Three MIT students – Jonah, Nic, and Haley – are on a road trip to move Haley to California, a decision that stresses Nic's relationship with her. Haley feels Nic is distancing himself from her and Nic explains he does not want his disability to hold her back (Nic walks with forearm crutches, and the possibility of muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, or some other degenerative disease is implied but never specified). During their stay in a hotel, Nic and Jonah discover that a Hacker (computer security) named NOMAD, who nearly got them expelled for breaking into MIT servers, has found their location and is taunting them with strange and ominous emails. They track NOMAD to an abandoned house in the middle of Nevada and decide to go after him. After finding nothing in the house, Nic and Jonah hear Haley scream and run outside, only to see her pulled into the sky before disappearing into a white light themselves.