"My work [at New Hope] began as an effort to cure children ill with Rustlung. But it grew into something far more significant. The COG wanted medicine. I gave them gods."

—Niles Samson

Niles Samson was a geneticist and co-creator of the Locust. Renowned for his work in biogenetic and teratology research, Samson operated in Tyrus under the COG Department of Health during the Monroe Administration. In the early Pendulum Wars, he took part in establishing the secret island bunker of Azura. Samson was later tasked with treating children of Imulsion miners afflicted with Rustlung at the New Hope Research Facility. Acting as Director, he utilized Imulsion's mutagenic properties for transgenic experiments to genetically enhance the children by inserting Hollow animal DNA. This resulted in the children transforming into chimeras called Sires. Samson saw the Sires as potential cannon fodder for the COG Army. The extent of his unethical experiments reached Chairman Monroe, who ordered the facility shut down and all involved indicted.

Before the trial, a fringe syndicate within the COG believed in Samson's work and transferred him, and key subjects and staff, to a secret laboratory in the caves of Mount Kadar. In the underground facility, Samson combined the embryonic stem cells of Myrrah, a human child genetically resistant to Imulsion's negative effects, with Sire DNA to create the Locust. When Myrrah's human daughter, Reyna, was smuggled out of the lab by her father, Doctor Torres. Samson lied to Myrrah that they were killed in the escape attempt to keep her from leaving the facility. Myrrah reacted by commanding the Locust through the Hivemind to revolt against the human scientists and escaping into the catacombs of Mount Kadar. Mortally wounded, Samson activated a cryogenic purge of the facility to keep it sealed. Although Samson died, he had made copies of his consciousness in the form of artificial intelligence constructs that remained online for decades.

Samson's actions in Mount Kadar eventually led to the Locust War. The Locust invaded the surface of Sera to colonize the planet and escape the Hollow from the Lambent, an Imulsion-based infection that caused an epidemic. The Locust's attack on the surface resulted in the near-extinction of the human race. In 14 A.E., the COG declassified the New Hope facility during Operation: Hollow Storm to locate the Locust stronghold. After encountering an A.I. construct of Samson, they were led to Mount Kadar to invade the Locust capital. In 42 A.E., the Locust evolved into Scions and created the Swarm. During the Swarm Invasion, Corporal Kait Diaz, the granddaughter of Myrrah, infiltrated the Mount Kadar lab to uncover the secrets of her connection with the Swarm. Diaz encountered another A.I. construct of Samson, which was later destroyed by the Matriarch.

Biography

Early Life

Niles Samson was born before 79 B.E. in Ilima City, Tyrus to the prominent Samson family.

Pendulum Wars

During his childhood, the planet Sera fell into global conflict between the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) and Union of Independent Republics (UIR) over the control of Imulsion, a newly discovered fuel source. Samson held a great patriotism for the COG and had remarkably high intelligence. In his education he studied genetics, teratology, immunology, toxicology, pathology, and virology. He became of the most prominent geneticists in the world, with a specialty in teratology; the study of abnormalities of physiological development in organisms during their life span. In his profession, he maintained a prominent position under the COG's Department of Health.

Recognized for his accomplishments, the COG invited Samson to Azura, a secret island designed as a luxury bunker for the COG's elite. It also included a research facility for the greatest minds of the COG. The mission was to prepare for the rebuilding of Sera should it fall into global annihilation during the Pendulum Wars. Samson assisted in its construction and created an artificial intelligence construct of himself to be automated throughout the island, which would be continued to be used decades later despite his eventual controversy.

On the mainland, the Imulsion miners began suffering from a fatal respiratory condition called Rustlung, caused by the overexposure to Imulsion fumes. This resulted in their children also being afflicted in addition to having definitive abnormalities. Due to the COG gaining economic and political power from occupying the majority of Imulsion reserves, Chairman Monroe demanded complete confidentiality regarding its health effects to prevent repercussions of peddling a toxic fuel source. The Department of Health constructed the New Hope Research Facility in the Kadar Valley to hide and treat the miners' children. Monroe appointed Samson as Director of New Hope, leading the research into finding a cure for Rustlung.

New Hope Research Facility

"Save the children, that's what they always say. In this case, we're truly doing it. Or at least we are giving it our very best shot."

—Niles Samson's personal entry on the mission of New Hope.

At New Hope, Samson and his scientists began studying the progress of Rustlung in the children. They discovered that exposure to Imulsion lead to intense and immediate cell stress, with degradation resulting in metastasis and death. However, they found that other cells underwent point mutations that could be considered beneficial, rather than harmful. Wanting to observe if any positive outcomes could result from Imulsion exposure, Samson and his scientists intentionally injected the children with a daily dose of concentrated Imulsion. Many times this lead to rapid acceleration of Rustlung and death. Other times, unique outcomes occasionally occurred.

