Reality Programming Association

Chapter 64: Chapter 27: Genius and Perfect Crime

This theory sent a chill down Yu Xian’s spine.

According to Senior Sister Yiyi’s theory, the audio file was like a ”blueprint,” guiding the hippocampus to construct a pre-planned dream.

But in Wen Xiao’s theory, the audio was like ”code,” which was why the experimenter had to play it sequentially from beginning to end.

One was neuroscience, the other computer science, yet they had somehow...

Arrived at the same conclusion.

”That’s just a wild guess, though...”

Noticing Yu Xian’s uneasy expression, Wen Xiao said a little sheepishly,

”I just think the way you have to use it is a lot like code. But an audio file obviously isn’t code. Code needs a runtime environment, and a music player isn’t...”

”Wrong.”

Yu Xian cut her off, his throat suddenly dry.

”Wen Xiao, what if the runtime environment for this ’code’ isn’t the player on the phone at all?”

”What do you mean?”

Yu Xian copied Yang Yiyi, raising a finger to his temple.

”What if the player is just a ’transmission medium,’ and the real runtime environment... is here?”

A brief silence fell over the small cubicle.

Wen Xiao’s eyes slowly widened.

”You mean... the sound waves are a carrier? So that’s why you have to play it from the beginning, without stopping or skipping—because you’re transmitting a complete software package?”

”Exactly... It’s like a compressed file. If it’s interrupted, even by a single missing byte, the brain’s receiving end can’t ’unzip’ the dream?”

Yu Xian felt his blood run cold.

If he combined their two theories—a ”blueprint to deceive the brain” and ”code to be fed into the brain”—the logic behind TDI was simply chilling.

’Were they... treating the human brain like a computer’s main unit, using the ears as an input port to forcefully write a program into it?’

”Hey, could you send me that audio file? I can take it home and try running a spectral analysis or reverse-engineering it.”

Wen Xiao asked Yu Xian cautiously, then quickly added a promise,

”Don’t worry, I won’t test it on myself.”

”Okay, I’ll send it to you when I get home. I’m not worried about you listening to it. Which brings me to my second question, about device binding.”

Yu Xian posed his second question.

”The TDI website requires you to enter your device’s MAC address to download the audio, and it only works if you play it on that specific, bound device.”

He paused for a moment before asking,

”I’m curious, why doesn’t the same audio file work if you play it on a different phone? How did they manage to lock it on a physical level like that?”

Wen Xiao furrowed her brow in thought.

”A MAC address contains a lot of information, like the device manufacturer and address range, but you can’t find more specific details...”

Yu Xian was taken aback. This differed from what he’d previously understood, so he asked,

”You can’t even find out the device model or its specs?”

”Correct. MAC addresses are meant for network administration, not for device tracking or tracing.”

Yu Xian fell silent. ’Then how did they achieve the device binding?’

Wen Xiao thought for a moment before venturing a guess.

”My guess is they’re probably using a technique called ’audio fingerprinting.’ In English, it’s known as AudioContext Fingerprint.”

”Audio fingerprint?”

It was the first time Yu Xian had ever heard the term.

”Right. To put it simply, every phone has subtle differences in its hardware and software—the sound card, processor chip, browser version, drivers, and so on. So when a phone processes an audio signal, the resulting waveform will have minuscule variations from device to device.”

Wen Xiao held up a slender finger, like a detective presenting a clue.

”These variations are unique, just like a human fingerprint.”

”But it didn’t ask for my permission to access any other information besides the MAC address, did it?” Yu Xian said, trying to recall.

”Audio fingerprinting doesn’t require user permission. And even if you clear your cookies, use incognito mode, or connect through a VPN, that ’fingerprint’ won’t change as long as your hardware stays the same.”

”What is this, some kind of black tech?”

Yu Xian was stunned. ’How have I never heard of such a powerful technology?’

”It’s not black tech at all. Over 90% of the world’s top 10,000 websites use this kind of technology—Google, TikTok, all the major e-commerce platforms. In other words, if you open any random news, video, or shopping website right now, there’s a 99% chance a script is running in the background to collect your AudioContext fingerprint data.”

Wen Xiao seemed to really enjoy the bewildered look on Yu Xian’s face, adding,

”It’s one of the stealthiest and most difficult-to-defend-against tracking technologies on the internet.”

Yu Xian was silent for a couple of seconds before asking,

”So, the TDI website probably recorded my device’s audio fingerprint? And the same audio file will have subtle differences when played on devices with different audio fingerprints?”

Wen Xiao looked at Yu Xian and nodded.

”So that’s why... you can’t repair the phone, can’t replace parts, can’t use an external player...”

Yu Xian muttered to himself, feeling as if he were being manipulated by a huge, unseen technological hand, a mere puppet on a string.

’This scientific experiment, disguised as a boon for insomniacs, was, in reality, a meticulously precise cyber trap!’

Every single link in the chain had been meticulously designed. From the neurological deception involving the hippocampus and sleep spindles to the device binding using computer technology, it was all seamless and perilous at every turn.