Jennifer felt them before she saw them.
The pressure had been building since they entered navigation—not the cold attention of the marine domains, but something warmer. Recognition. As if the archive had been waiting for observers who could understand what it was about to show them.
"Target depth: 300,000 years before present," ARCHIE announced. "Southern African highlands. Early Homo sapiens activity zone."
She had asked to observe from Starseed's position, to feel what he felt. His hand was in hers, the anchor connection thrumming with shared perception.
The highlands resolved into rocky outcrops and scattered vegetation. And there, near a cave mouth darkened by generations of fire smoke, a group of people who looked almost exactly like Susan, like David, like Jennifer herself.
"They're us," Susan's voice came through from the XR Lab. "They're completely us."
The faces were modern—high foreheads, small brow ridges. The bodies moved with the fluid grace of organisms perfectly adapted to bipedal life. Three hundred thousand years separated these people from the team, but the gap felt like nothing. Like family.
"Information density exceeding all previous measurements," ARCHIE reported. "I am detecting organizational structures I have not previously observed. Self-modeling. These subjects are constructing internal representations of their own awareness."
Jennifer watched a woman emerge from the cave mouth, carrying something. She moved to …
