Monday had already taken over the university by the time Qiū Huà Bǐ and Yè Yī passed through the gates.
The clubs along the central path were putting up their signs. A delivery cart rattled over the paving stones, nearly clipping a student who was carrying three cups of coffee at once. Someone near the engineering building was arguing with a bicycle lock. The usual noise had returned after the weekend, and with it the familiar feeling that everyone had somewhere to be.
Qiū Huà Bǐ adjusted the strap of his backpack.
"It almost feels normal again."
Yè Yī glanced at him.
"You call this normal?"
"Compared to hacking a secret organization, getting dragged into an underground base, watching you swear an oath in an ancestral hall, then going to church with..." Qiū Huà Bǐ looked ahead at Violet. "Whatever she is."
Violet kept walking. She had been a little ahead of them since they entered the campus. Her eyes moved from the administration building to the coffee shop, then toward the library entrance.
The woman standing beside the coffee shop had been holding the same cup since they arrived.
Two men stood near the administration building with a campus map spread between them. One of them traced the same route with his finger twice without actually looking at the buildings around him.
Under a gingko tree, a girl sat with her headphones resting around her neck. She watched the students passing through the courtyard without touching her phone.
Violet's gaze passed over the three positions once, then she continued walking.
Qiū Huà Bǐ's phone vibrated. He pulled it from his pocket.
Unknown number.
He nearly dismissed the notification. Then he saw the message.
Your talent shouldn't be wasted.
He frowned.
Another message appeared.
People like you deserve better tools.
Qiū stopped walking. Yè Yī took another step before noticing.
"What?"
Qiū turned the screen toward him. Yè Yī read the messages.
"Spam?"
Qiū didn't answer. He tilted the phone toward the light and pointed at the lower corner of the message.
A small symbol sat there.
Three interlocking triangles.
Yè Yī's expression changed.
"...ET."
"Yeah."
Qiū looked at the screen again.
"I was hoping I was wrong."
The phone vibrated.
Your work two nights ago was impressive.
His expression tightened. Yè Yī noticed.
"They traced you?"
"No."
"How do you know?"
"If they had traced me, they wouldn't be complimenting me."
Yè Yī frowned.
"Then what did they see?"
"The result."
Qiū locked the phone.
"They still don't know how I got in."
He started walking again.
Yè Yī followed.
"You sound disappointed."
"I haven't decided yet."
"About what?"
"Whether I should feel flattered."
Yè Yī gave him a look.
"It's ET."
"Right. Probably not."
They had almost reached the administration building when Violet stopped. Qiū glanced back at her.
"What?"
She was looking toward the gingko tree.
The girl beneath it had stood up. She slipped her headphones into her bag and walked toward the library.
At the same time, the two men by the administration building folded their map. One headed toward the cafeteria. The other crossed the courtyard and disappeared among the students.
A janitor pushed a cleaning trolley into the space one of them had left.
A graduate student carrying three cardboard tubes stopped beside the notice board.
A man in a university jacket took out his phone and looked down at it.
Violet watched the changes for a moment.
"They rotate."
Yè Yī followed her gaze.
"Recruiters?"
"Most likely."
Qiū looked around.
"They're pretty serious."
"They started before today."
He turned toward Violet.
"You knew?"
"Yes."
"Since when?"
"Before your first message."
Qiū stared at her.
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"You didn't ask."
He rubbed his forehead.
"You really like saying that."
"It keeps things simple."
Yè Yī looked toward the administration building again.
"They're avoiding fixed positions."
"They don't want us identifying a pattern," Violet said.
Qiū slipped his hands into his hoodie pockets.
"I feel a little flattered."
Violet looked at him.
"They're not complimenting you."
"Then what are they doing?"
"They're measuring you."
"For what?"
She took another step toward the engineering building.
"How much you'll cost them if they can't recruit you."
Qiū's smile disappeared. He glanced once toward the administration building before following her.
"That's a little less flattering."
"Good."
The engineering lecture hall was nearly full when they arrived.
Qiū dropped into his usual seat and pulled his laptop from his bag. Yè Yī sat beside him while Violet took the empty seat on Qiū's other side.
