Outside the laboratory, copper wires suspended on poles run for more than a mile into the countryside. Inside, mysterious equipment – coils of wire, weirdly shaped jars, strange crystals, saucers of murky liquid – glows and pulsates. The few local people who dare to approach the mansion tell of explosions, of bolts of lightning that strike when no storms are near, and of the reclusive, secretive nature of the scientist himself.