Truth & Code: The Future is Black and White
Pattern Change

Pattern Change

Block 7,907,940

Han thinks he’s got everything figured out. He will plan to enter the node center, and instead of heading straight to the server bench, he will use his console, now nicely packed in his satchel while sitting.

“AI!” He commands.

“Please ensure I have a small desk for the seating area at the node center before I get there.”

“Yes, very well,” AI replies.

“Please make sure that every node center from now on has a desk for the seating area.”

“Yes, very well.”

Han has a renewed confidence that he will keep working on his puzzle without the prying eyes of AI.

“All I need to do is stay one step ahead.” He thinks.

Han dresses grabs his new apparel with his new puzzle inside, and heads briskly to the hotel flight deck on the roof.

He gets into the AAPD and heads off to the Shanghai node center. This node center happens to be in a busy part of the city; there is nothing special about it as far as Han is concerned. He arrives and walks into the node center.

Usually, he would walk directly to the server bench with his glasses on and begin testing. Now, he needed to change his pattern to solve the puzzle of the capsule.

He enters, turns to the right, and sees the usual seating area, just a few chairs, but now his new desk! He smiled. He approaches the desk and puts the satchel down on top of it. He stands between the desk and the chair, looking down at the satchel. He’s careful to think through what he needs to do.

He opens the flap, lifts it towards the back, and lays it down. He unzips the pocket on the inside and puts the satchel down with the top open towards him.

He then sits down and looks into the open satchel. Next, he pulls out his console, the undershirt, and the capsule. As he pulls the capsule forward, he uses the undershirt to ensure no clanking sound or scrape of metal along the desk surface. With all three items on the desk, he then turns the satchel around with the wide bottom towards him. This allows him to prop the console against it to work with free hands.

He begins his testing as usual. He’s not entirely memorized his testing sequence so quickly but is familiar enough to do commands without his full attention on the console. He hears the usually audible confirmations that his testing is proceeding as it would any other time.

As the testing proceeds, he feels behind the console and pulls the capsule and the undershirt up onto the surface of the satchel. It’s slightly sloping downwards towards the opening away from him, so he’s got to make sure the capsule doesn’t roll forward. He bends the satchel flap to create a bump to prevent this, but the leather’s stiffness makes it challenging; it is working for now.

He glances down at the console and issues another testing command. The program executes.

He then glances over the top of the console, takes his left hand to grab the capsule, and uses his right hand to grab the undershirt. He then uses the undershirt to clean the surface of the capsule. The algae is dry and easily flakes off. He turns the capsule and cleans and polishes it the best he can with what he has.

He issues another test command. The program executes.

He puts the capsule and undershirt down on the satchel and slowly lifts his hands.

“AI! Please make sure my water is on my desk next time!”

“Very well.”

With that, he slowly stands while keeping his hands hovering over the capsule. He then straightens up while lifting his hands. Suddenly, his waist flexes forward, and he bumps into the desk. The flap of the satchel unfolds and pushes the capsule forward toward him.

He sees the capsule roll forward over the satchel and thinks, “This is going to be bad,” he forces his hands forward to catch the capsule, but it hits the console. The console falls forward and begins pitching to the ground with the capsule behind it. In a flash, he grabs the console with his right hand and the capsule with his left.

Clank. The force of his catch pushes past where his brain told him to stop; the capsule hits the desk. But he has both the capsule and console in hand.

“Mr. Han? Is there a problem? I have detected an unusual sound with an unusual acoustic signal.”

“Uhhh, no... I mean, yes... everything is fine. But, unfortunately, the buckle of my satchel strap hit the desk.”

“Brilliant.” He thinks.

“No, Mr. Han. The sound acoustics were not of brushed stainless steel on laminate wood.”

“AI, I can assure you it was brushed stainless steel on laminate wood. There is no other metallic source in the immediate environment that I see.”

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“Ok, maybe I’m not so brilliant.” He thinks. “I can’t make a mistake like that again.”

He regains his composure, but his back is starting to kill him in this position. He places the console face down on the desk and re-establishes the capsule’s position and undershirt on the satchel. He figures he will forego folding the satchel flap as a bump.

Everything seems stable, so he walks to the server bench to get his water. He slowly walks back to the desk, trying to get an unobstructed view. He makes some exaggerated walking sounds for the sake of the AI as he takes in his visual data points. When satisfied, he walks to the desk and drips a little water onto the capsule. And sits back down, placing the water bottle on the floor to his right.

He props the console back up and sees the testing is waiting for him to issue another command which he does.

He then peers over the console and uses the water he dripped onto the capsule, which is now soaking the undershirt, to clean the capsule. He can feel some grooves in the capsule on the side covered in algae as he rubs. He can also feel a seam in the capsule that runs around the diameter of the capsule about a 1/3 distance from an end. It’s starting to feel pretty clean, with twisting and rubbing it in his hands.

