A EMP device that could disable every piece of electronic equipment in California for months, is stolen from a university, and NCIS:LA must find the thieves before they use the device and cause the death of millions. The team discovers that the professor who invented the missing "Flux" stole the device and intended to use it against the university after his funding was revoked and he didn't make tenure. He wanted to prove his theory that an EMP terrorist attack could cripple the country. Unfortunately for him, the "flux" was stolen from his car before his plan went into play and he works to help NCIS track it down before it causes mass devastation throughout California. We meet several of the professors quirky but brilliant students who all had access to the device. Callen and the team discover several of the students, drowning in student loan debt with little hope for a good paying job in this economy, hatched a plan to use the device to disable the electronic systems of a bank in downtown L.A so they can steal the money they need to pay off their loans and live a comfortable life. Callen and the team setup an elaborate sting to simulate that the device has been activated; when it really has not. They work to catch the students and buy time to deactivate the real device before it causes mass destruction.