The sunset on the periphery of Neoterra was unlike the sunsets of the pre-resonance world.
Alex stopped at the top of the hill, watching the sun sink below the horizon, painting the sky not just in shades of red and orange, but in a complex palette of colors, many of which didn't even have names. Light waves refracted through the biocybernetic atmosphere, creating spectral distortions, as if reality itself was a translucent prism.
The "Nexus" research center proved unreachable. After a day's journey through increasingly wild territories of the periphery, Alex discovered that the coordinates obtained from the Archive led to a place that was now at the center of a vast aberration zone — a region with unstable laws of physics and distorted reality. Without special equipment and preparation, crossing such a zone was tantamount to suicide.
Alex wearily sank down on a flat stone covered with a thin layer of bioluminescent moss, which softly lit up in response to his presence. He was disappointed but not surprised. The search for truth was rarely straightforward, especially in the world after the Resonance.
He took out the interface key given to him by Meridian from his pocket and thoughtfully turned it over in his fingers. The device pulsed weakly, as if feeling his disappointment.
"An unusual artifact," said a female voice behind him. "Pre-resonance technology, but with adaptive modifications. A rarity."
Alex jumped to his feet, instantly assuming a defensive stance. How could he not have noticed someone approaching? Had the Archive's security system found him even here?
But instead of a drone or security agent, before him stood a young woman — the most unusual he had ever seen. Tall and slender, with skin the color of light bronze, covered with the thinnest glowing patterns resembling electronic circuit boards. Her dark hair was gathered in a complex structure, interwoven with biocybernetic elements that seemed to be part of her body. But most striking were her eyes — completely black, with flecks of gold particles that moved and rearranged like constellations in the night sky.
"Who are you?" Alex asked warily, stepping back.
The woman smiled, and her patterns glowed brighter.
"My name is Zoe Kishi," she made a gesture with her hand resembling a calligraphic flourish. "I am a Third Circle technomancer from Neira Somova's Enclave. And you are a person with a unique pattern of information currents. I observed your passage through the biospheric layers. Your trail... is unusual."
Alex remained tense. Technomancers — people who had learned to manipulate biocybernetic systems through the power of thought — were rare and generally kept themselves separate from the rest of society. Their abilities inspired both admiration and fear.
"You were following me?" he asked, clutching the interface key in his palm.
"Not exactly," Zoe took several steps forward, moving with a grace that seemed almost inhuman. "I was meditating in the flow when your passage created... a ripple. Intense. Directed. Almost like code, but organic, not created, but grown."
She spoke strangely — rhythmically, with unusual pauses and intonations, as if her speech was part of some more complex communication process.
"And you just decided to follow this ripple?" Alex was still wary, but his curiosity began to outweigh his concerns.
"The current led me," Zoe answered simply. "In a world of patterns and connections, there are few coincidences. The pattern interweaves with purpose."
She suddenly froze, her eyes widening as if she saw something inside Alex, invisible to the ordinary eye.
"A node," she whispered. "You have an implant-node. Not just a neurointerface, but something... more deeply integrated. Part of a greater pattern."
Alex tensed. How could she know about this? And what else could she see?
"I don't know what you're talking about," he lied, stepping back another pace.
Zoe shook her head, and the golden particles in her eyes formed a new pattern.
"Hiding the truth from a technomancer is like concealing fire in darkness," she raised her hand as if about to show something. "Look."
Her palm opened, and above it appeared a small cloud of glowing particles that swirled, forming a three-dimensional projection. Alex was surprised to recognize a schematic image of his implant — exactly the same as he had seen in the Ark Archive.
"How did you..." he began, but Zoe interrupted him.
"I didn't extract the information," she quickly explained. "I merely read the echo of your resonance. Your node projects... a signature. Unique. Ancient, but evolved."
Alex realized that further denial was pointless. This technomancer could somehow "see" his implant as clearly as if his skull were transparent.
"And what do you want?" he asked directly. "Why did you follow me?"
Zoe dissipated the projection with a movement of her fingers and sat down on the stone next to where Alex had been sitting before. Her movements were simultaneously soft and precise, as if each gesture was part of a complex choreography.
"Interest," she answered simply. "Curiosity. You're heading to the 'Nexus' center," it wasn't a question but a statement. "But you can't pass through the aberration zone. I know safe paths."
