The paving stones beneath Chen Hao's feet creaked again, this time with a duller sound, like stepping on a hollow box. He didn't move, staring down at a thin crack peeking out from the edge of the stone. A breeze blew in from the north, carrying a hint of dust.
“I still don’t feel safe here,” he said.
Nana stood next to the main control box, and the camera turned to her. "The ground vibration frequency is three percent higher than yesterday."
"It's not an earthquake, is it?" Carl peered out from behind the wall.
“No.” Susan had already squatted in front of the control panel and opened the cover. “It’s a slight subsidence caused by changes in underground humidity. The foundation we built can withstand large cracks, but it can’t stop this kind of gradual loosening.”
Chen Hao lifted his foot and pressed the brick down, but it was no use; it still wobbled.
“So just building walls isn’t enough,” he said. “You have to know when something is going to happen and prepare in advance.”
Susan looked up at him and asked, "You've finally figured it out?"
"I've already figured it out, but I'm too lazy to say it." Chen Hao scratched his neck. "The problem is, how do I know? By listening to Nana snoring underground?"
Nana's eyelight flashed. "I can connect to the meteorological monitoring module and, by combining soil moisture content and air pressure changes, predict local geological risks."
“Sounds like fortune telling.” Carl climbed in, carrying a spool of thread. “Will it really work?”
“The database contains 327 similar cases,” Nana said. “As long as there are enough sensors and the data is accurate enough, providing an early warning six hours in advance is no problem.”
Susan has already started disconnecting the power strip. "Then let's install a climate sensor. Temperature, humidity, wind speed, air pressure, all of that."
"What about the range?" Chen Hao asked. "Right now, the alarm only covers 500 meters. A rabbit can hop out of the range in just a couple of jumps."
“The target is 1,200 meters.” Susan tapped the screen. “The high ground on the east side has a good view and can be used as the first remote node.”
Carl frowned. "Will that old antenna mast hold up? It almost tilted over last time the wind blew it."
"We need to reinforce it tonight," Chen Hao decided. "We'll modify the system first, then lay the wiring. We can't wait until it collapses to realize we need to repair it."
No one objected. The four of them immediately divided the work.
Susan was in charge of upgrading the main control program, Nana adjusted the protocol scheme, Carl went outside to lay the wiring, and Chen Hao assisted her, handing her tools as he went.
When the main control box was opened, the inside was filled with wires as densely packed as instant noodles. Susan unplugged a gray connector cable, and a small spark appeared.
“It’s old,” she said. “This one should have been replaced a long time ago.”
"Why didn't you change it?" Chen Hao asked.
“Because you said last time, ‘As long as it works, it’s fine.’” Susan glanced at him. “Do you remember? You said, ‘Save your energy for moving bricks tomorrow.’”
"Did I say something like that?" Chen Hao scratched his head. "I probably had just finished lunch and wasn't thinking clearly at the time."
“Keep the excuse,” Susan said, plugging in the new cable. “Now we need to reconfigure the communication protocol. The old Wi-Fi mode can’t handle this much data.”
Nana projected a series of parameters, "It is recommended to switch to Z-wave low power mode, which has strong anti-interference and is suitable for long-distance transmission."
“That sounds plausible,” Carl called from outside, “but I just tested the signal, and the seventh probe isn’t connecting.”
Chen Hao peeked out and asked, "Is the wire not connected properly?"
“The cable is fine.” Carl returned with the testing equipment. “The shielding layer is broken, and rainwater seeped in, causing a short circuit.”
“Then let’s switch to another section,” Susan said. “The spare cable is in the third compartment of the tool shed.”
Chen Hao ran to get the wire, and when he came back, he found Nana disassembling a circuit board.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
“Optimize data routing,” Nana said. “Set meteorological information as a high-priority channel and reduce animal activity scanning to a secondary polling.”
"Sounds like the system is giving way to the weather," Chen Hao laughed. "If wild boars come while it's raining, which one will the system report first?"
"Report the rain first," Nana said. "Heavy rain could cause mudslides, which pose a greater threat than a single organism approaching a landslide."
"That makes sense." Chen Hao nodded. "But what if it rains and there are wild boars both?"
“The system will sound an alarm at the same time,” Nana said, “but the alert sounds will be different.”
“Then you have to teach me to understand,” Chen Hao said. “Don’t let me hear ‘beep beep beep’ and think it’s going to thunder, when it’s actually a wild boar rushing in.”
Susan ignored him, focusing on adjusting the screen. Suddenly, the terminal emitted a short beep.
"The seventh probe on the east side has been reconnected," Nana said.
"What's the signal strength?" Carl asked.
“Fifty-two percent, unstable.” Susan stared at the curve. “It’s still fluctuating.”
"I'll re-wrap the connector." Carl grabbed the melting gun and headed outside.
Chen Hao followed him outside. The pole outside was indeed a bit crooked, and the screws on the base were loose. The two of them worked together to straighten it, and Karl used a plastic tube to wrap the wire end tightly and added two clips.
“That’s sturdy now,” he said.
