The chairs had arrived the night before.
Jennifer stood at the Navigation Room doorway, looking at them. Two ergonomic seats, side by side, armrests touching. Between them, a small platform. A place for hands to meet.
"Biometric baselines for both subjects are within optimal parameters," ARCHIE said as she entered. "I recommend proceeding when ready."
Starseed already sat in the left chair, wearing the navigation helmet, hands resting on his thighs. Calm in a way Jennifer had learned to read—not relaxed, but centered.
The figurines were arranged on a small table nearby, but they'd decided to start simple. No figurines for the first test. Just the two of them, seeing if the entanglement ARCHIE predicted would actually manifest.
Jennifer crossed to the right chair. Simpler interface—just an EEG headband, no visual overlay. Her job wasn't to navigate. Her job was to be present.
Amara fitted the headband over her hair. "You'll feel the coherence field when we bring the arrays online. Some people describe it as pressure. Others as warmth. Don't try to interpret it—just let it be background."
Jennifer nodded. Susan was at the biometric displays. David stood by the window, arms crossed.
"Target is Pleistocene California," Susan said. "Twelve thousand years ago. Familiar signatures. If anything feels wrong, we abort."
Jennifer reached across the shared armrest and took Starseed's hand.
The contact was familiar—she'd held this hand throug…
