Chương 107: Bonus Chapter: Prove You Are Human: Part 3

Select all images containing fire hydrants.

"First, fourth, and eighth," Emma said. Three of the hydrants were obvious. The sixth square was less cooperative. A car occupied most of the image, leaving only the top of a red object visible behind its bumper.

"Sixth as well."

"Where?"

"Behind the car."

"Are you sure that's a hydrant?"

"The shape matches."

"You can't even see half of it."

"You're hesitating."

"I'm thinking."

"That's what I was doing with the motorcycle."

"Fine. Select it," she finally said. Aldric selected all four squares and pressed Verify. Please try again. △ ASSISTANCE EVALUATION △ Assistant: Emma Attempts: 2 Successful Attempts: 0 IMPROVEMENT OBSERVED SINCE ASSISTANT'S ARRIVAL None"Why aren't you saying anything?" Emma asked.

"Your assistance has produced no improvement."

"Excuse me?"

"Before you intervened, I was failing. Since you intervened, we have failed two additional times."

"Aldric, I've only been here for a few minutes."

"That is sufficient to establish an initial trend."

"I'm starting to regret offering to help you."

"Your presence remains useful."

"Thank you."

"Even if its effectiveness has yet to be demonstrated."

"Aldric…" The CAPTCHA launched the next challenge. Select all images containing buses. Three vehicles clearly matched the prompt. The seventh square was there to keep things from being quite so simple. Behind two cars was a blue shape, large enough to be part of a bus, but small enough to be part of many other things.

"Maybe four."

"Oh, no," Emma protested.

"We're not doing this again."

"Look at the seventh one."

"It could be a bus."

"Yes."

"Or a truck."

"Yes."

"We can't see enough." This time, at least, they agreed on the nature of the problem. Unfortunately, agreeing that they were unable to identify a vehicle did not bring them any closer to victory. When one scout reported an enemy force and another claimed to have seen nothing, a reasonable commander did not make them argue until nightfall. He sent a third scout.

"We need a third person."

"No."

"You haven't heard my reasoning."

"I don't need to."

"We have two different interpretations and no reliable method of determining which one is correct."

"Aldric, it's a grid with buses." He opened his contacts.

"I'll ask Lucas. He uses his phone a lot." Aldric opened their conversation. Aldric: I need your opinion. Lucas: About what? Aldric sent him a screenshot of the grid. Aldric: How many buses do you see? Lucas:??? Aldric: Answer without thinking about it for too long. Lucas: 4"Lucas sees four."

"I still see three," Emma replied.

"Then it's two against one." The third observer had confirmed his estimate. Aldric was about to point this out when new messages appeared. Lucas: Wait Lucas: 3"His testimony is no longer reliable." Emma burst out laughing.

"You wanted a third opinion. You got one."

"I asked him for an independent observation, and he has already changed it." Lucas: Why are you asking me how many buses there are? Lucas: Aldric? Lucas: What is this picture? Aldric: We are trying to prove that I am human. The phone rang, and Aldric answered.

"What are you talking about?" Lucas asked.

"The website where I am trying to order a book requires a verification."

"Aldric, it's a CAPTCHA."

"We disagree about the seventh image.""'We'?"

"Hi, Lucas," Emma said.

"You're both arguing over a CAPTCHA square? It's ridiculously easy."

"That's also what I thought a few minutes ago," she admitted. Lucas burst out laughing.

"You two are unbelievable. It takes a few seconds." Aldric checked the time.

"Don't do that," Emma cut in.

"What?"

"Do not give him a duration."

"Why?"

"Because he's going to time you."

"I had forgotten." Lucas laughed again.

"How long have you been doing this?"

"Don't answer that," Emma said.

"Forty-one minutes."

"Aldric!"

"FORTY-ONE MINUTES?"

"..."

"You spent forty-one minutes clicking on bicycles and buses?"

