Someone who goes by the name of "V" is planning to unleash a lethal virus that could destroy the human race, and it is up to Nikki Tesla and her friends from the Genius Academy (which has been blamed for an international incident and shut down), to uncover the villain (who is closer to them than they realize) and find a way to stop the biological attack--an effort that will cost Nikki her life.

Nikki Tesla is a genius, so mostly she finds school boring, and amuses herself by inventing things, like her mysterious missing father; trouble is most of her inventions have serious, lethal potential (like the death ray, which just blew a hole in her floor); so she and her ferret are hustled off to the special Genius Academy with classmates who are equally exceptional, although she still worries about fitting in--but when her death ray disappears...