An Opportunity to Connect

Mo Fei ran rampant inside New York's traffic control center. He directly located the houses of 'Jack' and 'Jerry' from the phone call. Surveillance systems were indeed present in the area, but due to their positioning, they could only watch from a distance.

Mo Fei took control of the surrounding traffic surveillance cameras, zooming in to observe the situation, hoping to find other monitoring devices. Of course, he also had to work hard to identify which ones were connected to the network, or which households or businesses using these cameras owned a computer!

Another possibility was that tonight's gathering spot—Jerry's house—might have a desktop or laptop. But the odds were slim, and even if one existed, it might not be turned on.

Yet coincidences often happen, because without them, there would be no story. Mo Fei did find a supermarket, right across the street from Jerry's house. The location was perfect, and supermarkets always had surveillance systems, ones connected to the network. Security in Brooklyn was generally poor, especially for street-corner grocery stores like this one. They were prime targets for bold thieves, since they usually kept cash in the register—the best kind of mark!

Mo Fei easily hacked in, then aimed the front door camera at Jerry's entrance. He wanted to see how many people would show up. It was still a bit early. After confirming his surveillance position, Mo Fei left directly and entered the network provider's server. He no longer feared their firewalls. He typed in Jerry's home address, then searched to see if he had an internet connection. The chance was slim, but close-range contact was necessary.

Unfortunately, luck wasn't with Mo Fei this time. The guy hadn't even signed up for internet service. Mo Fei was incredibly frustrated. "What era are you living in? No wonder you can only rob banks!" After venting, Mo Fei left and went back to the telecom provider.

He'd circled around and returned. This time, he was still going to tap their landlines. Whether they had cell phones was still unknown, so for now, Mo Fei could only monitor their calls here to prevent any surprises. This kind of surveillance was unbearably dull. Mo Fei gritted his teeth and waited, time crawling slower than a snail!

"This won't do. After this is over, I have to find a way. Since I'm a god of the virtual world, I need god-like methods!" Mo Fei thought to himself.

Right now, he had to shuttle back and forth between different locations. Even monitoring a phone call required his personal effort. And this kind of tedious waiting was driving him crazy—this was the flaw of human thinking patterns. Humans had emotions, thoughts, desires. Real systems didn't. They could monitor everything without limits, split into countless instances, and do many things at once.

If Jarvis were doing this, he could simultaneously watch the target's house and tap their phone, without having to run around like Mo Fei. This solidified Mo Fei's idea: create a few intelligent programs to share his workload. Then he could devote time to learning—maybe even sit in on some university lectures!

Time passed slowly, but it always passed. By evening, neither landline had made a sound. Mo Fei had no choice but to leave the telecom company and return to the New York traffic control center, staring at Jerry's front door.

This time, he didn't wait long. Around seven in the evening, a white man appeared first. Tall, fairly burly, wearing a baseball cap, leather jacket collar popped up, walking with a constant look over his shoulder. Mo Fei sneered at the guy. Acting so sneaky like he was afraid no one would notice him.

Sure enough, the man reached Jerry's door, knocked, then glanced around nervously. The door opened. The guy who answered was probably Jerry himself? They nodded at each other and went inside. Not long after, another white man showed up. About 5'9", somewhat scrawny, approaching the door timidly—even worse than the first one.

Mo Fei hesitated. These three didn't seem reliable. Should he still choose them? Maybe more people were coming? Mo Fei decided to wait. But half an hour passed, and no one else arrived. Then the door opened again, and all three came out. They walked to a pickup truck parked on the street and got in.

"Huh? They're not going to act now, are they?" Mo Fei was startled, then started to worry. He'd only found these three guys. If they moved now, wouldn't he lose his chance? Whether they were reliable or not, they were still an option, right? And judging by their looks, their chances of success were almost zero!

Mo Fei grew anxious. He followed their vehicle using New York's traffic surveillance system all the way to a bank entrance. The pickup stopped. Mo Fei panicked. "Don't do it, don't do it..." he prayed.

Luckily, the pickup started up again and began circling the bank. Mo Fei relaxed. "Casing the place? This is the bank?" He memorized the bank's name and kept tailing the pickup.

After about half an hour of circling, the pickup left. But it didn't go back to Jerry's house. It stopped at Jack's house instead. Mo Fei couldn't understand what they were up to.

He realized something—this might be his only chance to make contact. What could three bank-robbing thugs want at Jack's house? Especially since Jennifer was home, along with her younger brother and sister. Mo Fei had seen them over the past few days. Three bank robbers going to a crowded house—were they going to play cards? Obviously not. Maybe they needed a computer. Holding onto that thought, Mo Fei left the monitoring center and deleted the surveillance footage.

He didn't delete the video file itself, but the image of the pickup truck from the footage. Whether he ultimately chose them or not, he still had to prepare.

He went straight back into Jennifer's computer and activated the webcam. Jennifer was still sitting in front of the screen, her expression just as dejected. Then her door was knocked on. "Jennifer?" came Jack's voice.