> ...this series of events ... each seemed like a kind of message from an adjacent reality that few of us experience directly.

This nailed it for me. By the description this was a combination of sophistication and ad-hoc, all conducted in what is indeed a parallel world (e.g. the confusion and corruption helps them where it would get in my way).

In a movie or novel everything lines up to make the storytelling crisper. Which ultimately makes it implausible. This was quite gripping.