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Stan and his friends are fascinated by the crazy old man who lives
on their street. He’s an inventor, a mad scientist, and he’s
building cars that run on chicken droppings… or so they say.
There is also speculation that he is experimenting on dead bodies
in his basement, but the truth is that Emmett Rivers is working
hard to free the world from its dependence on oil. He is
fashioning a device which, when it is finished, will convert
hydrogen into energy. It will run on water. Of course, there are
a few hitches.
Emmett, so far, is unable to get the machine just right.
Everything is theoretically working, but it’s just a little off.
It’s nothing a few months of fine tuning won’t fix. Unfortunately
he might not get that chance. Monica has arrived, as an IRS
agent, to look into Emmett’s tax deductions. While she is there,
Stan finally gets up the courage to sneak into the house and see
just what the crazy old man is working on. But elsewhere, Carl
Northram, an oil magnate, has been informed of Emmett’s work via
his new research assistant, Gloria. On this assignment, it is her
job to bring the genius to the man who can put his ideas to work.
But when Gloria arrives to express interest in the invention, and
negotiate with Emmett regarding its sale, she is rebuffed. Emmett
is angry that they weren’t interested until he’d spent twenty
years of his life working on it. Now, when it is so near to
completion he is afraid that they will swoop in and steal the
credit. Gloria assures him that no one is swooping, but Emmett is
unwilling to budge. He sees this accomplishment as a way of
living on, something he won’t do himself; he’s dying of stomach
cancer.
When Gloria is gone, Monica and Stan, who Emmett has taken a
liking to, try to convince him that it is time to share his genius
with the rest of the world. So when Gloria returns with Carl
Northram, Emmett accepts their offer and sells the nearly finished
machine for one million dollars. Now he can finally relax and
seek treatment for his ailment.
But all is not as it seems, Carl Northram has no interest in
helping the world, he has bought Emmett’s invention solely for the
purpose of destroying it. Gloria is devastated by her part in
this and returns to bear the tidings to Emmett, Monica and Stan.
They are equally disheartened, especially Emmett, who realizes
that his work will not be rebuilt in his lifetime. “But it will
be rebuilt.” Monica assures him. He just needs to teach someone
to carry on his work. He needs to teach Stan, and his work will
live on. Emmett does as requested, and realizes that sharing his
ideas with even one more person, is better than keeping it locked
in a basement, hoping for immortality.
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