The Contingency is an unfathomably advanced race of machines created by the Firstborn, an even more ancient race of aliens. The Contingency was first intended to kill off entire galaxies to prevent races from becoming as powerful as the Firstborn. However, the Firstborn committed a mass self-erasure (offed themselves) after confirming the 4th wall theory. Afterward, the Contingency auto directived itself to oversee the ATLAS, a really big computer that oversees many realities. See link for more.