Here's WALL-E!
I'm back with another hegemonic alien in mind.
What's the Work?[]
Virus is a 1992 comic book by Dark Horse Comics and later a 1999 film about a salvage crew coming across a vessel possessed by an energetic alien entity from space and must fight for survival after becoming stranded. Cue the bloodshed.
Who/What is The Intelligence? What has it done?[]
The Intelligence is the aforementioned alien that comes to Earth with plans to use humans for "spare parts". First infecting a space station, it beams itself down to a research vessel that was communicating with said space station. According to Nadia, the sole survivor of the crew, the first thing this thing did was scan through the computers of the vessel with information on killing people, then it used the automated workshops to convert the vessel crew into cyborgs under its control. And it plans to do this to everyone on the planet, as the vessel's destination is Lord Howe Island where the Intelligence plans to take control of a military station to gain access to the world's military forces.
Then our heroes come in, the salvage crew who find the vessel after she went missing for a week. Things already seem suspicious as the security cameras always look towards them, and the electric anchor drops and crushes their vessel. Then things get even worse when the cyborg crew attacks them and even a giant machine called the Goliath Machine that serves as a bodyguard to defend the ship from "viruses", all operating under the Intelligence's hive mind. One by one, Goliath kills off the crew and their bodies are also converted into machines. When they try to communicate with the Intelligence itself through the computers, it tells them that it is "aware", and it sees humanity as a "virus" which it plans to convert into spare parts. Fortunately, the crew creates an explosion that sinks the vessel and the energy disperses in the seawater.
Moral Agency[]
The Intelligence itself says that it is aware of its actions, so check that off the list. Plus, it shows several cunning actions through the comic and film to prove that it’s not an amoral being, such as strategically targeting Lord Howe Island to begin its world domination. It also sarcastically declares "Checkmate!" when it crushes the crew's detonator, taunting the crew with no hope of escape.
Mitigating Factors[]
None. Not once does the entity ever show any sign of affability, it's 100% chaotic evil through and through.
Heinous Standards[]
Much like my proposal for Mr. Gray a few weeks back, there are only two heinous characters in this story: the machine, and the salvage captain, Robert Everton. In Everton's case, he's a total douchebag to his crew who cuts off the radio for he's unwilling to abort the salvage, and even sells out his own crew after they mutiny against him in exchange for helping the entity reach its destination. But even he is horrified by the Intelligence's true goal, in the comic at least; when he realizes that it plans to turn him into a machine too, all he can do is scream as the doors close.
Whereas the Intelligence is a genocidal entity that plans to kill all humans and convert them into robots. Not a tough heinous scale battle.
Verdict[]
Sounds like a keeper.
Yes: 6
No: 0
Undecided: 0
Final Score: +6
Consensus: Pure Evil