From American Internet Celebrity to God Among Men

121: Chapter 121 Closed Test and Ghost SignalsThe invitation from Weta Workshop in New Zealand came suddenly and was impossible to refuse, but Taylor only stayed for seventy-two hours. She returned to Los Angeles, travel-worn, carrying Zack Snyder’s near-fanatical approval and a core movie melody that completely transcended her previous style. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to rest, but intuition told her that the ”battlefield” on Alex’s side might need her more.

When she returned to Brentwood, the house was unusually quiet. Hank nodded to her from the cabin by the garage, and the sound of intense keyboard typing came from Rex’s room. As for Alex himself, along with Marcus and a few of the core engineers from Echo Vision, they had been missing for nearly thirty-six hours.

The place where they were was an abandoned small hangar on the edge of the Mojave Desert, arranged by The Architect through Organization D channels. It was far away from city light pollution and electromagnetic interference, and the interior had been converted into a simple technology verification site for the Resonance Era. There were no spectator seats, only cold testing equipment and a crude console with flashing signal lights. The ”audience” participating in the test consisted of fifty ”Biological Signal Simulation Arrays” disguised as ordinary seats, built with precision thermal sensors, audio collection, and simulated physiological signal transmitters—provided by Organization D, used to generate test data approaching real crowd reactions.

Secrecy was the highest principle of this test.

”Final calibration. ’origin’ cube B module hydraulic synchronization sequence, error value must be less than 1.5 millimeters.” Alex’s voice echoed in the empty hangar, carrying a hint of hoarseness. He was wearing a black training suit, his eyes fixed on the scaled-down but still mechanically beautiful stage module prototype in front of him. Continuous high-intensity debugging consumed energy, but the Mental Pillar kept him in a state of absolute focus.

”Calibration complete. ’Eternity’ dome emotion rendering engine starting, loading test dataset A-7.” Marcus responded from the console, and the complex visualization charts on the screen began to flow.

The goal of this internal test was extremely clear: first, under loads approaching actual combat, to verify the linkage reliability and safety redundancy of the twin-city stage core mechanical structure; second, in a completely controlled environment, to stress-test the limit processing capability of the ”Emotion Visualization” algorithm, and attempt to incorporate the ”extreme stage movements” variables planned by Alex into the system feedback loop; third, also specifically requested by Organization D, to conduct a full-band active and passive signal leakage scan under conditions highly simulating a real performance electromagnetic environment, to evaluate the system’s stealth protection capabilities.

”Test sequence one, start.”

The robotic arms started, and the metal structure began to roar lowly, simulating the dynamic deformation during a performance. The light array projected preset audience heat maps and sound wave simulation data, and the dome projection system began to try to convert these ”fake emotions” into flowing light and shadow. Everything was proceeding step-by-step, and data refreshed like a waterfall.

Alex flexed his wrists and walked to the center of the test area. His ”extreme challenge” in the internal test was stripped of its performance nature and turned into a pure stress test of technology and physical limits. He needed to traverse a constantly changing narrow passage at a specific speed, angle, and force when the mechanical structure reached a certain critical point, while sensors on his body would record his biological signals and attempt to inject them into the system in real-time as an additional ”performer emotion variable.”

”Test sequence two, access dynamic variables. Alex, get ready.” The Architect’s voice came through the communicator, as calm as ever.

Alex took a deep breath, Information Reception Filtering reduced the noise of the equipment running in the hangar to a minimum, and Spider-Sense (Intermediate) was fully deployed; his skin seemed to be able to feel the flow of every wisp of air and the premonition of every mechanical joint about to move. He did not activate Physical Capability Overload; that was his trump card, and at this moment, he needed to complete the challenge with precise control in his normal state.

”Three, two, one, start!”

The mechanical structure suddenly accelerated its deformation, and the passage appeared. Alex moved. His movements were fast, accurate, and steady, blending the fluidity of Parkour with the sharpness of tactical evasion, accurately weaving through the gaps of the steel components, like a shadow merging into a mechanical life. On the console, the curves representing his heart rate and adrenaline levels rose steadily, but were far from dangerous values. This data was successfully captured and fed into the algorithm. The light and shadow of the dome seemed to produce a slightly more agile and subtle disturbance following his movement trajectory.

”Dynamic variable injection successful, system feedback latency is within the acceptable range. Mechanical sequence synchronization rate 98.7%, excellent.” Marcus reported, his voice filled with excitement.

However, just five minutes before the test was scheduled to end smoothly.

Rex, who had been silently monitoring the spectrum, suddenly cut into the main channel, his voice cold and urgent: ”Anomaly detected! Non-test frequency band, at the three o’clock direction, behind a sand dune about 1.2 kilometers away, a high-intensity, highly directional intermittent scanning signal has appeared! The signal characteristics... are similar to the ’Breeze’ captured outside the theater last time, but with higher intensity and more active! They are trying to penetrate our external shielding layer and parse the internal electromagnetic characteristics!”

Almost at the same time as Rex’s voice fell, Spider-Sense sent a sharp but short stinging pain, pointing towards the direction of the signal source! This was not a warning of physical danger, but a perception of high-intensity electromagnetic radiation with clear exploratory intent!

”Test aborted immediately! Activate full-band active jamming and signal camouflage protocols!” Alex ordered immediately, his figure instantly withdrawing from the test area and flashing behind a nearby bunker, his gaze sharply looking at the thick metal walls of the hangar, as if he could see through it to the distant sand dunes. ”Hank, take the perimeter team, conduct a cautious close-in reconnaissance in the direction of the signal source, do not expose yourselves, do not engage in fire, confirm if there is a physical observation point. The Architect, what are your counter-reconnaissance measures?”

”Jamming protocols have been synchronized and started. Our passive sensor array deployed in the surrounding area has confirmed the signal source and recorded the complete characteristics. The opponent’s technology is very professional, but our shielding layer is thicker than they imagined.” The Architect’s voice remained calm, but the speaking speed was slightly faster, ”I suggest you evacuate the core data and personnel immediately. This location should not be used again in the short term.”

No audience, no leak. But the enemy seemed to have brought this remote, supposedly top-secret location into their sights through some means—perhaps satellite image analysis, perhaps long-term monitoring of the whereabouts of Echo Vision and associated personnel, or perhaps just a wide-area electromagnetic activity scan—and had dispatched professional technical reconnaissance forces.

The test itself was successful, and the technology verification obtained key data. But this silent electromagnetic confrontation undoubtedly signaled that: the opponent’s tentacles were far sharper than expected, and their methods were more direct. They were no longer satisfied with smear campaigns and had begun to attempt hard technical hacking and location tracking.

The evacuation was completed in an orderly manner within twenty minutes. On the car ride back to Los Angeles, the atmosphere was heavy. Taylor sent a message asking if everything went smoothly. Alex replied with a ”Everything is fine, let’s talk when I get home,” and then turned off the screen.

He watched the desert scenery speeding by outside the window, the cold afterglow of the sunset reflected in his eyes. The test confirmed the feasibility of the technology, and also confirmed the imminence and professionalism of the threat.

”They want to know what exactly we are building.” Alex said in a low voice to Hank and Rex (via communication) in the car, ”Then on the day the Resonance Era truly debuts, we will give them the answer in a way they cannot ignore.”