Chapter 7: The Spiral of Nodes
I. The Spiral's First Turn
Morning, heavy with fog, the abandoned library's clock tower loomed like a dormant beast in translucent dawn light.
Jason stood alone on its platform, the city's fractured skyline—crumbling towers, decayed frameworks—blurring behind him.
His fingers tapped a steady, precise rhythm on an inkless pen's metal barrel.
In his mind, the system hummed, cold and orderly:
> [HEX64 Prompt: Marsh-Wind Great Excess Hexagram Activated]
> - Primary Hexagram: Marsh-Wind Great Excess
> - Philosophical Guidance:
> "The beam bends, perilous.''
> ''A great tree nears collapse; support it with distributed strength.''
> - Current Node Scale: 3 Origin Nodes.
> - Strategic Directives:
> - Initiate peripheral node expansion spiral.
> - Avoid direct core node exposure.
> - Establish layered organization, build preliminary distributed strength matrix.
> [System Prompt: New Module Online]
> - Module Name: Spiral Engine
> - Module Functions:
> - Automated multilayer node network structuring.
> - Core node protection (risk dispersal via peripheral layers).
> - Spiral growth mode (every 3 node layers can independently fission new groups).
> - Current Node Capacity Limit: 30 (Initial Expansion Cap).
Jason lowered his head, closing his eyes.
Wind swept through the tower's hollows, stirring dust at his feet.
In the darkness, he envisioned a vast spiral web,
Unfurling from his palm,
Piercing ruins, city wreckage, the world's skeleton.
Zhao Mingxuan climbed up, panting:
"You… really going for it?"
He clutched a rough list—potential peripheral recruits compiled from weeks of observation:
- Skilled Talents (communications, hacking, engineering)
- Intelligence Nodes (observers, gossip hubs, spreaders)
- Manipulation Nodes (social adept, minor leaders)
- Execution Nodes (swift, obedient)
Lisa Peng followed, frowning:
"But… expanding too fast—won't it expose us?"
Jason took the list, glanced at it, and spoke softly while descending the tower's steps:
"It's not expansion that exposes.
It's lack of structure that collapses."
Lisa paused.
Zhao chuckled under his breath, matching Jason's stride:
"Got it.
You're not recruiting.
You're—building a system."
> [HEX64 Prompt: Structural Guidance Initiated]
> - First Recruitment Wave Targets Locked: 12.
> - Preliminary Layer Allocation:
> - Core Nodes (Jason + Zhao Mingxuan + Lisa)
> - First Peripheral Layer (Imminent Recruitment)
> - Second Latent Layer (Pending Expansion)
Noon.
School club zone open day.
The field swarmed with students, an ant colony in motion.
Club booths crowded together, each table a latent node.
Jason wove through,
Unhurried,
Taking no direct action,
Just observing—
Seeking the next star to place on his chessboard.
Zhao Mingxuan posed as a small club recruiter, engaging, talking, filtering.
Lisa handled data tagging and covert observation, identifying those with true belonging potential.
Fragmented chatter swirled:
"Heard the tech club's expanding?"
"Rumor is they've got someone backing them… super stable."
"Should we apply?"
"Kael's group… nah, too chaotic."
Jason listened.
The system analyzed in real-time.
The wind
Was tilting.
> [HEX64 Prompt: Recruitment Progress Sync]
> - First Wave Contacted: 8.
> - Preliminary Belonging Intent Confirmed: 5.
> - Remaining 3: Observant, Undecided.
Near dusk, Jason reached the abandoned basketball court's edge.
Zhao and Lisa waited there.
On the ground, a simple spiral diagram was sketched.
Jason crouched, tapping its center lightly, murmuring:
"It starts here.
Every ring
Must survive."
Wind rustled the paper.
Night fell.
A true shadow spiral web,
In this broken world,
Silently unfurled.
II. The Dark Tide Forms
Saturday morning, unexpectedly clear.
A corner of the shattered city glowed briefly, falsely warm in autumn sunlight.
On the field, tattered flags and banners flapped in the breeze.
