Games - The Many

	Games - The Many

The Many is one of the two main antagonists of the Irrational Games computer game System Shock 2.

History

The Many is an indirect creation of the malevolant AI SHODAN. During the events of System Shock, the Hacker jettisoned Beta Grove, one of the four wildlife groves aboard Citadel station, which SHODAN had been using for experiments with bio-engineered viruses. Beta Grove crashed on Tau Ceti V thirty years later, along with SHODAN processing component 43893.

As the grove hurtled through space, the mutagenic virus and the mutated creatures stored aboard Beta Grove evolved at an accelerated rate, eventually coming to an apex as a species of parasitic annelids with personality sequestration and genetic modification abilities. After the grove crashed, the creatures thrived and evolved further. The annelids developed a hive mind, becoming "The Many."

Twelve years later, during the events of System Shock 2, the Tri-Optimum corporation starship Von Braun, humanity's first Faster-Than-Light ship, is five months into its maiden voyage, along with the Rickenbacker, a military escort ship piggybacking the Von Braun through jump-space. Picking up a seemingly intelligent signal from Tau Ceti V, the Von Braun sends an exploration party to the planet. Anatoly Korenchkin, commanding officer of the Von Braun, and Capt. William Bedford Diego of the Rickenbacker went with the exploration team to investigate. There, they fell under the influence of The Many, and brought numerous annelid eggs onboard the two ships to infect both crews. Soon, save for a very few special cases, all of the crew of both ships were either infested and being controlled by The Many, or were killed by annelid forces and the subverted security systems; some bodies were used for sustenance by the Many's biomass. The Many itself eventually envelopes both the Von Braun and the Rickenbacker, and manifests itself as a towering organ hidden deep within the huge biomass it has extended around both ships and through parts of the Rickenbacker.

The Many, being a psionic hive mind, has the ability to broadcast psionic signals and messages across vast distances. Several times The Many contacts the player in System Shock 2. Its voice (or rather, voices) comes across as a mix of a deep, threatening male voice, a calm, gravelly male voice and a higher, emotionless female voice. All three voices speak as one, although at times one is slightly ahead or behind of the others, and they alternate speaking over each other. The Many's relatively calm, soft voice can be contrasted with SHODAN's chaotic speech patterns. The voices of The Many often preach the beauty and warmth of the flesh, and the coldness of metal and machine. They refer to SHODAN as "The Machine Mother", and claim that they have become more powerful than she.

Late in the game, the player uses an escape pod on the Rickenbacker to launch themselves into the body of The Many. Eventually they reach the chamber containing The Many's brain, and destroy it. The Many live long enough to leave a parting message, warning the player to "beware the machine mother".

Much of The Many's personality can be summed up in the first psionic message they send to the player:
"What is a drop of rain, compared to the storm? What is a thought, compared to the mind? Our unity is full of wonder, which your tiny individualism cannot even conceive".

Life cycle

The Many holds control over the rest of its species, called annelids. These annelids have a unique life cycle. Most of the information found in-game about the nature of The Many and its subordinates is gleaned from research performed by the player on organs found on various enemies, as well as several logs left by a man named Prefontaine, who was a scientist onboard the Rickenbacker.

The different forms of the annelids are as follows:

Worm: Genetically female, worms hatch from eggs when a human presence is sensed nearby. The worms will infect a human host and do what they were designed for: subsume their will and use them as a puppet of the greater whole. The eggs and worms of System Shock 2 are somewhat analogous to the Alien eggs and Facehuggers of the Alien series. Some worms show the ability to leap about five to six feet into the air, making them more difficult targets at close range. As many items in the game are in nooks and crannies, a player may be taken by surprise as they spill out of pipes, toilets, gratings, or even dead bodies to attack.

Hybrid: A combined annelid/human. The worm has attached itself to the human host, taking control of the body and facilitating physical changes. Hybrids have increased levels of strength and aggression due to elevated production of adrenaline and other organic substances. In the game, they attack with either a pipe, a shotgun, or grenades. It is the first type of enemy that the player sees. Only enough of the host's mind remains to occasionally warn the player to run, make apologies for attacking, or to plead for its own death.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for The Many ]

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