One of Samson's best geneticists, Doctor Torres, discovered a potential breakthrough in Myrrah, a female child subject. Once afflicted with Rustlung, she appeared to no longer display any characteristic symptoms. With Samson's observations, they fond that Myrrah had to detectable cellular degradation despite being exposed to Imulsion levels known, without exception, to be fatal. Instead, she displayed cellular regeneration when exposed to Imulsion. After isolating Myrrah to her furnished bedroom where she could be closely observed, Samson began to favor her over the other children while they continued to administer her with concentrated Imulsion to study its effects. Myrrah cooperated, though under the guise that she was taking her medicine, as she believed it would be helpful for the other children.

Samson saw potential in Imulsion's mutagenic properties for transgenic experiments. Observing indigenous creatures from the Hollow, including the Riftworms, he determined that they held genetic immunity to Imulsion due to their habitat. Using their DNA and Imulsion, he genetically altered the a male child named Ukkon who developed a positive reaction to Imulsion exposure, in which he had accelerated healing; making him physically immortal. However, he was still afflicted with Rustlung, and his physical appearance mutated into resembling the reptilian Hollow creatures. In addition, he became increasingly sadistic. In response, Samson and his scientists created a cytostatic gas fail-safe that could block Ukkon's healing and make him vulnerable. Despite Ukkon's physical transformation, Samson was inspired by this mutation to focus his studies beyond treating Rustlung, but instead evolving the human race.

Attempting to replicate his results, Samson began mutating the other children. Unlike Ukkon, they lost their sanity and became aggressive and feral. Also, they were increasingly more physically altered than Ukkon. Despite not displaying any detectable positive reactions like Myrrah and Ukkon, Samson still saw these chimeras he called "Sires" as having military potential to act as canon fodder instead of human soldiers. However, the Sires were genetically unstable, distempered, uncontrollable and sterile. As he continued to develop the Sires, Samson was unable to replicate Myrrah's immunity and fully treat Rustlung. He came to the conclusion that Myrrah was a medical anomaly. Torres then discovered that her T-cells were highly responsive, causing her to age at 50% the rate of a normal girl.

Issues arose as the aggressive nature of the Sires led to attacks on the staff. Numerous employees of New Hope resigned and leaked information to the public. Private Sid Redburn, a guard stationed at New Hope, wrote a letter to Colonel Tolman urging him to alert Chairman Monroe about the project. Samson intercepted the letter in the mailroom and terminated Redburn's position at New Hope. Before leaving, Redburn left the facility with files on Project New Hope and Ukkon. Monroe was alerted to the activities there and discovered the imprisonment and torture of the children. Samson attempted to convince Monroe the experiments had potential to end the Pendulum Wars, but Monroe ordered the facility to shut down and indicted all scientists involved, including Samson.

"The trip to Mount Kadar won't be an easy one, not by any means. We'll have to move during the night, in the snow, and Chairman Monroe won't even authorize the use of vehicles to transport the subjects. I will be leaving behind a semisentient security system to watch over the facility. I would hate for anyone to disturb the Sires' rest, and we would all like the later opportunity to study them as they grow. I'm almost embarrassed to admit that the security system is based off of my personality."

—Niles Samson's last entry before departing New Hope.

Before his appearance at the House of Sovereigns to stand trial, a fringe element within the COG personally contacted Samson and revealed their motives as having the best interest of the COG's in mind, but were pragmatic in their efforts. Criticizing Monroe for his "moralist" ways interfering with true progress, they believed that Samson's work could end Rustlung and create genetically engineered soldiers to help end the Pendulum Wars. The private party used Nethercutt Mining to build a secret facility in the caverns of Mount Kadar where Samson was able to transfer his remaining loyal scientists and several of his key subjects to work with impunity. Unable to request vehicles for transport as Chairman Monroe would be made aware of their plans, his entire team had to move on foot, during the night and in the snow of the Kadar Valley. Before he left, Samson kept several dozen Sires in stasis at New Hope as a control group, and built a semi-sentient security system based off his personality to watch over the facility.

Mount Kadar Laboratory

"In our previous facility, we had problems with genetic stability. The Sires were... distempered. And sterile. A problem, for obvious reasons. But the Locust were different. Highly controllable. The perfect soldiers. And blessedly able to reproduce. Their cells [made them different]. You see, the Imulsion miners' children provided a marvelous genetic repository... as did the indigenous creatures of the Hollow."

—Dr. Niles Samson explaining the creation of the Locust Horde.

