We propose a pregeometric quantum theory in which spacetime and proper timeemerge from the throughput capacity of a fundamental relational network of quantuminformation channels. The universe is modelled as a weighted quantum causal setwhose directed links carry a density-dependent permeability. Proper time is identified with the local rate of coherentinformation transfer: dτk = κk dλ.Gravitational time dilation, the thermodynamic arrow of time, and the Einsteinfield equations arise as macroscopic consequences of local information congestion.The global dynamics are governed by a linear Page—Wootters constraint Cˆ |Ψ⟩ = 0,guaranteeing unitarity and complete positivity. Saturation of local information capacitytriggers irreversible transfer into fermionic matter degrees of freedom, providing aquantum-mechanical origin for rest mass and Pauli exclusion.When the bath Hilbert space is identified with the complexified octonions Hbath =C ⊗ O—as developed in a companion paper—the Fano-plane structure generatesthe Standard Model gauge group S(U(2)×U(3)), SO(8) triality yields exactly threefermionic generations, and sub-threshold bath occupation provides a dark mattercandidate. The present paper establishes the core framework; the octonionic extensionand its phenomenological consequences are derived in Paper II.The framework is fully testable in analogue-gravity platforms—in particular Bose—Einstein condensates—and predicts distinctive signatures: density-dependent soundspeed suppression with a specific permeability denominator structure, modified analogue Hawking spectra, a second-order proper-time correction beyond linearised generalrelativity, and a density-dependent decoherence rate whose functional form distinguishes the QIP mechanism from standard open-system models.