Koji Mizutani cracked his knuckles and raked a hand through his hair, immaculately moussed and combed. He was dressed in his finest Giorgio Armani suit that he had washed, pressed, and starched every few days before an important match without exception. It glistened in the studio light and was worth enough to feed a third world family for a year.
The cameras tracked his figure as he strolled through the double doors and to the Go board that dominated the arena. A panel of three judges was seated a few feet from the action, and an audience a few feet more from the panel. The Meijin was already present. He stood up, shook his hand, and sat down with his opponent simultaneously as per his conceited notion of decorum. The audience offered a light round of applause. Koji worked to suppress a sneer.
The center judge cleared his throat into the mike and spoke. "This will be the fourth game of the Asia Cup. Currently, the score is 2-1 in favor of Mr. Mizutani. As usual, both sides are allotted three hours, and white receives 6.5 komi at the end of the game. For this game, Mr. Touya will be playing as Black, and Mr. Mizutani will be playing as White. Good luck to both contestants."
Koji clenched and reclenched his fists. A light shock assured him that he was indeed connected to Shusaku via radio transmission. He was ready.
"You're looking better this week," said the Meijin. The raspy timbre of his voice jagged on Koji's ears.
"Thanks," he said, utterly unthankful. "I'm hoping to give you a good game today."
"I expect no less from a player of your caliber, Mizutani."
"The same of you, Touya."
These pleasantries had always annoyed Koji, and he made only a token effort to dissemble his disgust. On camera, however, he appeared slick and sharp. Tastefully dressed, clean shaven, well groomed. The grainy image projecting into Hikaru and Shige's hospital room did well to hide the subtle stress lines on his forehead.
They watched the two combatants begin jostling for territory over the open board. The live commentators talked about the flawless opening techniques from both players.
Shige turned to Hikaru. "This is the Asia Cup, right?"
"Yeah."
"Ah, I meant to watch the games, but I could never find the right channel."
"Well, it's … on the Go channel."
"That certainly makes sense."
The commentators switched to talking about the Meijin's past games and playing styles. It wasn't easy work filling up the dead space between opening moves. Most of the action happened midgame.
"That's Koji Mizutani," said Hikaru, pointing to the man with greasy hair. "Didn't you have some sort of grudge against him?"
"Grudge? Heavens, no. I don't have a grudge against anyone. I just said I didn't like the way he carries himself."
"Right. His vibrations."
"Did you ever look up the Beach Boys?"
"Errrrrr… no."
"Well, you should. They've made some fine music. Pet Sounds is the greatest album of all time."
"Okay, I'll look into," said Hikaru. "But right now, I want to watch the game."
"And you're looking to see if something's off about him."
"Yeah, I—. Wait. How'd you know that?"
Shige laughed a grandmotherly laugh. "I was awake, dummy."
"What? Why didn't you tell us?"
"It was more interesting just to listen."
"But if you—"
Shige snapped a finger to her lips. "Shhhhhh. The game's getting good."
The Meijin had just attacked the bottom left corner with a daring line of play. His opponent responded with a questionable maneuver. A smirk crossed the Meijin's face as he cut off Koji's two patches of stones from each other. A swing of four or five points. Enough to catapult him into the lead.
A tic in Koji's neck.
Shige pointed to the TV. "Did you see that?" she asked excitedly.
"What? What happened?"
"That twitch in his neck."
"I didn't see it."
"I'm going on eighty years old, Hikaru, and you're saying you didn't see something so obvious?"
"No, I really didn't see it."
"I've watched dozens of his games, and each time he loses out on territory, his neck twitches without fail. Every time."
"I never noticed that," said Hikaru. "Maybe it's just a habit of his."
"Yes, but then he clenches his right hand. Watch. Just watch," said Shige. "There! Did you see it?"
"Huh! You're right."
"And then his entire body jolts up a little bit. See? There it is again."