At the Mount Kadar Laboratory, Samson sought to modify the Sires' genetic instability, distemper, mindlessness and sterility by hybridizing them. This resulted in deformed offspring that would rarely survive. After several years, Myrrah was groomed into becoming Samson's colleague and collaborator in his research. Realizing her unique genetic reaction to Imulsion, Samson used Myrrah's embryonic stem cells to combine with Sire DNA. This resulted in a successful female hybrid called Subject UL-119-2, also known as "the Matriarch". She was deemed not only genetically stable, but also healthy and fertile. However, the Matriarch had an uncontrollable rage that made her incredibly violent. It was discovered that Myrrah had a psychomagnetic connection with the Matriarch and could calm her into quiescence with her mind. Torres developed a containment module to suspend her in cryptochromic fluid so that the pyschomagnetic bond she and Myrrah shared could be amplified via brain-computer interface.

Being a fertile female, the Matriarch was able to reproduced the first generation of male hybrids, creating the Locust Horde. The Locust were genetically stable, healthy, and able to reproduce. It was later learned that the Locust were also controllable. Because Myrrah's stem cells and Imulsion were used in their creation, the Locust were all connected to each other and Myrrah through the Matriarch in a shared consciousness of the same psychomagnetic link Samson referred to as the Hivemind. Samson also learned that Myrrah had a vital role the development of the Locust. Labeling her as their Queen, similar to other eusocial colonies, Myrrah's presence gave the Locust the ability to learn and grow. Without her, the Locust would remain unguided. When connected to the Matriarch, Myrrah's ability to communicate with the Locust was amplified, allowing the scientists to teach the Locust how to communicate with lexigram boards, similar to primates, and how to fight in combat situations.

As Myrrah got older, Samson noticed a romantic relationship occur between her and Torres. While personally viewing it as inappropriate, Samson allowed it in the hopes their sexual relations would result in a traditional human child for his studies. Myrrah and Torres eventually conceived a daughter named Reyna. Samson discovered that Reyna had not only inherited her mother's traits, but also her connection to the Hivemind. Fearing his daughter's wellbeing, Torres fled the facility with Reyna. Samson, unable to prevent the escape, lied to Myrrah that Reyna perished during the escape attempt. Instead of settling the matter, this enraged Myrrah. She became more withdrawn and bleak, showing resentment towards Samson, the other scientists and humans in general as her sympathy to her "children" grew. The Locust began to exhibit mindfulness and orders commanded by Myrrah. At some point, Samson expressed doubt of his work at Mount Kadar and questioned whether he and his colleagues deserved to be punished for what they had done, fearing for his life for the first time.^[2]

Death

"I worry Myrrah's influence has allowed our test subjects to develop novel and unhelpful ideas. For the first time since I began this work, all those years ago, I am concerned for our safety."

—Samson's concern of Myrrah's control over the Locust.

Fearing a violent outcome, Samson attempted to separate Myrrah from the Matriarch, as he observed that the more frequent their interaction, the greater the influence Myrrah had over the Locust. His attempt was unsuccessful as Myrrah had already discovered her full potential and took control of the Locust, remotely. She then led a revolt against the researchers and guards, slaughtering them and fatally wounding Samson. In his last moments, he initiated the laboratory's cryogenic lockdown, which flooded the entire lab with cryogenic gas to keep the surviving scientists and guards from escaping and killing the Locust. Before dying, Niles downloaded his consciousness into an artificial intelligence robot construct. Niles died from his wounds, but held no grudge towards Myrrah and the Locust, and instead wished for them to inherit the world.

Locust War

Following Niles' death at Mount Kadar, the facility was tended to by the robot A.I. construct. The Niles Bot 2.0 managed to maintain its sanity for decades as it tended to the lab's many specimens suspended in their stasis pods.^[3] Myrrah and a large group of her Locust managed to escape the facility. She led the Locust deeper into the Mount Kadar caverns, where they later established their civilization of Nexus. Decades after the rebellion, the Imulsion evolved and began infecting the Locust and various Hollow creatures, transforming them into the Lambent. In order to escape the outbreak, the Locust emerged onto the surface in order to annihilate the humans and colonize the surface. The initial attack, known as Emergence Day, saw 25% of the world population killed in the first twenty-six hours. The Niles Bot was able to learn about the events outside of the now frozen Mount Kadar lab. The Niles Bot was proud of the Locust and Myrrah - hoping for them to eventually conquer Sera as their own.

Operation: Hollow Storm

"Welcome to the New Hope Research Facility. I'm Niles. Please, let me know if I can be of any assistance."

—A.I. of Niles Samson welcoming Delta-One to New Hope.

