Matthew Fogg is a brilliant, highly rehearsed sociopath who will do anything to satisfy an urge or to experience something new. In his world, there is only what he wants. Dr. Maggie O’Shea is the lead scientist working at a university hospital. She is smart and beautiful. She leads a team that is developing a treatment that will give sociopaths emotions, feelings, and most importantly, empathy. Dr. O’Shea crosses paths with Matthew at the University hospital when he is robbed and knocked unconscious. When she sees his CT scan, she knows immediately that he’s a sociopath. She examines him and tells him about her study. Sparked by the idea of experiencing emotions and feelings, and capped by his sexual curiosity about Dr. O’Shea, Matthew is tested and joins the study. After gene therapy and a few months of behavioral remodeling, Matthew shows great progress and Dr. O’Shea closely monitors him. For the first time in his life, he begins to have real affective emotions. Guilt, anger, regret, compassion, and his feelings for Dr. O’Shea begin to grow. While going through personal items of her late sister, Dr. O’Shea finds a photo of her sister and Matthew together at a dance club on the night her sister supposedly committed suicide. Without his permission, Dr. O’Shea lifts and scourers Matthew’s personal journal. She quickly finds what she believes to be a confession of her sister’s murder. Angry that the police are unwilling to get involved, Dr. O’Shea decides to take matters into her own hands. She is going to seduce Matthew, trap him, make him confess, and kill him if necessary. She spends a week teasing Matthew. He becomes aroused and confused by her interest in him. Along with his confusion, he begins to have headaches and shows signs that his treatment is degrading. Other subjects in the study also begin to fall apart. One subject snaps and goes on a shooting spree at a local restaurant before killing himself. Knowing he has a fear of water, Dr. O’Shea plans a showdown and lures Matthew out to the lakeside cabin where the support group meets. She strips down to a skimpy bikini, paddles a canoe out to a floating dock in the middle of the lake and waits for him.