When an enigmatic message from another universe reaches the prestigious MIT in Cambridge, the lives of Alice, Bob, and Sarah – three brilliant young physics and computer science students – are forever changed. The Zanarians, an ancient and seemingly peaceful alien race, make a desperate plea for help: their world is dying, consumed by a mysterious "Fading," and only the construction of a quantum portal to Earth can offer them a hope of salvation.
But as humanity questions the risks and promises of such contact, a second, terrifying voice makes itself heard from the cosmos. They are the K'Tharr, powerful and ruthless beings who define themselves as the true custodians of dimensional balance. Their chilling accusation casts a sinister shadow on the Zanarians: they are allegedly not refugees, but deceivers, "cosmic parasites" whose technology is a mortal threat, and their portal a weapon designed to drain our universe's energy.