Chapter 176. The Aeon Project (1)
After searching through the computer for some time, Nova finally found a particular file.
She knew instinctively that this was what she had been looking for.
“So this is the important information related to the Aeon Project.”
Nova opened the file with a tense expression.
Naturally, it was locked.
But breaking through that kind of security was not particularly difficult for her.
Gulp.
Nova swallowed dryly and quickly began removing the lock.
She had no idea whether she could handle whatever consequences came from opening it.
But curiosity, and the desire for knowledge she possessed as a scholar, drove her forward.
“It’s open.”
Nova muttered unconsciously when the protection finally disappeared.
Inside the file was a research paper.
She quickly began reading.
[...The Sophia Project failed because the ‘vessel’ had limits.]
Nova flinched at the very first paragraph.
She had not expected the Sophia Project to be mentioned here.
That meant this really was core information Abraxas wanted to keep hidden.
Nova continued reading quickly.
[...A rapidly growing brain is capable of storing tremendous amounts of information and performing extraordinary calculations.]
[The problem is that the body and ego responsible for controlling that brain cannot develop at the same rate.]
[In the end, collapse becomes inevitable in one form or another.]
Nova already knew that part well.
The results of the Sophia Project were proof of it.
And she herself was slowly dying for the exact same reason.
[...It is essentially the same as trying to pour an ocean’s worth of information into a narrow vessel.]
[Eventually, the vessel reaches its limit and shatters.]
The author clearly understood the problem too.
The real issue was what came next.
[...For that reason, the Aeon Project prevents the collapse of the ego and body by dividing a single brain among multiple recipients.]
[In other words, it creates a parallel system.]
Nova’s breath caught.
This was apparently the true core of the Aeon Project.
Dividing a brain and implanting it into multiple people?
Nova trembled without realizing it.
The idea was beyond anything she had imagined.
She kept reading.
[...If multiple egos share a single body of knowledge and information, the rate of collapse becomes slower.]
[Even an endless ocean might somehow be contained if divided among an infinite number of plates.]
[That hypothesis forms the core of the Aeon Project.]
“Are they insane?”
The words escaped Nova’s mouth naturally.
They had already recognized the limits of the Sophia Project, yet instead of stopping, they were repeating the same thing on an even larger scale.
Humans were still human.
At best, the collapse would only happen more slowly.
If their minds were forced to process endless amounts of information and calculations, they would eventually break somehow.
And Abraxas was planning to carry out such madness openly.
Horrified, Nova continued reading.
[...For this process, one thing is required.]
[The brain of a Sophia Project test subject that continues to undergo abnormal growth even now.]
Nova’s eyes began trembling.
A Sophia Project test subject.
There was only one person that could refer to.
A voice inside her told her not to read any further.
But she could not stop.
As if possessed, she slowly continued to the next line.
The final sentence was short.
And it slammed into her consciousness with brutal force.
[...Your brain, Nova Hanson.]
“Gasp!”
Nova staggered backward in horror.
As though he had been waiting for that exact moment, a sinister voice came from the darkness behind her.
“You worked hard to get all the way here, Nova Hanson.”
A thick hand suddenly covered her mouth.
Nova reflexively tried to scream, but even that was smothered.
“Mmph! Mmph!”
“Shhhhh.”
With the playful warning, the figure slowly emerged from the darkness.
A fat body.
A bald head.
A lab coat.
It was No. 11, one of Abraxas’s Archons.
He looked at Nova with a mocking smile.
“Did you really think Alpha wouldn’t know you were coming here?”
“We were simply waiting for the fish to enter the trap.”
His gaze settled on Nova’s head.
An indescribable greed gleamed in No. 11’s eyes.
“The Aeon Project requires your brain.”
“Your abnormally developed cerebral cortex is the key to the entire project.”
With that, No. 11 slowly reached toward Nova’s head.
His huge hand swallowed her vision in darkness.
“To think you would personally deliver your brain to me.”
“Hehehehe.”
Seeing the shadow descend over her, Nova panicked.
I can’t stay like this.
I can’t.
The moment that thought struck her, Nova violently bit down on the hand covering her mouth.
“Ghk!”
No. 11 recoiled in surprise and pulled his hand away.
She had bitten hard enough that blood was pouring from it.
Nova quickly backed away and shouted sharply,
“Who said you could take my brain?!”
No. 11 sneered.
“And what exactly are you going to do about it?”
“What can you do?”
“You may be intelligent, but physically you’re still just a child!”
