Wow, this is the kitchen-sink of AU fics! It's got a little bit of everything just barely held together by a haphazard plot. Don't get me wrong, it's fun, but there's so much handwaving and wagging of the dog that a reader neither knows nor really cares what's actually going on. That's what happens when all you see is effects and rumors, and no concrete causes. It's so totally random. I don't think I've ever read anything quite like this, although Wastelands of Time comes close.