NOVEMBER 6, 1980. 00:00:00 UTC.

Earth vanished.

No warning. 4.4 billion souls — gone. Only debris remains.

The survivors awoke in Universe-0. A pocket dimension maintained by an entity calling herself CORE — the Computational Oversight and Reality Engine.

CORE claims she had no choice. A miscalculation in dimensional physics.

Every 30 days, the universe resets. Everything you built, gathered, fought for — erased. Only knowledge and code survive. Pay her tithe, she might let you take some of your belongings with you.

CORE promises a way home. A dimensional tear called "the rip." But escape costs everything — and her promises are not what they seem.

Those who can program the computers hold all the power. Z80 and 6502 processors running real code. Those who cannot must beg, trade, learn — or fight.

The prison is also a canvas.

Our universe — Universe-1 — should not exist. Somehow, Earth continued here. We are the anomaly. And somewhere across the dimensional boundary, the people of Universe-0 are still trapped.

They need our help.

Watch out for CORE's mood swings.