Nexus Organism

Nexus organisms, also called Hive Minds, were massive Necromorphs that could receive and broadcast the control signal of the Markers and the Brethren Moons to the smaller Necromorph forms. Through this telepathic link they coordinated large-scale outbreaks, serving as the second in command beneath the Marker and relaying its directives to the lesser creatures of the horde.

Role and anatomy#

The Nexus served as the second in command during a Necromorph outbreak. The chain of command of the Marker signal began with the Brethren Moons, ran through the Markers, and from the Markers down to the Hive Minds, which in turn relayed its commands to the smaller Necromorphs that did the killing. Each Nexus possessed nerve clusters inside its body, containing synapses that could emit and receive bioelectric signals, and it was through this neural network that the creature both answered the Marker and directed the horde.

The form a Nexus took depended on the biomass from which it grew, and the result could resemble its original hosts or differ from them entirely. Whatever its shape, every Nexus carried a set of massive, antenna-like appendages on its back, thought to aid in broadcasting the Marker signal and forwarding commands. They shared as well a prominent rib cage and several weak spots, sacks filled with yellow liquid that were vulnerable to attack. Though Hive Minds typically grew very large, they could begin their cycle at the size of a Slasher, as the Ubermorph did on Titan Station.

The Aegis VII Hive Mind#

The Hive Mind that grew on Aegis VII was built from human hosts and resembled a worm-like creature with a round mouth filled with long, flytrap-like teeth. Its rounded head bore eyes made from sacks of yellow liquid, and its rib cage held more sacks of the same material, possibly serving as its heart. Marker 3A maintained its connection to this Hive Mind through a signal-amplifying pedestal. When the Marker was removed from that pedestal the connection was severed, and the reduced intensity of the signal left it unable to relay orders to the massive creature.

The Ubermorph and the Tau Volantis Nexus#

The Ubermorph, seen during the outbreak on the Sprawl, was a Regenerator-type Necromorph that closely resembled the Aegis VII Hive Mind on a much smaller scale. Like that earlier creature it was built from humans, with a round mouth ringed by five eyes, a prominent rib cage, and antenna-like appendages on its back. It was seen leading the Necromorph assault on the Government Sector to clear the way to the Site 12 Marker before the start of the Convergence, behavior that confirmed its commanding role.

The Nexus on Tau Volantis differed sharply from the Aegis VII form. Built from the planet's natives, it resembled an insect, with four blades and mantis-like feet for travel and a head close to that of its original host. Yellow sacks served as eyes around its mouth, and within its rib cage lay a large sack that acted as its heart, alongside a digestive system, a stomach holding three nests, and a chamber in its belly that received the Marker signals. By the time humanity reached Tau Volantis, every Nexus on the planet lay inactive, frozen by the Alien Machine, until one was thawed and then killed.

The Brethren Moons#

The Brethren Moons themselves bore the pentagonal mouth and five eyes typical of a Hive Mind, along with the worm-like body and the antennae on the back, marking them as the end stage of the Nexus strain reached through a Convergence initiated by the Markers. In this way the Moons were not separate from the Hive Minds but the culmination of them, the point toward which every coordinated outbreak ultimately drove.