1
00:00:10,583 --> 00:00:12,250
[opening theme music playing]

2
00:00:24,333 --> 00:00:25,666
[electronic warbling]

3
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[ethereal music playing]

4
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[rumbling]

5
00:00:50,625 --> 00:00:52,000
[electronic trilling]

6
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[in alien language]
We shall miss your conversation

7
00:00:55,041 --> 00:00:56,958
on the rest of our voyage, Dr. Afriel.

8
00:00:57,458 --> 00:00:58,875
[in English] And I yours.

9
00:00:58,958 --> 00:01:03,000
Our exchange of information
has been extremely valuable to me.

10
00:01:03,083 --> 00:01:05,541
[in alien language]
Humanity is the kind of race

11
00:01:05,625 --> 00:01:07,458
we enjoy doing business with.

12
00:01:07,541 --> 00:01:09,291
Young, eager, flexible.

13
00:01:09,375 --> 00:01:12,708
But we do not understand
the profit you seek in studying the swarm.

14
00:01:12,791 --> 00:01:16,250
They are merely well-organized animals.

15
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[in English] Hmm.
Well, we <i>humans</i> learn wherever we can.

16
00:01:21,333 --> 00:01:22,583
[alien] Dr. Afriel.

17
00:01:23,416 --> 00:01:24,958
[electronic trilling]

18
00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:31,708
Per our transit contract,
we shall return in 600 of your days.

19
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[ethereal music continues]

20
00:01:45,250 --> 00:01:47,000
[gurgling]

21
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[squelching]

22
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[ship rumbling, pulsating]

23
00:02:07,375 --> 00:02:08,541
[rumbling]

24
00:02:11,791 --> 00:02:14,208
[creatures trilling, warbling]

25
00:02:17,500 --> 00:02:19,000
[woman in English] Dr. Afriel.

26
00:02:20,250 --> 00:02:21,125
Welcome.

27
00:02:21,708 --> 00:02:24,750
Dr. Mirny. An honor to meet you.

28
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And I you.

29
00:02:27,250 --> 00:02:29,208
It's good to see another human face.

30
00:02:29,708 --> 00:02:32,166
And please, call me Galina.

31
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[creature trilling]

32
00:02:33,166 --> 00:02:35,375
-[groans] What?
-Don't be alarmed.

33
00:02:36,083 --> 00:02:38,291
It will convey your pheromones
to the queen.

34
00:02:40,166 --> 00:02:43,041
Otherwise, you might be considered
an invader and killed.

35
00:02:45,583 --> 00:02:49,125
I followed your study of the Swarm
with tremendous interest, Doctor.

36
00:02:49,208 --> 00:02:52,250
But I had no idea you'd learned
to communicate with them.

37
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Not exactly.

38
00:02:54,125 --> 00:02:55,041
[squelching]

39
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[Galina] I found
no Swarm castes that use language,

40
00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:00,458
but several symbiote species still do.

41
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I call these springtails.

42
00:03:03,791 --> 00:03:06,125
I believe
they were once a spacefaring race

43
00:03:06,208 --> 00:03:09,500
who discovered the Swarm
and were absorbed by it.

44
00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:12,625
But now they are
little more than parasitic savages.

45
00:03:18,458 --> 00:03:21,375
So far,
I've identified 15 unique symbiotic aliens

46
00:03:21,458 --> 00:03:25,208
living among the hundreds
of specialized castes native to the Swarm.

47
00:03:30,791 --> 00:03:34,916
Various strains of nutrient-rich fungi
are the hive's main food source.

48
00:03:35,833 --> 00:03:38,958
Since our basic biochemistry is similar,
it's perfectly edible.

49
00:03:41,666 --> 00:03:43,666
[creatures trilling]

50
00:03:45,791 --> 00:03:48,041
[creature clicking]

51
00:03:48,125 --> 00:03:51,750
I've learned to solicit food
with a pattern of reflex tapping.

52
00:03:52,250 --> 00:03:53,291
[tapping]

53
00:03:53,375 --> 00:03:55,375
Fermentation in the worker's gut…

54
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[gurgling, retching]

55
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…adds nutritional value.

56
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Makes it taste better too.

57
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Mmm. It's wonderful. [gulps]

58
00:04:07,958 --> 00:04:09,958
[creature lowing]

59
00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:13,041
Tunneler.

60
00:04:14,958 --> 00:04:16,875
It can take us further into the Nest.

61
00:04:19,250 --> 00:04:20,458
[Afriel exhales sharply]

62
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[grunts]

63
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[tunneler lowing]

64
00:04:26,458 --> 00:04:28,458
[creatures trilling]

65
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The queen.

