,168
but you may address me as…

106
00:11:25,418 --> 00:11:26,459
…Swarm.

107
00:11:34,876 --> 00:11:36,668
I am one of its castes.

108
00:11:37,543 --> 00:11:39,834
My specialty is intelligence.

109
00:11:39,918 --> 00:11:42,168
We… we mean you no harm.

110
00:11:42,709 --> 00:11:44,459
We seek only knowledge and--

111
00:11:44,543 --> 00:11:47,293
You sought to breed us.

112
00:11:47,959 --> 00:11:49,251
Use us.

113
00:11:50,084 --> 00:11:52,376
But your crude experiments

114
00:11:52,959 --> 00:11:55,626
triggered certain genetic protocols,

115
00:11:55,709 --> 00:11:58,376
and I was born.

116
00:12:00,501 --> 00:12:02,709
I am only a few weeks old,

117
00:12:02,793 --> 00:12:06,709
but I have millions of years
of racial memory.

118
00:12:06,793 --> 00:12:10,168
You are clearly an intelligent being.

119
00:12:10,251 --> 00:12:12,043
Surely we can find a way to--

120
00:12:12,126 --> 00:12:14,626
Please, Doctor, I'm just a tool.

121
00:12:15,918 --> 00:12:21,418
One the Swarm has used to deal
with threats like yours many times.

122
00:12:22,334 --> 00:12:25,334
Through her memories,
I understand your race.

123
00:12:25,834 --> 00:12:27,834
An especially vigorous one.

124
00:12:27,918 --> 00:12:30,001
I expect they could be here,

125
00:12:30,084 --> 00:12:33,376
competing with us
within a few hundred years.

126
00:12:34,126 --> 00:12:36,126
Hmm. It will be sooner.

127
00:12:36,209 --> 00:12:37,418
Perhaps.

128
00:12:38,293 --> 00:12:41,376
But on the timescale the Swarm operates,

129
00:12:41,459 --> 00:12:43,668
your race will soon be gone.

130
00:12:45,043 --> 00:12:48,001
If… if you intend to destroy us, we will--

131
00:12:49,751 --> 00:12:52,668
Most likely, you'll destroy yourselves.

132
00:12:53,584 --> 00:12:55,668
In… intelligence…

133
00:12:56,668 --> 00:12:58,834
…is not a winning survival trait.

134
00:13:01,751 --> 00:13:06,209
Consider the scavenger
feeding on your vomit.

135
00:13:07,043 --> 00:13:08,709
Two million years ago,

136
00:13:09,293 --> 00:13:12,626
its ancestors made the galaxy tremble.

137
00:13:13,418 --> 00:13:15,501
When they attacked the Swarm,

138
00:13:15,584 --> 00:13:20,168
we bred smarter, tougher versions
of their own race to fight them.

139
00:13:21,376 --> 00:13:24,126
Our nests were the only world
they'd known,

140
00:13:24,209 --> 00:13:27,251
and they fought with a fury
and inventiveness

141
00:13:27,751 --> 00:13:29,418
we never could have matched.

142
00:13:31,001 --> 00:13:32,668
It is an excellent strategy.

143
00:13:33,418 --> 00:13:36,209
And the two of you
make a perfect breeding pair.

144
00:13:37,501 --> 00:13:40,043
I would never betray my race.

145
00:13:40,126 --> 00:13:41,293
I will kill myself.

146
00:13:42,001 --> 00:13:47,126
In which case, I would simply clone you
and raise the children myself.

147
00:13:47,793 --> 00:13:48,626
Bothersome.

148
00:13:50,459 --> 00:13:52,334
And so I offer you a choice.

149
00:13:53,126 --> 00:13:57,751
Remain an intelligent living being or…

150
00:14:02,834 --> 00:14:05,418
…real ugly events…

151
00:14:13,418 --> 00:14:14,251
So,

152
00:14:15,668 --> 00:14:19,376
do you accept my offer, Doctor?

153
00:14:21,001 --> 00:14:25,709
I accept your challenge.

154
00:14:26,834 --> 00:14:28,918
We won't become parasites.

155
00:14:29,001 --> 00:14:31,334
Humans are different.

156
00:14:32,251 --> 00:14:34,584
Of course you are.

157
00:14:38,668 --> 00:14:41,543
I'm glad I won't have to absorb you.

158
00:14:43,459 --> 00:14:44,668
I would have missed

159
00:14:45,543 --> 00:14:46,918
your conversation.