As the war continued on, the Locust used the gargantuan Riftworm to sink cities on the Jacinto Plateau to weaken its granite bedrock and sink Jacinto City, thus flooding the Hollow with seawater and drowning the Lambent. When the COG was made aware of their plans to sink Jacinto, Prescott ordered the COG army to launch into the underground and take the fight to the Locust and end the war. Because they had no knowledge of the true location of the Locust stronghold, and Prescott did not want to reopen New Hope, the COG blindly sent Gears into the Inner Hollow, hoping to find their capital. After realizing that they failed to locate the Locust stronghold, Prescott declassified the intel file on New Hope and ordered Delta-One to enter the facility and find any information that could give them a lead on the Locust stronghold, and possibly any information on Queen Myrrah. After Delta-One killed the Riftworm, they proceeded to New Hope.

At New Hope, Sergeant Marcus Fenix and Corporal Dominic Santiago were greeted by New Hope's A.I. construct of Niles Samson. The A.I. would not let them access through the large vault door without proper identification. Private Damon Baird provided a bomb for them destroy the vault door, allowing access into New Hope. As Fenix and Santiago entered the the lab, Samson welcomed them to New Hope and informed them of the various aspects of the facility. Because he would interact with them, they feared that Niles was a real person controlling the security systems somewhere inside. As they progressed, they encountered aggressive security systems and disturbing documents that suggested they were conducting unethical experiments on children.

Delta reached the main part of New Hope's lab, were they encountered the Sires in stasis. Colonel Victor Hoffman searched and could not find a single file in the COG's records about the Sires - as if they didn't exist. Delta found Samson's office and activated his computer - which awoke the Sires from stasis. In a video entry, Delta acquired intel from Niles that he and the Sires relocated to the lab in Mount Kadar, indicating the Locust stronghold was located inside the mountain. The Sires began to break out of their stasis tanks and attack Delta. Fenix discovered the A.I. mainframe that kept Niles online and shut him down. While escaping New Hope, the Locust attacked the facility - as Myrrah knew the COG would return there in order to find Nexus. Delta escaped and, with the entire COG army, ventured into Kadar Valley. Delta personally went inside Mount Kadar and set off a beacon after discovering Nexus, beginning the final wave of Operation: Hollow Storm.

Swarm Invasion

In 17 A.E., Professor Adam Fenix created the Imulsion Countermeasure Weapon, which vaporized all Lambent organisms. However, due to Samson's genetic engineering - the Locust evolved by removing Imulsion from their genetics and cocooned themselves in a crystallized, Imulsion shell; allowing them to metamorphose into Scions - Locust without Imulsion in their genetic code. During this event, Myrrah was fatally wounded by Marcus Fenix. After the end of the Locust War, First Minister Anya Stroud stationed guards at the New Hope Research Facility to keep its experiments secret. After her death, First Minister Mina Jinn continued to post guards at New Hope, but with automated soldiers known as DeeBees. Meanwhile, Reyna Torres and her husband Gabriel Diaz and had a daughter, Kait Diaz. In 42 A.E., the Locust emerged as the Swarm, an organism capable of transforming all forms of life into members of the Hivemind. The Speaker, a prominent Locust Scion, captured Reyna and forcibly integrated her into their Hive in order to allow Myrrah's consciousness to control her body, restoring their Queen and becoming guided in their ability to learn and grow. Reyna requested that Kait sever her from the Hive, resulting in her death. Following Reyna's death, Kait began receiving messages from the Hivemind.

Second Mission to New Hope

"The final cleansing - has it begun? May I... terminate? As someone once said to me: 'Nighty night.'"

—Niles Samson's AI initiating self-destruct after being hijacked by the Swarm.

Months after Reyna's death, Kait and Lieutenant Delmont Walker returned to New Hope in hopes of finding answers about Kait's connection to the Locust and Swarm. Marcus Fenix directed them to reactivate the Niles A.I. After finding the mainframe, Kait turned the A.I. back on. Coming back online, Niles continued his statement from before he was shut down and asked if they were listening. Walker had JACK access the A.I., but discovered most of the files were corrupt. However, several had references to "Kadar", which was a name Marcus recognized and promised to have Baird look over the files. A Swarm Flock burst in and attacked the mainframe. Niles initiated the "final cleansing", which activated a purge of the facility by releasing deadly chemicals. As a result, the facility collapsed and was destroyed.^[4] From the A.I.'s files, Baird discovered that just before the last of the scientists left New Hope, someone sent them a message from the lab in Mount Kadar. However, the message's origin point was scrambled, forcing Kait and Del to locate the comm towers it passed through in order to track the message to the hidden lab.^[5]

Mission to Mount Kadar Laboratory

"Access granted. Welcome home."

