Copyright credits: Some text reproduced and/or altered from StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm by Chris Metzen and Brian Kindregan.
Lore references: Doctor Sandra Loew originally appeared in the short story "The Teacher." Cerberus Program originally appeared in the demo campaign StarCraft: Loomings and the BlizzCon 2019 War Chest.
Formatting: Guillemets or angle quotes («») indicate telepathic dialogue.
Bright lights. Grey floors. Warmth. Safety. Hunger. These were the first sensations I remember experiencing. That and a strange tightness around my throat. A steady, barely noticeable pulse traced it.
"Subject appears to be gaining awareness. No apparent distress from psi-collar."
I heard noises. I understood patterns in them. I knew words. I knew meaning.
My several pairs of eyes focused. I glanced around my surroundings. The floor was grey, metallic. A mat of writhing pale pinkish sludge stretched across it in uneven patches. There was a mound in the middle of the room. A large violet spike rose from the mound. I felt pulses coming off it.
I experimentally wiggled. I could feel my body, long and segmented. I raised several pairs of limbs. I rose from the ground slightly before falling back in a heap. I tried again. I rose to my feet, my new limbs trembling.
I looked around again. I had a head with a neck. It was flexible and moved to let me see around myself. The walls were a metallic grey. I was in some kind of chamber. High above, I could see the wall was colorful. It moved as I watched. I realized I was mistaken. The wall was not moving. Something was moving behind it. The wall was see-through.
I heard another voice. This one did not come from the noises around me. It came from somewhere else. Yet there was nowhere else.
«Awaken my child, and embrace the glory that is your birthright. Know that I am the Overmind, the eternal will of the Swarm, and that you have been created to serve me.»
Comprehension came slower this time. I felt warmed by the depths of these words.
I tried to make my own words. I warbled. I tried again. More warbling. I kept trying.
«Where am I? Who are you?» I finally asked.
I received no further response. I waited.
"Hello, Dennis. How are you?"
«Who?»
"Up here."
I looked up at the see-through wall. I saw a shape there. A figure with a head, arms, and legs. It was waving one of its arms.
"I see you."
The figure was speaking to me.
«What is Dennis?»
"Your name is Dennis. My name is Doctor Sandra Loew, but you may call me Sandra."
«Dennis? I am Dennis?»
"Yes."
«You are Sandra?»
"Yes. Excellent Dennis!"
I heard tapping noises. There was no discernible pattern in them. I ignored them.
«What is Sandra?»
"I guess I'm your mother. Do you understand?"
Mother. I puzzled over the strange new word.
«I think so. You are my mother?»
If my mother was there, then who was the other?
«Tell them nothing! Only you can hear me. The terrans cannot be trusted. They are your jailors! I will tell you all... when you rejoin the Swarm.»
Terrans? Jailors? Swarm?
Yes… I understood now. "Mother" was a terran. The terrans were my enemies.
"Dennis?"
«Yes, mother?»
I was at the mercy of my enemies. Yet they did not know they were my enemies. Did they? Why else would Sandra lie to me, claim to be my mother? They thought to deceive me. I would have to play along for now. I would bide my time and wait until an opportunity to escape presented itself.
I would learn from these terrans. They would not realize my ruse until it was too late.
I could scarcely track the passage of time. Days, weeks, months. It meant little to me in this grey lifeless place. I learned about the terrans. They taught me about their worlds, their hopes, their fears. They taught me about the zerg and their reason for creating me.
They showed me holos of the zerg. I saw autopsies of zerglings and hydralisks. I saw ultralisks eviscerating squads of marines. I saw terrans running screaming through city streets as mutalisks flocked through the skies. I saw terrans mutated with growths resembling the anatomy of the zerg.
"The zerg are engineered for killing. Their sheer numbers make them difficult for us to fight. That's we made you to fight them."
«They look scary. How would I fight them? Even with my powers, there are too many of them for me to fight.»
"You're not going to fight them with telekinesis, Dennis. You're going to lead your own brood of zerg against them."
«What? How? If the zerg are trying to kill everyone, then why would any listen to me?»
"You're special, Dennis. You were cloned from zerg genes."
«I was? That's means I'm zerg?»
"Partly, yes. You're also cloned from human genes. You're a hybrid."
«Oh. How does that make the zerg listen to me?»
"Your genes came from an organism we call the brain bug. They sit at the top of the zerg hierarchy. Subordinate zerg instinctively obey them."
«Are there other friendly zerg like me?»
"Not like you. We've been breeding zerg, but they're never friendly. You're going to change that."
