The Apex Device

The Apex Device is a piece of technology that the Maudlings are building throughout the course of the series. The purpose of the device is unknown.

Appearance
The device consists of a massive tangle of black wires that takes up an entire room of the Maudling compound. Inside the mass of wires, there are numerous decaying bodies of Maudlings who became trapped during the construction of the device and died of thirst. In season 4, Ericule ventures into the device to inspect its progress and comes across a living Maudling tangled in the wires, unable to move. The Maudling begs Ericule for milk (likely referring to Matriarch milk), but Ericule ignores him and continues with the inspection.

Attempted Sabotage
Near the end of season 4, CIA Agent Jack Turner breaks into the Maudling compound as a part of Operation Calico. Jack Turner, unsure of how the device works or how to disable it, begins hacking at wires with a knife, trying to cut his way into the center of the device. As he works his way inward, he gradually becomes tangled in wires until he is immobilized. Realizing he has no chance of escape, Jack Turner pulls the pin on a grenade. The grenade explodes, but the expanding fireball freezes at softball size. As Jack watches in confusion, the grenade explosion shrinks back in on itself, gradually turning purple in color, then fires a beam of light upwards. The purple light beam vaporizes Jack's face and continues upwards through the roof of the compound and into the sky. Shortly after, the Maurisuvius rift appears in the sky.