At a desert facility called Yucca Mountain, an orphaned teenage hacker boy named Jesse is caught trying to steal dynamite. His uncle Joe, a worker at the site, stops him. That night, an animal appears at the facility's mess hall and kills everyone but Jesse. When communications from the facility cease, a repair team of civilian technicians are called on to investigate, as the site had been experiencing power issues. The team are led by Major Tom McQuade of the Department of Defense. McQuade explains that Yucca Mountain is a military operated uranium mine, usually off limits to civilians. However, the facility has a schedule to keep, and the group was the closest team available on such short notice. The investigators find the place deserted; three go to the control room to try to reboot the computer system, while the other three form a search party. They locate Jesse, catatonic and in a state of shock, and take him to the control room. Jesse reminds team member Jack Reed of his own young son, who died in a fire.