Swarm

Sterling, Bruce. "Swarm." F&SF April 1982.

Listed as one of BS's Mechanist/Shaper stories by T. Maddox in "The War of the Coin's Two Halves: Bruce Sterling's Mechanist/Shaper Narratives" article cited under Literary Criticism. The Swarm is a hive organism opposing the "posthumanity" of one Arfiel (see Maddox, "War" 240). Dramatized on Love, Death + Robots: The Official Anthology. The hive can very quickly develop intelligence, and this one does so and explains intelligence as a threat to species survival.

See for bio-technology replacing advanced gadgets.

RDE, Initial, 17May25