"Wow. I would've missed that if you hadn't told me to look for it."
"That happens every time he's in a bind." Shige looked satisfied with herself.
The commentators' voices rose in excitement. Koji had executed one of his trademark moves, and now the Meijin was rubbing his forehead in meditation. If he failed to find the correct response, his lead would be negated.
"What does it mean?" asked Hikaru.
"Like you pointed out earlier," she said, "it might just be a nervous habit of his. Or it could be something else."
"Such as?"
The Meijin answered with a solid blockade option that fenced off a sizable chunk of land from Koji. The commentators decided that he the move was good but probably not the best. He lost one or two points in that brief exchange.
"You know, during World War II, some Japanese intelligence agents used to have tiny radios hooked up to spark generators implanted under their skin. When they slipped behind enemy lines and wanted to send information back to home base, they would use the sparks to spell out a message in Morse code. The electricity would be transduced to radio signals, which would only be heard on receivers tuned to the right frequency."
"How do you know this?"
"My husband. He was a spy working in China, and he showed me this trinket. They implanted it under his skin, and whenever he clenched his fist, it would send out a radio signal. He gradually developed the same tic in his neck and the same abrupt jolt when the spark startled him."
"Do you think that trinket could also receive signals?" asked Hikaru.
"I'm not an electrical engineer, but from my limited knowledge of radio transceivers, I would say: why not?"
Koji and the Meijin began wrestling for territory in the upper right corner of the board. This time, the Meijin was on defense, skillfully warding off several sharp advances from White. One of the commentators complimented Koji on his incisive attacks while the other commentator offered equally warm praise for the Meijin's defensive ability.
Hikaru said, "And how would you go about detecting the signals sent from such a device?"
"That," said Shige, "you'll have to ask my husband."
"Ah, he's still…"
"Alive? Oh, yes. He's eighty-eight and still going strong. He doesn't even need a cane or dentures. Never took up smoking when everyone else did because he knew instinctively that it was unhealthy. Walks a mile every day, buys his own groceries, and still has time to visit me every other day."
"He visits you? Then how come I've never seen him?"
"Hikaru," she said, "you're sick with one of the most infectious conditions in existence. Do you really think the nurses would allow him to visit me in our room?"
"So that's what your walks were for. I feel stupid."
"Don't. I know you're a smart boy and so should you."
"Uh, I guess."
"Especially in front of Akari." She winked. Hikaru reddened.
"Right! Right! Enough of that! Next time your husband visits, could you please ask him how the radio thingy works?"
"Of course," she said. "I'm just teasing you, my boy."
The rest of the game saw watertight moves from both sides. At around move 88, Koji began to pale and perspire. On move 100, he requested that his glass be refilled. The attendant obliged. It didn't improve his pallor. On move 102, the tic in his neck throbbed to life. His left fist clenched, body twitched before he deployed a brilliant passive move in the center of the board. The commentators scratched their heads for a while before one of them ventured a compliment for the maneuver. Hikaru and Shige locked gazes in a silent telepathy of knowingness.
It happened again on move 168. Tic in the neck, clench of the fist, twitch of the body, trademark move. Hikaru could spot the signs easily now that he was hunting for them. The Meijin found the correct response and held on to his small but vital lead. By move 176, Koji launched an aggressive campaign to secure turf in the upper left quadrant. After a minute of intense deliberation, the Meijin realized that the only way to break even was to cede the area under fire in order to counterattack and nab an equal amount of Koji's land in return. By move 200, the commentators agreed that Koji had lost, and on move 202, he resigned. The series was now even at 2-2.
…
Thread title: Saiism - The Religion of Sai
Dominic85 [8-19-02, 5:58:21 PM]: Welcome, everyone to the temple of worship for the Religion of Sai, otherwise known as Saiism. I have created this topic based on the growing movement to recognize Sai as a prophet. So, behold! This shall be our church, where we will pay our digital respects to the man (woman?) who foresaw the future moves of the Shusaku challenge. Accurate predictions are rare in history, but none have ever been so specific in their details. Even the scientific community is baffled. There is only one explanation: Sai is a disciple of the Lord of Hosts. He is the shepherd, and we are his sheep.
