Seth Brundle mastered molecular physics at the age of 20, and devoted his life to developing a teleportation system, due to his severe motion sickness, to allow himself to travel places without getting sick. Brundle dedicated his life to his invention, and adopted personality traits similar to Albert Einstein, such as owning 5 pairs of the same set of clothing to save mental energy deciding what to wear. Brundle attended a convention hosted by Anton Bartok (who would eventually become the main antagonist in the sequel), where he met Particle Magazine journalist, Veronica Quaife. Brundle convinced Veronica to allow him to demonstrate his newly created "telepods" to her, gaining her intrigue when he stated that it would "change the world". Brundle was able to convince Veronica not to send her story on him to her boss, Stathis Borans, as he wasn't ready for the world to hear about it yet, in exchange for allowing Veronica to help on his projects. After the two share an intimate encounter, Brundle has an epiphany that the telepods were reinterpreting flesh instead of reproducing it, leading to Brundle reprogramming the system to allow the successful teleportation of a baboon. Veronica abruptly left to confront Stathis after learning he was planning to unveil Brundle's telepods prematurely, which Brundle interpreted as Veronica still being in love with Stathis. The drunken and depressed Brundle performs the telepod's human testing on himself to deprive Veronica witnessing his miracle of science. Unbeknownst to him, a common housefly had entered the telepod at the same time as him, leading to the computer merging the two together. Brundle sees the test as a success and reconciles with Veronica. When Brundle awakens in the morning, he finds that his reflexes and senses have enhanced. Brundle theorises that the telepods had somehow purified and improved his physicality. However, Veronica discovers coarse and unusual hairs growing out of Brundle's back, leading to a heated exchange where Brundle claims Veronica is simply jealous of him. Brundle attempted to force Veronica to use the telepods, but she refused and Brundle stormed off, abandoning her. Brundle entered a bar and entered an arm-wrestling competition with a man in exchange for his girlfriend, Tawny. Brundle uses his newfound superhuman strength to snap the man's arm and spends the rest of the night engaging in sexual escapades with Tawny. Brundle attempted to force Tawny to use the telepods, only for Veronica to intervene and Tawny and Veronica being kicked out of the laboratory. Brundle then enters his bathroom, and stares at his reflection as he realizes that Veronica was right. When he starts chewing his fingernails, a habit when he is stressed, he finds they are beginning to fall off.