Original subtitles

Memorandum to Alf Launder Smith,

Secretary, National Science Foundation

committee on biological controls.

From E.D. Hubbs, senior fellow Coronado institute.

Subject: Biological imbalance in an upland Arizona Valley.

Facts on hand:

Traditional antagonisms, amongst several ants species

have come to a dramatic halt.

At the same time there has been an apparent disappearance

of those insects which prey on ants,

specifically mantises, beetles,

millipedes and spiders.

If these conditions persist, they must inevitably

lead to increases in ant population.

Proposal, an immediate full scale attack

on the threat of biological

imbalance to other life forms

in the subject area.

Mode of operation, an experiment station

to be built and maintained with equipment

sophisticated enough to control the problem

and any potential consequences.

Personnel, one senior scientist, myself.

Plus one associate,

a qualified information specialist

with cryptological background.

In this connection I have been impressed

with the recent work of J. R. Lesko

at the Naval Undersea Center of San Diego.

Location of installation.

It is suggested the experiment station

be placed in the locale

of the most recently observed phenomena.

Conclusions and recommendations.

Speed is of the essence.

This is the place.

This is the place.

This is it.

No bodies I hope.

The population moved itself

out some days ago.

You've got some pretty powerful friends.

Just another desert development

which did not develop.

You did your major work applying game theory

to the language of killer whales.

Well, it seemed cheaper than applying it to roulette.

Did you actually succeed

in making positive contact with the whales?

Only with the emotionally disturbed.

How were you able to determine that?

We talked.

Is that a joke?

Look, I'm sorry,

I'm strictly a pencil and paper guy.

I wouldn't know the front end of a whale

from a hole in the ground.

I know that game's your business, James,

you play them very well.

That's why you're here.

But this is a serious game.

Well, that's the best kind, isn't it?

Wednesday, three o'clock,

further discoveries this afternoon

on a nearby farm

to be added to those observed earlier.

I might have pointed them out to Lesko.

But it would be better to let him learn at his own pace.

There are certain equatorial ants

that will attack anything,

insects, mammals, anything at all

that threatens their food supply.

The smell triggers their behavior.

Yeah.

They are picky eaters.

Now this thing here,

you see what we're doing,

we're running lines from these fuel tanks

and if those ants get over that water trap

we're gonna set fire to this here ditch

and watch 'em all burn!

What do you think?

You've done a lot of good work.

I'd say they started pulling out three, four weeks ago.

A couple of families at a time.

What else?

That's about the size of it.

I guess it must have been some kind of infestation,

but, well, I couldn't say for sure.

Maybe the heat got too much for 'em.

There's a collapsed house down there.

Well, I wouldn't know about that.

I didn't really get to know those people

they were, they were city folk mainly.

Tell me about the towers.

Don't know, wasn't there.

Of course it'd been a dry year.

You know we do get ants in dry years.

I talked to an entomologist up at the state department

of agriculture at one time,

he said these things were cyclical.

They weren't talking about those ants.

Mildred, come on out here.

That's alright.

It isn't alright.

These people will think

I've got you chained up in there.

These gentlemen are from the university,

they're gonna develop a new spray for those ants.

You know what I think.

Ha, you know if she didn't have

something to worry about,

she wouldn't know what to do with herself.

Don't tell me that.

Well, it's the truth.

You saw what they did to those animals.

They are developing new sprays all the time.

Isn't that right?

Sorry. That's not my department.

I'm afraid you're gonna have to

leave for a few days, Mr. Eldridge.

Evacuation?

Look I--

Mr. Eldridge--

I don't understand this.

It's for your own protection.

Evacuation?

What's this all about anyway?

Why this isn't right. They can't just push us off our own land!

Didn't you hear what the man said?

It's for our protection.

When do they get their farm back?

That depends.

Friday, eight o'clock,

the zone should now be clear of population.

We can proceed with the next step.

The facility is completely self contained,

except for a primary power source

and the generator in our trucks supplies this.

The experiment has begun.

What's wrong?

Well, I guess they're not ready to play yet.

Dr. Hubbs, there's already been a 12 day over run

which averages out at 36%

when projected over the course of the total program.

The controller would like to get the final figure

before the fiscal period ends on the 14th.

Shall we put you down for one more week?

I'm sorry, this is not a precise business.

Well, can you give us an estimate?

We cannot study the ants

until they make an appearance.

Can we put you down for 10 more days?

This is not a controlled experiment.

In our judgment another occurrence

in this area is highly probable,

but we cannot command the ants to appear.

Well is there something

you could do to hurry them up?

We have been thinking about that.

You know, of course, there is concern

over possible outbreaks in other areas?

Ah, I share that concern.

My associate, Mr. Lesko, has something to say.

Listen, I want you to do me a favor.

