In a bustling apothecary, renowned physician Conrad Ashwood inspects a young man's prescription and demands to know who wrote it. The youth insists he authored it; skeptics suspect fraud until Conrad analyzes the formula and praises its balance. Conrad offers two million to buy the recipe; the seller accepts and delegates handling of the cash to another person. The young man then asks a price for a second formula and names an 'Apex Purifier' that could fetch far more. Negotiations over that pricier formula—and control of the profits—remain unresolved.