"There were also traffic lights, crosswalks, motorcycles, and fire hydrants." A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Why are you giving him the full list?" Emma asked.

"His question concerned the items we had been required to identify."

"That was not a real question!" Lucas managed to say between laughs. △ QUEST UPDATED △ PROVE THAT YOU ARE HUMAN Recommended Party Size: 1 Current Party Size: 3 PARTICIPANTS Aldric: Test Subject Emma: Assistant Lucas: Consultant Verified Humans: 0 / 3"Okay, share your screen," Lucas said.

"We're going to sort this out." Aldric turned on screen sharing, and the bus grid appeared.

"Second, fifth, seventh, and ninth," Lucas said.

"The seventh?" Emma asked.

"Yes. That's a bus."

"You can barely see any of it."

"You can see enough. Go ahead." Aldric selected the four squares and pressed Verify. Please try again.

"What were you saying?" Emma asked.

"Okay, maybe it was a truck."

"Your assistance has produced no improvement," Aldric observed.

"Oh, shut up." A new grid of buses appeared.

"First, third, and sixth," Lucas said. Aldric selected the three images and was about to press Verify when Lucas stopped him.

"Wait."

"What?" Emma asked.

"The eighth one. Zoom in." A small part of a yellow vehicle was visible behind a van.

"Is that a bus?" Emma asked.

"I don't know. Maybe."

"Ten seconds ago, you said this was easy."

"Because the first grid was easy."

"Apparently not."

"That one was badly made." Lucas studied the image again.

"Okay. Don't click it."

"Are you certain?"

"Yes."

"Confidence level?"

"What?"

"Out of one hundred."

"I don't know... eighty." Aldric retrieved his notebook.

"Wait. What are you writing?"

"Your confidence level."

"Why are you taking notes?" Emma burst out laughing.

"Oh, you are not ready for this."

"Does he have a whole file on the CAPTCHA?" Aldric finished writing down the number.

"My initial attempts produced contradictory data."

"You're insane."

"Click it," Emma ordered. Aldric pressed Verify. Please try again.

"WHAT?"

"Failure."

"But there were three buses."

"That is precisely what we thought."

"No, wait. Bring the grid back."

"It changed." Select all images containing traffic lights.

"First, fourth, and sixth."

"Yes," Emma confirmed.

"I agree as well."

"Perfect. Click them and let's get this over with." Aldric selected the three squares.

"Wait." Emma no longer even tried to hide her sigh.

"Lucas."

"The eighth one."

"What about the eighth one?"

"Behind the tree." Aldric zoomed in on the image. A small black shape was indeed visible between the branches. It could have been part of a traffic light. It could also have belonged to any number of other black objects that trees had the unfortunate habit of hiding.

"Potentially a traffic light."

"You can barely see anything," Emma protested.

"Exactly," Lucas replied.

"Why did they put that tree in front of it?"

"Because there was a tree there when the picture was taken."

"Or because they want us to hesitate."

"There is no 'they.'""How do you know?"

"Because it's a CAPTCHA!" Lucas continued studying the tree.

"That's exactly what it wants you to think."

"That is possible," Aldric said.

"Aldric..." △ GROUP ANALYSIS △ Aldric: Overanalysis: High Emma: Overanalysis: Moderate Lucas: Overanalysis: Rapidly Increasing PROGNOSIS Unfavorable They eventually selected three squares. Please try again.

"What did you write in your notebook about the bicycles?" Emma burst out laughing.

"What?" Lucas asked.

"Five minutes ago, you were making fun of his notebook."

"Now I want to know." Aldric found the correct page.

"Bicycles: probable under-selection."

"And the traffic lights?"

"Probable over-selection."

"The crosswalks?"

"Inconclusive due to dynamic image replacement."

"And your overall conclusion?"

"Contradictory criteria or missing information."

"Write down that we still know nothing."

"That is already my conclusion."

"Then underline it." Aldric picked up his pen.

"Don't underline that," Emma protested.