66
00:04:43,500 --> 00:04:45,208
[ethereal music swelling]

67
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[Galina] Heart of the Nest.

68
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Whatever caste of worker is needed,

69
00:04:53,291 --> 00:04:54,875
she can create it.

70
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The entire Nest is a wonder
of genetic automation.

71
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It is truly amazing.

72
00:05:06,166 --> 00:05:07,125
[creature clatters]

73
00:05:08,500 --> 00:05:11,000
[Galina] Warrior caste. Very deadly.

74
00:05:11,083 --> 00:05:12,458
[tense music playing]

75
00:05:13,041 --> 00:05:14,458
[creatures warbling]

76
00:05:14,541 --> 00:05:17,541
[Galina] But only if you mean harm
to the queen and her eggs.

77
00:05:24,458 --> 00:05:28,333
Dr. Afriel, I think it's time
you told me exactly why you're here.

78
00:05:29,916 --> 00:05:31,166
As you've discovered,

79
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the Swarm
is a near-perfect organic system.

80
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With a resource like this, we can bring
order to the chaos of human expansion.

81
00:05:40,375 --> 00:05:42,291
We must harness its power.

82
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Exploit it, you mean.

83
00:05:46,291 --> 00:05:48,458
If order is what you want,

84
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look around.

85
00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:54,958
It's always warm, it smells good,
and there's plenty of food.

86
00:05:55,458 --> 00:06:00,500
This Nest has been here
for millions of years.

87
00:06:01,250 --> 00:06:03,916
Who will remember humanity
in even a thousand?

88
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Even though I won't live
to see our race triumph,

89
00:06:08,083 --> 00:06:10,541
it's enough that I can foresee that day.

90
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Arrogance.

91
00:06:13,166 --> 00:06:15,000
[tense music playing]

92
00:06:18,875 --> 00:06:21,708
These creatures
are primordially innocent, Doctor.

93
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They should never become pawns
in some power struggle light-years away.

94
00:06:26,625 --> 00:06:29,958
[Afriel] But we only need
the genetic information from one egg.

95
00:06:30,041 --> 00:06:32,125
With that, we can grow our <i>own</i> queen.

96
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Her offspring will build a new nest.

97
00:06:35,250 --> 00:06:36,416
They would be useless

98
00:06:36,500 --> 00:06:39,000
without the Nest's pheromones
to control them.

99
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Mm. Artificial vein.

100
00:06:41,208 --> 00:06:43,333
This slipped past the Investor quarantine.

101
00:06:43,416 --> 00:06:47,041
Inside is a selection
of the Swarm pheromones we synthesized

102
00:06:47,125 --> 00:06:48,583
based on your samples.

103
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If these work,
we could control millions of workers.

104
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Armies of warriors.

105
00:06:53,791 --> 00:06:57,000
-You are planning to breed a slave race.
-We could--

106
00:06:57,666 --> 00:07:00,541
You said yourself, they aren't sentient.

107
00:07:00,625 --> 00:07:02,416
They're organic machines.

108
00:07:02,500 --> 00:07:07,000
It's not as if they'd be staring up
at the stars pining for their freedom.

109
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[inhales deeply]

110
00:07:09,791 --> 00:07:10,875
It's true.

111
00:07:12,166 --> 00:07:15,375
Whether they work for us or the Swarm
will make no difference to them.

112
00:07:16,041 --> 00:07:19,250
And that is the beauty
of the idea, Doctor.

113
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[sighs]

114
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As long as no harm comes to the Nest…

115
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I'll help you.

116
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[squelching]

117
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[suspenseful music playing]

118
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[Galina] <i>We'll need to test</i>
<i>the synthesized pheromones</i>

119
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<i>with a series of trials.</i>

120
00:07:43,750 --> 00:07:44,875
[creature trilling]

121
00:07:44,958 --> 00:07:48,291
[Galina] <i>First vial contains</i>
<i>the most basic pheromonal commands.</i>

122
00:07:49,166 --> 00:07:50,958
<i>A simple grouping stimulus.</i>

123
00:07:52,916 --> 00:07:54,625
<i>But to work most effectively,</i>

124
00:07:54,708 --> 00:07:57,666
<i>the pheromones need to be combined</i>
<i>in a chemical program.</i>

125
00:07:58,166 --> 00:07:59,833
<i>Gather, then dig.</i>

126
00:08:00,333 --> 00:08:02,625
<i>Grow food here, then harvest.</i>

127
00:08:04,041 --> 00:08:07,666
<i>-Or retrieve one fertilized egg.</i>
-[creature warbling]

128
00:08:16,041 --> 00:08:18,041
[ethereal music playing]

129
00:08:38,375 --> 00:08:41,458
[Galina] <i>We humans</i>
<i>are not so very different.</i>

130
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<i>Adrift on ancient chemical tides.</i>

131
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<i>Submerged in the warm ebb and flow</i>

132
00:08:52,166 --> 00:08:53,000
<i>of life.</i>

133
00:08:54,333 --> 00:08:55,250
[whooshing]

134
00:08:55,333 --> 00:08:56,625
[springtails screeching]

135
00:08:59,666 --> 00:09:01,666
[creatures trilling]

136
00:09:03,208 --> 00:09:04,250
[in alien language] What is it?

