When you retrieve a glass of ice water from the refrigerator and set it down on a kitchen table in a warm room, the action takes place right away.
The glass rests on the surface, its outer side looking dry and smooth, just as it did moments before.
Time moves forward. Several minutes elapse, yet the glass continues to appear unaltered. No liquid forms on its exterior.
The table stays dry beneath it, and the glass surface shows no gathering moisture. This phase of no change holds steady.
Later, water droplets start to cover the outside of the glass. They line up visibly, sometimes running down the sides.
In this process, setting down the cold glass serves as the initial step. A stretch of time passes without any outward sign. The droplets emerge only afterward.
The example reveals latency at work: the cause happens upfront, the observable result arrives delayed.