“Take a good look,” said Valence, “it’ll be archived soon.”

Janath stroked the gull’s wing with a finger. The feathers ruffled and she could feel their texture; they remained in whatever places dictated by the forces she exerted. The gull remained static, as the droplets of water, as the ripples in the fountain pool.

“Try not to interfere too much: I’m calibrating.”

Janath asked, “Why did you pick this quantum state? Not that I’m complaining, mind you, it’s quite beautiful.”

“Is another reason required?” Valence loved rhetorical questions. “Earth is almost finished. It’s been a big job getting it all concatenated, but my team has done well.”

“Earth? I thought we were just testing with class Aves. I thought that’s why… the gull. But that wasn’t supposed to happen until the end. The End.” Janath’s expression was the apotheosis of horror.

“The timetable was moved up,” said Valence in the same tone he used for rhetorical questions: light, but indicating he wanted no further discussion.