Chapter 28: Ripples Beneath the Still Surface
Section I: TRACE Inspection Team Enters the Campus
Morning light, thin as gauze, spilled along the slanted angles of the teaching building complex and onto the main thoroughfare.
Five middle-aged men and women in School Council uniforms—calm expressions, steady steps—stepped into the outer perimeter of the campus core.
They were TRACE Interference Division's "Special Campus Administrators."
Officially, they came for the routine review of the ongoing restructuring of the school organization.
Unofficially, their real purpose was to confirm whether this school had deviated from its originally assigned control framework.
Inside the main conference hall of Building A2, three "Campus Administrators" awaited them:
Dean Han Du, former academic resources director (now loyal to Jason, operating as a peripheral node of Tidal Heart),Tang Se, head of Gray Wing Dispatch Group (newly appointed to Central Control Layer),R-8, System Instruction Administrator (ARGUS interface handler, disguised as a program emulator).
Their presence projected an image of order and clear functionality.
Holland Que, the leader of the TRACE inspection team, scanned the room with hawk-like eyes, searching for some "leader" figure.
But there was no one.
"This school," he began, voice even and unhurried, "has undergone quite extensive reorganization recently."
Han Du replied with a faint smile: "Yes. The organizational structure has been redrawn. All educational coordination, logistics, and life management are now centrally scheduled by the system. It's more efficient than before."
Holland flipped through a data sheet handed to him by his assistant. "I notice your system core is named ARGUS."
"Has the system been upgraded?"
Tang Se smiled politely: "The system permissions have been centralized under 'Tidal Heart.' Each node follows mapped instructions. There are no open command zones anymore."
"That was a standardization recommendation from the last audit team."
"I see," Holland nodded. "Well implemented."
He turned his gaze toward R-8, seated silently at the side: "You're the main system interface?"
R-8 nodded, expressionless. "I only execute commands. Not formulate them."
Holland studied him for a moment, then said, "May I inspect the backend permission flows?"
Han Du and Tang Se exchanged glances, feigning hesitation.
"Of course," Han Du responded with a polite expression. "However, we are currently running in 'Collaborative Protection Mode,' where all permission flows are delayed in feedback."
"If you force access, it may cause data buffer interference."
"Are you willing to take that risk?"
Holland didn't answer immediately. Instead, he stepped back two paces, fixating on the soft blue glow of the holographic terminal.
"You're running well," he finally said, voice low. "Commands executed, orders responded to—everything orderly."
He paused, turning back to Han Du:
"But sometimes... when something runs too smoothly, it feels like control."
The air grew still.
Jason stood in the dark control chamber hundreds of meters away, watching the scene unfold through ARGUS' private frequency. He whispered softly:
"Don't speak. Let him think he is in control."
Lisa stood behind him, tense. "He's probing for the manipulator behind the curtain."
"He won't find it," Jason said calmly.
"He won't realize… this is precisely the perfection we wanted him to see."
Ten minutes later, Holland made one final request:
"We would like to meet Jiang Yu, the 'System Observation Assistant.'"
Han Du hesitated slightly. "He was demoted due to a failed system evaluation. His identity has been moved to the Ecological Support Layer. Permissions revoked."
Holland's eyes sharpened. "Then I should meet him all the more."
Inside the isolation room, Jiang Yu sat at one end of a long table, red-eyed and pale-faced.
Three TRACE agents took seats across from him.
Holland placed an old communication translator on the table. "You know how to connect."
Jiang Yu lifted his gaze beyond the black mirrored surface, as if staring into something familiar yet distant.
He reached out cautiously, pressed the power button—
The device flickered.
[Permission Denied]
[Identity Level: Ecological Node]
[Interaction Range: Limited Community Feedback × Low-Level Observation]
[Legacy Authorization: Cleared]
Holland met his eyes coldly. "Did they erase your traces?"
Jiang Yu opened his mouth but found himself unable to speak.
He could feel the cold, distant presence of the system behind him—one that no longer belonged to him.
In Jason's ear, Fu Xi whispered:
[System Feedback Complete]
[External Behavior Trajectory Closed]
[TRACE Cognitive Prediction Preloaded]
Jason spoke softly:
"You can choose to tell the truth now."