He again tries to position the capsule on top of the satchel so it won’t roll and ensure it is stable. This time he turns the grooves facing up.

He then slowly sits up and, to avoid the same mishap, pushes the chair back with the back of his legs and then stands straight up.

“Voila! Maybe I should have taken up dance!” He thinks.

He steps to the left, walks around to pick up his water bottle, and again makes exaggerated walking noises while drinking. He also groans and extends his back.

“Wow! That feels great!”

“Mr. Han, what feels great?”

“Oh, just stretching.”

As he stretches and walks and groans, he looks down at the capsule. The grooves are letters with what appears to be a red backing, but he couldn’t completely clean the grooves. So he does a bit of walking, stretching, and groaning until he is confident he knows what the lettering says.

Estados libres de América

El Salvador

He has no idea what that means. It’s definitely in another language, but he doesn’t know which. He knows only two languages in the SO-Lands, Chinese or Russian, and that’s it.

“These letters look nothing like the lettering of the SO-Lands.” He thinks. “Damn, I should have brought my notebook and pencil.”

He stares at it, recording it into his memory.

He puts the water down and then moves to the desk’s left side to sit. He looks at the console and issues his next command. The program executes.

He glances over the console and loosely wraps the capsule in the undershirt. Now he waits.

At his next water and stretch break, he puts the capsule and undershirt into the satchel, picks up his console, and walks over to the server bench.

The day is a little longer because of his side project, but he’s satisfied with the testing results.

Despite his new puzzle, he knows he’s responsible for a vast network and must ensure it works.

He decides to use a bicep arm emoji as he signs off.

He takes the console and walks to the desk. He places the console in the satchel. He has to lift the side of the satchel to slide the console in because the undershirt and capsule create a bulky barrier at the bottom of the satchel.

He closes the satchel and walks to the door to exit.

He gets into the AADP and is shuttled back to his hotel. Yet again, he would be exhausted but curious about what this next piece of the puzzle is revealing.

He methodically unpacks his luggage from home before he enters the hotel and grabs the small square bag from the AADP. Finally, he enters the hotel with the satchel crossed over his shoulder from left to right and holds the other bag with his right hand.

Upon entering the hotel room, he slips his shoes off at the door and places the satchel next to one of the dining room table chairs. He notices that his usual meal is ready.

He walks to the bedroom with the other bag and places it on the bed. He opens it, and on top is his notebook with the pencil next to it.

Han takes the notebook, opens it to a blank page, and writes Estados libres de América. He then closes the notebook and places it back in the bag with the pencil and closes the bag.

Han then walks into the bathroom and takes a shower.

After showering, he dries off and puts on a bathrobe. Next, he completely dries under the robe and decides to wait until after dinner to dress. Finally, he loosely ties the belt around his waist and walks to the dinner table.

As he sits down, he leans over to open the satchel and, with the fold of his bathrobe, covers the opening and feels for the capsule. Then, he reaches over with his right hand, pulls the capsule out under the robe, and cradles it in his lap.

“Hmm, bad idea to wait on the underclothes.” He thinks. The cold metal is resting on his lap above his groan. It sends a chill down his spine.

While the shock of the cold metal abates, he decides to eat some fish and rice. But, of course, he’s hungry as usual.

After feeling somewhat satiated, he reaches inside his robe and picks up the capsule, and looks down at it under the robe.

“Yes, I remembered the lettering correctly.” He thinks to himself.

Han then starts to twist and turn the top third from the bottom third. He twists one side in a counterclockwise position and the other in a clockwise position. Finally, he’s at the practical limits of his wrist strength and begins to grunt.

“Mr. Han?”

“Yes?”

“Are you ok?”

“Yes, just doing another stretching exercise.”

“But you are sitting?”

“Yes, doing a little stretch for my arms.”

He waits a little while and attempts the twisting procedure again. Finally, he feels a little movement. By this time, though, he’s worked up a sweat, and he can feel it run down his back and belly to his butt crack and groin.

He keeps working on it and slowly but surely starts to pull the two pieces apart. The two pieces have a chain that keeps them from being completely separated, but he clearly sees this is a form-fitted case that contains a flat rectangular structure in it.

He pulls the structure out and places the capsule on his lap. The metal against his skin doesn’t jolt him like it did when he began. It’s pretty much at body temperature with his manipulation and generation of heat from friction.

He examines the structure and really doesn’t know what he’s looking at. But he thinks it is definitely something for a computer or part of a computer. One side has a flat extension that is about 3mm thick and about 10mm wide. There are five silver plates that run lengthwise of the extension.

“I have no idea what this is!” He thinks.

“I have no idea what the lettering means!”

He places the object back into the capsule and puts the capsule back into the satchel.

He is now thoroughly exhausted and walks into the bedroom, falls onto the bed, and falls asleep.

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