A phase state is a stable configuration a system inhabits. Ice, water, steam :: different phase states of the same substance. A dodecahedron is a phase state. A chaotic attractor is a phase state. Our consciousness right now is a phase state.
Each explorer shows us a different phase state, and the invisible parameters :: the dark matter :: that shape it. When parameters shift slightly, the phase state holds steady. When they cross a threshold (a bifurcation point), the system reorganizes completely.
We are moving through phase states as we spiral through this laboratory. Each steep shifts the parameters slightly. By session 7, we will have crossed bifurcations we didn't notice crossing.