Earth's entire population has become infected with an airborne virus, but only one percent have the specific gene required to activate it. These individuals begin to develop unusual abilities due to the rare gene. In most cases these abilities are harmless, but in a few isolated cases they become extremely dangerous. Because of this threat, all One Percenters are forced into isolated facilities for further testing. Under the guise of being a research company searching for a cure, Sanaxus carries out barbaric tests on One Percenters with their own secret agenda in mind - until a cataclysmic event at a minimum security camp involving One Percenter Lenard Higgs, a former college professor, triggers the start of a war between the government and the One Percenters.