Prey

Jack wants to investigate how the rabbit died. He does not yet believe the three swarms are coordinating. He thinks Ricky must be mistaken, unless there are things he hasn’t told him. Jack also doubts that the swarms reproduced, and he doesn’t think they’re dangerous. The rabbit could have died of fear, or it could have choked on the particles. However, none of his doubts account for how the swarm shook off their control, why it is not dying in the desert, or what its goal is. He believes the problem arises from a coding bug and that the rabbit holds the answers. Mae agrees to go with him, and the others refuse out of fear that the swarm will hunt them.

Before he goes outside, Jack takes a call from Ellen. She says Julia is upset that he went to Nevada. Julia keeps telling Ellen that Jack will make things worse. Ricky tries to talk him out of going outside, but Jack is confident in his conclusions.

He and Mae reach the rabbit. She uses her dissection kit and finds black patches in its blood and nanoparticles in the stomach lining. Mae thinks they must have gone down the esophagus on purpose.