The day after his meeting with Chloe, Li Feng found his internal algorithms whirring with a new objective. Investigating Julian Vance. It was an intriguing deviation from his usual optimization of personal systems and market data. He approached it like any other complex problem: gather data, identify patterns, form hypotheses.
His first step was passive observation. He cross-referenced public university records for Julian's declared major – computer science, as expected. He then ran a search for any published papers, projects, or online presence that might hint at his current work. Julian, it turned out, was a phantom online, with almost no public footprint beyond a basic student profile. That alone was a notable data point for Li Feng: high-level secrecy.
He sent a message to Chloe: "I require access to the network at your residence to observe the inconsistencies directly." Chloe replied almost immediately, a string of emojis that Li Feng filed under 'relieved.' "Come over tonight. My parents are out."
That evening, as dusk settled over Eastbridge, Li Feng found himself outside Chloe's house, a far cry from his stark apartment. It was a sprawling place, well-kept but with an underlying hum of disarray that Li Feng's precise mind registered. Chloe met him at the door, her smile a little strained.
"Thanks for coming," she said, ushering him into a living room filled with comfortable, mismatched furniture. "Julian's in his usual lair. The basement. He rarely comes up unless he's grabbing food or coffee. Just... don't be too obvious."
Li Feng nodded. "Understood." He pulled out a small, unobtrusive device from his backpack – a network monitoring tool he'd cobbled together from spare parts. He plugged it into a discreet outlet near the main router. A small indicator light blinked green, silently beginning to log network traffic, data rates, and any unusual packet transfers.
He spent the next hour talking to Chloe in the living room, ostensibly just hanging out, but his senses were acutely tuned to the house. He heard a low, persistent hum from below, deeper than any standard PC. He observed the Wi-Fi signal strength, noting subtle, fleeting spikes in bandwidth that defied the normal usage patterns Chloe had described. It was as if the network was briefly being pushed to its absolute limits, then released.
A sudden thud from the basement made them both jump. Moments later, Julian Vance emerged, looking even more disheveled than Chloe had described. His eyes were bloodshot, his hair a mess, and he clutched a large, half-empty coffee mug. He barely glanced at Li Feng.
"Hey, Chloe. Don't touch my setup downstairs. Seriously. I'm almost there." His voice was hoarse, edged with a frantic energy. He caught Li Feng's eye for a fleeting second, a flicker of suspicion, before retreating towards the kitchen.
Chloe shot Li Feng an apologetic look. "See what I mean?"
Li Feng simply nodded, processing the direct observation. Julian's possessiveness, his physical state, the cryptic warning – all new data points. He continued to monitor the network. The hum from the basement intensified for a few minutes, followed by another surge in network activity, then a sudden, complete drop-off. Silence.
Later, as Li Feng unplugged his device, he had a clearer picture. "Your assessment of inconsistencies was accurate," he told Chloe. "His network traffic is highly irregular. Short bursts of immense data transfer, followed by periods of complete dormancy. And the data being transmitted... it's encrypted with a protocol I do not immediately recognize. It's complex."
Chloe hugged herself. "So, he is doing something weird. What do you think it is?"
Li Feng paused, his mind sifting through the raw data. "It is not a typical virus or a standard hacking attempt. The traffic patterns suggest a massive, localized processing task, utilizing your home network's full capacity, then shutting down. The phrase 'unveiling the new truth' combined with this pattern suggests... a large-scale data generation or transformation. He is building something. Something significant, and energy-intensive."
Chloe looked pale. "Significant how? Like, dangerous significant?"
Li Feng considered. "I cannot determine the precise nature or intent at this stage. However, any system that consumes such vast resources and operates with such secrecy... warrants further investigation. He has indeed created a new puzzle piece."
As Li Feng walked away from Chloe's house, his mind was already constructing frameworks for the next phase of his investigation. This was a different kind of system to understand, one intertwined with human unpredictability and hidden ambitions. It was proving to be a challenge as intricate as any market algorithm, and Li Feng found himself, surprisingly, looking forward to unraveling it.