Michael Maier is a fourteen-year-old boy who is out of school for the summer. His parents are professors at the University, so Michael is home alone during the day. Michael spends his time in the family library, trying to make sense of his grandfather's books on alchemy. One day a nude, semi-transparent figure identifying himself as the Spirit of Alchemy appears and offers to explain the seven steps of alchemy. In a toilet that his grandfather used as an alchemical mini-lab, the Spirit explains the alchemy to Michael and demonstrates the procedures. Using telepathy and telekinesis to move objects, the Spirit appears dressed and able to speak in what sounds like a normal voice.