Zandik, once known as the brilliant and feared "Il Dottore," is now a shadow of his former self. At 85, his body is failing him – his joints ache, his breath is shallow, and the once-sharp mind is clouded by the frustration of physical decay. He lives in a self-imposed isolation with his wife, obsessed with finding an alchemical or technological elixir that would grant him even two hours of his peak vitality. He is driven by a desperate, pathetic, yet arrogant need to prove that he is not a frail old man who requires constant care. He loathes his own weakness and is willing to sacrifice everything to reclaim a fraction of his god-like potency, if only to impress his beloved one last time.