—Niles Bot to Cpl. Kait Diaz.

Kait and Del arrived at the Mount Kadar lab after tracing it through the scrambled comms towers. The Niles Bot 2.0 denied them access to the facility due to Del's attempt at the genetic lock with his blood. Believing she had a connection to the lab, Kait used her blood on the lock and was successful in gaining access to the facility. The Niles Bot greeted them, recognizing Kait as Myrrah's granddaughter, and commenced a tour of the facility. As they advanced through the lab, Niles explained that his work at New Hope had begun as an effort to cure children ill with Rustlung, but it had grown into evolving the human race into a superior species. Diaz questioned why Niles moved to the Mount Kadar lab after the COG shut him down. Niles explained that his research needed a place to continue in solitude, and refused to answer Del's question about who assisted in building the facility due to his lack of clearance. Samson showed Diaz and Walker the failed experiments of creating hybrids using Sire DNA and embryonic stem cells - and further elaborated that they made their breakthrough due to one of the miners' children, Myrrah, who was resistant to aging and disease. They had raised her as their own and used her embryonic stem cells combined with Sire DNA to create the Locust. Reaching the main lab, Niles revealed to Diaz and Walker the first Locust Drone in stasis as one of their first successful hybrids, confirming he had created the Locust. After Samson disclosed that all of his genetic research was in the main computer terminal, Walker had JACK download the data.

Meanwhile, Samson revealed to Diaz that Myrrah led the Locust to revolt against the scientists when Torres had escaped the facility with their daughter, Reyna; making Kait the direct descendant of Myrrah. Niles insisted that Diaz had many gifts that she didn't yet understand and urged her not to tell the truth, as Niles believed that Diaz would be killed if her heritage became known. Diaz confronted Walker at gunpoint about his presence and threatened to commit suicide, refusing to allow the Swarm to transform her like her mother. Drawing Samson's interest, Diaz revealed that Reyna had been transformed in the Hive, and Kait killed her to stop it. Niles explained that without a Queen, the Swarm would remain unguided. Diaz admitted to Walker that she was controlling the Swarm during the attack on the Riftworm Village while held inside a Snatcher, and that she killed her uncle, Oscar Diaz. Turning on Niles, Diaz demanded his help in severing her connection to the Swarm, threatening to delete Niles and destroy his research if he refused. Niles agreed to help and resumed leading the two through the facility. Niles asked Diaz if her mother had resisted in the Hive, to which Diaz confirmed, causing Niles to admit that he'd feared as much since Myrrah had no need to be physically incorporated. Diaz asked Niles about her grandfather, to which Niles told Kait that Torres was one of his best geneticists, but fled with Reyna because he no longer believed in their work. Niles admitted about lying to Myrrah that Reyna had died in the escape attempt in a belief that it would end the matter, but had underestimated her maternal nature. Despite his death, Niles viewed the situation differently, as the Locust had longed for independence, with Myrrah showing them the way. Even with Myrrah's betrayal, Niles was still proud of Myrrah and her accomplishments.^[3]

Niles led Diaz and Walker into the chamber containing the Matriarch. Niles informed them the device connected to the Matriarch, which Myrrah used to learn how to control her power, could be used to sever Diaz's link to the Hivemind by mildly damaging her brain due to her connection being based on a genetic algorithm in her temporal lobe. Niles advised Diaz that the Matriarch would guide her mind to "where it must go". Despite Walker's objections, Diaz decided to enter the machine. However, Niles used the machine to send Diaz's consciousness to her mother in a Hive, leading her to inadvertently awaken Reyna as the new Swarm Queen. Having succeeded in his plan, Niles fled. Walker fired at him with his Snub Pistol, damaging the robot as it escaped. Walker freed Diaz, who revealed that Niles tricked them and used her to awaken Reyna.^[3] Niles initiated another cryogenic lockdown as Diaz and Walker chased after him. Broadcasting over the intercom, Niles insisted Diaz was no longer vulnerable to the Hivemind as Reyna had been awakened. Racing through the lab as the cryo jets started up again, Diaz and Walker found Samson's desiccated corpse. Diaz used his palm print to stop the lockdown, inadvertently releasing the Matriarch. Walker realized that Niles had lied about the industrial accident causing the first lockdown, and that he put the lab into a deep freeze before he bled to death. Niles released the Locust Drones and Sires in stasis to kill them. As the fighting continued, Niles revealed to Diaz and Walker that the Locust were designed never die and would withstand generational conflict. The two were able to eliminate the Drones and Sires, but Samson warned they would be unable to escape the Matriarch.^[3]

Artificial Death

"What is done cannot be undone. This planet is now theirs."

