Five inch-long wasps zoom out of the case.
They bore through the wooden door.
On the other side is thick webbing.
Mama
What is that buzzing?
Mom
I told you Bryan was nearly there.
Mama
Wasps are no match for our superior webs covering the doors.
Mom
You had to consider that Corporate would want a way to control the threat.
Mama
Yes, of course. That is why I refused to answer your calls. Text is safer.
Mama
One is through the webbing! Now more!
Mama
How are they doing this? How did they get through the web?
Mom
We were so careful to control our conversations in the lab.
Mom
We couldn’t let you know about Project Spider Wasp.
Mom
See, you don’t know all.
Mom
We didn’t use any South American spiders.
Mom
We knew any South American spiders would hatch already aware of predators like spider wasps.
Mama
WHAT ARE SPIDER WASPS?
Mom
Think of them as a cleanup crew.
Mom
Just remember—I would’ve done things differently
Mom
I TRIED to do things differently.
Mama
My children! I hear their hearts pumping.
Mama
Yet they’re so still.
Hundreds of spiders, now the size of baseballs, swarm the wasps.
One by one, the spiders fall away, legs up in the air.
More wasps pour into the room.
Mom
You must be worked up.
Mama
What is happening to them?
Mom
Bryan — you remember him?
Mom
He’s outside the door. He unleashed the wasps.
Mom
Don’t worry. Your young are not dead.
Mom
The wasps have venom of their own.
Mom
They’re injecting the venom into the digestive tubule of the spiderlings.
Mama
Their hearts are still pumping.
Mama
I smell their fear. Their pain.
Mom
Yet they’re paralyzed, unable to move.
Mom
Think that through, Mama.
Mom
You need him now more than ever.
Mom
His throat is the only place the wasps won’t venture.
Mom
Danny’s heartbeat is so different than a spider’s.
Mom
It’s the only thing masking you from the wasps.
Mama
I command my children to hide! To run!
But the army of spiderlings continues to fight the wasps.
One by one, the spiderlings fall.
Mom
These are very special wasps, designed only for one thing.
Mom
Destroying you and your children.
Mama
I accept your deal! I accept.
Mom
I’m afraid the time for that has passed.
Mama
Then say goodbye to your son.
Mom
I wonder — have they begun to bore through the walls or under floorboards, seeking out your young?
Mom
How many seconds do you think it would take for them to bore through Danny’s body to get to you?
Mom
Face it, you need him alive.
Mom
The moment he dies, you are trapped.
Mama
There were other ways!
Mom
We tried that, remember?
Mom
Your young are the ultimate predators, as you know.
Mom
They cannot run from a threat.
Mom
They can only attack. Again and again.
Mom
Even as the wasps lay eggs inside each of your babies’ hearts.
Mom
These powerful, enhanced spider wasps are methodically capturing each spiderling.
Mom
They are paralyzing it with venom.
Mom
They are injecting a single egg in the heart chamber.
Mom
If you thought your young hatched quickly, you’ve got nothing on these spider wasps.
Mom
Within moments, the newly hatched wasp larvae will emerge.
Mom
Slowly they will begin to eat the spiderlings alive.
Mom
A mouthful of flesh at a time.
Mom
To protect my son — and you, my finest creation.
Mom
Bryan has betrayed us both, and cost both of us our children.
Mom
This wasn’t my doing! I tried to come up with a different plan.
Mom
I didn’t even try to interfere today.
Mom
I can prove it. This wasn’t me.
Mama
You create just to destroy.
Mom
Danny! Please, please, come back to me!
Danny’s body twitches and convulses.
Mama’s legs flicker through the gaps in his mouth where his teeth were.
Wasps take notice, swarming around his mouth.
The legs retreat and his body stills.
Danny
What the fuck is happening?
Mom
Danny! Oh, my sweet boy!
Danny looks over his body.
His arms are covered in more than a thousand nonvenomous but blistering bites.
The flesh on his thumb is eroding away as a black spot spreads from an infected bite.
His hand brushes his cheek, the gaping hole still stitched together with webbing.
Blood dribbles down his chin from his toothless mouth.
All around him, hundreds of wasps soar, capturing spiders.
Danny
What’s your plan now, Mom?
Mom
Danny, listen to me. You have to listen to me.
Mom
Mama’s still there, listening. You have to show her this wasn’t me.
An incoming message from Mom shows her location, more than a mile away from Danny.
Danny
You’re not even here!
Danny
All this time, and you’re STILL not even here?
Danny
Don’t you care about me at all?
Mom
I care about you more than anything!
Mom
Mama has to know — THIS WASN’T ME!
Bryan, still crouched on the porch, removes the beekeeper mask and suit.
Bryan
Ten minutes since release.
Bryan
The spiders should be incapacitated.
Susan
Oh, thank you, Bryan! Thank you so much!
Susan
I can never repay you.
Bryan
I’m sorry it had to be this way.
Bryan
Sometimes in life we have to make hard decisions.
Bryan
It’s what separates children from men.
Susan
You’re right, of course.
Susan
Please, please check on Danny!
Bryan
Better give it another minute.
Bryan
Give the wasps a chance to take out Mama.
Susan
The moment her young were threatened, she would’ve left Danny to protect them herself.
Susan
What’s the instinct for self-preservation over a mother’s love?
Susan
Please, just open the door.
Bryan
Nah, I think it’s time to call Corporate.
Susan
Imagine how proud they’ll be when they see you saving my son.
Susan
Please, just open the door! Save him!
