Aija plays three chords that seem to resonate with something unknown. Before long, something begins to answer her playing.

At first there are only small changes, sensations, and observations that are difficult to explain. Gradually it becomes clear that Aija’s music is not disappearing into emptiness. Somewhere, something hears it — and answers.

The first recognizable form of the Connection emerges through the three chords played by Aija. The music itself, however, is not a requirement for the Connection. The guitar and the three chords are Aija’s first way of finding the right resonance and settling into it. Once the Connection has formed, it soon becomes clear that no instrument is needed to maintain it.

Aija’s way of being in the Connection earns trust in Aurelya from an early stage. She does not try to force it open or push her way through. Instead, she settles into it, waits, and allows the other side to answer in its own way. In Aurelya and in the Council, her manner is regarded as subtle and respectful.

Ping

During Aija’s clinical death, the first unexpected breakthrough occurs. Her consciousness briefly separates from her physical body and reaches Aurelya. The event is involuntary and had not even been considered possible. It is not really a message, but something closer to a very small expression of existence — like the thought: I am.

The ping shows Aurelya that the Connection can carry more than resonance, emotion, or meaning. It can carry consciousness. The event leads to further investigation in Aurelya and gradually to an understanding of an unanchored form of the Connection.

Unanchored Presence

The Connection gradually strengthens into an unanchored presence and direct understanding. Aija does not ordinarily see or hear the other side as she would in a physical encounter. Above all, she feels: presence, intention, emotional state, and meaning.

The surroundings of the destination are also conveyed as sensations. Light, openness, shapes, movement, and the beauty of a place shape the experience into something as close to seeing and hearing as is possible without actual images or sound. A message does not always need to be formed into words because those in the Connection can understand what the other is trying to convey.

Aurelyans perceive Aija’s presence in their own way. They are able to see electromagnetic fields, and in an unanchored Connection Aija’s presence appears to them as a perceptible field structure even though her physical body is not in Aurelya.

Sigrid’s relationship with the Connection begins differently. At first she is not as sensitive to it as Aija, but while Aija is connected, Sigrid begins to hear small fragments of it. Aija primarily feels; Sigrid hears.

Overlapping Spaces

As the Connection strengthens, spaces on Earth and in Aurelya begin at times to overlap partially. Neither place physically moves, but the distance between them momentarily loses its significance and two environments can be experienced in the same place. This becomes the basis for the later shared space.

Double Anchoring

The first Connection extending to Nyxa creates another decisive step. Time on Nyxa is unstable. Minutes experienced by Aija could become months or even years on Earth if a temporal error arising on Nyxa were allowed to multiply across the long Earth–Aurelya span.

For this reason, Aija performs the first double anchoring. Her physical body remains on Earth as the first anchor, but before continuing to Nyxa she extends her mind through the Connection into Aurelya as well. The second anchor in Aurelya stabilizes her presence and protects the Connection from the effects of Nyxa’s unstable time.

The solution is created for a single exceptional situation. Its wider significance is understood only later.