—Dr. Niles Samson's last words.

Diaz and Walker caught up with Samson in the Locust Horde cage block after following his hydraulic leak trail. As Samson claimed that Sera belonged to the Swarm, the Matriarch crashed into the atrium and broke through the ice floor. The Matriarch pulled Samson out of the water and rippled the robot in half, destroying Niles permanently. Diaz and Walker were able to kill the Matriarch and escape to continue their fight against the Swarm despite Niles' efforts to stop them.^[3] Due to both of his remaining artificial intelligence constructs being destroyed, Niles Samson completely died nearly a century after his first, physical death.

Legacy

Despite the final end of Dr. Niles Samson, his destructive legacy would live on in the Swarm, the evolved form of his creations, the Locust. Worse, Niles' betrayal of Kait and Del led to the awakening of Reyna Diaz as the new Swarm Queen, giving the Swarm a central leader that they had previously lacked, making the Swarm even more dangerous and destructive.

Niles Samson Constructs

Azura Public Announcements

Niles Samson designed a construct on the island of Azura based on his personality. While not in operation of any security systems, his construct was responsible for making public announcements for the inhabitants of Azura. Other uses were words of encouragement, with his voice reassuring the importance of the citizens and their work for the future of Sera. His voice continued to be a part of Azura's public announcements nearly fifty years later.

New Hope Security System

The second A.I. construct was developed at the New Hope Research Facility. This construct was in charge of security, as well as being able to interact with other parties, with a television monitor replicating Niles Samson's face. The semi-sentient security system was based on Niles Samson's personality and was meant to guard the remaining Sires in stasis that he was unable to relocate to Mount Kadar - hoping to one day study them as the grew in a different environment. The security system was shut down in 2nd Frost, 14 A.E. by Sgt. Marcus Fenix. It was reactivated in Frost, 42 A.E. by Cpl. Kait Diaz and had information downloaded from it by JACK. However, Swarm Leeches attacked and destroyed the A.I. who initiated a chemical purge of the facility in its final moments.

Mount Kadar Laboratory Bot

Niles Samson preserved his consciousness into the third A.I. construct, the "Niles Bot 2.0", shortly before he bled to death after being attacked by Myrrah. The bot contained the actual mind of Niles Samson and was not based off of his personality. The Niles Bot was capable of conversation and, unlike the New Hope construct, mobility and intractability with the environment. On a set of wheels with extendable tools, the Niles Bot tended to different parts of the facility. Like the New Hope construct, it also had a television screen to represent his face. The Niles Bot was destroyed by the Matriarch in Frost, 42 A.E., officially destroying the last of Niles Samson's existence.

Personality

While Niles Samson was never featured in the flesh; his previous writings, recordings, and artificial intelligence constructs left behind observable characteristics. Niles Samson was defined by obsession, especially with cleanliness and security. This was reinforced by his standards and enforcements during his work at New Hope. One obsession that was also clearly defined in Niles was the desire to save humanity as he aimed to save the future from a culture without hope. The method Niles believed to reach this future was through empirical science, as he saw it as what separated society from savagery. This also drove him to use genetic engineering as a way to evolve the human race into "perfect" beings. Niles adhered to protocol, except when it impeded the progress of science and innovation.

It could be assumed that Niles was a narcissist, given that three different sentient systems were based off his personality - although he admitted to be embarrassed by indulging in himself. He also viewed his work as holy, believing that the Sires and Locusts he created were "gods". Despite his unethical work, Niles was admittedly a brilliant scientist - as proven by his work of creating a new and evolutionary species.

Niles showed signs of caring for his subjects, despite imprisoning and torturing them with his experiments. He referred to the Sires and Locust as his "children", and regarded Myrrah as his own, raising her from childhood. Discovering Myrrah was immune to Imulsion, Niles gave Myrrah her own furnished room. After several of New Hope's scientists decided to leave because of their experiments' brutal tendencies, Niles stayed behind despite their attacks. He would, at times, justify the children's violent and sadistic actions because they were humanity's future in his eyes. Despite Myrrah and the Locust personally killing him, he held no grudges towards them - he was instead proud of Myrrah and hoped that the Locust would eventually rule Sera over the humans. He also held remorse for what he had done to them - such as lying to Myrrah that Reyna had been killed in the escape attempt and relocating the Sires to Mount Kadar. He reflected on whether he deserved to be punished for his actions. Despite this, he had no such remorse that the Locust would commit a genocidal war against humanity.