137
00:09:04,333 --> 00:09:06,958
Food-giver no good. Not feed.

138
00:09:07,041 --> 00:09:08,541
Take me to her.

139
00:09:09,250 --> 00:09:10,916
[suspenseful music playing]

140
00:09:15,583 --> 00:09:17,041
[springtail trilling]

141
00:09:24,750 --> 00:09:25,708
[creature roars]

142
00:09:26,833 --> 00:09:28,041
[growls]

143
00:09:30,833 --> 00:09:32,250
[creature snarls]

144
00:09:32,958 --> 00:09:34,833
-[shrieking]
-[squelching]

145
00:09:34,916 --> 00:09:36,750
[intense music playing]

146
00:09:41,625 --> 00:09:43,416
[creatures screeching]

147
00:09:48,416 --> 00:09:49,791
[Afriel pants, grunts]

148
00:09:51,666 --> 00:09:52,708
[roaring]

149
00:09:59,416 --> 00:10:01,791
[Afriel grunts, groans]

150
00:10:02,333 --> 00:10:04,333
[air hissing]

151
00:10:08,375 --> 00:10:10,375
[creatures growling, warbling]

152
00:10:14,416 --> 00:10:15,500
[creature trills]

153
00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:17,583
[roaring, warbling]

154
00:10:17,666 --> 00:10:18,916
[Afriel grunts, groans]

155
00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:20,625
-[bones crack]
-[screams]

156
00:10:21,583 --> 00:10:22,625
[Afriel grunts]

157
00:10:22,708 --> 00:10:24,000
-[creature roars]
-[Afriel yells]

158
00:10:25,708 --> 00:10:26,958
[creature roars]

159
00:10:27,041 --> 00:10:28,375
[squelching]

160
00:10:28,958 --> 00:10:29,958
[Afriel groans]

161
00:10:30,041 --> 00:10:32,416
-[grunting, straining]
-[intense music swelling]

162
00:10:34,208 --> 00:10:35,750
[creatures trilling]

163
00:10:37,666 --> 00:10:40,250
Come on then, you mindless motherfuckers!

164
00:10:40,958 --> 00:10:43,250
-[creatures screeching]
-[Afriel screaming, grunting]

165
00:10:44,916 --> 00:10:46,083
[music fades]

166
00:10:49,875 --> 00:10:51,583
[ominous music playing]

167
00:10:52,500 --> 00:10:54,500
[creatures trilling]

168
00:11:00,125 --> 00:11:01,916
[squelching]

169
00:11:02,916 --> 00:11:03,875
[Afriel gasps]

170
00:11:08,208 --> 00:11:09,625
[moaning]

171
00:11:11,250 --> 00:11:13,000
[Galina moaning]

172
00:11:14,208 --> 00:11:15,125
Galina?

173
00:11:15,708 --> 00:11:16,958
[gasping]

174
00:11:18,875 --> 00:11:21,083
[Galina] I have no name,

175
00:11:22,041 --> 00:11:24,125
but you may address me as…

176
00:11:24,208 --> 00:11:25,291
[squelching]

177
00:11:25,375 --> 00:11:26,416
…Swarm.

178
00:11:27,583 --> 00:11:29,083
[sinister music playing]

179
00:11:32,541 --> 00:11:34,750
[heaves, retches]

180
00:11:34,833 --> 00:11:36,625
[Swarm] I am one of its castes.

181
00:11:37,500 --> 00:11:39,791
My specialty is intelligence.

182
00:11:39,875 --> 00:11:42,125
We… we mean you no harm.

183
00:11:42,666 --> 00:11:44,416
We seek only knowledge and--

184
00:11:44,500 --> 00:11:47,250
[Swarm] You sought to breed us.

185
00:11:47,916 --> 00:11:49,208
Use us.

186
00:11:50,041 --> 00:11:52,333
But your crude experiments

187
00:11:52,916 --> 00:11:55,583
triggered certain genetic protocols,

188
00:11:55,666 --> 00:11:58,333
and I was born.

