At the edge of the world, in the high-altitude desolation of the Atacama desert, Dr. Joseph Walsh seeks the universe's origins through the immense power of the AGCA telescope array. But his obsessive quest to resolve the "cosmic dawn" begins to yield data that defies all known physics: repeating galactic structures separated by billions of light-years, stars that vanish and appear against all laws of stellar evolution, and system error codes seemingly embedded in the fabric of spacetime. These anomalies lead him to a "Terrible Idea": that his reality, the entire cosmos, is a vast, ancient, and increasingly unstable simulation.

This forbidden knowledge plunges Joseph into a terrifying new reality where the lines between observer and observed blur, and the "Custodians" of the simulation begin to take notice. His control node becomes a battleground of localized temporal distortions and strange, interactive phenomena, while a creeping "Slowdown" desynchronizes him from the world. Facing institutional disbelief, technological sabotage, and the manipulation of those around him, Joseph must decide how far he will go to prove a truth that could shatter not just his own world, but the very foundation of existence for everyone within the "Ark" of Kosmos.