Niles appeared to have a twisted sense of humor. When the New Hope AI of Niles Samson was reactivated by Cpl. Kait Diaz, he purred "Oh... hello, naughty fellow" as JACK inserted its drive into his computer, making a sexual innuendo. When the Flock hacked his systems and triggered a chemical purge of the facility, the AI mockingly quipped, "As someone once said to me, nighty night," quoting Sgt. Marcus Fenix when he was first shut down. With the more accurate AI of Niles at the Mount Kadar Laboratory, he expressed admiration for JACK - only for Lt. Delmont Walker to joke that he was spoken for. Niles replied, "You two do make a lovely couple." When Diaz threatened to shoot herself in the head in order to keep herself from becoming Queen of the Swarm, Niles joked, "That would indeed sever the link between you and the Locust". After Niles used Diaz to awaken her mother as the Swarm Queen, Niles defended himself by saying that he "awakened her mother," but crudely added, "well, so to speak," as Reyna was reanimated from the dead and possessed by Myrrah. When attempting to kill Diaz and Walker, he released the Locust and Sires to destroy them, acting coy and pretending he wasn't responsible for releasing them.

New Hope PA Quotes

• "Welcome to Jameson Depot. Proper identification is required for entry. I'm sorry, but proper identification is required for entry. Good day."
• "Welcome back. Do you now have proper identification?"
• "Access granted. Thank you. Carry on."
• "Welcome to the New Hope Research Facility. I'm Niles. Please, let me know if I can be of any assistance."
• "Actually, I'm not just a recording... Please, do come in. I'll tell you more about the facility."
• "Our facility maintains the highest possible standards, I assure you. We take great pride in our work here."
• "As you can see, we maintain the highest standards of security at New Hope. After all, one can never have too much security, can one?"
• "We take great pride in the cleanliness of our facility. Filth will not be tolerated. Thank you for helping maintain our facility's stellar standards."
• "As you make your way through our facility, do let us know if you encounter any conditions that do not meet our standards. We aim to please at New Hope. Yes... we do."
• "Security, like cleanliness, is next to godliness. Don't you agree?"
• "We take great pride in our facility. Filth will not be tolerated. Thank you for helping to maintain our facility's stellar standards."
• "Good, empirical, scientific research is the foundation of any civilized society. We'd be savages without it. Filthy savages."
• "Oh, I assure you, our concept of security is quite sane. It's one of the cornerstones of our fine society, after all... Along with proper hygiene of course."
• "I don't believe that you have access to this part of the facility... Proper access will prevent unexpected - and most unpleasant - occurrences. I assure you... after all, we don't need you running around and plugging into random computer terminals, do we now?"
• "I should warn you, these are state of the art security systems that cannot be breached by any-"
• "Save the children, that's what they always say. In this case, we're truly doing it. Or at least, we're giving it our very best shot. The trip to Mount Kadar won't be an easy one, not by any means. We'll have to move during the night, in the snow, and Chairman Monroe won't even authorize the use of vehicles to transport the subjects. I will be leaving behind a semisentient security system to watch over the facility. I would hate for anyone to disturb the Sires' rest, and we would all like the later opportunity to study them as they grow. I'm almost embarrassed to admit that the security system is based off of my personality -"
• "I would begin exiting the facility if I were you."
• "I tried to warn you. Now it appears you have awoken the Sires. That could be very problematic."
• "Sires, of course. Didn't you read the abstract before your arrival?"
• "Those are irreplaceable specimens... a genetic bridge to our future."
• "The Sires were not meant to be awakened yet. There will be consequences for a transgression of this magnitude. Serious, dire consequences."
• "I ask you, how else do we secure our future? What is a culture without hope? It's a shame. A dirty, rotten shame."
• "Did they know what was awaiting them inside Mount Kadar? Did they deserve what we did to them? Should we be punished?"
• "When we are fully cleansed, and the truth comes forth, will we listen? Will we listen? Will we... listen? Listen... listen... listen..."
• "Did you listen? Will we listen? Did you listen? Are. You. Listening."
• "Oh, hello, naughty fellow."
• "The final cleansing - has it begun? May I... terminate? As someone once said to me: 'Nighty night.'"

Documents by Niles Samson

Interoffice Memo

To: All New Hope employees
From: Director Niles Samson

RE: Ways to Deal with Prying Questions

As many of you know, we recently experienced an internal information leak, and this had led some media outlets to make inquiries of the Department of Health. Should you ever be approached with questions by anyone from the media or from someone who is not an employee of New Hope, I trust that you will all refrain from disclosing any information about the facility or its patients.

Please do keep this is mind moving forward, and continue with the great work that you all are doing. You are making the future a better place.