"Too late," Lucas replied. Aldric underlined the conclusion. △ INVESTIGATION PROGRESS △ Time Invested: 47 Minutes Participants: 3 Hypotheses Formulated: 11 Hypotheses Confirmed: 0 Reliable Information Obtained: 0 ACTUAL PROGRESS Undetermined"We still haven't obtained any reliable information."

"Thank you, Aldric. I had noticed." Select all images containing bicycles. All three bicycles were perfectly visible. No wheel cut off by the edge of a square. No vehicle blocking a frame. No conveniently placed tree. Three complete bicycles occupied three separate images, with no ambiguity whatsoever.

"Three," Emma said. Aldric checked all nine squares.

"Three." No one touched the screen.

"Lucas?" Emma asked.

"I see three."

"Why isn't anyone clicking?" Lucas asked.

"Because we all agree."

"It seems too easy."

"There are three bicycles!"

"Exactly."

"What is 'exactly' supposed to mean?"

"After everything it's thrown at us, now it gives us three perfectly visible bicycles?"

"It may be attempting to provoke hesitation," Aldric suggested.

"IT ISN'T ATTEMPTING ANYTHING! IT'S A CAPTCHA!"

"You seem more agitated than you were at the beginning."

"A little..."

"Aldric. Click the three bicycles." He selected the three squares and pressed Verify. The circle spun. Verification successful.

"YES! Finally!" Lucas's voice came through the phone so loudly that Aldric moved it away from his ear.

"It was three bicycles! Three normal bicycles! All you had to do was click the three bicycles!" Emma burst out laughing.

"Five minutes ago, you were looking for a trap behind a tree."

"I know! That's the worst part! You two infected me with this nonsense. I was starting to think like him." △ QUEST COMPLETE △ PROVE THAT YOU ARE HUMAN Humanity: Confirmed Total Time: 52 Minutes, 36 Seconds Recommended Party Size: 1 Final Party Size: 3 Number of Humans Required to Confirm the Humanity of One Human: 3 Grade: D REWARD Access to the Online Bookstore BONUS REWARD You Are Apparently Human. Aldric reread the last line."'Apparently'?"

"What?" Lucas asked.

"Nothing." The next reward was even less satisfactory. △ NEW SKILL DISCOVERED △ Approximation Lv. 1 Sometimes, being technically correct is less useful than selecting the obvious image. Compatibility with Aldric: 3%"Okay. I'm hanging up. And Aldric, never send me a picture of a bus without context again."

"Very well."

"Or bicycles."

"Understood."

"Or traffic lights."

"Understood..."

"Actually, don't send me any nine-image grids ever again."

"That restriction is much clearer."

"Thank you." Lucas hung up.

"Okay. Now order your book before something else happens," Emma said. Aldric returned to his cart. The book was still there. He checked the price, selected his address, and chose standard delivery. Three days was still remarkably fast for obtaining detailed plans of several fortresses. In his world, acquiring some of this information would have required weeks of espionage and probably a few deaths.

"See?" Emma said.

"You're almost done." He moved on to the next step. Choose your payment method.

"I just thought of something..."

"What?"

"Aldric... you don't have a bank card. We just spent almost an hour trying to buy a book online without having a card to pay for it."

"The website had not asked for one yet."

"Because you hadn't reached the payment page yet!"

"That is precisely what I just said."

"The entire CAPTCHA. The bicycles. The buses. Lucas. Your notebook..."

"The fire hydrants as well."

"That is really not the important part of what I just said."

"Fine. I can pay with my card and you can pay me back. But not today. I refuse to spend another minute on this website." ⚠ FINAL EVALUATION ⚠ Objective: Purchase a Book Time Invested: 1 Hour, 12 Minutes Participants Involved: 3 CAPTCHA Defeated: Yes Humanity Confirmed: Apparently Book Purchased: No CAUSE OF FAILURE No Payment Method Available