His messages on NetGo have already been received, studied over, and preserved in both mind and matter. With them, many of the more dedicated Saiites have already begun to record his exploits in the new Sai Bible. If you would like to help, please send me a PM and we can get you started on writing a chapter. Be a part of this historic event! Your words will become sacred history for our posterity.
BlueKnight1 [8-19-02, 5:58:52 PM]: Finally! A place where we can worship without being persecuted.
Theo422 [8-19-02, 5:59:10 PM]: Haha. Is this some sort of joke?
TheBigLebowski [8-19-02, 5:59:28 PM]: I am totally on this boat. Sign me up for writing sacred history.
NarutoFan86 [8-19-02, 5:59:33 PM]: YES!
Dominic85 [8-19-02, 5:59:44PM]: Theo422: No joke, my friend. This is 100% legit.
AlanRickman9 [8-19-02, 5:59:54 PM]: Not sure if srs….
CJohnson [8-19-02, 6:00:00 PM]: This is legit, guys. If you can't see that, then I feel sorry for you.
[Thread continues]
…
…
…
Akira visited the next day. Shige exchanged greetings with him and talked about nothing in particular before they moved on to the main reason for the impromptu conference. Akira did indeed spot Koji's tic, clench, and twitch. He theorized that those actions were a signal to an accomplice in the audience, but he never imagined Koji would be carrying a concealed implant. After pondering the new intelligence, he asked the obvious question.
"How do we detect those signals? If he's able to receive them, then there has to be a way."
Hikaru turned to Shige, who cleared her throat and said, "I talked to my husband earlier today. He said back in the 40's, it would be impossible to use this kind of device to transmit messages unless you had your own private frequency and lots and lots of money. I asked him what's different now, and he just said all you need is a cell phone and someone on the other end."
"Is someone abetting him?" asking Akira.
"Could be," said Shige. "If there is, that person took great pains to set all of it up."
Akira leapt out of his seat. "Peoples!"
Hikaru flinched. Shige waved off Akira's epiphany. "Yes, yes, it could also be a group of people."
"No, I mean Peoples as in Samuel Peoples, the guy who built the Go engine. Hikaru, remember when I showed you how Koji's moves looked a lot like Shusaku's moves taken from your list?"
Realization painted over his eyes. "Yes! You're right. It makes sense." Hikaru cracked open the laptop and began typing. Akira looked over his shoulder.
Shige wore a confused mask over her face. "Huh? What's all this about what now?"
"Shige, Samuel Peoples is the guy who built Shusaku," said Akira. "And during the game last week, Koji played a sequence of moves that looked suspiciously like the computer's moves according to Hikaru's predictions."
"Predictions?"
"Long story. Gist of it is that someone seems to be feeding Shusaku's moves to Koji. And who better to do it than the creator of the machine?"
"Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait. What if it turns out that someone made a copy of the program and this Samuel Peoples has nothing to do with it?"
"Cui bono? Who profits? Who would benefit from stealing this program and using it to win the Asia Cup?"
"Koji Mizutani, for one," said Hikaru, eyes still pasted to the computer screen.
"Yes, that's a given. We already know he's guilty. Who else?"
"Someone related to Koji, then. A brother or a cousin. But what if he's acting alone?" asked Shige.
"That's certainly possible," said Akira. "Hikaru, could you search for when Dr. Peoples first presented Shusaku to the public?"
Hikaru did so, and thirty seconds later, he said, "The earliest reference I can find is from June of this year. A paper in a computer AI journal."
"Just two months. That's very recent. Before that, I imagine the program must've been kept pretty secret, and in the United States no less. Would Koji even have heard of it let alone risk breaking into an academic institution just to steal a program that may or may not play Go very well?"
