A first-person narrator with a background in engineering and business recounts how scientific curiosity and popularisers of research preceded a sudden biological catastrophe that upends agriculture, industry, and public order. The narrative traces the outbreak known as the Blight, the ensuing panic and breakdown of organised systems, and the practical and moral struggles of survivors. Interwoven reportage and documents examine attempts to understand and contain the disaster, the psychology of crisis, and varied efforts to salvage production, maintain order, and reconstruct society amid scarcity and uncertainty.