They've seen what humanity achieved. Now they must witness what was lost—and decide if they have the right to change it.

The cosmic choice approaches. As underground education networks thrive despite complete educational apartheid and international sanctuary systems successfully preserve American academic refugees, Cuchu Ramirez and Matias Kim journey back 500 years to witness the Threshold of Change—civilizations at their absolute peak, unaware that European contact will soon transform the world forever.

But this isn't just historical observation.

As Dr. Crow Feather guides them through the most spiritually dangerous journey yet, and ancestral forces prepare for cosmic battle, Cuchu and Matias must master wisdom keeper protocols while facing the ultimate question: Do they have the right to warn the past about what's coming?

Three Civilizations. Three Peaks of Achievement. One Impossible Choice.

MACHU PICCHU, PERU (1470 CE): They experience Inca engineering and agricultural innovation at its most sophisticated—terraced mountainsides that fed millions, stone construction that has survived centuries of earthquakes, astronomical observatories that tracked cosmic cycles with perfect precision. This is human achievement at its absolute peak, fifty years before Spanish contact will end it forever.

MESA VERDE, COLORADO (1400 CE): The Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings reveal architectural renaissance and cultural flowering that connected communities across the Southwest. Matias witnesses sustainable agriculture, sophisticated water management, and ceremonial practices that maintained environmental balance for centuries—everything colonization will destroy.

ANGKOR WAT, CAMBODIA (1400 CE): The Khmer Empire's hydraulic engineering and religious architecture demonstrate civilization that managed water resources for a million people while creating artistic beauty that still inspires awe. They experience urban planning and resource management that sustained prosperity for generations—before colonial disruption changes everything.

But witnessing pre-contact peaks triggers the Foundation's ultimate weapon: temporal warfare designed to prevent any witness from reaching the truth about what was lost. As timeline interference threatens to trap them permanently in the past and spiritual forces battle for control of historical memory, Cuchu and Matias face preparation for the cosmic choice that will define humanity's relationship with time itself: Seal the rifts to protect these truths, or maintain access knowing others might exploit it?

When you've seen what we were capable of, how do you choose between protection and truth?

This volume features:

• Peak pre-contact achievements that reveal what colonization truly destroyed
• Temporal warfare as Heritage Foundation attempts to prevent access to pre-colonial truth
• Wisdom keeper preparation as characters learn cosmic responsibility protocols
• Cosmic choice framework establishing the ethical dimensions of temporal power

Perfect for fans of: Ursula K. Le Guin's ethical complexity, Kim Stanley Robinson's environmental vision, and anyone who needs to understand what colonization actually destroyed—and why some forces will fight cosmic wars to hide this truth.

This is Volume 7 of the 8-volume Temporal Witnesses series, beginning Act III: Cosmic Choice and Legacy. Characters achieve full wisdom keeper status while preparing for the ultimate decision that will determine humanity's relationship with temporal power and historical truth.