The Vance family garage was a graveyard of 2010s technology. Dusty CRT monitors, tangled Ethernet cables, and a rusted server rack that looked more like a cage than a supercomputer.
"It's useless, Xavier," Claire said, wiping a streak of grease from her forehead. "The power supply is shot, and the processors are dual-core relics. Even my phone has more computing power than this entire rack."
Xavier stood before the humming, vibrating metal skeleton. To Claire, it was junk. To him, it was raw material.
"Computing power isn't just about the silicon, Claire. It's about how the instructions are handled," Xavier said. He pulled out a specialized toolkit he had bought with the last of his original $50.
He didn't just 'fix' the server. He began to physically bypass the logic gates on the motherboard with copper wire, creating a 'short-circuit' that followed a Recursive Optimization Algorithm—a technique developed in 2038 to squeeze 500% more efficiency out of legacy hardware.
"What are you doing? You'll fry the whole thing!" Claire gasped as sparks flew.
"Trust me," Xavier muttered.
Ten minutes later, the fans—previously wheezing—suddenly roared with a high-pitched, supersonic whine. The status lights, which had been a dull amber, turned a piercing, neon violet.
"I've overclocked the bus speed by three hundred percent," Xavier explained, his eyes fixed on his laptop screen. "I'm using a 'Ghost-Threading' script. The hardware thinks it's executing one task, but I'm actually splitting the instructions across the idle background frequencies of the university's nearby 5G tower."
Claire stared at the monitor. The processing speed was climbing. 1 Teraflop... 5 Teraflops... 12 Teraflops.
"That's... that's impossible," she whispered. "This hardware shouldn't be able to handle that heat."
"It won't," Xavier said coolly. "It only needs to survive until 2:15 AM."
Time: 2:10 AM.
Xavier sat cross-legged on the concrete floor, the violet glow of the server rack illuminating his sharp features. On his screen, the Aura Finance (AURA) price chart was a vertical line.
AURA Price: $142.50.
Xavier's Position: $900 Short (100x Leverage).
If the price went up even one dollar, Xavier would be liquidated. He would lose everything.
"Xavier, look at the news!" Claire shouted, holding her tablet. "The CEO of Aura Finance just tweeted that they've secured a partnership with a major bank. The price is mooning! You're going to lose your money!"
"Wait for it," Xavier said. He wasn't even looking at the news. He was looking at the 'Block Explorer'—the raw data of the blockchain.
2:13:45 AM.
A single transaction appeared on the chain. It was small, almost invisible. A transfer of 0.0001 ETH to the Aura Finance Vault.
"The injection has begun," Xavier whispered.
2:14:00 AM.
The 'Shadow-Link' hacker (the one Xavier remembered from history) executed the logic exploit. In an instant, the Aura Finance 'Smart Contract' was tricked into thinking its liquidity pool was infinite. The hacker began minting billions of new tokens out of thin air.
2:14:10 AM.
The market realized what was happening. The vertical line on the chart didn't just drop—it vanished.
$142... $80... $20... $0.05.
"Oh my god," Claire fell back into a plastic chair. "The entire platform is collapsing. It's a rug pull!"
Xavier's fingers moved like lightning. He didn't wait for the bottom. He closed his position at $0.10.
Trade Summary:
Entry: $142.50
Exit: $0.10
Profit: +142,400%
Account Balance: $128,160.
Xavier exhaled, a cold cloud of breath in the chilly garage. He had done it. In less than six hours, he had gone from a broke student to a man with a six-figure war chest.
Suddenly, the server rack behind them let out a violent POP. A cloud of acrid black smoke billowed out as the motherboard finally melted into a puddle of plastic and silicon.
"The server..." Claire started.
"It served its purpose," Xavier said, standing up. He looked at his phone. He had three missed calls from an unknown number.
He called back.
"Is this Xavier Thorne?" a deep, gravelly voice asked. It sounded like someone who hadn't slept in forty-eight hours.
"Who's asking?"
"This is Detective Miller from the Campus Security and Cyber-Crimes division. We have a report from a Mr. Sterling regarding a 'malicious cyber-attack' on his personal property. We also have a warrant to inspect your hardware. Where are you, son?"
Xavier looked at the melted server rack, then at Claire, who looked terrified.
"I'm at home, Detective," Xavier said, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "But you're welcome to come over. Just a warning—I'm currently filing a counter-suit for defamation and illegal surveillance. You might want to bring a lawyer."
He hung up.
"Xavier! What are you doing?" Claire cried. "You can't talk to the police like that!"
"Claire," Xavier said, grabbing his laptop and heading for the door. "In the old world, the police protected people like the Sterlings. In my world, the only thing that protects you is the code. And I own the code."
He reached into his pocket and tossed her a small, encrypted thumb drive.
"There's ten thousand dollars in Bitcoin on that drive. Move to a hotel. Don't tell anyone where you are. The Sterling family is about to realize that when you try to slap the Emperor, you'd better not miss."
Xavier stepped out into the night. He had the money. Now, he needed the power.
Next stop: The dark web's 'underground' hardware auctions. He needed to build The Oracle—his first true AI.