I want you to call Miss Dobson.

D-O-B-S-O-N.

It's 6-6-2-0-7-9-9 in Los Angeles.

Tell her not to take the plane to Vegas on Thursday.

Tell her it'll be a couple more weeks

and she'll hear from me, okay?

Did you say a couple of weeks?

That's right.

Mr. Lesko, that's not going to be possible.

Let's see some activity!

Hi, there.

Clete!

Ants!

They got the horse!

Clete, light the fire!

Kendra!

Oh, my god!

Grandpa, can't you do something?

Don't worry, I'm coming!

Ninja!

Oh, my god!

Clete, get over here!

Can't you do something?

Give me the gun!

- No, no, no! - Let me go!

Clete, get her in the house!

Get her in the house!

Don't kill him!

Don't kill him!

All set?

Keep down now!

That's right!

Hang on!

Now this is really interesting.

You see what I do is I get to the parameters of the problem

by breaking down the movement of a vector

of a single anthill.

Now, I don't know what they're doing and I don't care,

I'm just breaking down their simple basic move.

Stop, go.

Turn,

duration.

That's it period, okay?

Now I take my ant signals,

I run them through the digitizer,

I record them on tape,

I write them down,

and I search for a correlation

between what they say and what they do.

Now assumption.

What we're seeing and hearing are commands

being directed at the central mass.

They warned us.

Relax.

I forgot to turn out the light.

Stop!

Cut it out!

What's the matter?

- Cut it out! - Look!

Come back here!

We've got to get--

Goddamn it, will you sit!

Stop, stop!

They're all over the place!

- Clete, take care of the women! - Get some help!

Now I make various adjustments,

make up for time lag and a couple of other things,

don't worry about it.

And I come up with...

Are you ready for this?

I come up with a positive correlation on the order of 80%

between this little squiggle

and the command we commonly know as stop.

And a positive correlation

between that little squiggle and go.

And that means these little mothers talk to each other.

Now I think if I--

Hey, the lights!

They've gone into the generator!

Don't move, the back up unit cuts in automatically.

- Swell. - Now I'm going to counter

with 100% yellow.

You're letting some get away.

Maybe they've learned something.

Come over here, James,

this is really fascinating.

People are dead back there.

Yes, a tragedy.

I don't understand it.

They accepted the order,

why should they come here?

Irrational behavior, very sad.

Now just look at this, James.

Consider the execution of this maneuver,

in order to explode the generator,

they had to create a living chain--

Listen Hubbs, those people are dead, don't you understand?

People get killed sometimes.

I think this yellow should hold it's potency

for three or four days.

We can start collecting now.

Little sons of bitches.

No, no, no, they're not individuals,

they are individual cells.

Tiny functioning parts of the whole.

Think of the society, James,

with perfect harmony,

perfect altruism and self sacrifice,

perfect division of labor,

organized for preordained roles.

Think of the building, and elaborate and complex structures

according to plans that they know nothing of,

and then execute perfectly.

Think of their ability to evolve

and adapt in ways that are so beautiful,

and still so unknown

and all contained in one simple form.

So defenseless in the individual,

so powerful in the mass.

Well, let's begin

with the first behavioral series.

Heat,

cold,

isolation, starvation,

slow pressure,

and threat.

Mantises prey on ants, as you know.

Now if...

if you're still with us, James.

When are we gonna get her out of here?

That's going to be a little difficult, I'm afraid.

Turn on the microphone, please?

Call in and have them send out a helicopter.

I'm afraid the bureaucrats

will be rather unhappy

in light of our casualties.

Now,

Mantises, are at this end of the maze,

the ants are at the other.

What are we gonna do with the girl?

What is your concern with her?

She's in shock, we can't just, she's a kid!

Please, don't shout.

This is a problem that

will have to be dealt with

over the next few days

until we're finished.

If you won't call the base, I will.

I'm very much afraid that that will end our mission.

Screw our mission!

I've finished eating.

You know, I don't know your name.

Oh, Kendra.

I'm Jim.

That's Dr. Hubbs.

Come in, come on.

You sort of had a close call out there, didn't you?

How do you feel?

Well, I'm ready to go home now.

I'll send a message today.

Somebody will come along and pick you up tomorrow,

if that's convenient.

They killed my horse.

Kendra, I'm sorry.

Kendra!

Stop it, stop it!

Back away.

Don't touch anything.

Come on!

It's all right!

It's all right, it's all right!

That should do it.

You've been bitten.

So we thought if you knocked down one of the towers,

taking proper precautions of course,

you might get an interesting reaction.

We'll consider it.

Just an idea doctor.

Appreciated.

Oh, one other thing.

Yes?

We've had a report about a family

in your vicinity;

you haven't contacted any civilians, have you?

