Day five. Percy slept surprisingly peacefully. The nightmares from the past had receded and disappeared. Before him stretched a vast swamp covered with duckweed. The green surface gently swayed, parting in places to reveal flat pools of clear water reflecting clouds. Spreading his arms wide, the junior marketer slowly floated on the water, carried by the leisurely current, gazing up at the blue sky. From somewhere above came the monotonous voice of a science popularizer narrating about the phenomenon of swarm intelligence. "Mathematics and computer science, studying this topic, model the collective behavior of decentralized self-organizing systems. In other words, a large number of small and primitive parts, interacting, form a 'swarm'—a whole capable of solving very complex tasks. Bee colonies, ant colonies, our immune system... operate according to these principles." Percy again imagined microscopic hydra settling on the surface of an underwater snag. Their glassy bodies and tentacles, resembling plants more than animals, gently swayed, obeying slight movements of the water. But suddenly one of the hydra touched its neighbor with the tip of a tentacle containing irritating stinging cells. The latter instantly reacted, shooting out its poisonous appendages in all directions. The reaction spread like an avalanche across the entire surface of the snag. Several times waves passed back and forth, sometimes subsiding and then intensifying again. Amidst the general chaos of mutual bites, patterns began to emerge. Streams and routes formed from successive pushes and nudges. Individual hydra no longer tried to sting their neighbors and quickly withdraw their tentacles; instead, they kept them ready, anticipating the swift transmission of some strange relay. Now they resembled not swaying grass, but a complex nervous system transmitting information or even engaging in some internal dialogue. Percy reached out his hand and plunged into the depths of the swamp, trying to get closer to these amazing creatures and perhaps talk to them. But an unpleasant, rotten smell struck the junior marketer's nose, waking him up...
Getting out of bed in complete darkness, he felt his way to the bathroom, turned on the light, and for the first time in several days looked at himself in the mirror. The rash had spread almost all over his body. Some blisters had partially burst and dried up, while others had grown larger, merging together to form huge watery bubbles beneath the skin. Fortunately, this ugliness hadn't spread to Percy's face. However, marks similar to hives were also appearing there. He decided to touch these pinkish streaks on his forehead and cheeks, but immediately pulled his fingers away. Both his palms were stained with blood. Hastily washing his hands, Percy returned to the room and got back into bed. These nightmares intruding into reality had tired the junior marketer considerably. Trying once again to wrap himself up and fall asleep, he suddenly felt something large and warm next to him. And also a putrid smell, as if seeping from the dream, was again disturbing him... Irritated by all these inconveniences, Percy turned on the nightlight and threw off the blanket. On the neighboring pillow lay half-naked Claire. The entire bed beneath her body was soaked with blood. And from a vertical incision running through her entire abdomen, her insides were visible, twisted outward. Nevertheless, the girl's face looked calm and even serene, and her motionless eyes gazed with a kind of posthumous tenderness. Percy no longer felt either disgust or fear, so he simply embraced and held the dead Claire close. This would be the last time he slept in his own home.