The campus looked different when every router felt like a witness.
[Thrum…]
Side Flag: Trace the Uploader
Timer: 23:45:18
Penalty on Failure: Survival −8%
Elara sat in a secluded corner of the library, a digital map of the school's Wi-Fi access points glowing on her tablet—a constellation of little blue dots. "No hacking," she murmured, a mantra and a rule. "Preserve, correlate, confirm." She had to work within the system to beat the system.
A DM from Nora popped up.
Nora_H_AV: Pulled anonymized AP connection logs (fully legal, data integrity audit pretext). The major posts—the original clip and today's taunt—align strongly with pings from Library Annex AP-3. Timestamp correlation is 87%. Media Lab AP-1 also shows activity spikes within the same minutes. It's not proof, but it's a vector.
[Ding!]
Event: AP Correlation Established (Prelim)
Status:
- Survival Probability: 47% → 49% (Δ +2%)
Note: Lead points to Library Annex AP-3 / Media Lab AP-1 (not proof).
Elara cross-referenced the data. The UK spellings, the unique "neckalace" typo. She dug deeper into the throwaway handle linked to the typo. Its only other activity was a single comment on a months-old, internal AV Club thread about equipment maintenance: "Kiosk-2 card reader dead again. Fix it." The comment was timestamped during a free period.
Proximity. Habit. Ego. The uploader was comfortable in the tech-heavy spaces, arrogant enough to use the same handle for a petty complaint and a major frame-up.
A shift in the air made her look up. Across the silent stacks, a familiar, still figure. Kaelan Thorne stood by the periodicals rack, a folder in his hand—a plausible pretext for an audit. But his gaze was fixed on her, analytical and unblinking.
[Ding!]
Event: Male Lead Interaction (On Site)
Status:
- Attention: 27/100 → 30/100 (Δ +3)
- Survival Probability: 49% → 48% (Δ −1%)
Note: Prolonged focus increases risk.
He didn't approach, but his voice, low and carrying, reached her. "Due process cuts both ways, Vance. If your investigation targets an innocent student or violates privacy protocols, the Council will revisit sanctions with extreme prejudice."
"If my investigation is correct," she answered, not looking up from her screen, "the Council will be revisiting the truth. That's the point of due process, isn't it?"
There was no reply, only the continued weight of his observation.
Another message from Nora.
Nora_H_AV: Got admin greenlight for a network diagnostic—a decoy post to test moderation queue latency. We can seed it with a unique marker. Ready to deploy?
This was the honeypot. A harmless, authorized piece of data to lure the snake.
Elara_V: Deploy. Use the phrase "corridor echo" as the marker. Monitor which AP and device grabs it from the pre-moderation queue first.
[Ding!]
Event: Decoy Post Deployed (Admin Test)
Status:
- Survival Probability: 48% → 50% (Δ +2%)
Sub-Objectives:
A) Capture queue timestamp (+2% if matched)
B) Narrow AP to single node (+3% if matched)
They waited. Seconds stretched. Then, Nora's response was a single word:
Nora_H_AV: Bingo. Library Annex AP-3. Device signature: public kiosk. The post was accessed for 'review' 4 seconds after entering the queue. It's a manual check. They're watching the board like a hawk.
The net was tightening. But as Elara processed this, a new, urgent alert flashed across her screen, this one from the Confessions board's admin alert system Nora had tapped into.
SCHEDULED POST DETECTED: File: 'cleaner_clip_v2.mp4'. Live in: 00:10:00.
They weren't waiting for tomorrow. They were striking now.
[Thrum…]
Warning: Scheduled "Cleaner Clip" Detected
Timer: 00:10:00
Penalty on Failure: Survival −6%
Elara was on her feet in an instant. The Library Annex. AP-3. Kiosk-2. She moved quickly, not running but walking with a purpose that cleared a path through the students. The timer in her vision bled down: 00:09:45… 00:09:44…
She rounded the corner into the Annex's computer bay. And there it was. At Kiosk-2, a figure hunched in a hoodie, their face obscured. On the screen, a video upload interface was open. A progress spinner circled next to the file name cleaner_clip_v2.mp4. A hand, fingers poised, hovered over the POST button.
[Thrum…]
Warning: Live Upload in Progress (Kiosk-2)
Timer: 00:01:00
Penalty on Failure: Survival −6%
Elara froze, ten feet away. If she shouted, they'd click it. If she rushed them, they'd click it.
Then, movement at the far end of the corridor. Kaelan Thorne stepped into view, his expression unreadable, his gaze shifting from her to the figure at the kiosk. He was a silent witness to the moment of truth.
The hooded figure's finger began its descent toward the mouse button.