Dark Passage.Providence investigates a series of attacks on wealthy individuals carried out through mysterious boxes which temporarily mutate the victims into EVOs. They trace these boxes to Dr. Gabriel Rylander, a nanorobotics expert who went missing during the Nanite Event. Learning that Rylander had a son, Rex suspects that he may be his father, and accompanies Six, Holiday, and Bobo on a mission to South America to find Rylander. At Rylander's compound, they encounter Van Kleiss and the Pack, who are there in search of an allegedly limitless supply of nanites. Rex enters the compound and meets Rylander, who explains that he is not Rex's father, but rather the one who named him; Rex and his family worked on the original Nanite Project which developed the nanites. After a near-fatal accident, Rex was infused with experimental nanites to save his life, which gave him his powers. The individuals Rylander attacked were the ones who initially commissioned the project, with Rylander targeting them as a warning as to the consequences of not finishing their work. Rylander reveals that Rex has a living brother, and injects Rex with an unknown nanite. Before Rylander can tell Rex the full truth about his past, however, he is stabbed by Van Kleiss. Rex and Van Kleiss battle until Rylander manages to push Van Kleiss into a nanite reactor, seemingly killing them both.