"But if you do… you'll vanish from the system."
Jiang Yu looked at Holland, then at the camera lens.
Quietly, he said:
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Holland's gaze dimmed slightly. He did not press further, only rising to leave.
As he walked out the door, he murmured:
"You seem more systemized than the system itself now."
"But sometimes... when something runs too smoothly, it feels like control."
His footsteps faded, but his words lingered—echoes settling deep within Jiang Yu's chest.
Section II: Infiltrators × ARGUS System Purge
At midnight, the outer node G7 switched silently into "Gray Frequency Mode."
Beneath the seemingly normal façade of the teaching building, a second layer of perception quietly rose—
ARGUS Active Scanning Protocol Initiated
Target: Residual Behavioral Model Deviants
Jason stood in the command center, reviewing streams of incoming data, his voice low:
"Mark all nodes that generated non-system signal chains within the past 72 hours."
Zhao Mingxuan operated the console, jaw clenched. "How many infiltrators are there?"
ARGUS responded:
[Non-System Behavior Path Triggers: 6 instances]
[Behavior Deviation ≥5%: 3 individuals]
[Target Node IDs: B6-07, F3-19, D1-12]
[Status: Dormant × Passive Waiting × External Sync Attempts]
Lisa murmured, "They haven't acted yet. Just observing."
"TRACE doesn't want to startle the mice," John sneered from behind. "Letting them stay inside to act as sensors."
"Tonight," Jason said calmly, "we run a system-level counter-observation simulation."
02:13 AM
ARGUS triggered the [Covert Drift Protocol]
The system began generating false signals of internal malfunction:
Delayed command responses;
Occasional broken permission chains in command zones;
Misaligned logistics dispatches.
All of it was designed for one purpose:
To make the infiltrators believe the system was beginning to lose control—and thus trigger external contact attempts.
ARGUS alerts flashed rapidly:
[Node F3-19 Triggered Monitoring Attempt]
[Node D1-12 Attempted Exit from Sleep Zone, Approaching Subterranean Signal Well]
Jason nodded. "Let them go."
Lisa frowned. "Not stop them?"
"We just need them to take that next step."
03:41 AM
Two of the three infiltrators initiated synchronized route transmission behavior.
One attempted to send a signal via old electromagnetic networks.
Yet none of the packets escaped the first frequency barrier outside campus.
All were intercepted by ARGUS.
And ARGUS was no longer the same system.
It wasn't a firewall.
It was a decoy wall—a simulated channel pretending to be vulnerable,
luring intrusions in so it could reverse-lock the source, mapping paths, frequencies, and logic links.
The TRACE inspection team hadn't left—they were staying in the outer guest quarters.
That night, they received echo notifications as well.
Holland watched the node data models on the screen—
the moment the hidden points attempted upload,
they all became interference sources.
His voice was flat.
"You didn't catch the moles."
"You set bait for them."
Back in the command center, ARGUS issued a consolidation prompt:
[Infiltration Points Locked]
[Behavioral Model Confirmation Completed]
[Recommended Action: Structural Isolation × False Logic Perception Injection × Permanent Surveillance Hosting]
Zhao Mingxuan lowered the terminal. "Didn't you plan to eliminate them directly?"
Jason answered coolly: "If we eliminated them, they'd serve no purpose."
He enunciated each word:
"We want them to keep contacting TRACE."
"Just using messages we wrote for them."
Fu Xi whispered in response:
䷪ Earth Heaven Peace — Though fractures appear, all return to unity
Using their desires, guiding their path, sealing their fate.
Section III: Urban Perception Echo E-02 × Simulated System Collapse Drill
04:07 AM
A sudden micro-frequency flicker rippled above the campus.
ARGUS responded instantly, triggering a Tier-3 scan:
[Urban Perimeter Band Monitor]
[Target: South Sector 6 × TRACE Old Comms Tower × Echo Node E-02]
Lisa's command terminal lit up sharply.
"This signal… isn't ordinary interference."
Zhao Mingxuan's pupils constricted.
"It's… an old surveillance tower waking up."
He pulled up the urban layer on ARGUS—within the abandoned beacons, a tower labeled
[TRACE-NODE: F-7-S]
was attempting self-reactivation, sending a low-frequency authorization confirmation request to the campus.
