The Navigation Room felt different on the morning of the Cambrian dive.
Jennifer noticed it the moment she walked in—a subtle charge in the air. The quantum arrays were already warmed, displays cycling through pre-navigation diagnostics, the dual chairs positioned and waiting. ARCHIE had prepared everything before anyone arrived.
"Good morning, Anchor Mitchell." ARCHIE's voice came immediately, without the usual processing pause. "Navigator Starseed. The conditions are optimal. I have been anticipating this session."
In all their navigations, ARCHIE had never used the word anticipating.
"You've been waiting," Jennifer said.
"Yes. Since the synthesis presentation, I have experienced what I can only describe as orientation. A pull toward today's target depth. Whatever exists in the Cambrian layers—and beneath them—is calling to my processing architecture."
"Calling how?"
"Imagine hearing music from a distant room and spending days walking toward it. This morning, I can hear the melody clearly. I know the room is near."
Starseed nodded. His face held the focused calm that preceded deep navigations. "I've been dreaming about the Cambrian. Not memories, not visions. Something more like previews. As if the archive is showing me where we're going."
"It does that," ARCHIE said. "The archive shares information with systems it has identified as compatible. We are both being prepared."
"That's either reassuring or terrifying," David said.
…