Back in the main control area, Susan was importing new parameters into the system. Suddenly, the screen flashed, and an error message appeared.
“The transmission delays are severe,” she said. “The packet loss rate is over 40 percent.”
"Another line problem?" Chen Hao asked.
“Not entirely,” Susan shook her head. “After the protocol switch, some older devices are incompatible. We need to manually flash the firmware on all nodes.”
"How long?" Chen Hao asked.
"Each one takes five minutes, so there are eleven in total." She calculated, "It takes more than an hour."
"Then hurry up and get started." Chen Hao stood up. "I'm going outside for a bit. You stay here and direct the operation."
He carried his laptop out, updating the remote sensors one by one. Some were on walls, others hidden in rock crevices. At each location, he would disassemble the device, plug in the data cable, wait for the progress bar to complete, and then reassemble it.
Nana monitored the entire process wirelessly.
“The fifth node is complete,” she said.
"Sixth one done too." Chen Hao wiped his sweat. "These things were packed too far apart. Can you pack them together a bit more next time?"
"The more dispersed the distribution, the more even the coverage," Nana said.
"I know you're right," Chen Hao muttered, "but my leg is about to break."
The last one was on the high ground to the east, more than 800 meters from the main control area. Chen Hao climbed up the slope and found a scratch on the outer shell from something.
"Who did this?" he asked, touching the mark.
“No recent activity records,” Nana said.
"That was probably a stone thrown by the wind." Chen Hao didn't think much of it, plugged in the internet, and started refreshing.
The screen suddenly went black halfway through the process.
"Did it disconnect?" He patted the machine.
“Signal interrupted,” Nana responded. “The main control unit failed to receive the signal.”
Susan's voice came through the earpiece: "The system just restarted, and all nodes were disconnected for three seconds. It's reconnecting now."
"Why restart?" Chen Hao asked.
“Unknown cause,” Susan said. “It could be due to power fluctuations.”
“Impossible.” Chen Hao stared at the equipment in his hand. “We have a voltage regulator.”
He followed the power line downwards and found that a section of the outer casing of the buried section was cracked, exposing copper wires that were covered with damp soil.
“We’ve found the problem,” he said. “Poor grounding caused a momentary short circuit.”
“Take care of it,” Susan said. “Then come back; I’m going to do one last full-network test.”
Chen Hao wrapped the wire with insulating tape, and after confirming that everything was in order, he returned to the main control area.
Everyone gathered in front of the console.
Susan pressed the start button.
System self-check begins.
"The meteorological submodule is loading... Complete," Nana said. "Wind speed, temperature difference, and air pressure have been synchronized."
"Remote probe connection status?" Susan asked.
“All eleven stations are online,” Nana responded. “The average signal strength is 79 percent.”
“Test alert triggered,” Susan typed.
A simulated rainstorm signal was issued.
Three seconds later, the alarm sounded, followed by two long blasts.
“That’s normal,” Susan nodded.
Then simulate the approach of a large organism.
Three short, sharp sounds.
“That’s true.” Karl breathed a sigh of relief.
Susan continued testing the expanded range, scanning an area extending 1,200 meters northward.
Suddenly, the signal from the ninth probe on the west side flickered and the value jumped.
"It fell off again?" Chen Hao asked.
“It’s not a disconnection.” Susan stared at the screen. “There’s something moving, very fast, but its trajectory is irregular.”
“Animals?” Carl asked.
“It doesn’t seem like it,” Nana analyzed. “The heat source characteristics do not match known biological models.”
"Could it be the wind?" Chen Hao said. "Could a blown plastic bag trigger this?"
“Plastic bags don’t stay hot for long,” Nana said.
Susan zoomed in on the image, and a blurry red dot appeared, moving back and forth along the edge of the woods.
“It’s going in circles,” she said.
"Whose chicken has become a spirit?" Chen Hao leaned closer to take a look.
Nana pulled up the frequency analysis and found that "the movement rhythm is periodic, turning every twelve seconds."
“An artificial object?” Susan frowned.
“Possibly,” Nana said. “I suggest activating tracking mode and recording the complete path.”
"Wait a minute." Chen Hao suddenly thought of something. "Our monitoring range used to only go up to 500 meters, but now it has more than doubled. Could it be that something we couldn't see before has just come in?"
“The logic holds true,” Nana said. “This area was originally a blind spot.”
Susan quickly noted down the coordinates, "Mark the location first, and check it again when it's light."
"Aren't we going now?" Chen Hao asked.
“Visibility is limited at night,” Nana said. “And if the other party has detection capabilities, approaching rashly may provoke a reaction.”
“That’s right.” Chen Hao sat back down in his chair. “Then let it wander around for a while. Anyway, we can see it now, but it might not know us.”
Susan continued monitoring, while the others checked their equipment.
Chen Hao leaned back in his chair, watching the constantly moving red dot on the screen.
"So much was hidden just 500 meters away," he said.
“It’s not just 500 meters,” Susan said. “We can see 1,200 meters now.”
"That's quite a distance." Chen Hao thought for a moment. "Do you think it might also be upgrading its system?"
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