Chương 106: Bonus Chapter: Prove You Are Human : Part 2

Aldric abandoned the audio challenge and returned to the image grid. Four attempts, four failures. Continuing to select images based on whatever interpretation of the CAPTCHA seemed correct at the time would teach him nothing more. He opened a new tab. If he could not understand the rules governing his opponent, then his first task was to discover them. In the search bar, he typed: Why website ask I am not a robot Several results appeared. Aldric opened the first and began reading.

Some of the explanations used terms he did not recognize, but the general principle soon became clear: CAPTCHAs were designed to prevent automated programs from performing certain actions on the Internet. To distinguish them from genuine users, they presented tasks that were supposed to be easy for a human and difficult for a machine. Aldric returned to that sentence. Supposed to be easy. He decided not to dwell on that particular detail.

"So a machine is asking me to prove that I am not a machine." △ LOGIC CHECK △ Machine: Website Verification System Entity Being Tested: Human PURPOSE Determine Whether Human Is Machine RESULT Logically Unusual but Operationally Valid Aldric had attended enough military councils to know that a procedure could be both absurd and functional. He therefore accepted the explanation and continued his research. According to a second article, some verification systems did more than analyze which images a user selected.

They also examined the way a person interacted with the page: the speed of their actions, their movements, their clicks, and their general behavior. That changed the situation. Perhaps his answers were not the problem. Aldric returned to the CAPTCHA. A new grid appeared. Select all images with buses. This time, he would not make the same mistake. If the system was looking for the behavior of an ordinary human, then all he had to do was behave like an ordinary human.

Aldric studied the nine photographs without touching them. Until now, he had answered as quickly and methodically as possible. He therefore needed to do the opposite: hesitate, vary his movements, and avoid any regular pattern that might be mistaken for the behavior of a machine. He selected the buses while deliberately varying the time between each choice. He added a few hesitations, returned to an image he had already dismissed, and made sure never to repeat the same behavior twice.

All of this required a considerable amount of concentration. △ NEW TACTIC DETECTED △ OBJECTIVE Behave Naturally Current Naturalness: 14%"Fourteen percent…" Aldric was unfamiliar with the standards used to measure how natural a person's behavior appeared in this society, but fourteen percent seemed difficult to consider satisfactory. He adjusted his strategy. Perhaps he was holding his phone too rigidly. Aldric switched hands and waited five seconds before selecting another square.

He then scrolled down the page, went back up, waited a little longer, and returned to the CAPTCHA. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. △ CURRENT NATURALNESS △ 9%"Why is it going down?" ⚠ WARNING ⚠ Deliberately Attempting to Behave Naturally May Cause Behavior to Appear Less Natural.

"To succeed, I have to behave naturally. But the moment I think about doing that, I do the opposite." CORRECT Aldric had negotiated with elven lords whose demands contained fewer contradictions. He picked up his phone again with one simple instruction: don't think. A bus occupied the second square, and his finger moved toward it before stopping. Did I just think about it? He selected the image, then realized he had rushed because he was trying not to think.

Apparently, even not thinking required a certain amount of thought. △ CURRENT NATURALNESS △ 6%"I didn't even do anything." △ NATURALNESS ASSESSMENT △ Includes Hesitation Patterns"That rule is absurd." His phone vibrated. Emma: What are you doing? Aldric: I'm trying to behave like a human. Emma: Aldric, I'm going to need some context. Aldric: The bookstore website doubts my humanity. His phone vibrated again, and Aldric answered the call.

"What did you do this time?" Emma asked.

"Nothing."

"Start from the beginning." Aldric described his attempt to order the book, the creation of his account, and the appearance of the box asking him to confirm that he was not a robot. He then explained the traffic lights, the bicycles, and the crosswalks.

"Then," Aldric continued, "I tried the audio challenge."

"The audio challenge?"

"It was less reliable. I identified something that sounded like 'ate.'" Emma made a strange noise.

"Are you laughing?"

"No."

"Your voice suggests otherwise."

"Go on…" Aldric then explained that he had researched how the verification system worked and discovered that his interactions with the page could be analyzed.

"So I tried behaving less methodically." Emma stopped responding.

"Emma?" A muffled breath came through the phone.

"You're trying very hard not to laugh."

"Sorry…" She failed, and her laughter burst through the speaker.

"This isn't funny."

"It is a little."

"The website refuses to recognize my humanity."

"Aldric, it's just a CAPTCHA."

"That distinction does not change the problem." Emma continued laughing for several seconds before finally managing to catch her breath.

"Wait… How long have you been doing this?" Aldric checked the time.

"Thirty-two minutes."

"Thirty-two minutes on a CAPTCHA?"

"I've conducted several analyses."

"How many attempts?"

"Five, including the audio challenge." Emma started laughing again.

"I've eliminated several hypotheses," Aldric added.

"Wait. You've been taking notes?"

"Yes. The first attempts produced contradictory data."

"Aldric…"

"What?"

"Read me what you wrote."

"Attempt one: traffic lights. Hypothesis: excessive selection. Attempt two: bicycles. Hypothesis: insufficient selection. Conclusion: contradictory criteria or missing information."

"I'm going to help you."

"That should not be necessary."

"Yes. Clearly, it is." Emma explained how to share his screen during the call. After a few attempts, she could see what was displayed on his phone.

"All right. Try again. This should take ten seconds." Aldric pressed the button, and a new grid appeared. Select all images with motorcycles.

"First, third, and sixth," Emma said.

"What? No."

"There are four."

"Aldric, I'm looking at the same screen you are. There are three." He enlarged the fourth image with two fingers.

"Look at the bottom corner."

"What?"

"Part of the rear wheel."

"That doesn't count."

"Why?"

"Because it doesn't."

"That is not an explanation. The instruction says to select all images with motorcycles."

"Yes."

"This image objectively contains part of a motorcycle."

"Three pixels of a wheel."

"No minimum quantity is specified." Emma sighed.

"Aldric."

"What?"

"Click the three images."

"That would require me to deliberately ignore correct information."

"Yes. Trust me. I told you this would take ten seconds."

"Are you watching the time?"

"Yes. You just passed ten seconds."

"It was a figure of speech."

"Why give a precise duration if it is inaccurate?"

"Just click the motorcycles…" Aldric gave the fourth image one final look, then selected the three squares. He pressed the button. The circle spun. Please try again.

"Nineteen seconds."

"Aldric…"

"And we failed."

"I noticed…"

"So it is possible that the fourth image should have been selected."

"Or we missed something else."

"You were certain of your answer." △ SECONDARY OBJECTIVE UPDATED △ EVALUATE EMMA'S EXPERTISE Estimated Time: 10 Seconds Actual Time: 19 Seconds Attempts: 1 Successes: 0 Initial Confidence Level: High Current Confidence Level: Under Review