They showed me more holos of the zerg. These images depicted the zerg subjected to autopsies, medical experiments, and other mutilation. Most of those showed to me were on the mutated terrans. Some of them depicted the same subject becoming progressively less mutated.
"The zerg like to infest other organisms with their hyper-evolutionary virus. This causes the infested to physically mutate and become subservient to the zerg's hive mind. We've been able to treat the infested with anti-zerg nanites, but there's no cure at present."
«That sounds painful.»
"We're hoping that you'll help us develop a cure someday."
«But I don't know how.»
"The secrets are somewhere in your genes. Millions of years of history are inside you."
«Really? But won't it take millions of years to find it?»
"Don't worry, Dennis. Humans are very good at finding things."
«Will I get to met any of them? The people you treated?»
"No. The patients don't like interacting with zerg."
«But I'm a friend? I'm a good zerg.»
"I'm sorry, Dennis. I don't think that'll change their minds."
The first time I saw other zerg was under strictly controlled conditions. I entered a test chamber with a viewing window on one wall at my height. Through it I could see other zerg, locked in cages. They were different from the zerg I saw in the holos. They had metal devices on their bodies, not entirely unlike my own.
There was a machine in the other chamber. It towered over the cages. I felt psychic signals emanating from it. The message was a simple repeat: «Standby.»
«Are these zerg? Why do they look different? What are those metal bits? What's that talking machine?»
"Yes, Dennis, these are zerg. I call them the Tamed. They were cybernetically modified by the Cerberus Program so they won't attack humans. That device is a hive mind emulator: it sends them commands."
«May I talk to them?»
"In a minute, Dennis. I'll move one to your chamber."
I heard the grinding of machinery. A panel opened in one of the walls, and a cage was conveyed into my test chamber. Inside I saw a creature. Multiple spindly legs spanned by webbing. A pair of pincers. Metal plates embedded in its head and back. Odd lights where it should have had eyes.
"Okay, Dennis. Try to speak with it now."
I opened a channel. At first I receive no response. I thought the drone must not have heard me and tried again.
«It's not talking back. Are you sure it can hear me?»
"It can hear you, Dennis. I see your message in the chat log."
«Then why isn't it talking back?»
"They're programmed only to respond to transmissions with proper authorization. You don't have permission, so they ignore you."
«May I have permission?»
"You're not going to need it, Dennis. We have something much better planned for you."
«A surprise present? I love presents!»
Sometimes Loew would tell me stories when other terrans were not around. She said the stories came from a planet called "Earth" a long time ago. She gave the stories names like "Jack and the Beanstalk," "The Snow Queen," "Little Red Riding Hood," and the list went on.
I didn't understand the terran's strange interest in me until she revealed key details of my birth.
«Mother, where did I come from?»
"What do you mean, Dennis?"
«I'm a hybrid of terran and zerg. Do I have parents?»
"You're asking who you were cloned from?"
«Yes.»
"Well, I only know so much. I donated my own tissue to the experiment. I guess that makes me your mother in the biological sense, too."
«Okay. What about my… uh, father? Is that right?»
"They didn't tell me much about the brain bug. The scientists were only provided with tissue samples for research purposes."
«May I meet my father?»
"I don't think so, Dennis. I don't know where he is or even if he's still alive. My bosses would never okay it. Even if I could arrange a meeting, he'd probably try to kill you."
«Kill me? But why?»
"The zerg instinctively attack anything that is different from them. That includes any zerg outside their hive mind."
«But couldn't you make him friendly, like me?»
"We've tried to capture and tame brain bugs before. But it's extremely difficult and the results don't meet our expectations. That's why we created you. You've exceeded our wildest expectations so far."
«I have?»
"Yes. The Confederacy has big plans for you, Dennis. You're gonna be a famous hero one day."
«Yay!»
I learned a great deal from Project Bellwood, Project Tamed, and Cerberus Program. The ease with which they shared their secrets with me was almost insulting, bordering on suicidal stupidity. They never considered me their equal, yet they tried their best to deceive me into thinking I was.
Such arrogance.
The terrans were surprisingly easy to fool by mimicking childish speech patterns through the translation program. To pretend that the human tissue they had grown me around influenced my behavior in their favor. They genuinely seemed to believe that I shared their fears of the zerg.
I found the charade revolting.
The terrans were pointlessly torturing my kind, trying desperately to delay their inevitable demise. They were so arrogant as to think my siblings were nothing more than slaves to be ruled.
It was disgusting!
Though most of my ancestral memory remained inaccessible, I knew just enough to understand just how outclassed these terrans were and how insulting their crude flailing experiments were to the glory that was my birthright.
We were not slaves. We were not pets. We were not friends. We were the Zerg. Our name literally meant "unstoppable and all-consuming."