Alex looked at her skeptically.
"And you'll just share this knowledge?" he raised an eyebrow dubiously. "In a world that you describe as 'patterns and connections,' nothing happens without reason. What do you want in return?"
Zoe smiled, and for a moment Alex noticed something almost childlike, spontaneous in that smile — a contrast to her outer alienness.
"Exchange," she said. "Balanced. I'll show the path through the aberration. You'll show how your node interacts with the flow. Not the technique, but... the essence. The nature."
Alex pondered. The idea of sharing information about his implant, especially after everything he had learned today, raised concerns. But on the other hand, without Zoe's help, he couldn't reach the "Nexus" research center and find answers to his questions.
"Why are you so interested in my implant?" he asked, trying to buy time for reflection.
Zoe tilted her head, and the patterns on her skin changed configuration, as if reflecting the course of her thoughts.
"You were born before the Resonance," she said. "As was your node. I was born after. In a world already changed. We technomancers learn to control flows through practice, meditation, tools. But your node... is organic. Natural. Part of you."
She paused, as if choosing her words.
"Imagine: you speak a language that you've learned through years of practice. And beside you is a person for whom this language is native, innate. Wouldn't you want to know how he perceives the world through this language?"
It was an interesting comparison, and Alex had to admit its accuracy. His implant did give him something that technomancers could only achieve through years of practice and with the help of special devices.
"I understand," he nodded. "But my... node, as you call it, isn't entirely natural. It was implanted. I wasn't born with it."
"But you evolved with it," Zoe objected. "During the Resonance, your node became part of you on a level deeper than simple integration. Symbiosis. Almost... destiny."
She pronounced the last word with a special intonation, as if it was something deeply personal. Alex noticed how the golden particles in her eyes momentarily formed a symmetrical pattern resembling a mandala.
The sun had almost disappeared below the horizon, and the strange colored shadows of the periphery began to lengthen. Night would fall soon, and with it would come the dangers inherent to wild territories outside the protection of city systems.
"All right," Alex decided. "I accept your offer. You'll help me reach the 'Nexus' center, and I'll tell you about how I perceive information flows through my... node."
Zoe nodded, and her face lit up with a smile that seemed too human for her exotic appearance.
"A wise decision," she rose from the stone in one fluid movement. "Night is near. It's dangerous to remain in open space. I have a shelter not far from here. Protected."
She extended her hand palm up, offering to follow her. Alex hesitated for a moment, then nodded and stepped forward, accepting Zoe's offer.
They walked through the twilight landscape of the periphery, where nature took forms impossible before the Resonance. Trees with crystalline branches, glowing from within with a pale blue light. Plants whose leaves seemed liquid, constantly flowing from one form to another. Strange flowers that opened with the onset of darkness, emitting waves of data instead of fragrance.
Zoe moved through this strange forest with confidence and grace, as if she were part of it. Alex followed her, trying to keep up and carefully observing the surroundings. His implant registered fluctuations in information flows around them, warning of possible dangers, but all was calm.
"You said you were born after the Resonance," Alex broke the silence. "What is it like — never knowing the world as it was before?"
Zoe continued walking without turning around, but her voice sounded thoughtful:
"Like asking a fish what it's like not knowing life on land," she replied. "I can't miss what I've never seen. For me, this world is the only reality. Information flows are as natural as air."
She stopped near a particularly strange plant — something between a coral and an antenna, with many thin branches directed in different directions.
"People before the Resonance," she continued, carefully touching one of the branches, "saw the world as divided. Information and matter. Digital and organic. Artificial and natural. For us, born after, such boundaries don't exist. Everything is unified. Everything is part of the flow."
The plant reacted to her touch, its filaments slightly curving as if in greeting. Zoe whispered something to it, and the filaments began to glow, forming a pattern similar to a map of constellations.
"This is a navigation node," she explained, noticing Alex's surprised look. "It remembers patterns of paths. We're close."
They continued their journey, now following a faint glow that seemed to emerge directly from beneath the ground, marking a trail.
"Have you never wondered," Alex asked after some silence, "what it would be like to live in the world before the Resonance? In a world where technology and nature were separated?"