Makeshift booths formed a maze, an illusion of prosperity.
[Campus Club Simulation Expo].
Ostensibly to showcase club strength, attract freshmen and resources.
In truth—
A chaotic contest of undercurrents and clashes.
Jason, in a plain gray cap, blended into the crowd.
His gaze sliced through the milling students, a falcon hunting invisible prey in the wind.
> [HEX64 Prompt: Marsh-Wind Great Excess Hexagram Progress Sync]
> - Current Phase: Preliminary Spiral Structure Formed
> - Field Emotion Scan:
> - Desire Density Rising (Resource Competition)
> - Unease Density Increasing (Factional Conflict)
> - Belonging Need Sprouting (Seeking Safety)
> - Strategic Directives:
> - Slow direct manipulation.
> - Observe natural node aggregation and fission.
> - Plant new belonging cues opportunistically.
Zhao Mingxuan, in a clean uniform, chatted amiably at the tech club's modest booth.
Behind him, Lisa distributed flyers—
Ostensibly invites to a "tech interest group,"
Each secretly marked with Jason's identifiers:
Belonging intent trackers.
Varying colors, frequencies.
Within three days, the system would detect the true leanings of those holding them.
At the booth, targets emerged:
- Victor Samuel: Repair fanatic, adept at electronics and small device mods, socially aloof but highly executable.
- Vera Black: Info gatherer, gossip queen, message relay node.
- Daniel Royce: Taciturn, physically robust, ideal for action roles.
Jason watched from afar.
Each person,
Each gesture,
Each hesitation,
Traced their future belonging in the wind.
Suddenly, a small conflict erupted.
The neighboring booth—
Kael Elliott's new extremist splinter group—
Provoked Zhao's side, toppling their model display and sneering:
"This is your little hobby project?
Pathetic."
Zhao's face flushed, ready to retort.
Jason stepped forward, pressing Zhao's shoulder lightly.
A subtle move,
But an invisible hand quenching the explosive tension.
Zhao looked up, meeting Jason's eyes.
Jason shook his head faintly.
He stepped toward the provocateurs, voice low, each word clear:
"Petty provocations
Only expose your weaknesses."
"True strength
Doesn't destroy.
It chooses
Where to build."
He didn't linger.
Turning, he left.
The provocateurs stood awkward,
Whispers rippling through onlookers like tides.
Zhao, Lisa, and those holding flyers—
Their gazes
Shifted subtly.
> [HEX64 Prompt: Wind Adjustment Successful]
> - Target Node Belonging Intent Up: +7%.
> - Kael's New Faction Local Prestige Down.
> - Potential New Belonging Nodes: +2.
Afternoon.
Sunlight turned harsh.
As the expo ended, Jason stood on the school gate's steps.
A gray-white map unfurled in his mind.
Node positions—
Scattered.
Blurred.
Yet spinning,
Converging,
Spiraling—
At a pace invisible to the naked eye.
III. The Enemy's Mutation
Night, beside the abandoned water tower on the school's back hill.
Cold wind howled through cracked metal pipes, shrieking.
A small group circled the tower.
Kael Elliott stood at the center,
Gripping a rusted steel pipe,
Eyes cold, teeth gritted,
Staring at a trembling freshman sprawled at his feet.
Blood streaked the boy's face, his body quaking.
The air was mercury, frozen and toxic.
"Useless trash."
Kael spat the words, discarding spoiled meat.
Beside him, a lanky teen, Aaron Sacks, grinned twistedly:
"Weaklings don't belong here."
He waved, signaling others to drag the injured boy away.
No mercy.
Rough hands tossed him like garbage beside abandoned tracks.
The boy curled up silently, eyes ashen.
> [HEX64 Prompt: Hostile Node Mutation Monitoring]
> - Kael Faction Internal: Extremism Trend Intensifying.
> - Aaron Sacks Leading New Subgroup ("Annihilation Faction").
> - Annihilation Faction Traits:
> - High Aggression.
> - Zero Tolerance.
> - Hollow Belief (Destruction for Destruction's Sake, Not Survival or Belonging).
