They had witnessed Darwin across two centuries. They had perceived through organisms dead for four hundred million years. But this descent felt different—more intimate, more charged with personal significance.
"Rhynie, 570 CE," ARCHIE said. "Late summer. Substrate activity is strong at these coordinates. Temporal markers place this approximately three weeks before the burial layer."
Three weeks before. Margaret felt the weight of that. Whoever these people were, they were already preparing to bury everything. But they kept working.
"Multiple recorded perspectives," ARCHIE continued. "Spatial configuration suggests two in water, one at the edge. Consistent with pairing protocols in the teaching set."
"Which perspective will we perceive through?" Susan asked.
"The strongest recording. One of the two in the water. Beyond that, I cannot determine more until you experience it directly."
Jennifer took her position, attention focused on the baseline thread. Starseed settled into navigation mode.
"Speech will be in a P-Celtic language," ARCHIE said. "I can attempt translation, but confidence will be low. Meaning rather than precise words."
Margaret closed her eyes. Fifteen centuries. The teaching set not yet buried. The practice still alive.
"Begin," she said.
Scotland resolved around them. Wilder than the Scotland Margaret knew. Dense woodland on hills above a timber settlement. At the spring site, water pooled in basins shaped by huma…