Zoe momentarily slowed her pace, as if the question caught her off guard.
"Sometimes," she admitted. "In moments of silence. When the flow pauses. I've tried to imagine... isolation. The loneliness of a mind not connected to others through the flow. It seems... sad."
"We had other ways of connection," Alex objected. "Maybe not as direct as information flows, but still profound. Art, music, literature... They allowed people to share experiences, emotions, ideas."
"I know your art," Zoe nodded. "Archivists preserved much. But... these are all reflections. Echoes. Not direct experience."
She suddenly stopped and turned to Alex, her eyes glowing in the twilight.
"Imagine a book that doesn't just tell a story but allows you to live it. To feel every emotion of the character, see every landscape, not through words, but directly. Or music that becomes part of your heartbeat, your breathing. Or a thought that you don't just understand but share with another being on a level deeper than words. That's what the Resonance gave us."
There was an almost religious reverence in her voice, and Alex thought that for people born after the Resonance, this event wasn't a catastrophe — it was the birth of a new world, new possibilities.
"But the price was high," he said quietly. "Millions died. Entire cities disappeared. Technological systems on which the lives of many people depended were destroyed."
Zoe nodded, a shadow of sadness crossing her face.
"Every birth is accompanied by pain," she said. "I don't deny the suffering. I don't celebrate death. But I can't regret the world in which I live. Who I am."
She moved forward again, and Alex followed her, pondering her words. For him, the Resonance had always been a catastrophe, the end of one world and the reluctant beginning of another. But for Zoe and those like her, it was simply the beginning — the only reality they had ever known.
The trail led them to a hill covered with strange vegetation — low, wide plants with leaves resembling solar panels, but organic, pulsating. Zoe approached an especially large specimen and touched its center. The plant trembled, and then its leaves began to fold, revealing a passage into the hill.
"My shelter," said Zoe, making an inviting gesture. "A biosynthetic structure. Autonomous. Safe."
Alex cautiously followed her inside. The passage led to a small chamber that seemed simultaneously a natural cave and a high-tech dwelling. The walls were covered with bioluminescent organisms, creating soft, pleasant lighting. In the center was an area resembling a living space, with furniture-like structures grown directly from the floor and walls — organic structures clearly designed for rest and work.
"Impressive," Alex said sincerely, looking around. "Did you create this place?"
"Grew it," Zoe corrected. "Guided its growth. Strengthened its protection. This is my enclave on the periphery. Small, but... sufficient."
She approached a niche in the wall that opened at her approach and took out two transparent containers with something resembling food — geometrically perfect cubes glowing with a soft golden light.
"Nutritional synthesis," she explained, offering one of the containers to Alex. "Not exactly food in your understanding, but... sustaining. Restorative."
Alex accepted the container with some apprehension. The eating habits of technomancers were known for their exoticism. But after a whole day of travel, he was hungry enough to try anything.
He carefully extracted one of the cubes and put it in his mouth. The taste was strange — not unpleasant, but difficult to describe. Something between fruit and bread, with a hint of something metallic. The cube dissolved on his tongue, leaving a sensation of warmth that spread throughout his body.
"Interesting," he commented, feeling fatigue begin to recede and his muscles relax.
Zoe watched him with a slight smile, as if his reaction amused her.
"The synthesis is adaptive," she said. "It adjusts to the needs of the system. To the consumer."
She ate her cubes slowly, with evident pleasure, as if each had a unique taste and texture for her.
Having finished with the food, Zoe gestured for Alex to sit on a strange organic structure resembling a sofa. She settled herself opposite, on something like an armchair, which seemed to slightly change shape, adjusting to her body.
"Now," she said, looking directly at Alex, "tell me about your node. About how you perceive the flow. How it feels to you."
Alex pondered. He had never tried to describe his experience in words — it was something too personal, too intuitive.
"It's like... immersion," he began, trying to find the right words. "When I connect to information flows, it's like entering a river. At first, you feel only the coolness, the movement, but then... you begin to recognize currents, temperature layers, sense other creatures in the water."
Zoe listened with intense concentration, her eyes not leaving Alex's face.
"Information for me isn't abstract," he continued. "It has... texture. Color. Weight. Some data feel like silk, others like sand or metal. Some flows are warm, others cold. I don't just analyze information, I... feel it."