> - Risk Level Upgraded: Medium-High.
Meanwhile, behind an abandoned bus,
Jason, Zhao Mingxuan, and Lisa watched silently.
Jason's face was expressionless,
But his fingers tapped his knee unconsciously,
Each beat like thunder rolling in the dark.
Zhao hissed through clenched teeth:
"They're insane…
This isn't about resources anymore.
They're destroying themselves."
Lisa, eyes grave, whispered:
"Should we… report it?"
Jason said nothing.
The system murmured:
> [HEX64 Prompt: Wind Shift Surge]
> - Annihilation Faction Will Rapidly Corrode Kael's Core.
> - Predicted: 72 Hours Until Internal Collapse, External Conflict Probability Spiking.
> [Strategic Directives]:
> - Avoid direct intervention.
> - Accelerate internal fission.
> - Beware Annihilation Faction's Uncontrolled Destructive Spread.
Jason narrowed his eyes.
Not anger.
Not fear.
But cold assessment.
This was inevitable fission.
And—a natural screening.
He murmured:
"Not every fragment is worth piecing back together.
Some
Are meant to be scattered by the wind."
Lisa bit her lip, silent.
Zhao's fists clenched, shoulders trembling.
Jason saw but offered no comfort.
Just a light pat on Zhao's shoulder,
Like urging a young eagle to the battlefield.
In the distance, Aaron Sacks and his extremists laughed maniacally,
Like feral dogs,
Like shadows crawling from ruins.
Kael stood still.
Fists tight, eyes flickering with struggle and confusion.
He was realizing—
He could no longer control the fire he'd ignited.
> [HEX64 Prompt: Kael Faction Split Complete]
> - Kael Main Faction: 20% Loyalty Remaining.
> - Annihilation Faction: New Independent Mutant Node Group, Extreme Aggression Index.
> - Predicted: Annihilation Faction's First Indiscriminate Violent Act Within 72 Hours.
Jason turned silently,
Leading Zhao and Lisa away from the bus's shadowed path.
Wind stirred dust,
A silent avalanche under moonlight.
The dark tide had formed.
The node spiral
Was tearing apart,
And rebuilding.
IV. Nodes Falling Into Place
Night, a cascading veil.
On the school's western abandoned plaza, cracked concrete reflected moonlight's ghost.
Jason stood at the center, surrounded by a restless, fractured node group.
Zhao Mingxuan, Lisa Peng, John Wells, and other newly loyal but unsteady peripheral nodes,
Their expressions varied, the air taut with a cracking sensation.
A dangerous pulse teetered on the edge of slipping from control.
> [HEX64 Prompt: Marsh-Wind Great Excess Hexagram Progress Accelerated]
> - Current Node Status:
> - Core Nodes: Stable (3)
> - First Peripheral Layer: Expanding (12)
> - Second Latent Layer: Forming (Incomplete Belonging)
> - Risk Alert:
> - Faith Coherence Declining.
> - Localized Node Autonomous Fission Tendency.
> - Annihilation Faction Infiltration Threat Rising.
> - Strategic Guidance:
> "Overloaded, it breaks.''
> ''Stability comes not from force, but from order."
A shallowly loyal node, Tommy Green, erupted:
"Why follow some shadowy 'leader' who never shows up?!"
His words sparked murmurs,
Ripples spreading like needles piercing water.
Zhao's face darkened, ready to argue.
Lisa tugged his sleeve, urging calm.
Jason merely narrowed his eyes,
Waiting.
> [HEX64 Prompt: Critical Threshold Reached]
> - Can Trigger "Alignment Calibration" Directive.
> - Calibration Contents:
> - Layered Belonging Confirmation.
> - Faith Crack Assessment.
> - Localized Node Purge (If Necessary).
Jason stepped to the plaza's center.
Moonlight bathed him,
Casting a cold, sharp shadow.
He lowered his head,
Drawing a simple spiral in the dirt with his foot.
Each ring
Tighter,
More centripetal.
