Renowned researcher August Rincade had dedicated his life to seeking a cure for cocaine addiction. August was on the brink of a breakthrough when he was found stroked out on a public restroom floor, due to a cocaine overdose. When August's chances for recovery started looking grim, his ex-wife and research partner, Jenna, hoped that their son Toby would take over their lab. But Toby had become an animal rights activist who believed that his parents' use of rats for addiction studies was unkind, unnecessary and immoral. Toby also believed that his father wouldn't want his life to be prolonged in his profound state of disability. However, Toby's sister, Elsie, wanted everything possible done for their father to awaken him, including experimental treatment, while August's research assistant and new wife, Charly Swift-Rincade, wasn't inclined to turn her stolen husband into a human lab rat. Charly had other plans, while an actual lab rat had lessons to teach them all.