[1][2] 5 years or so before the book's main plot, a Krpshtskani singer named Gmygmy is disgraced by the American public because his vocals sound like a dying horse.

Grdankl the Strong, president of Krpshtskan and Gmygmy's father, decides to exact revenge by sending his other son, Prmkt, to the US to disrupt their electrical grid.

Prmkt secretly sends notes to the Manor Estates (ME) kids, children of rich government officials who win the science fair every year by going to a store in the local mall called the Science Nook, where the owner, Neil Sternabite, secretly builds their projects for a fee.

Prmkt's note says that for a fee, he will give the ME kids blueprints to build technical items for the science fair.

Toby and his two friends Micah and Tamara get sent to jail after Prmkt blackmails them, as well as two men Grdankl the Strong sent to "help", Drmtsi and Vrsk.