Maria works in research and development at a chocolate-making company, coming up with new recipes. During a focus group taste testing of her latest concept, a chocolate bar filled with a sweet and salty miso jam, one tester, Verity, arrives late. Maria's concept is deemed disgusting by other testers, but Verity says it tastes better the second time, after which they try it again and approve. Verity catches up with Maria, recognizing her as a former classmate, and informs Maria she is applying for a position at the company, even though Maria insists that there are no open positions. However, when she checks the website there is a listing, confirmed by her boss. The next day, Verity is hired after a brief interview and quickly acclimates to the team. Maria finds her own work changed which damages her reputation while other small changes cause her and others to question her memory. As incidents increase in severity, her mental state worsens and she begins to suspect that Verity is responsible. Maria remembers Verity being a computer-obsessed social outcast in school. While in school Maria participated in gossip claiming that Verity had performed sexual favors on a teacher. Maria contacts Natalie, an old schoolmate who had also gossiped about Verity, but discovers that she recently died by suicide. Natalie's husband explains that she had been experiencing similar events to Maria, but he hangs up as Maria begins aggressively questioning him about Verity. Maria arrives at the office one day to find she has missed an all-staff meeting, further damaging her credibility. Maria and Verity talk and seem to resolve their issues before Verity suddenly and emotionlessly drinks their colleague's entire carton of almond milk in front of Maria then blames her for it. They review the office security footage, but the feed shows Maria aggressively grabbing and drinking the milk. Maria pleads her innocence by reiterating to everyone that she has a nut allergy, but no one, not even Google, knows of such a term. Maria notices Verity fondling a teardrop-shaped pendant around her neck and, declaring that she is using it to change reality, tries to take it from Verity. Maria is subsequently fired. That night, Maria breaks into Verity's home, discovering a massive server room and a box of pendants identical to Verity's. When Verity discovers Maria hiding under the bed, Verity explains that after finishing school she became an expert programmer, creating a quantum computer in her home that can shift her to any timeline she desires through real-time data she gathered using the pendant as the remote, essentially granting her omnipotence. She has been changing timelines around Maria in an attempt to drive her to suicide. Verity reveals she did the same thing to Natalie as revenge for the rumor that Maria started. Maria tries to reason with her but Verity reveals she has tried every path in life with none being as satisfying as revenge. Maria attempts to attack Verity, but Verity alters reality to have armed police arrive, placing a knife in Maria's hand. While restrained, Maria grabs an officer's gun and shoots Verity in the face. She grabs the pendant and uses Verity's fingerprint to shift to a timeline where it works for her too. After making the police officers believe that Verity was the attacker, she shifts reality several times to her own benefit, ending by making herself the Empress of the Universe.