Jason's voice darkened.
"They're running chain-resurrection tests."
"The TRACE monitoring division… is still active."
Meanwhile—
Holland Que, still stationed at the edge of campus, received authorization verification from the echo tower.
[Command: Identity Confirm × TRACE-SHADOW Group]
[Content: Synchronize Current Campus Operational Status to Node E-02 Backbone?]
[Response Window: 15 Seconds]
Holland's face went cold.
This meant TRACE's central command wanted him to complete the final confirmation:
Was the school truly deviating from its original design?
He didn't respond immediately.
He was hesitating.
And Jason, right in that hesitation, activated the pre-set "Vacuum Ignition Script."
[ARGUS Prompt]
Initiate "Simulated Structural Collapse Protocol"
Target Areas: Management Layer × Command Center × Core Interface Zones
Simulation Intensity: 85% Real Response × 100% Core Disguise
In an instant, dozens of terminals across campus blacked out and rebooted.
Commands lagged, dispatches misfired.
Outer control consoles reported errors:
[Permission Loss × Campus Backbone Out of Sync × Logic Chain Drift]
Tang Se rushed in shouting: "Central systems compromised! Possible intrusion from old nodes!"
Every administrator, interface operator, and peripheral member reacted in seeming panic—
but it was all staged.
And Holland stood at the axis, witnessing what appeared to be total system collapse.
At the same time, ARGUS ran a concealed process:
[Lock TRACE Sync Channel × Inject Reverse Confusion Pack × Conceal Key Structure Changes]
[Upload Simulated State: "Fragmented Permissions × Unstable Structure × Reconstructable"]
Holland pressed the button.
[Authorization Return Confirmed: Yes]
TRACE central command received exactly what they wanted—
proof that the school still fell within their behavioral model range.
What they didn't know—
was that the reply they just accepted was not reality,
but a false truth fabricated by their own opponent.
The interface returned online, issuing one final line:
[Fu Xi Prompt]
䷤ Thunder Heaven Great Strength — Strong but not reckless, mighty but not violent
An enemy that seeks control becomes controllable; belief weakens their willpower.
Jason leaned against the console, gazing into the midnight campus.
"In this game, it was them who convinced themselves we were still under control."
"All we gave them…"
"...was a mirror."
Section IV: Clean-Up of Hidden Nodes
Before dawn, disruptive data slowly dissolved from the system backend.
ARGUS issued one final directive:
[System Memory Reconstruction Complete]
[Logic Chain Broken × Node Behavior Prediction Collapse × Identified as Structural Misfits]
From the system's perspective, the three infiltrators suddenly "dropped out of the behavioral model."
They weren't arrested, interrogated, or formally detained.
They simply stopped receiving any commands.
Feedback ceased. Channels closed. Node IDs withdrawn.
Everything concluded peacefully… yet coldly.
TRACE Residency · Night Records
Holland observed the uploaded data through the terminal:
[D1-12: Behavior Drift × Execution Failure × Signal Lost]
[F3-19: Self-Detachment × Data Closure × Node Revoked]
[B6-07: Channel Drift × No Response × System Isolation]
Holland remained expressionless, muttering,
"...Logical auto-purification mechanism."
He understood—this wasn't a purge, but a default mechanism elimination.
Just as TRACE envisioned: the system autonomously judged instability and silenced it.
He set down the terminal. "Procedure complete."
Main Control Area · ARGUS Deep Backend
Jason watched the three sleep in the "Signal Noise Suppression Pod."
Expressionless.
"These three were once part of the surveillance towers," Zhao Mingxuan read off the isolation metrics.
"Every action tried to restore the old command chains."
"Now they're nothing," John said coldly.
"No," Jason corrected, turning.
"They are—our greatest test subjects for the future."
Fu Xi whispered:
䷧ Wind Lake Central Trust — Success comes from genuine intent
Let what the enemy sowed become what we control. This is true Central Trust.
06:00 AM
Less than five hours before the TRACE team's departure.
Jason entered a modest assembly hall. Over thirty mid-tier Gray Wing members waited silently.
He stood before them, voice calm but cutting:
"Do you know who they really are?"
"They didn't come to help us build a system."
