Valarisi

The Valarisi are a race of liquid beings. It is unknown whether they mix together, whether they are actually one being that manifests itself wherever there is enough Swarm Matter, or if there are billions of individuals linked together but remain as separate beings. All that is known is that they are able to produce viruses that can control other beings, and that they are able to communicate through meta-space links. For the first two and a half books they are mistakenly referred to as The Swarm, and by the end of book 3 are nearly all eradicated, with their meta-space link to the real Swarm disabled.