The invisible machines try to get inside the animals.

The wise old squirrel, free, staying above ground, unplugged - it is infiltrated during hibernation. It wakes in spring to find its eyes brimming with data. Knowledge of all acorns in every buried hole.

Birds prove harder to catch. The pathogen struggles to get inside them mid-flight - it has to wait for the nest, for the chicks to sprout, little electric shrubs with loud beaks.