In a building in Amsterdam, an elevator inexplicably begins to function on its own. After a lightning storm causes a power failure and traps four people inside, the elevator refuses to reopen even after power is restored, and the passengers nearly suffocate. Tragically, the malfunctions escalate: an elderly blind man, Onno Molenkamp, falls to his death as the doors open to an empty shaft, the building night watchman, Gerard Thoolen, is decapitated, and a janitor, Michiel Kerbosch, seems to burn alive.
Felix Adelaar, Huub Stapel, a technician from the elevator company Deta Liften, begins to examine the electrical system in search of an explanation. During the course of several inspections, he meets Mieke de Beer, Willeke van Ammelrooy, a journalist for De Nieuwe Revu, a local tabloid. When inspections reveal no apparent problems with the electrical system, Felix becomes obsessed with the elevator's continuing malfunctions; this has a negative impact on his marriage as his wife Saskia Adelaar, Josine van Dalsum, begins to suspect he is having an affair.
On another visit to the building, Felix notices a van parked outside from Rising Sun, a manufacturer of microprocessors for automation and a secret supplier of experimental microprocessors to Deta Liften. Felix and Mieke, after collecting newspaper clippings about Rising Sun, try to meet with the company's CEO, who acts nervous and answers abruptly.
Mieke invites Felix to meet his former university professor who specializes in electronics. The professor, Peer Mascini, explains how microprocessors are sensitive to external factors such as electric fields, magnetic fields, and radioactivity, which can undermine proper function. He tells about a computer built years ago that suddenly began to self-program and went out of control. The next morning, Felix's boss angrily suspends him for his unauthorized visit to Rising Sun. That evening, the owners of Deta Liften and Rising Sun meet to discuss how to stop the elevator's computer processor, which is built from organic material, from killing people.
Saskia leaves Felix, taking their children. With nothing left to lose, Felix goes to the building to solve the elevator mystery. He discovers the elevator has a sentient mind when it tries to block him from accessing its microprocessor. Instead of giving up, Felix climbs into the shaft and finds a pulsating box; inside is sticky goo covering a silicon chip—the elevator's heart. As Felix attacks the box with a wrench, the elevator uses its counterweight to push him off balance. He manages to land on a ledge just below the elevator doors, and is rescued by Mieke just before the elevator is able to crush him.
As Rising Sun's CEO arrives to witness the failed experiment, he pulls out a pistol and fires into the biocomputer to seemingly kill it. The computer then shoots a broken cable out to drag him into the shaft and hang him. A shaken Felix and Mieke walk down the stairs, the elevator's heartbeat continuing.
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