The Scientists

The two scientists study the cross-species nature of gene-thief ants in a laboratory. This page contains **SPOILERS** for the entire story mode.

## **Descriptions**

The female scientist, known as **Scientist 1**, leads the research. She gives orders and questions about the progress of the experiments. She is willing to get rid of any colonies that fail to meet her expectation. She often leaves the male scientist in charge of the experiments.

The male scientist, known as **Scientist 2**, executes the experiments and reports the results. He seems to have an unhealthy obsession with the ants and finds amusement in observing them overcoming extreme challenges. He is later revealed to have been over-exposing the ants to Royal Jelly. He interferes directly in later formicarium challenges. Only his hands and arms are visible in the game.

The scientists narrate what is happening in the formicarium. They have different dialogues depending on which creatures you choose to release in your formicarium and which rewards you choose after you have beaten a mission.

## **History**

The two scientists started their research on gene-splicing and the polymorphism of gene-thief ants, which they didn't expect to be possible. They had only managed to find a few healthy specimens, one of which is the primary colony.

In the 1st and the 2nd experiment, they exposed the colony to outside threats to see how it adapted. The female scientist always went away and put the male scientist in charge. The man secretly increased the intensity of the challenges and lied to his superior about the process. The experiments were put on hold temporarily afterward.

The **3rd experiment** was meant to be the last test for this colony. The queen was moved to a new formicarium in preparation for the battle against the counterpart colony. Despite noticing the male scientist's conduct, the female scientist still left the experiment in his control, promising to later have a word with him about it. The man interfered directly this time. He released extra enemies in the middle of batlle, knocked on the glass to force the ants out and crushed them using his finger. After the primary colony had triumphed, he was ordered to dispose of anything that had contacted with the Royal Jelly.

The male scientist hid the primary colony in a moss growing terrarium. When the female scientist was absent, he created a bunch of hybrids on the whim and made the ants fight against them. When the challenge was about to be beaten, the female scientist suddenly returned, which forced the man to fake having contamination accident to stall for time. After the primary colony had triumphed, the man quickly hid the terrarium in a cupboard. The security guard escorted him out of the lab despite his protest.

The female scientist was left wondering what he had been hiding from her. On later days, she discovered that chlorosulfonic acid, propane, laser galvanometers and a supercapacitor were delivered to the lab without her being informed.

## **Trivia**

* The original story of the game involved only one scientist who followed a gene-thief ant queen on her migration. He becomes the narrator in the current game. He is voiced by Edmund Callum, also known as youtuber MauLer.

* The female scientist is voiced by Mary Jo Wood and the male scientist is voiced by Eric Peterson.

* The scientists don't have actual name or show any skin. They are only shown to have British accent. The developers wanted to leave some space for players to interprete their appearances. They also found it difficult to create realistic-looking human skin.

## **References**

1. ↑ Confirmed by Mike on Discord (21/2/2022).