The Tsinghua University campus in Beijing is so huge a river, called the Wanquan, runs through it. The university is located in the North West of Beijing, in Haidian district, near the famed Summer Palace. A former imperial garden of the Qing Dynasty, Tsinghua University boasts several former palaces and many striking pagodas. The only way to effectively get around the campus, if you weren’t driving, was by bicycle or by renting a two-wheel transporter at the university’s second gate. Caldwell and Mei Lin stood at the West Gate as university students whizzed in and out of the campus on their bikes. A few of the more athletic ones were on electric-powered skateboards.
Mei Lin suggested that they enter the campus on foot. She figured they would look more like tourists that way. Tsinghua was one of the country’s leading educational institutions and it received its fair share of visitors. They’d bought the usual tourist paraphernalia near the hotel, a disposable digital camera and an augmented reality system bought from a street vendor, after some protracted haggling, outside a huge multi-storey computer mall. The AR system was solely for Caldwell’s benefit. Mei Lin had assured him that she knew the campus layout reasonably well. The system consisted of a pair of cheap plastic display glasses and a small unit that clipped unto a belt. A cartoon-character scribe described the various buildings as they headed towards the library. Caldwell reckoned the library system would be relatively easy to hack and that there was a good chance that Vicky Zhao or Wang Lin had an account on the system. Mei Lin agreed.
“Tsinghua University was founded in 1911 as a preparatory school for Chinese students whom the government planned to send to continue their education at universities in the United States. The university campus is situated on what previously used to be Qing dynasty royal gardens hence the name Qing Hua derived from Qing Hua Yuan, which means Qing Gardens,” the scribe explained in a squeaky computerized voice.
As they walked towards the main administrative buildings of the sprawling campus, snippets of information were overlaid on the AR unit’s glasses with the cartoon scribe’s quirky voiceover describing the buildings somewhat superfluously. It was a poorly put together AR unit but Caldwell found the information and historical perspective somewhat helpful.
The scribe stopped theatrically, turned to face Caldwell, broke out into its cartoon grin and continued:
“To your right are mostly faculty residences, a nursery school and an elementary school. Most of the science and technology buildings are just a few minutes ahead.”
The scribe skipped merrily along the pavement, its hat bobbing up and down. The AR unit was playing back pre-rendered animation. There was nothing autonomous about the scribe’s actions. It just cycled through a series of behaviors, mixing and matching them according to some random algorithmic routine. Caldwell switched the AI unit off as they got closer to the library.
“Problem,” Caldwell said pensively.
“Yes?”
“How are we going to gain access to the library?”
“Good question,” Mei Lin said. “I have an alumni card. I am not sure whether it’s still valid though.”
“That means you have to go in.”
“Correct. I have to go in alone. If I recall correctly, the public catalogue search terminals just require a swipe of the card.”
“OK, I’ll poke around outside while you see what you can get in the library. I reckon the thing to look for is Wang Lin’s borrowing account info. It just might list his dorm room or even the location of the lab.”
“I would have gone for Wang Lin’s records but wouldn’t necessarily have thought of the library first. They are bound to have an address for him.”
“Yup.” Caldwell smiled.
They arrived in front of the old library, an ancient brown-brick building with a huge marble plaque on the front saying Tsinghua University Library in simplified Chinese characters. Mei Lin disappeared through the main doors while Caldwell idled near the front lawn trying to look as though he was impressed with the brick architecture. A bunch of students walked out of the library sizing Caldwell up. They were trying to figure out whether he was a student or a professor. Caldwell idled around outside thinking about the student Wang Lin and the conversation they’d had on the BBS. Fifteen minutes later Mei Lin emerged from the library. The look in her eyes suggested she’d hit pay dirt.
“Incredibly easy hack, the library system has an electronic workspace, where students can log in and view the books they have borrowed, return dates, e-book downloads and book recommendations. That is tied directly into the student directory server that holds the records for each student.”
“Excellent.”
“Only problem is, there are three Wang Lins in the computer science department. All of them are postgraduate students. Two live in the student dormitories, one in the junior faculty residences. I had a look at their photos. It’s difficult to tell which one looks like an AI nerd. They all look kind of geeky.”
“I’d go with the junior faculty residence one. This Wang Lin is supposedly one of Professor Yao’s protégés. He’s bound to have a few perks such as faculty lodgings.”
“I see the logic of that. Where to next?” Mei Lin asked.
“How about we pay the Department of Computer Science and Technology building a visit? Take a look at this morning’s course timetable. Who knows, Wang Lin may have decided to attend class today,” Caldwell said with a grin.
They arrived at the Department of Computer Science and Technology building after a brisk ten minute walk. It was a gray concrete and glass building shaped like a giant micro-chip lying face up. Numerous antennae protruded from the roof. Caldwell spotted at least eight satellite dishes and data broadcasting transponders.