No.

Monday, two a.m.

Lesko continues to make progress,

deciphering the ant language

from the tapes recorded

during the first skirmish.

If he maintains this pace,

we should be ready for their next move.

It's a rather crude language.

I think if I keep building up

my library of sound words I might even

strike up a conversation with them.

Of course then the ants would have to come back.

We'd have to be here for a while.

When's the helicopter coming?

Oh, it'll be here.

I'm sorry about that.

Oh, not your fault.

Listen, you really wanna see something?

Another way of visualizing their signals.

Watch this.

And I don't have the faintest idea what it means.

Hey?

Remember me?

Oh, yeah!

How do you feel?

Better.

That's good.

How is--

Dr. Hubbs?

Yeah.

Oh, he'll survive.

Oh good.

I'm really sorry about that I--

Listen, if I were you I'd have bopped

those ants pretty good myself.

You know you've got a mean swing.

Well, the main thing is you're alright.

We'll get you out of here today.

What's the matter?

Don't tell me you like this place?

My grandparents are dead, aren't they?

Yeah, they are.

What, don't you have parents?

Well, you must be hungry.

Come on,

I'll get you some breakfast.

Okay.

Follow me through the hardware department.

Can I ask you a question?

Yeah, sure, go ahead.

What do you do here?

Just a little research into statistical probabilities.

Really?

It must be interesting.

Well, we've got powdered eggs,

powdered milk, powdered juice,

dehydrated bacon,

just like home.

James?

Are you alright?

Oh, yeah.

See you in a little while.

Okay.

Good morning James.

As you can see we're under siege.

What the hell's that?

Well it's more than reflected sunlight.

Our temperature is already up five degrees.

There's another interesting detail.

How do you suppose those ants

managed to build on a poison strip

where they absolutely cannot live?

Did you say five degrees?

Hmm, in an hour and a half.

And of course the sun's not yet at full strength.

Now watch this.

An hour and a half?

Oh, you really must watch this.

This is fascinating, there.

Beautiful adaptation, isn't it?

We challenge with yellow chemistry,

they respond with yellow creatures.

We're gonna fry in here.

Question, what do they want?

What are their goals?

They have no goals.

Well, you saw how they disabled the truck.

Listen, Hubbs, I came down here

to get in a couple of weeks of science in the sun.

I did not sign up for a war

against a bunch of goddamn ants!

And furthermore, why the hell did you leave

the truck out there in the first place?

Bait.

Bait?

Well, I had to get them to attack us, didn't I?

They're rather intelligent, you know.

I thought you'd observed that

geometric pattern in the field?

You mean you saw it?

Of course I did.

Why didn't you say something?

Why didn't you?

Well, I didn't think you were

smart enough to appreciate it.

With all your high class bug talk.

I was afraid that you'd be terrified and run away,

and I need you.

Well, you're right about that.

When's the helicopter coming?

James,

we are faced with a power

that has appeared and is exerting itself.

We have the opportunity to study it,

to learn from it, to teach it its limitations.

We can, in a word, educate it.

You said you called.

We can try the blue, of course,

but they'd only re-adapt again.

So we have to consider other alternatives.

You mean you didn't call?

It is absolutely vital

that we give them the opportunity

to try their strength against ours,

and learn from its consequences.

I'm gonna call in, Hubbs.

And I'm gonna tell them not only

to take that girl out of here,

I'm gonna tell them to take me out of here too.

You won't call.

You're just as fascinated by this challenge as I am.

Ah!

We're cut off!

Then our success

will be all the sweeter.

Sunday, one o'clock, the battle is on.

Lesko is preparing the counteraction I have indicated.

The air conditioner is being adjusted

to take account of the temperature rise.

Human beings can exist in temperatures

of 120 degrees or higher,

but our computer shuts down at 90.

Kendra?

You wanna see what we're doing?

Come on, I'll show you, it's interesting.

The name of the game today is king of the hill.

You see over there?

Now we wanna knock them down

before they burn us out, okay?

What's that?

White sound.

That's every sound in the world all pushed together

to make one really terrific noise,

which we're broadcasting to those mounds out there.

And that's what it looks like as we send it out.

Okay?

Now when that sound gets out to those mounds,

it bounces right back here and winds up down there.

There.

Something's missing.

One of the sounds we sent out didn't come back.

Now let's just see if we can

find out what that sound is.

There it is.

Now that's the sound we're gonna

broadcast to those mounds.

And when we do, interesting things better happen.

If you think that's loud for us

think about how those ants are gonna feel.

That'll do it!

They're going crazy!

James.

James.

Damn air conditioner!

I'm afraid I'm feeling rather--

- It's on fire! - Get away from it!

Get out of the way!

I just, I can't believe it.

To know our plans,

our strengths, our weaknesses.