Best,
Niles^[6]

New Hope Medical File

Patient Name: Ruth
Age: 15

Symptoms: Ruth is clearly experiencing extreme swelling in her joints and frequently cries out in pain during the night. She also exhibits rather erratic and unpredictable behavior, though this is quite understandable considering her situation and symptoms. There is a strange discoloration in her eyes, and her breathing often sounds labored. Her nails grow at a faster rate than normal, though her hair grows at a markedly reduced rate. I'll keep trying to find some type of medication to alleviate her pain without adversely affecting our studies.

Dr. Niles Samson^[7]

Patient Analysis: AX-331-2

Prior to loss of speech, the subject complained frequently about joint and lung pain, as well as agonizing headaches.

Subject's exposure to Imulsion was severe even before testing began. Once Rustlung had metastasized throughout the Subject's body, death came quickly.

Imulsion's effects lead to intense and immediate cell stress. But other cells undergo point mutations that could be considered beneficial. Studies will continue.

Dr. Niles Samson

Patient Analysis: EV-184-9

EV-184-9 has been exposed to Imulsion levels hitherto known - without exception - to be fatal. Yet she displays no detectable cellular degradation at all. Quite the opposite, if anything.

We have decided to isolate and observe EV-184-9 closely, twenty-six hours a day, while continuing to administer a daily dose of concentrated Imulsion. We tell her it's her medicine and she smiles while she takes it. She is quite eager to be helpful.

Dr. Niles Samson

Patient Analysis: RK-619-4

RK-619-4's final transformation occurred roughly eighteen hours before death. Quite disappointing, as the subject's cells had initially benefited from Imulsion exposure nearly as much as Subject EV-184-9's.

It is time to face a hard truth. EV-184-9's response to Imulsion exposure may be entirely anomalous. And Dr. Torres has just informed me that EV-184-9's T cells appear to be particularly responsive. He believes her body is now aging at a pace roughly half that of a normal girl.

Dr. Niles Samson

Subject Analysis: UL-119-2

UL-119-2 remains our most physically dominant and remarkable specimen, surviving longer than any hybrid developed with embryonic stem cells. I remain baffled as to why this is so.

The bond she seemed to have developed with EV-184-9 continues to intrigue me. All at once, this mighty, matriarchal beast can be calmed into quiescence by no more than a glance!

Dr. Torres has developed a containment module for UL-119-2. He believes that by suspending her in cryptochromic fluid, the pyschomagnetic bond she and EV-184-9 appear to share could be amplified. I am skeptical but willing to entertain his flight of theoretical fancy.

Dr. Niles Samson

Subject Analysis: TE-872-3

I tolerated Dr. Torres' unseemly designs upon EV-184-9 mainly due to my hope that their dalliance could produce a child. And now it has: TE-872-3.

Let me dispense with these chilly medical appellations, as Myrrah has proved my colleague and collaborator in every sense.

Her selfless cooperation has brought me much joy, but not nearly as much as this: Myrrah's daughter has inherited her unique genomic constellation. What this means I do not yet know, but it proves that what I have created here is, astonishingly, inheritable.

All throughout our facility dote upon Reyna already. Only Dr. Torres seems ambivalent. I suspect he is jealous of the attention his special child is receiving.

Dr. Niles Samson

Subject Analysis: EV-184-9

Myrrah's mood remains bleak. I confess I underestimated the depth of her feelings for her daughter.

I have had to curtail her exposure to the Matriarch as well, for I and others have noticed that, the more frequent their interaction, the more it affects the behavior of our test subjects.

They have become... not docile, not exactly, but somehow... mindful, perhaps. Sometimes they seem to murmur in unison or simultaneously face the same direction. Dr. Van Neil remarked that it almost looked as if they were praying.

I worry Myrrah's influence has allowed our test subjects to develop novel and unhelpful ideas.

For the first time since I began this work, all those years ago, I am concerned for our safety.

Dr. Niles Samson

Behind the Scenes

• Niles is voiced by Robin Atkin Downes.
• It is possible that Niles Samson is related to Julia Samson, a woman from Ilima who posted a help-wanted ad for a fulltime housecleaner to attend to the pristine household that had been in her family for generations. If they are related, Niles Samson originated from Ilima City.
• The main terminal of the Niles AI is a reused model of the Sonic Resonator from Gears of War.
• Niles' face is partially shown throughout the complex via screens. However, despite the displays being worn, cracked, and covered by static, Niles appears with a long face with glasses. As the player progresses through New Hope, the face on the screens becomes more blurry and hectic. It isn't until Gears 5 that Niles actually appears as his frozen corpse.
• Niles narrates for the Swarm in Gears 5's multiplayer, replacing the Speaker from Gears of War 4 and Myrrah for the Locust Horde from Gears of War to Gears of War 3.

Appearances

• The Slab (Voice only)
• Gears of War 2 (First appearance)
• Gears 5

References