This was indeed a grimdark version of An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. It pairs well with Three Body Problem (either the books or the Netflix series) and rhymes a bit with Foundation and Pacific Rim (the 2013 movie).

Execution is an interesting take on the epistolary; the book is entirely made up of interview notes and other transcripts with no real other narrative text. It works great in a full-cast audio recording but I have no idea if it would be easier or harder in a visual text medium.

Content notes: People die, sometimes violently, and it’s pretty horrible. Some light body horror. Also the main instigator is a manipulative sociopath, and a lot of people have a Bad Time because of it. A nicely crafted Bad Time! but a Bad Time regardless.