The Story
Smoking Joe Moose, the cunning head of Moose Industries, has developed a diabolical plan to addict every man, woman, and child in China, the world's most populous nation, to Moose brand cigarettes. Moose - whose hunger for power drives him to depths of depravity - acquires a new chemical, "Liquid Evil," the most addictive substance ever known. Moose's agents hijack a British merchant ship bound for China. They replace the ship's cargo with thousands of crates full of cigarettes laced with Liquid Evil. When these cigarettes reach China, untold numbers of people will fall victim to this deadly addiction, all in the name of profit and power.
Can anyone stop this evil plan? S.T.A.N.D., an agency aiming to Stop Tobacco And Nicotine Dependency, has been tracking Moose's shadowy maneuverings. It's now up to agents Nic Ban and Wu Yan to stop Smoking Joe and his dreaded additive. The Smoky Lies mission brings Nic to Gadget Gramps' lab for the newest spy gadgetry.
There he meets Falldown Brown, a techno-wiz teenager who manages to shoehorn into the mission and the fun. Falldown joins Wu and Nic in trying to save the world in this action-filled adventure.
The global hunt for Liquid Evil begins in the frozen tundra of the north. For a lead on the location of the substance, Nic and Wu willingly bundle up. Upon invading the Moose henchmen camp, they discover that Snake Von Chon, a seedy contraband smuggler, has given the glowing goo to Secondhand. Snowballs fly and butts are extinguished, yet Secondhand manages to escape with the Liquid Evil. Stopping Moose will not be so easy. S.T.A.N.D. must call on the help of an old man and his knack for gadgets.
Gadget Gramps is New York's favorite Mr. Fix It, but it's what lies behind his Newbold Emporium that really puts his place on the map. Gadget Gramps is not only the loving mentor of Falldown Brown and creator of his five robots, but he is also S.T.A.N.D.'s leading expert in technology development.
Gramps provides Nic Ban with all of the mission's gadgets, including his multi-faceted wristwatch and a double BMU 7500. The information system within the lab, and a signal from S.T.A.N.D.'s headquarters alerts the team of Moose's mayhem in the South China Sea. Drawing upon Wu, Nic, and Falldown's variety of skills, the team develops a strategy to break into Moose Industries and recover top secret documents disclosing the location of Liquid Evil.