Chris passes the exam, but in a final effort to humiliate and exact revenge on Chris and Mitch, Kent sabotages their latest apparatus, which showed the promise of succeeding, but inadvertently gives himself away as the perpetrator. Unable to actually prove it was Kent, Chris is left to brood over the injustice, and in a moment of inspiration, he comes up with a whole new approach to the design problem. In the impressive demonstration of his innovative solution that follows, Hathaway relents and congratulates Chris and assures him that he will now graduate and get his promised job. The jubilant Chris and Mitch go out to celebrate their apparent success with their friends, blissfully unaware of the real reason for the creation of the laser. Lazlo unexpectedly arrives to join their celebration apparently, but actually was looking for them to tell them his theories and suspicions regarding the possible use of their unique design. They finally realize that they have been duped. By the time they return to the lab, all of the laser equipment, along with a mirror built by Kent for a target tracking system, has been taken by Hathaway and is already in the hands of the nefarious government agency who contracted the project.