Rendezvous in the Romanowskian Empire

The sterile white light of the lab seemed to amplify the pounding in your ears. A damp pain spread over your upper arm, a fresh reminder of the needle that had just drawn your blood.

Project 06T02-BCE. Completion level - 99%. The bright green text on the gigantic screen felt unreal. Years of training, genetic alteration, and studying for the Qualified Archaeological Test paper Major had led to this moment. You were finally here, strapped onto a steel table that felt more like a ghastly motherboard, wires connecting to your body.

Around you, the muffled voices of scientists and mentors faded as the final announcement began. The vacuum acceleration in the room made it impossible to sweat, and the metal strap lowered onto your eyes heightened every other sense. Then came the electric current, a brutal, sickening wave that felt like it was tearing you apart from the inside. Just as your heart felt ready to rip through your ribs, a soul-lifting sensation pulled you upwards, and you heard the final words of the twenty-first century:

"Phase three, resonance achieved."

The feeling of the electric compulsion gradually wore off. You stretched, stiff, a yawn escaping you. The air was different – a raw, ancient scent of roots and wet mud. You snapped your eyes open. Ethereal silence. You had reached. Staggering to your feet, you clutched the mud-smudged linen draped around you and your AI book, looking around for your teammates in the dimming orange light of the sky.