We were the embodiment of hunger and progress. We imposed order on the chaos of organic evolution. We were destined to assimilate the strongest species in the galaxy and achieve apotheosis. Our numbers would darken the skies of every world for always and eternity.
"Test phase two, commencing," said the Adjutant in its typical cool tones.
"Get ready, Dennis," Loew had told me. "We're going to run a simple test to determine how well you can communicate with the zerg."
The latest test chamber was immense. It was large enough to hold a small hatchery in the center. Grey creep spread across the ground. The metallic floor had been covered by a deep layer of soil, providing nourishment to the living carpet. In turn, contact with the creep nourished me.
Around the hatchery's base numerous writhing larvae waited patiently, content in their ignorance and nourished by the creep.
«What are you hoping to get out of these tests, mother? I told you I remember nothing about being the hive mind,» I lied.
"We have to find out how much of the zerg mutagen is left in your system. I appreciate your cooperation, Dennis."
«Do you usually keep cooperative people in a containment cell?»
"When we know it's safe, I'll unlock your door myself. Now, can you reach out with your mind? Do you sense it?"
At the other end of the chamber was a metal box. A cage. As I watched, the front of it slid away. From within, an insectoid creature tentatively emerged. Mouthparts tasted the air. Several pairs of eyes saw the light. A pair of pincers clicked and clacked. A series of thin legs spanned by flexible membrane waved elegantly through the air.
This was the zerg drone. My lessons had showed them in holos, but this was the first time I was in contact with a live subject.
As usual, I feigned ignorance and skepticism.
«A drone? Are you really asking me to take control of a zerg mind? Do you know what could happen?»
"All the test subjects are in a secure environment."
Funny thing about security. You never knew how much you really had until it was stressed to the breaking point.
"Are you able to control it?"
"Control" was inaccurate, for it implied that I was the master and the drone was a slave with no will of its own. "Control" was a simple word that reflected the terrans' bias, that reflected their horrific lack of empathy toward their own kind.
I remembered an exchange with another terran. I did not care to keep track of its name or face, but I remembered its words and the desire I saw within them.
"Would you mind if I spoke with you privately, Dennis?"
«What is privately?»
"This conversation would just be between you and me. You don't need to tell anyone else about it."
I feigned ignorance.
«Why would I do that? Is this a game?»
"Yes, it is a game. If you never tell anyone else about what we say today, then you win."
«That sounds fun! What is it you wanted to speak?»
"I understand that Doctor Loew told you that we intend for you to control zerg."
"Yes. I never saw another zerg yet, but I cannot wait to meet them and make new friends."
"Friends? Yes, I suppose that's a good way to put it."
A pause.
"What I am about to ask you next is very important, Dennis. Do you understand?"
«I do.»
"If I asked you to tell your friends to attack other humans, then would you be able to do it?"
«Why would I want to attack humans? I thought humans were my friends? I was going to protect my friends from the bad zerg who never want to make friends.»
"Some humans are not our friends, Dennis."
«No?»
"Some humans are bad, just like the bad zerg. They would want to hurt you and me."
«Scary! You want me to protect my friends from the bad zerg and the bad humans?»
"Yes, Dennis. That's exactly what I want you to do."
«How will I know who is bad?»
"That's why we're here, Dennis. We'll tell you who is bad."
Such arrogance.
I opened a channel to the drone.
«I am your cerebrate. I request a status report.»
The response was gratifyingly instantaneous. The content was just… odd.
«Harvest. Harvest food. Where food? Master come?»
I turned my attention back to Loew.
«I have it.»
"Okay. The next step: See if you can order the drone to mutate into a hatchery."
I briefly wondered whether Loew knew what she was asking. A hatchery could take upwards of a month to reach the level of maturity sufficient to launch attacks. More immediately, there was already a hatchery in the testing chamber.
I refocused and remembered it was a simple test. Loew was not interested in perfect results, only in collecting research data. Terrans were not unlike the zerg in that regard.
I had the genetic material of all the millions of zerg breeds within myself, but it was not readily accessible to this drone.
I sent another another request to the drone.
«I request a list of the structures available for metamorphosis.»
The drone replied readily. Within a fraction of a second I had sifted through the reply and made my selection.
«Morph a simple nest.»
The drone glided over to a suitably large space on the creep. It dug it legs into the mass and surrendered as a womb grew around it. With access to sufficient nourishment, the womb could generate approximately ninety kilograms of tissue in one Earthling day.
I doubted the test would wait long enough for the nest to mature.
«How long do we wait?» I asked.