189
00:12:00,458 --> 00:12:02,666
I am only a few weeks old,

190
00:12:02,750 --> 00:12:06,666
but I have millions of years
of racial memory.

191
00:12:06,750 --> 00:12:10,125
You are clearly an intelligent being.

192
00:12:10,208 --> 00:12:12,000
Surely we can find a way to--

193
00:12:12,083 --> 00:12:14,583
Please, Doctor, I'm just a tool.

194
00:12:14,666 --> 00:12:15,791
[breathes raggedly]

195
00:12:15,875 --> 00:12:21,375
One the Swarm has used to deal
with threats like yours many times.

196
00:12:22,291 --> 00:12:25,291
Through her memories,
I understand your race.

197
00:12:25,791 --> 00:12:27,791
An especially vigorous one.

198
00:12:27,875 --> 00:12:29,958
I expect they could be here,

199
00:12:30,041 --> 00:12:33,333
competing with us
within a few hundred years.

200
00:12:34,083 --> 00:12:36,083
Hmm. It will be sooner.

201
00:12:36,166 --> 00:12:37,375
Perhaps.

202
00:12:38,250 --> 00:12:41,333
But on the timescale the Swarm operates,

203
00:12:41,416 --> 00:12:43,625
your race will soon be gone.

204
00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:47,958
If… if you intend to destroy us, we will--

205
00:12:48,041 --> 00:12:49,625
[yelling, choking]

206
00:12:49,708 --> 00:12:52,625
Most likely, you'll destroy yourselves.

207
00:12:53,541 --> 00:12:55,625
In… intelligence…

208
00:12:55,708 --> 00:12:56,541
[inhales deeply]

209
00:12:56,625 --> 00:12:58,791
…is not a winning survival trait.

210
00:12:58,875 --> 00:13:00,875
[exhales, breathes heavily]

211
00:13:01,708 --> 00:13:06,166
Consider the scavenger
feeding on your vomit.

212
00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:08,666
Two million years ago,

213
00:13:09,250 --> 00:13:12,583
its ancestors made the galaxy tremble.

214
00:13:13,375 --> 00:13:15,458
When they attacked the Swarm,

215
00:13:15,541 --> 00:13:20,125
we bred smarter, tougher versions
of their own race to fight them.

216
00:13:21,333 --> 00:13:24,083
Our nests were the only world
they'd known,

217
00:13:24,166 --> 00:13:27,208
and they fought with a fury
and inventiveness

218
00:13:27,708 --> 00:13:29,375
we never could have matched.

219
00:13:30,958 --> 00:13:32,625
It is an excellent strategy.

220
00:13:33,375 --> 00:13:36,166
And the two of you
make a perfect breeding pair.

221
00:13:37,458 --> 00:13:40,000
I would never betray my race.

222
00:13:40,083 --> 00:13:41,250
I will kill myself.

223
00:13:41,958 --> 00:13:47,083
In which case, I would simply clone you
and raise the children myself.

224
00:13:47,750 --> 00:13:48,583
Bothersome.

225
00:13:50,416 --> 00:13:52,291
And so I offer you a choice.

226
00:13:53,083 --> 00:13:57,708
Remain an intelligent living being or…

227
00:13:57,791 --> 00:13:59,375
[gasps, moans]

228
00:13:59,458 --> 00:14:00,375
[squelching]

229
00:14:00,458 --> 00:14:02,708
[yelling, gasping]

230
00:14:02,791 --> 00:14:05,375
…real ugly events…

231
00:14:05,458 --> 00:14:07,458
[gasping, retching]

232
00:14:10,416 --> 00:14:11,791
[sighs, chuckles]

233
00:14:13,375 --> 00:14:14,208
So,

234
00:14:15,625 --> 00:14:19,333
do you accept my offer, Doctor?

235
00:14:20,958 --> 00:14:25,666
I accept your challenge.

236
00:14:26,791 --> 00:14:28,875
We won't become parasites.

237
00:14:28,958 --> 00:14:31,291
Humans are different.

238
00:14:32,208 --> 00:14:34,541
Of course you are.

239
00:14:36,541 --> 00:14:38,541
[squelching]

240
00:14:38,625 --> 00:14:41,500
I'm glad I won't have to absorb you.

241
00:14:43,416 --> 00:14:44,625
I would have missed

242
00:14:45,500 --> 00:14:46,875
your conversation.

243
00:14:48,791 --> 00:14:50,166
[music fades]

244
00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:56,541
[electronic warbling]

245
00:15:01,666 --> 00:15:03,375
[closing theme music playing]

246
00:16:01,583 --> 00:16:03,458
[music fades]