In a universe where the poor remain on earth and the rich live in space, Michael "Meek" Prouder, a poverty-stricken Black teenager, lives in Southern California with his grandfather, who is dying. Meek himself has a strange illness that turns his eyes and hands green. He enjoys basking in the sun at the Coachella Valley desert and spending time in his greenhouse, where he does scientific experiments, making plants interact with one another and extracting substances from them to make medicine for his grandfather. In order to execute his experiments, Meek also makes drugs using his plants and sells them in exchange for a "University Edition Monsanto Gene Kit." With the kit, Meek makes dwarf fruit trees and increases the oxygen production & protein output of plants. He enters a high school science contest which offers a trip to the luxurious outer space colony as the grand prize. At the competition, Meek meets Kathleen Chang, a love-interest whose own experiment explores microgravity-resistant plants which could solve the issue of microgravity that exists in the upper world. Upon discovering that Meek's results were off and that his gene kit was obtained through illegal means, Meek is tackled and arrested at the science fair. He later wakes up to the voice of Raymond "the Wizard of Aaahs" Culpaper, a star scientist who tells Meek he unfortunately did not win the contest. However, the Wizard asks Meek more about his project, as they found plant-like genetic qualities in Meek's blood and urine samples (taken as part of his drug trade investigation). The Wizard tells Meek that it seems both Meek and his grandfather are able to photosynthesize somehow, as genetic transfer occurred from the plants to Meek during his experiments. This explains why Meek is turning green and how his grandfather was kept alive for so long. The Wizard proclaims that Meek's work, in combination with Kathleen Chang's, could be the very solution needed to achieve outer space living for all. Later, Meek and Kathleen are on route to the space station.