“Looks like the place.”
They walked into the main area. The entire side of one wall was covered with a huge electronic notice board showing the different classes. It looked every bit as complex as the departures display at an international airport.
“There’s a lecture on right now at the Zhu Rongji Lecture Theater on artificial intelligence,” Caldwell said, pointing at the display, which was crammed with so much information that it was almost unintelligible.
“Artificial Intelligence III. Sounds like a postgraduate degree course. I took AI I and AI II in my third and fourth year here. At any rate I know where the Zhu Rongji Lecture Theatre is. This way.”
Caldwell followed Mei Lin down countless corridors and doors with transparent plastic flaps that gave you a good academic slap in the back as you went through. By the time they got to the Zhu Rongji Lecture Theater, Caldwell was totally lost. They slipped into the theater through the backdoor and took some empty seats at the back. A few students looked round to see what the commotion was about but quickly refocused their attention on the proceedings.
The lecture theatre was massive like a Greek amphitheater. The professor was so far down in the bowels of the theater, the room sloped downwards at a steep angle, that he was a blot on the stage. Giant television screens magnified his presence for the benefit of those at the back as he paced around the stage expounding obscure AI theories. He had white hair sleeked back away from a prominent forehead and a large bulbous nose. You could see the pores in his nose on the magnified image. Caldwell reckoned from the liver spots on his bony hands that he was probably pushing seventy.
The professor was going on about how traditional concepts of artificial intelligence were undergoing a major overhaul as new ideas on what constitutes machine intelligence developed. It was difficult to believe that probably just a few hundred meters from this room another professor had invented an AI that posed a threat to cyberspace. Had Wang Lin been lying in a vain attempt to impress Vicki Zhao? Caldwell had an idea. There was a dopey looking girl with ruddy cheeks sitting to Caldwell’s right. He leaned over and whispered to her in Mandarin.
“Which one is Li Jin, the one that works with Professor Yao?”
“Didn’t you hear about it? Professor Yao is dead and Li Jin has done a runner. The police are looking for him,” she whispered. Caldwell was taken aback by the casual way in which the student delivered this information but she looked like the gossipy type. So the student Li Jin was on the run. Caldwell continued his questioning.
“Oh really? Why would he run away? That would suggest he did something wrong,” he prompted.
“You bet. The Nanotechnology Research building is crawling with PLA types. No student is allowed to go anywhere near the building unless they have a special pass. It’s a surprise they haven’t taken Wang Lin in for questioning.”
“Oh yeah, Wang Lin. He’s that guy in the jean jacket three rows ahead, right?” Caldwell asked, randomly selecting a male student. Mei Lin just looked at him bemused. She seemed impressed with his social engineering skills.
“What are you talking about?” the girl hissed, giving Caldwell a sidelong glance. “Wang Lin is that skinny guy in the red jumper five rows down. I don’t know why he even bothers attending lectures. He knows this stuff inside out anyways.”
“I am sure you do too,” Caldwell said. The girl gave him a strange look as though he had just tried to hit on her and turned to concentrate on the lecture. She had lost interest in their little conversation. Caldwell turned to Mei Lin and told her which student was Wang Lin. He was a lanky-looking fellow with unkempt shoulder-length hair and hunched shoulders. They could only see a fraction of his face from where they were sitting but Caldwell was certain they wouldn’t lose him in a crowd. He was wearing disposable black plastic glasses with very thick lenses. This was apparent even from a distance. And that red jumper.
Ten minutes later, the lecture was over. Wang Lin walked down to the lecture podium and had a brief chat with the lecturer. On the monitors, Caldwell and Mei Lin got a good look at his face. The student looked scared. Then Wang Lin headed back up towards the back of the auditorium. The lecturer gathered up his teaching materials and disappeared out of the door at the front. Wang Lin walked right past them. He looked nothing like the avatar Caldwell had seen him use on the student BBS. He looked like the kind of kid who was always letting others know how brilliant he was. He looked arrogant. Yet today, he was scared. That much was obvious. Caldwell and Mei Lin followed him out of the Zhu Rongji Lecture Theater.
***
Like many super-intelligent students, Wang Lin’s body language was all out of kilter. He had the shuffling gait of a kid who spent too much time reading books and too little time on athletic activities. His skin was pale and from the depths of his thick convex lenses his eyes darted around regarding other students he passed with suspicion. With the professor’s death and Li Jin’s mysterious disappearance, Wang Lin probably suspected that he was next on some PLA hit list. He seemed to be their guy alright. Caldwell and Mei Lin kept a respectable distance as Wang Lin expertly navigated the myriad corridors of the Department of Computer Science and Technology building.
