A factory machine tool overheats and the power hub fails, risking an explosion. Workers argue about who will crawl inside to close the valve; one objects because he has a wife and child. Mr. Zoller volunteers, enters the machinery and manually shuts the valve, saving the plant. After the rescue colleagues praise him but warn he’s too old to take such risks. Mr. Zoller then mutters that if he had died “she'd only feel happier,” naming Madelyn, which shocks the crew. As they call to him, he suddenly cries out and collapses, leaving his condition and motive unresolved.