Even the one machine that everything else depends on.

How could they know?

This is impossible.

They knew.

I am choosing one of my less painful moments

to record these notes.

Our equipment only functions now

for a few hours at night.

Lesko believes we're being allowed this time

for some purpose.

A hypothesis, I do not share.

If this were so,

it would raise questions

I had not considered.

Transfer

to

Mag tape unit three.

Go straight

six units.

Right

120 degrees,

four units.

Right 60 degrees,

four units.

Right 120 degrees,

six units.

What are you doing?

What are you doing?

I'm doing something my way.

I'm sending a message to the ants.

Yes, I've been thinking about that.

The conditioning process must be working.

But they're not all affected as yet.

They must be informed of their losses

and their suffering,

so they can draw the appropriate conclusions.

Where is your message?

On the plotter.

This is no message.

Mathematics is the universal language

among intelligent creatures.

If there's an intelligence there

I want it to know there's an intelligence here.

Go away.

Please, go away.

Process.

We're reviewing data.

Previous analysis

will show...

Do you wanna drink this?

Analysis...

What?

Clear, they failed to achieve a...

They will learn we've made up our mind.

How did they know?

How did they know?

You!

- Jim! Jim! - What's going on back there?

Hubbs! Hubbs!

Come on, come on.

I am not helpless.

I will not be humiliated!

Got him!

I'm sorry.

Come on, come on.

Could you hold me for a minute?

James.

James?

If I was

irrational during the heat of the day,

I apologize.

Why don't they kill us?

They roast us in here all day,

dare us to come out at night.

Why play these games?

What do they want?

I've been thinking about specialization

among certain insects.

Take it easy.

Try to get some sleep.

In every ant colony,

the workers, winged males,

and the queen.

Ants are organized

by the queen,

keeping her alive.

She's the heart and soul

of their lives.

She's at the center.

It is she who speaks.

If she died,

discipline,

organization

would crumble.

The war's over, Hubbs.

They have the power.

Only hope now is if they answer

our message and we

convince them we're worth keeping alive.

I think I could locate the queen

and kill her.

Lock the tracker onto her voice

when she speaks.

What makes you think she'd speak to you?

What is it?

Lights.

It's just a--

Bear in mind we still have our hard suits.

Yeah, two of them.

They're sending back my message.

Hubbs, there's more.

What does it mean?

What the hell does it mean?

A circle with a dot.

Now I know how a rat feels in a maze.

Rats in a maze.

It's almost like a controlled experiment in which we

are the subjects.

Find out which rat is the smartest.

The strongest.

An intelligence test.

Could the circle be this place?

And what does the dot represent?

Could the dot be a person?

Someone they want.

Who could they want?

They want somebody?

I think so.

But why would they want somebody?

To talk to them.

You mean they,

they might be angry at someone who did them some harm?

What would they do with that person?

I don't know.

But if the person explained what happened?

Wouldn't they be kind?

I don't know.

Would they let the others go free?

James.

Come here.

I believe

I've located the queen.

She's in there.

Oh, sweet to walk

In the pilgrims way

Leaning on the everlasting arms

Oh, how bright the path

Grows from

Day to day

Leaning on the--

I want you to listen to me.

I'm not... afraid of you.

I never... I never meant to...

Where are the grenades?

Used up when you destroyed the towers.

All of them?

Then we must devise something else.

James, please I...

My boots.

Would you please, I can't.

You're gonna walk out of here?

Tramp miles through the desert?

Destroy a colony full of poisonous ants

and a deadly queen?

You can't even get your boots on.

Come on, Hubbs, sit down.

What we're gonna do is send another message.

You must go!

You must show them we will not,

man will not give in!

Did I tell you I figured out their first message?

The dot is you.

They want you.

And they shall soon have me.

I'm sorry, Hubbs,

it's not gonna happen your way.

Kendra.

- Stop! - She's there.

That hill, the queen.

Hubbs, you can't do it!

- Now come on, come on! - Queen!

Hubbs! Hubbs!

Hubbs!

Hubbs!

Goddamn you!

Hubbs!

I would still like to believe that, given time,

we could have come to an understanding.

Some rational accommodation of interests,

some agreement.

But that's not the way it's going to be.

I've made some calculations about their rate of expansion

using their intelligence,

and their powers of organization,

their network of communications, their poisons.

Their ability to adapt genetically.

I believe that after this test run

they'll move rather quickly into desert areas.

Taking over the countryside first,

then laying siege to towns and cities.

I believe they will learn as they advance,

anticipating our moves and continue to stay a move ahead.

We have only one chance,

the counter attack suggested by Dr. Hubbs.

A direct assault on their queen.

Jesus, I wish it wasn't me.

There you are.

They wanted...

us.