Shige shook her head.
"He had help from the inside. That narrows it down to people who knew about the project before it was revealed."
"I read an article about it last week," said Hikaru, still immersed in his typing. "It said Shusaku had been tested on a few Western pros before the official unveiling."
"They might be accomplices, but that's also a distant assumption. Those pros would be in the same situation as Koji. Would they really risk their careers just to steal that program even if they knew how strong it was?"
Shige shook her head again.
"Everything points to Dr. Peoples as the other man. He's got the wherewithal, and he's got the motive."
"Which is?"
"If Shusaku wins the challenge, everyone will want his program. Scientists will want to study it, and players will want to buy it. Academic prestige and money. Two big impetuses."
Shige smiled. "You're a genuine C. Auguste Dupin."
"Eh, thanks," he said awkwardly. Akira was used to people complimenting his Go skills, but never on his detective skills.
"Hey, look at this." said Hikaru, pointing to the screen. "It's Koji's biography. Apparently, he took a sabbatical shortly after he turned pro. Stayed in the U.S. for almost a year."
"Does it say where in the U.S.?"
"Nuh-uh."
"I'll bet you anything he visited Boston at some point. Visited the campus where Peoples worked, and that's how they met. I'm sure of it."
"Okay," said Hikaru. "How do we track down the cell phone signal?"
"That's a wee problem," said Shige. "You're gonna have a tough time finding the receiver without a phone number and insider access to the provider's network."
"Uhh, do we have either of those?"
Akira shook his head. "We don't know the number. Short of stalking Koji to his house and hoping he utters the number in his sleep, we're not going to get it. And access to the network isn't going to be any easier to obtain."
"So, let me get this straight," said Hikaru. "We know he's guilty, we just can't prove it?"
"Well, we don't know for sure that he's guilty," said Akira. "Our strongest pieces of evidence are an – no offense – unverified testimony from Shige's husband, and a notable similarity between Koji's moves and Shusaku's, which we don't even know if it will end up making."
"Why don't we just report him to the Go federation and let them investigate?"
"Yes, yes, that's a sensible solution," said Shige.
Akira produced a sour expression. "They'll go through their standard operating procedure, I'm sure. I've seen it before. They pull the person under investigation aside and tell him he has to show up on this date for questioning and let him go until then. Innocent until proven guilty. In Koji's case, he'd be able to expunge all the evidence by getting rid of the implant. Then the committee would bring him in, throw him a few soft jabs, and then release him because they won't have a preponderance of evidence. Or any evidence, for that matter. You have to catch him red-handed."
Hikaru tilted back and stared at the ceiling in defeat. "Man, this sucks."
"Indeed," said Akira.
"Well," said Shige, "there is one more thing my husband suggested."
Both boys turned to her, waited for her to spill.
"A cell phone jammer. After the war, he worked high up in the government, and he got to see all kinds of weird gadgets and patents through his work. Near that old crank's retirement, he was sent schematics for a prototype radio signal jammer. Told me that such a toy would be perfect for scrambling a cell phone signal at close range. I debriefed him on our situation, and he said he'd be able to get one for me as long as it's used for a noble purpose."
"Noble?" said Akira. "I'd say this is noble. Helping to bring a chronic cheater to justice."
"Shige, I guess with that sort of thing, we'd have to be in the same room as Koji, right?"
She nodded.
"I can get us in," said Akira.
"I'm not surprised," said Hikaru.
"Then we'll do it. Next game. Monday. You'll be there, won't you Hikaru?"
"Wouldn't miss it."
"Would you like tickets as well, Shige?"
"I would love to go, but the circumstances have conspired against me." Shige smiled. "And by the way, tell your father that he has a fan in me. I always thought he was a hunk."
Akira suppressed a reaction and then excused himself. After he was gone, Hikaru laughed and exchanged high fives with the old jokester.