The Nerd Who Conquered The World

chapter 7

Lin Chen worked through the night. ClearShield was not just bait, it had to be genuinely good. Good enough that people downloaded it on its own merits, that it spread naturally, that nobody questioned why a free tool this capable existed. He built it properly, as it had to be appealing and very effective with a clean interface, fast scanning and effective against the overwhelming majority of viral threats currently circulating online.

It would still be useless against top viruses like the Python virus buried in Wang Tech's core servers would be completely invisible to it.

Lin Chen packaged it under an alias, and set up a simple distribution page. Then he wrote brief documentation on it.Then he looked at the name on the screen showing ClearShield v1.0 for a long moment before he tapped upload.

It went live at 8 PM, as he could finally rest. Just as he closed his laptop. Just then he heard knocking.

“Lin Chen open the door, I your Father am here!.”

Lin Chen opened the door as Liang Hao rushed inside, straight past him into the apartment, then he stopped in the middle of the room, and slowly turned around taking in the full scene.

"Lin Chen." He looked at the noodle boxes scattered around and the energy drink pulled up in a corner, also at the books everywhere.

"What the hell happened here? I have also been sending you messages, why haven't you replied?."

Scratching his head Lin Chen finally checked his phone and saw the series of missed messages from Liang Hao.

He put on an apologetic look as he didn't know.

"Sorry Fatty Hao, I have been busy."

Liang Hao looked at him properly then not just the apartment but him. There was something in the way Lin Chen was standing. Something behind the eyes that hadn't been there before. Before he had the soft unfocused look of someone lost in academic work. He had the look of conviction that wasn't there before, like a person who had decided something and was moving toward it.

"I heard you paid your student loan in full," Liang Hao said slowly as he moved his chubby body around, with his head up high surveying the place like a king checking his territory.

"You have your own apartment. And now this." He gestured at the screens and the books. "What exactly are you working on, Lin Chen?"

"A project."

"What kind of project?"

"The kind that matters."

Liang Hao looked at him for a long moment. Then he seemed to decide to let it go for now. "Okay. But you need to get out of this room before you lose your mind.”

“Okay,” Liang Hao said, clapping his hands, “I have decided to save you from this seclusion caused by a heart break, go and change, let's go out.”

Lin Chen sighed as he agreed.

"I need to clean up and shower first."

Liang Hao covered his nose dramatically and stepped back. "Please. Yes. Right now you are a turn off for the chicks, quick go and take a bath."

When they got to the club, the club was loud and warm and full of people. Liang Hao was in his element within thirty seconds of walking in, gravitating toward the dance floor like he had been specifically designed for it.

He had already moved his chubby body in skinny jeans to two girls moving with ridiculous moves as he left Lin Chen.

Lin Chen found a seat at the bar and ordered a drink. He was happy to be out. But sitting in the noise and the light and the movement he felt something he hadn't expected a complete sense of separation from all of it. The people around him were celebrating the end of university, the beginning of whatever came next, unbothered and loud and present in the moment. He was already three steps ahead of a plan that none of them knew existed.

He wasn't better than them. He was just somewhere else entirely.

Liang Hao appeared at his elbow with two girls in tow, beaming like he had just solved a complex problem.

"Lin Chen, this is Xia Yue and Chen Rui. Ladies, this is my best friend Lin Chen." He lowered his voice theatrically as though Lin Chen couldn't hear him. "He was recently broken up with so I need you to help cheer him up."

Xia Yue, with tall, bright eyes, and easy confidence that came from being looked at her whole life, looked Lin Chen over with open curiosity. "So I heard your girlfriend broke up with you? That's hard to believe."

“Why?”

Chen Rui, smaller, sharper, with a quick smile that suggested she noticed things looked at him differently. Less at his face and more at his expression. "You don't look heartbroken," she said. "You look like you're thinking about something."

"I'm always thinking about something," Lin Chen said.

She laughed as they moved closer to him "What kind of something?"

"Work."

"On a night out?"

"It's hard to forget about work."

Xia Yue leaned on the bar beside him. "What kind of work?"

"Software."

"Are you a developer?"

"Something like that."

Liang Hao had already melted back into the crowd, satisfied that introductions had been made. Xia Yue tried a few more angles, asking where he was going after graduation, what his plans were, whether he came out often. Lin Chen answered each one politely and briefly. He wasn't acting cold exactly but his answers were short and polite.

Chen Rui watched him across the top of her glass for a moment. "You're not really here, are you," she said, but it wasn't quite a question.

Lin Chen looked at her. "I'm here physically aren't I?"

"But not in your head."

He considered that, laughing "No. Not completely."

She nodded like that confirmed something. "What is it you're waiting for?"

He looked at her for a moment. Then he smiled, the first genuine one of the evening. "To see if something I set in motion tonight works the way I planned."

She raised her glass slightly. "I hope it does."

"It will," he said simply.

He checked his phone. ClearShield has been live for forty minutes now. The first downloads were already registered. He put the phone back in his pocket.

Across the city, inside Wang Tech Industries' servers, the Python virus was replicating quietly through every system it could reach, invisible and patient.

Both traps were running, so he picked up his drink and let himself enjoy the rest of the night.

……

Later Lin Chen half-carried the drunk Liang Hao back to the apartment, struggling under his weight in the corridor.

"Liang Hao." He grunted, pushing him through the bedroom door. "You seriously need to cut down on your weight. You are too heavy."

Liang Hao hit the bed and was unconscious before Lin Chen straightened up.

Lin Chen looked at him for a second, shaking his head. Then he quietly pulled the door closed, sat back down at his desk, and opened his laptop.

ClearShield downloads: 847 and climbing.

He opened his next textbook and started reading.