Using a hallucinogenic "miracle drug" which he has discovered, Jarvis Pym causes the all the government officials in Washington, including the president, Congress and Pentagon, to have strange dreams. In a televised explanation (on Channel 51, the educational spy channel) he reveals that this was only a mild dose; at full strength the dreams would be permanent with victims never to be able to differentiate between reality and fantasy. He then threatens to carry out this plan to "its utmost fruition" - wiping out the government by reducing every high-ranking official to a raving lunatic - unless he is paid $50 million.