Wang Lin exited the building through a small side door. He looked behind him suddenly. Caldwell and Mei Lin darted into a small recess in a nearby doorway. The student scanned the corridors behind him then the doors slammed shut. Wang Lin was walking up the path towards the junior faculty residences, away from the academic building. It looked like he was not going to give them any leads on this AI. He picked up speed. Caldwell could swear that the student was mumbling to himself. Perhaps he was still berating himself for his lack of judgment on the student BBS?
A girl walked straight past Wang Lin, a cluster of books clutched to her chest. She didn’t even give him a second glance. Wang Lin stopped, turned around and gawked after the girl. Caldwell couldn’t believe his eyes. It was Vicky Zhao, the girl whose login Caldwell had used on the student BBS. Her hair was different but he recognized her from the photo on her site. Caldwell stopped Mei Lin and pretended to be having a discussion with her. The girl walked past them a few seconds later. She was very pretty, even better looking than the digital photograph on her site.
Wang Lin shook his head, turned around and kept walking. He arrived at the junior faculty residence building, a nondescript five-storey block of concrete, and disappeared inside. Mei Lin and Caldwell made their way to the side of the building.
“Should we go in?” Caldwell asked.
“Not sure. They take breaking into university residences very seriously here. Not worth the risk.”
There was a small patch of lawn on the other side of the path. A few students were sitting around peering into books or PDAs. Caldwell and Mei Lin sat down a safe distance from them and waited. They didn’t have to wait long. A few minutes later, Wang Lin emerged out of the junior faculty residence. He had changed his clothes and had a medium-sized backpack hanging around his shoulder. Mei Lin and Caldwell looked at each other. What the hell was going on?
***
Wang Lin was walking with a spring in his step, like a high school student who had just found out that he’d scored straight A’s in his university entrance exams. Or was he in a hurry for an altogether different reason.
“Something’s going down. I won’t be surprised if back at the lecture theater Wang Lin just told his professor that he won’t be attending class for a while,” Caldwell observed.
“You think so?” Mei Lin asked, in a way that suggested she had arrived at the same conclusion just a few moments earlier.
“I can feel it in my bones. He is probably going to do a runner too.”
They followed Wang Lin all the way back. This time, however, Wang Lin walked straight past the Department of Computer Science and Technology building. He disappeared into a small garden with a stone path and a cluster of leafless trees. At the other end of the garden stood a gleaming white monster of a building. At the top of the building was a shiny silver sign that reflected the sunlight. It read: Nanotechnology Research Centre. There were a couple of 4x4 Mitsubishi electrics parked in front of the building. Two athletic-looking Chinese men were standing in front of the building’s main doors smoking. Wang Lin stopped at the edge of the garden. He was casing the joint.
“We better move back a bit,” Mei Lin suggested.
“Why?”
“The Nanotechnology Research Centre houses several of Tsinghua’s State Key Institutes. When I was an undergraduate here I heard about them but didn’t really know what they did in there. This particular building was often frequented by officials from the government. The kind that wore dark glasses even when there was no sun to speak of.”
“What’s a State Key Institute? Sounds vaguely familiar. Rings some kind of a bell.”
“They are institutes that conduct research, usually top secret, in conjunction with the New China government. They get funding from both the university and the National Research Council. Sometimes they are funded directly by the People’s Liberation Army.”
“If I recall correctly, Professor Yao headed several such institutes and conducted research work for the PLA, right.”
“Yes. And if we get caught here it could be some serious trouble.”
“Look,” Caldwell said, pointing towards the front of the building.
Two men dressed in PLA uniform emerged from the building. Each one was pushing what looked like a small dark gray refrigerator on a trolley. One of them was carrying a silver metal case similar to those used to hold expensive camera or video recording equipment.
“They are moving servers. Don’t have to be a genius ...” Mei Lin started to say.
“You think that’s it? The AI?”
“Positive. That is the AI. And the case must hold the quantum processor.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“Those guys are armed. If that was ordinary computer equipment, why all the guns?”
The two PLA men who had been standing outside got behind the wheels of the 4x4s. The other two loaded the servers into the back of the vehicles and climbed in. A cluster of identical green traveling bags was clearly visible at the back of the vehicle. Wang Lin turned round and started running towards where they were standing. Mei Lin and Caldwell retreated out of sight behind one of the trees. Wang Lin ran straight past them with a worried look on his face.
“Head back to the gates and try to follow them in a taxi. I’ll go back to the hotel, grab our stuff and meet you at the airport. I think with the PLA duffels it’s safe to assume that that’s where they are going. Find out which flight they are on. We need to get on that flight at all costs.”
“Good idea. You think they are going to Shanghai? I saw a taxi stand outside the gates.”
They walked briskly towards the university gates, watching Wang Lin’s slender form grow gradually smaller as he rushed ahead. Behind them, the engines of the 4x4s purred and the vehicles began to move.