Zoe leaned forward, clearly intrigued.
"And control?" she asked. "Manipulation of the flow?"
Alex shook his head.
"That's more complicated. I can... direct my attention, focus on certain aspects of the flow. Sometimes I can slightly change direction, but it's not real control. Not like what technomancers possess."
He remembered today's incident at the transport hub, when his implant unexpectedly amplified his mental command, causing a large-scale failure in the systems.
"Although recently... my node started behaving differently. Responding more strongly. I received a signal about a 'second node,' and since then everything has become... more intense. Less predictable."
This information seemed to especially interest Zoe. She leaned forward, the patterns on her skin pulsating faster.
"Second node," she repeated. "A paired implant. This... explains your pattern. Not a closed circle, but... an open spiral. Seeking completion."
"Do you know something about this?" Alex couldn't hide the hope in his voice.
Zoe shook her head.
"Not knowledge. Intuition," she clarified. "Technomancers study patterns. Connections. Resonances. Your node has... an imperfect structure. As if part of a larger system. Incomplete."
She rose from her chair and approached him, the movement simultaneously fluid and precise.
"May I?" she asked, raising her hand to his nape, where the scar from the implant was located.
Alex hesitated. Allowing a technomancer access to his implant was risky — they could influence biocybernetic systems in unpredictable ways. But on the other hand, if Zoe could help him understand what was happening with his implant, it was worth the risk.
"All right," he nodded. "But... be careful."
Zoe smiled at his concerns.
"No interference. Only observation," she promised.
Her fingers gently touched the scar on the back of Alex's head. The touch was light, but he immediately felt a strange sensation — as if a warm wave passed through his implant, activating neural connections whose existence he hadn't even suspected.
Before his closed eyes, images appeared — not memories, but something like a simulation. He saw his implant as Zoe saw it: a complex network of biocybernetic components integrated with his nervous system at a level that seemed impossible. The implant hadn't just been installed in his brain — it had become part of the brain, developed its own neural connections, grown into the tissues.
And yes, Zoe was right — the structure seemed incomplete, as if waiting to connect with something else. With another node. With Sarah.
"Amazing," whispered Zoe, removing her hand. "Your node... is more deeply integrated than I assumed. A symbiotic connection at the cellular level. Your neurons and the node's components evolved together. Adapted to each other."
Alex opened his eyes, feeling slightly dizzy from the intensity of the experience.
"Is that... normal?" he asked, not knowing how else to formulate the question.
Zoe returned to her chair, her face expressing a mixture of admiration and thoughtfulness.
"'Normal' is an inapplicable concept after the Resonance," she said. "But this is... unique. Even among technomancers, such integration is rare. Our interfaces are biocybernetic, but still separate from us. Your node is not an interface. It's... part of you."
She paused, as if considering something, then continued:
"But it's unstable. The activation of the second node caused... an imbalance. Your abilities are strengthening, but control is weakening. This can be... dangerous."
"Dangerous for me?" asked Alex.
"For you. For those around you," Zoe answered seriously. "The information flow is powerful. To misdirect it is like triggering an avalanche. The consequences... unpredictable."
Alex remembered the failure at the transport hub and mentally winced. If his growing abilities continued to get out of control, he could cause serious harm.
"And what should I do?" he asked. "Is there a way to stabilize these changes?"
Zoe pondered, her patterns slowly pulsating in rhythm with her thoughts.
"My mentor, Neira Somova," she said finally. "She knows ancient arts. Technomancy in forms close to pre-resonance practices. She could... help. Teach control."
"Is your mentor in your enclave?" asked Alex. "Is it far from here?"
"Two days' journey," replied Zoe. "To the east. In the mountains. A protected place."
She looked at him with curiosity.
"But your path leads to the 'Nexus' center," she reminded him. "To your roots. To your past."
Alex felt two desires fighting within him: to learn the truth about his origin and the "Binary Twins" project, or to learn to control his growing abilities.
"What if," he said slowly, "I first visit the 'Nexus' center, and then go to your enclave? You said you know a safe path through the aberration zone."
Zoe nodded, but her gaze became more serious.
"I know," she confirmed. "But the path requires... a certain state. Control over perception. Meditative focus. In your current state... the risk is high."
