The Android OS in the corner of the screen flashed a new notification: “System Update Ready. Restart to install iGO Prime.”

“You are the first driver to return to the node since the update. Welcome home, Raj. Recalculating reality.”

“Turn left in 400 feet. You will arrive at your final destination.”

The rain stopped. The wind died. The world outside his windshield was silent.

Then, at the 22-minute mark, the tablet did something strange.

The map zoomed out. Not to the route, but to a satellite view of the entire valley. A red X pulsed over a spot about five kilometers to his east. A dirt track, overgrown, not even marked as a trail.

“You are off-road,” the voice said. But there was a new warmth in it. A familiarity. “This is the original path.”