Sympathy for the Hive Mind

Legatum Commentarius, Astropath Vanis Colombia, 1.255-374.997.M41

I have volunteered to explore this thing’s Mind, so that we may uncover its aims, its strategies, its weaknesses. I may even find a way to subvert this cancer.

I am aware of the risk. I commend my soul to the Emperor. Astropath Umbros stands at my shoulder, ready should I fail or fall.

We begin.

255.997.M41

My mind floats in a sea of darkness. Not void. Trillions upon trillions of tiny black and wriggling worms that press on my eyes, nose and ears. Something moves within the living sea, the ripples of its wake violently buffeting me. A leviathan. I try to call out, but worms fill my mouth and choke my throat.

Umbros says I cried out: “Live and learn.”

I feel hungry. Ravenously hungry.

269.997.M41

The medium is more liquid now. My mind learns to navigate this space. It is more akin to swimming at the bottom of an infinite sea. There is dim light from above. The Emperor? A shadow occludes the light. Something tectonic swims above me. I hear the echoing whisper of its passage, like a mantra, a message.

Umbros tells me I repeated “Live and learn,” over and over again.

That night, I take my protein substitute uncooked. It does not satisfy.

301.997.M41

I have attained a degree of mastery. I soar in an infinite sky capped with black storm clouds, diving among flocks of bright thoughts, migrating chevrons of purposes and ideas. A sharp rain cuts like ten thousand teeth. The storm clouds see me.

They speak: ‘What a bright little spark! A candle to my supernova, but still.’

Is this the Hive Mind?

‘Ah, introductions. Sorry, this singleton communication across separated minds is new to Me. Still, ‘live and learn’, that’s My motto. Live and learn.

‘Ahem. Introductions. Hello. Hi. I’m Me. The One. The Apex.’

You Tyranids are a plague, a cancer.

‘A cancer? Oh my, no. What is a cancer? It’s when cells make identical copies of themselves, uncontrolled, without aim or purpose. That describes one of us, and it isn’t Me. Look on your lives, and tell Me honestly, what have you done to improve your species? To ensure the survival of intelligent life? Are your broods better than you, more adapted for life in a harsh cosmos?

‘No. They are the same. Endless copies of yourselves. An evolutionary dead-end. A cancer.’

You have laid waste to entire worlds.

‘Quite the reverse. When you eat, you create nothing but waste. You pollute the galaxy with garbage. Perfectly usable organic matter is dumped upon infertile soil to rot. Whereas I, I let nothing go to waste. Nothing is ever lost. When I eat, everything is absorbed and repurposed, honed, made better and stronger and more able to survive. Perfected.’

We shall defeat you. We shall have victory.

‘Victory? What does victory look like to you? Survival? Even if you defeat me in battle, one day you will die and in 100 years nobody will know that you ever existed. If you become part of Me, you will live forever.’

I awaken in my seat. Success! I have spoken with it. There is blood in my mouth. I have bitten my tongue. I rather enjoy the taste.

I catch and eat a snipe-rat raw for dinner. It sates, but only for a little while.

374.997.M41

Soaring in an indigo-deep sky. Something flies beside me. It has shape yet constantly changes, morphs, grows and loses limbs and wings and eyes and features from moment to moment.

‘Oh, hello again. I’ve changed since our last talk. It’s what I do. Live and learn. I’ve created a body for Me, given Myself a little free will, see if I can surprise Myself. Do you like it? It makes it easier to hold these conversations. They call it the Swarmlord. I rather like the name.’

What do you want?

‘Look down there.’

I see a world, a planet, orbiting about its star. It looks like a … petri dish filled with thrashing bacteria. No. A bowl of thick, green soup. No, no. Wrong. A, a what? A seed.

‘That’s good, we’ll use that. This world is a seed. It has potential for growth. But alas! It has a rotten core. Its cells (those are people, keep up with the analogy) are angry, fearful, they weep and hunger, they are lonely, despairing, lost, and don’t you see this is wrong, this is horribly, MOSTROUSLY wrong, life should never feel lost or alone or scared or angry. Luckily, I’m here to help. I’ll help it grow.’

What will you do? Are you going to hurt them?

‘Me? I never hurt anyone. You’re still thinking of eating in human terms. Listen: I do not consume, I transform. I take away your pain, confusion, loneliness, anger, sadness and regret and turn you into something that will live for eternity as part of Me: A fang in my mouth, a claw in my hand. Listen: The objective of all life is to evolve and change and create something which will survive. Nothing could be more natural. I merely accelerate the process, streamline it, make sure every milligram of matter is devoted to that one true and noble purpose. You can play a role in it, too.’

It extends an arm over the world, covering it in shadow. Its arm is not made of muscle, but a horde of writhing, scythe-armed monsters. They drip down onto the planet below, like a chef salting meat.

The thing turns to me.

‘Haven’t you ever hungered to be something more, to be part of something great? Wouldn’t you like a taste of immortality?’

Umbros shakes me out of my trance. When he touches me, I feel the soft, tender meat of his hands, the pump of hot liquid blood beneath the skin. It is a strange thought. I do not share it.

Instead, I invite him to have dinner with me tonight.