The Aggravation of Elmer

A neighborhood electronics shop becomes the scene of an unsettling demonstration when a visiting child reveals a small contraption that can render electrical devices inoperative. After the gadget halts traffic, television and phones, the shop owner recognizes that the field it generates can stop spark ignition and electric motors, turning everyday conveniences into liabilities and suggesting vast military and social implications. The device’s young creator, convinced modern civilization is headed for collapse, treats such experiments as proof of that belief, forcing the adults around him to confront the ethical and practical dangers of a technology that can abruptly erase systems society depends on.