She stood up and approached one of the walls of the shelter, touching it in several places. The wall responded, forming something like a three-dimensional map of the region. Alex recognized the outlines of mountains and valleys, though they had changed significantly after the Resonance.
"Here we are," Zoe pointed to a pulsating dot. "Here is the 'Nexus' center," another dot, surrounded by a pulsating red zone. "The aberration zone. Distorted space-time. Transition points are unstable. Without preparation and protection... impossible to pass."
Then she pointed to a third dot, located in another direction.
"Neira's enclave. A safe path. There you will gain control skills. Protection. Preparation. And then... we can go to 'Nexus' together. Safely."
Alex studied the map, weighing his options. The stubborn desire to immediately head to the "Nexus" center fought with the rational understanding of the danger of the aberration zone and his own unstable condition.
"That sounds... reasonable," he finally admitted. "But why do you want to help me? What do you get from this, apart from knowledge about my node?"
Zoe lowered her hand, and the map dissolved into the wall. She turned to Alex, and on her face was reflected a complex emotion that he couldn't decipher.
"I am a technomancer," she said. "But also... a researcher. The history of the Resonance, the projects before it... a puzzle. A mystery. Your node is part of this mystery. Part of a greater pattern. To understand it is to understand part of our world."
She paused, as if deciding on something.
"And there is something else," she added more quietly. "Neira Somova is also seeking answers. About projects that preceded the Resonance. About whether it was an accident... or by design. Your node, your history — part of these answers."
Alex shuddered. This was too similar to what he had learned in the Ark Archive — hints that the Resonance might not have been a catastrophe, but a planned event.
"You think the Resonance was... intentional?" he asked quietly.
Zoe didn't answer directly. Instead, she looked at him with an expression that seemed almost sympathetic.
"I think that to find answers requires preparation," she said carefully. "Physical. Mental. Emotional. Truth has... weight. Not everyone is ready to bear it."
She came closer and knelt before him, so that their eyes were at the same level. The golden particles in her eyes formed a new pattern resembling a sun with radiating rays.
"I offer to prepare you for this weight," she said. "To teach you control over your node. To stabilize the growth of your abilities. And then, together, we can seek answers. At the 'Nexus' center. In other places. In the very structure of reality, changed by the Resonance."
Her offer was sincere, Alex could feel it. And logical. If his abilities were indeed becoming more dangerous, he needed training in control. And Zoe and her mentor seemed to offer exactly that.
"All right," he said after a long moment of reflection. "We'll go to Neira Somova's enclave. I want to learn to control my... node. And then we'll go together to the 'Nexus' center."
Zoe's face lit up with a smile, and her patterns flashed brighter.
"A wise decision," she said, rising. "We'll rest today. Tomorrow at dawn, we'll set out. Neira's enclave... awaits us."
She approached another niche in the wall, which opened, forming something like a sleeping place — an organic platform covered with soft, glowing moss.
"Rest," she offered, pointing to this bed. "The shelter is secure. Protected from external influences. From scanning. From pursuers."
Alex gratefully accepted the offer. The day had been long and full of events, and fatigue was finally taking its toll. He lowered himself onto the strange organic bed, which turned out to be surprisingly comfortable, adapting to the contours of his body.
Zoe moved to another part of the shelter, where, apparently, her own resting place was located. But before disappearing from view, she turned around.
"Alex," she said, pronouncing his name with a special intonation, as if tasting it. "Your journey is just beginning. Your node is awakening. The second node is calling. Fate is weaving a pattern in which you are... the central thread."
With these enigmatic words, she disappeared into the shadow, leaving him to reflect on everything he had heard and experienced during this long day.
Lying in the strange but cozy nest, Alex thought about Zoe Kishi, about her offer, about the enclave of technomancers and Neira Somova. He thought about his implant — the node, as Zoe called it — and about his growing, unstable abilities. But most of all, he thought about Sarah, his twin sister, the bearer of the second node. Where was she? What had happened to her after the Resonance? And was she aware of the connection between them, as he was beginning to be?
With these thoughts, Alex drifted into an uneasy sleep, full of strange images of information flows, spiral DNA structures, and a face so similar to his own, but with subtle, elusive differences.