His voice, soft, cut through the restless crowd:
"Freedom
Is a right.
Leaving
Is a right."
"But those who stay
Must understand—
Belonging
Isn't for me.
Not for any one person.
It's for—
A place to stand
In the storm."
Tommy opened his mouth,
But meeting Jason's calm, near-ruthless eyes,
His throat froze.
Some looked down.
Some clenched fists.
Others turned and left.
Tommy hesitated, then stormed off,
Taking three with him.
But those who stayed
Stood closer.
> [HEX64 Prompt: Alignment Calibration Complete]
> - Unstable Nodes Shed: 3.
> - Stable Node Belonging Up: +15%.
> - Node Network Spiral Stability Rate Up: 68%.
Jason gazed at the simple spiral at his feet.
His fingers tightened faintly.
Wind swirled gravel and dust around them,
Spinning.
Not a gale.
Not a hurricane.
But—order.
Their own true order,
Growing bit by bit
On these ruins.
Zhao stepped forward, voice hoarse but firm:
"Those who stay
Won't waver again."
Lisa nodded, eyes bright as breaking dawn.
Jason said nothing.
Just smiled faintly—
The silent smile
Of one who truly held the board.
V. Shadow of the Gamebreaker
Midnight.
Abandoned library's top floor.
Wind roared like a beast through broken walls,
Tugging tattered flag scraps.
Jason stood alone at a shattered window.
Moonlight etched his stark profile,
His gaze piercing the night,
Awaiting an imminent echo.
The system's interface hovered silently.
Until—
A red alert, never seen before, flickered:
> [HEX64 Urgent Prompt: Potential Gamebreaker Detected]
> - Detection Results:
> - Advanced Manipulation Signal Anomaly.
> - External Force Interference Traces Captured.
> - Latent Node Intervention Trend Intensifying.
> [Gamebreaker Codename]: TRACE (Endless)
> [Warning]:
> - Gamebreaker Level Exceeds Current Node Spiral Protection Threshold.
> - High Probability of Independent Manipulation System.
> - Direct Confrontation Not Advised.
> - Recommendation: Covert Observation, Deduce Reverse Tracking Path.
The wind stilled instantly.
Jason's eyes narrowed.
TRACE.
A codename of unknown peril.
Its emergence meant he'd never truly held the board alone—
While weaving his spiral web,
Another invisible hand
Was laying its own design.
Not Kael.
Not the Annihilation Faction.
But a true player
From this rotting world's depths.
> [HEX64 Supplementary Analysis Prompt]
> - TRACE Existence Hypothesis:
> - Source: Remnant of FSA Unified Experimental Program System.
> - Nature: Autonomous Evolving Social Control Node.
> - Objective: Screen, Test, Harvest Potential Node Factions.
> - Alert Strategies:
> - Avoid direct engagement.
> - Under spiral stability, inversely induce TRACE to reveal action traces.
Jason's fist clenched slowly.
Knuckles gleamed faintly in moonlight.
He understood.
The origin nodes,
The peripheral spiral,
Kael, the Annihilation Faction,
Even the school's club wars and systemic decay—
All might be part
Of a higher experimental arena.
And he,
From the start,
Was under another player's gaze.
But Jason only smiled faintly.
Not submission.
Not fear.
But—true battle lust.
He murmured:
"If you want a show,
I'll give you
Something worth watching."
> [HEX64 Sync Update]
> - Strategic Mode Shift: [Camouflage Spiral Phase]
> - Slow peripheral expansion pace.
> - Enhance node concealment and autonomy.
> - Construct false decoy network to inversely lure TRACE's moves.
The tower's broken clock hand trembled in the wind.
A stray cat leapt onto the ruined wall,
Whining softly at Jason in the dark.
He looked up,
Gazing into the city ruins' depths.
There,
Another hidden kingdom
Silently bared its viper fangs.
The spiral kept turning.
But from this moment,
The game became—
A dual spiral shadow war.
One, Jason's nascent order sown in ruins.
The other,
TRACE,
A predatory web hatched in rotting flesh.
The storm had truly begun.