"They came to check whether we were still in theirs."
He swept his gaze over the group.
"They told us we could have an organization."
"We could manage our lives."
"We could feed our people."
"But they never said—"
"—what price we'd pay."
He locked eyes with a young man in the front row.
"Do you know what your ID number used to mean?"
"A dog tag written by them."
Silence fell.
Jason spoke slowly:
"A lab animal raised on starvation, dying unnoticed."
"We're going to live for ourselves—starting today."
"Decide clearly: Are you a test subject in the system…"
"...or the master of your own fate?"
Fu Xi Prompt:
[Tidal Heart Sequence Updated]
[Activate 'Autonomous Judgment Command Library']
[Member Feedback Model Activated: Faith Ladder · Stage One: Awakening]
Section V: TRACE Departure
10:24 AM
Sky overcast. The protective gate at the school entrance slowly lifted.
The TRACE inspection team assembled, ready to depart.
Holland Que, standing at the front, gave the campus one final sweep with his eyes—
his gaze sweeping from the teaching buildings, passageways, beacon towers, to the ARGUS Communications Center.
No further tests. No further inspections.
All had been completed in the past 72 hours.
Yet his mission had never ended here.
Before leaving, he held a brief private exchange with Han Du, the administrative representative.
He left behind an encrypted protocol card—
on the surface: Campus Periodic Data Sharing Agreement · Third Revised Edition
beneath: a package of executable commands—if the school's structural model exceeded thresholds, it would automatically report back to TRACE.
In the main control area, Jason stood motionless before the dark screen. Fu Xi was analyzing the card's data structure.
[Fu Xi Prompt]
Structure Confirmed: Auto-report Module × Passive Listening × Remote-Triggerable Behavior Rewriting Permissions
Status: Inserted · Inactive · Trackable
Zhao Mingxuan frowned. "Should we erase it now?"
Jason shook his head. "Leave it."
"Leave it?" Lisa blinked.
"We should give them a sweetener, too," he said lightly. "Let them think they still influence us."
He stared at the card, eyes devoid of warmth:
"They won't strike now."
"They'll wait."
"For us to grow bigger. Closer to the cores they never wanted us near."
"So we leave something for the future."
The TRACE convoy gathered on the main road, five armored vehicles lining up solemnly.
At the school gates, nearly a hundred Gray Wing members stood in silence.
Some were perimeter defense groups, others dispatch representatives, most newly risen civilians from the Ecological Layer.
They all watched—
watched these "judges" who once ruled their fates, dictated their futures, controlled their growth…
as they prepared to leave.
The vehicle doors creaked open.
Holland Que stepped down, standing at the base of the stairs.
He approached no one.
Instead, he faced the crowd, planted his feet firmly, and spoke aloud:
"You can survive. Even live… like humans."
"You can have organizations, societies, your own order."
"You can close your system, build hierarchies, pretend there's hope."
His tone grew colder, slow but slicing like axes splitting stone:
"But don't forget."
"You—are still a test field."
"Organizations that break from control… have no future."
"You aren't new forms free of the system."
"You are incomplete samples. Corrupted data. Variables easily erased or reset."
"You can build."
"But if you forget obedience, what awaits isn't renewal."
"It's——ruins."
"Nothing left but ruins."
He finished, didn't look back, and walked straight into the car.
The convoy rumbled forward, tires crushing the dry, cracked concrete outside the gate—screaming like mourning.
The gates slowly shut.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
But every eye tilted upward—toward the high platform of the control tower.
Jason stood atop it, silent.
The wind tugged at his coat. His shadow stood firm as a stone in the shadows.
He only raised one hand, gently pressing it over his chest, then lowering it slowly.
Within Fu Xi, this gesture had been coded as the Internal Consensus Signal:
"We are united beneath the system."
"I am here. And so are you."
ARGUS displayed one final prompt:
[Tidal Heart Synchronization: Consensus Achieved]
[Ecological Awareness Model: Stable Growth × Rising Resistance to Control]
[System Adjustment Mimicry Ended × Pseudo-Autonomy Orbit Switch Initiated]
Fu Xi whispered:
䷞ Mountain Lake Diminish — Diminished First, Benefited Later. Hidden Then Revealed
Their might shall become our tool.