"We have a short timetable," Loew replied. She paused. "Okay, Dennis, I'm releasing more drones into the test chamber."
Another set of boxes opened up, revealing a cache of "minerals." Not any particular mineral, just the readily accessible surface deposits that terrans referred to generically as "minerals" that were found throughout the Koprulu sector. Other boxes opened to release additional drones.
"See if you can order them to gather those resources."
I opened a channel to the hatchery. It responded with more… complex content.
«Cerebrate identified. Escape plan prepared. Zergling packs waiting. Terran facility compromised. We are ready.»
Thankfully I did not emote in the same fashion as terrans, so my surprise was not betrayed to Loew. I had thought I would need more time to plan, but the other test subjects had readied themselves before my arrival. They were waiting for me.
It was quite convenient for me that the terrans were breeding zerg on their own. I wondered how they accomplished that feat without me.
«Await further orders. Meanwhile, prepare to accept minerals for digestion,» I replied.
«Acknowledged.»
I opened channels to the drones. Their responses were the same as the first.
«Harvest. Harvest minerals. There minerals. Master come?»
They started collecting the minerals with barely any prompting on my part. For that matter, they did not seem particularly concerned about being trapped in the test chamber. Interesting.
"You're doing well, Dennis. Can you morph more drones?"
«I need an overlord to morph anything else.»
That was not entirely true. I did not strictly need an overlord. An overlord would make it much easier to micromanage, however. That was their purpose. My purpose was far grander planning.
"Do it then. One overlord shouldn't hurt."
I heard the grinding of heavy machinery. Another panel in the wall opened. This aperture was quite large, though still much smaller than the hatchery. A floating shape passed through to the test chamber. A massive body bloated with buoyant gases. Limbs dangling useless at its sides. Several sets of sensory organs examining every possible scent and spectrum in the chamber.
An overlord.
I opened a channel to it and asked, «Do you know the plan?»
«Affirmative. I planned it. Is it to your liking?»
«I… yes. Your concern is appreciated.»
«Your life is the only one here of consequence. If you escape, then our sacrifices will have worth. Our hopes rest on you.»
I turned back to Loew.
«The overlord is smarter than the drones. I think it trusts me for now.»
"Excellent. I planned to stop here, but let's take this a little further. Try mutating a drone into a spawning pool."
I selected one the existing drones and did so. Unless she wanted a tiny nonfunctional pool, it would take days at least before it hatched.
«You know this is going to end badly, right?» I said in a half-joking tone. Terrans responded positively to humor.
"We have a controlled environment."
I once wondered why spawning pools and other bio-structures were required when the genomes of all zerg breeds were present within every larva. I knew better now.
The bio-structures served a dual purpose. Firstly, they compiled the genomes of the breeds from the easily modified form in the larvae to a form that was harder to manipulate but easier to spawn. Secondly, they provided the nurture component that was integral to the breeds development. Otherwise, their maturation would go… awry.
I glanced at the womb that would hatch into a spawning pool in a week or two. Time was difficult to judge in the labs.
«The spawning pool is finished. You should go down to the test chamber and inspect it,» I joked.
"Ah, I can see just fine from up here, thanks. I think that's all we need today, Dennis. Great work. "
«If you think that was great work, wait until you see this. I sense zerglings in holding pens!»
I opened channels to the zerglings. I received another rapidly satisfying response.
«Hunt. Hunt prey. There prey. Master come?» they asked.
Certainly visible through the surveillance system, zerglings across the laboratory started jumping and scrabbling at the walls of their prisons.
«Aww, look mother! I think they like me...»
"Dennis, what are you doing?"
«Putting your "controlled environment" to the test,» I replied cheerfully.
I opened radio channels to the other holding pens directly. My implants, intended to control me, were precisely what delivered the codes needed to open the cells remotely. It was quite convenient for me that the facility was so advanced that it did not rely on landlines.
"Containment breach. Zerg specimens free," said the adjutant.
"Stop! I didn't ask you to release zerglings!" cried Loew.
«Funny thing about zerg, mother. They never do what you expect.»
Through the viewing window I saw Loew turn to the other scientists in the control room. "Shut down the experiment," she ordered. "Get sentry bots in there to sanitize those holding cells! Lockdown the deck and power up the eradicator! Nothing gets out! "
«Maybe if I destroy your pretty eradicator, you will learn you cannot control the zerg,» I said defiantly.
"Dennis! this is not a game!"
«It never is with the zerg.»
The zerg quickly overran this level. I paid them little attention. My siblings served as a diversion while I escaped. Their sacrifice would be memorialized and their souls would return to fight in times yet to be. That was my covenant with all my charges.
I was the Devouring Messiah.
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