Chapter 6: Noosfera
Black fog swallowed Aris like cosmic lungs collapsing into themselves. He was thrown, as if pulled. Every step felt like fighting against the current. The fog was not just dark; it was full of whispers. Fragments of concepts flashed by: possibilities, denials, memories that had not yet happened. The symbol of Dasein on his chest glowed dimly, pulsing to a rhythm that was not his heartbeat.
Every time Aris took a step, the ground beneath his feet changed: sometimes like stone, sometimes like glass, sometimes like unwritten text. The fog thickened, then... slowly... thinned. Aris saw a point of light at the end, he touched it and the world opened up.
Noosfera.
The sky was not blue, but rather layers of transparent data, like a giant hologram displaying streams of code, energy maps, and light orbits. The sun there was a ring of white light, slowly revolving around a dark core like a tame singularity shackled by technology.
The city stretched out in all directions.
The buildings do not stand; they float, supported by geometric mandala-shaped anti-gravity fields. The highways are in the air, layered like vertical honeycombs. Flying cars glide silently, leaving only a trail of pale blue light. Among them, humans and something that used to be human move with modified bodies: black ceramic-coated metal arms, neon-glowing eyes, transparent spines revealing energy flows.
Teleportation circles stand at every major intersection. Giant rings of white metal with spinning symbols, emitting a low hum like a machine chant. From within them, figures appeared and disappeared in flashes of light.
In the air, mechanical-winged cyborgs flew by. Their wings were not feathers, but rigid grids of light that changed shape according to their maneuvers. Some carried heavy weapons. Some carried prism-shaped packages of data.
Aris stood frozen.
The symbol on his chest pulsed faster.
He could see the time knots here, but not like before. The knots were dense, overlapping each other, like a giant neural network forced to live. Noosfera was not just a city. It was a collective consciousness made manifest.
"I have to find Mr. Logos..." Aris muttered.
The name resonated. Several time knots trembled, as if the name were a password that the world system almost recognized.
Aris stepped into the flow of the city. He walked among the crowd, feeling ancient. His body was still completely biological, his clothes torn from cosmic battles. Several cyborgs turned their heads, their sensors scanning. Transparent HUDs appeared in their eyes. Aris saw his reflection on the glass surface of a building.
STATUS: CONCEPTUAL ANOMALY.
Some backed away. Some whispered through closed data channels. Aris felt a subtle pressure, not a direct threat, more like the city's immune system recognizing a foreign object. He entered a floating plaza. In the center stood a giant statue: a half-mechanical, half-light human figure with its arms raised. Beneath the statue was engraved a single sentence:
"THE MIND IS A SYSTEM."
Aris stared at him for a long time.
"Those were the words spoken by Lord Logos," a strange voice came from behind.
Aris turned around reflexively.
The figure was tall, almost two meters. Its body was half cyborg, but not excessively so. An old gray metal frame with faded gold lines, like old scars. Its face was humanoid, but the left half was replaced by a transparent plate that revealed glowing blue synthetic nerve tissue.
One eye was cold, gray human. The other was a layered lens, rotating slowly.
On its back was a large, circular module, full of ports and weapon connections.
"I am Axel Prime," it said. Its voice was deep, layered with a subtle distortion. "And you... are not from this cycle."
Aris swallowed. "You know Mr. Logos?"
Axel Prime smiled thinly. "I know him. He is my lord.
They moved together, cutting through city corridors that didn't appear on public maps. Axel led the way, manipulating light panels with hand gestures. Walls opened, revealing service routes floating between buildings.
"Lord Logos is Dasein," said Axel as he walked. "But he is different from most Dasein. He was not chosen by a cosmic entity. He became Dasein through his own power."
"What's the difference?" asked Aris.
"Consciousness," replied Axel briefly. "He realized he was a node, then decided to merge with the node and gain consciousness. That... is more dangerous. Because if even a little bit of consciousness is lost, it will become the foundation of the world."
They arrived at a hidden workshop, suspended beneath the main city. The room was spacious, filled with mechanical arms, quantum printers, mini reactors, and shelves containing strange artifacts. Some looked like fossils of future technology.
Axel stopped in the middle of the room.
"Do you need a weapon, right?" he said. "To attack and also to defend yourself as a Dasein."
"How do you know I'm also a Dasein?" said Aris.
"From your knot, which is the same as Lord Logos's," replied Axel.
He pointed to the main workbench. "And a weapon like that cannot be made from ordinary metal."
The design of the sword appeared as a hologram.
The hilt was a short cylinder, silver-gray metal, its surface rough as if it had undergone thousands of cycles of friction over time. Embedded inside was a cognitive chip, pulsing with a soft light. A small red button was located on the side of the hilt, covered by a transparent protector.
"The synchronization trigger," Axel explained. "Don't press it carelessly."
The blade... was not a metal blade. It was quantum light, yellowish-white, solid yet smoky at the edges. An aura of red and blue mist swirled around it, pulling at each other like two principles forced into peace.
"Red is determination," said Axel. "Blue is manipulation. If balanced, this sword can cut not only the core of matter. But also penetrate shields and cosmic illusions."
Aris felt the symbol on his chest react.
"Then what are the materials?" asked Aris.
Axel was silent for a moment. His lenses spun faster.
"Here's the riddle. This sword was designed by Lord Logos, and he gave up on continuing it," said Axel. "Maybe you can ask him directly."
Aris sighed. "Then where is Lord Logos?"
Axel looked at him straight in the eye. "Somewhere in Noosfera."
Outside the workshop, Noosfera continued to pulse as if aware that a new Dasein was preparing to draw a thin line between cycles.
And far away in a secret place that even Noosfera's maps couldn't find, Logos opened his eyes.
He smiled.
"The knot has finally moved."
