Mert installed the protocol Sofia had sent and wrote a short message to Kai:
"Hello Kai. This is Mert. I felt you. And you me... We need to talk. Especially about the symbols. I have a friend, an archaeologist. In Konya, she found the same symbols you drew in the ground. 5000 years old. This must mean something. Let's talk. - Mert"
He sent the message. The reply came within minutes:
"Mert. Yes. I felt it. I still feel you, a little. A strange feeling. But also beautiful. Hana feels it too. With my violin, our frequency seems to have increased. Symbols... Frankly, I don't know their meaning. But they are everywhere. Derya... Who is she? Someone special to you? Because I felt her too. The connection between you... Very strong. I was a little jealous, to be honest. - Kai"
Mert smiled when he read the message. That someone he didn't know, from so far away, was jealous of him... How strange, how beautiful. The network was alive. And in this network, not only data but also emotions were flowing.
"Derya, my ex-girlfriend. But now... more. The anomaly brought us back together. She's also one of the triggered ones. Connected to the earth, to the past. Symbols are her field. You must meet her. - Mert"
"I'd like to meet her. But first, let me meet you. It's not enough to feel; we need to talk. I want to hear your voice. Can we set up a secure line? - Kai"
Mert set up a secure voice connection using Sofia's protocol. A few seconds later, Kai's voice echoed in his headphones: soft, a little hesitant, but warm.
"Hello Mert." The protocol was translating but not correcting the accent. The voice… sounded a little funny.
"Hello Kai."
They both paused for a moment. There was so much to say, but they didn't know where to start. Finally, Kai spoke:
"This is very strange. I've never seen you before, but I feel like I've known you for years. I saw your mind, Mert. Your laboratory, the Bosphorus, Derya..."
Mert's throat tightened. "I saw you too. Your loneliness, your ink, Hana. That violin sound... It's still in my ears."
"Hana means a lot to me," Kai said, his voice trembling slightly. "If it weren't for her, I couldn't have handled this much. She was also triggered, but in a different way. Her music became a bridge for us." There was a long silence… "Mert," Kai finally said, "these symbols... I'm trying to understand what they are. As I draw them, it's as if something is being resolved within me. But at the same time, new questions are arising. If these symbols are 5000 years old, what made them appear in my mind… It must be something ancient. But why me, why now?"
Mert remembered Elena's theory. Quantum entanglement. Inter-consciousness connection. The non-linear flow of time.
"Maybe," he began, "time is not a straight line as we think. Maybe the past, present, and future exist at the same time. And the anomaly has created a temporary bridge between these layers. You, perhaps, are remembering the symbols that someone saw in the past. Or what someone will see in the future."
Kai thought for a moment. "So I'm a kind of... channel? A point where the past and the future meet?"
"Maybe we all are. But you, with your art, can express this. Derya, with the earth."
"Nexus," Kai whispered. "As Sofia said. A network."
"Yes. And each node of this network is connected to the others. We are not alone, Kai."
Kai's voice was emotional. "For the first time in a long time, I feel like I'm not alone. Thank you, Mert."
"Thank you too. Now, let's get to the important part. The symbols you drew, the pictures. Can you send me photos of them? I'll pass them on to Derya. Maybe we can make sense of them together."
"Of course. I'll send them right away. But Mert... there's one more thing."
"What is it?"
"Anton. I felt him. In you, at that moment. Very cold, very dirty energy. I'm afraid of him. And I think he feels us too. Or at least, he's aware of our existence."
A shiver ran down Mert's spine. Anton. Always Anton. That greasy, cold being, standing like a dark node in the network. Trying to touch them, to pollute them.
"I know," Mert said, his voice serious. "He's also one of the triggered ones. But his purpose is very different from ours. He's after power. He wants to use us. Sofia is watching him. You must be careful."
"We will. I promise. And Mert... with Hana, we've discovered something else. When we're together, our energy multiplies. We don't just feel, we can also direct it. Maybe together, we can stand up to Anton."
Mert thought about this idea. Kai was right. Together, they were stronger. The power of the network came from the interlocking of the nodes.
"One day," Mert said, "we will meet. Face to face. All the triggered ones will come together. Then, we'll see how strong we are."
"I can't wait," Kai said. "But for now, it's good to stay connected, even from a distance."
"Very good. Kai... good night."
"Good night, Mert. And Derya... I can't wait to meet her."
The connection was cut. Mert took off his headphones, took a deep breath. Inside, there was an indescribable peace. A few hours ago, he had shared his most intimate feelings with a man he had never met, on the other side of the world. And it had done him good.
He looked out the window. The Bosphorus was turning pink with the first light of morning. In the distance, the cry of a seagull was heard. Life was going on as usual.
But inside Mert, everything had changed. He was no longer just a neuroscientist. He was part of a network. He was a node. And this node was tightly connected to the others.
His phone vibrated. A message from Derya:
"We found new symbols at the excavation. More complex, deeper. Like a map. Or a plan. Mert, these symbols are telling something. They may be pointing to a place. I'm sorry I can't write, but I'm very busy. I'm thinking of you. Every night, before I go to bed, I close my eyes and feel you. I hope you feel it too."
Mert smiled when he read the message. Yes, he felt it. Derya's warmth, the smell of the earth, his longing for her. In the network, their bond shone with a separate light.
"I feel it," he wrote back. "Every moment. And I talked to Kai. I'll send him the symbols. We'll solve it together. I love you, Derya. Good night."
He pressed send. He looked out the window at the city waking up. Istanbul was waking up. And he was right in the middle of this awakening.
Tomorrow was a new day. New connections, new discoveries, new dangers. But he was no longer alone. There was Kai, there was Derya, there was Elena, there was Sofia. There was Hana, there was Marcus. Maybe more.