Around them, students were talking about assignments and arguing over who had saved the latest version of a group project. Someone near the back was already asleep with his arms folded over his desk.
The projector flickered twice before coming on.
Qiū opened his laptop. The desktop appeared first, then a notification window opened over it.
There was no sender, no application icon, no indication of where it had come from.
We can give you resources you've never imagined.
Qiū stared at the screen. Another line appeared beneath it.
You value freedom. So do we.
He leaned back.
"They've been reading me?"
Violet glanced at the screen.
"Profiling you."
"Is there really a difference?"
"Yes."
She looked back toward the front of the room.
"Reading tells you what someone is. Profiling tells you what they might do."
Qiū considered that.
"So they've been guessing."
"They've been studying."
"That sounds worse."
"Of course, it is."
Yè Yī leaned over slightly.
"What else did they send?"
Qiū's laptop chimed.
We'd like to meet.
He rested his chin against his hand.
"They're polite."
Yè Yī immediately said, "Don't answer."
"I wasn't going to."
"You were thinking about it."
"I was thinking about making them wait."
"Why?"
"Because they've already decided they know me."
Yè Yī looked at him.
"And you want to prove them wrong?"
Qiū smiled.
"Maybe."
Violet reached over and read the message.
"If you answer, don't ask who they are."
Qiū turned toward her.
"Why?"
"They'll tell you whatever makes the meeting easier for them."
He looked back at the screen.
"So what do I say?"
"Nothing."
"Ignore them?"
"No."
Qiū frowned.
"Then?"
"Let them keep talking."
He stared at her for a moment.
"You want them to chase me?"
"I want to know how far they'll go."
Qiū's smile returned.
"Now that sounds useful."
Yè Yī looked from one to the other.
"I don't like this."
Qiū opened the message window.
"You don't have to."
Halfway across campus, a black sedan sat beneath a row of maple trees. The windows were dark enough that passing students couldn't see inside.
A tablet rested in the hands of a man sitting in the driver's seat. Several streams of data moved across the screen. Network activity, device signatures, communication patterns. One profile remained highlighted.
Qiū Huà Bǐ (秋画笔)
The man adjusted his glasses.
"The intrusion signature matches."
A voice came through his earpiece.
"Assessment."
He watched the data for several seconds.
"Better than expected."
"How much?"
"Enough that ordinary recruitment protocols won't be appropriate."
There was a brief silence.
"Recruitment probability?"
His attention shifted to the classroom feed. Qiū was sitting near the window.
The camera adjusted automatically, then the frame moved. Violet appeared.
The man frowned.
She wasn't looking toward the camera. She was looking through the classroom window.
He watched her for several seconds before speaking again.
"There's another variable."
"Define it."
"I can't."
"Ability?"
"Unknown."
"Affiliation?"
"..Unknown."
The voice on the other end remained silent.
The man kept watching.
Violet lowered her eyes to the window reflection. For a moment, he wondered if she had seen something in it.
"Observe only," the voice said.
He lowered the tablet slightly.
"Understood."
The lecturer walked in carrying a stack of notes. The conversations around the room gradually died down.
He connected his laptop to the projector and wrote the course title on the board.
Qiū Huà Bǐ smirks then closes his laptop.
"They want a meeting."
Yè Yī looked toward the lecturer.
"This isn't going away."
"No."
Qiū leaned back.
"I was getting bored."
"You've been back for one class."
"Exactly."
Violet didn't comment. Her attention had gone to the window again.
Outside, a student was chasing several sheets of paper that had blown across the courtyard. Two others were laughing near the stairs. A delivery worker was trying to balance a box against one knee while answering his phone.
The campus looked the same as it always did.
Violet watched the reflection in the glass.
"They're not buying talent."
Qiū turned toward her.
"Then what are they after?"
"People."
He waited. She continued quietly.
"People who haven't realized what they are yet."
Qiū's expression changed.
"And if they have?"
Violet looked at him.
"Then they become much harder to own."
The lecturer began speaking.
Qiū looked toward the board at last. Yè Yī did the same.
Violet remained by the window for another moment before turning back. The first sentence of the lecture went onto the board. None of them heard it. Their attention had already moved elsewhere.