If the White House knew that the culprit, Leon Chen, was pinning all the blame on them, they would probably tear him apart. But right now, they were indeed on the verge of going mad.
US Secretary of Defense Gomez had just finished a press conference, where he had to reluctantly declare that the hacking of the fifth-generation computer had not caused panic in the White House.
In reality, the 318 seconds during which the hacker controlled Turing caused the deepest fear ever in US history.
Yet, Gomez had to state: "Everything is under control."
To hell with control, Gomez cursed internally. The president and Congress's severe rebukes and urgings had driven him crazy more than once.
"You bunch of useless idiots, is this how taxpayers' money is spent on you?"
Gomez shifted his anger to his subordinates.
It's a classic case of passing the buck.
Seeing his subordinates cower in silence, Gomez wished he could start a war like they did with Iraq to vent his anger. Unfortunately, the target was the Red Kingdom, a nation they could provoke but not challenge.
"Dawson, what's the progress on the XO situation?" Gomez asked sternly.
"Minister, General Dawson has been dismissed," his assistant kindly reminded him.
Gomez remembered that poor General Dawson, responsible for the fifth-generation computer, had been booted out of the Pentagon as a scapegoat for Congress.
"Minister, we've already begun covert investigations into the possibility that XO is a student at Huahai University," the new person in charge reported.
"What's the estimated damage caused by XO?" he asked McRae, the head of technical staff, feeling a bit envious that technical personnel only faced bonus cuts without any major consequences.
Poor Dawson.
McRae, drenched in sweat, whispered, "Minister, the indefinite termination of the fifth-generation computer program alone might result in losses exceeding 500 billion."
"I'm asking about national secrets. The president is concerned about that."
"Ah, there are indications that some secrets might have been accessed, but fortunately, there are no traces of them being downloaded..."
"XO probably now has the most valuable brain in the world," Gomez joked, eliciting awkward laughter from the others.
"Deploy all departments to track down XO's whereabouts. If he's human, he can be caught, just like we dealt with the Queen ten years ago."
"Understood."
"Also, monitor other countries, especially the Red Kingdom, for any signs of transactions with XO. The president has ordered that we spare no effort to maintain America's technological edge. If XO can't be used by us, he must be eliminated, even if it means starting a nuclear war."
Everyone else broke out in cold sweat, realizing that this hacker could cause a nuclear war.
"And as for the Red Kingdom's hacker Queen, who poses a threat to the White House, send agents to eliminate her cleanly, leaving no traces. Otherwise, we'll truly be at the brink of nuclear war. Damned Russia and the EU are just waiting to see the evil axis clash. The only way to satisfy them is if they end up crippled too..."
The group sweated even more, realizing that the White House was also bluffing.
...
If the first issue of Huahai University's school newspaper in the first week made all the male students want to tear apart the "beastly senior" who kissed the innocent freshman girl, the second issue made them want to jump into the sea out of despair.
The headline of the second issue read: "The Beastly Senior Appears, Declares Love, Pursue Lily Lin Over His Dead Body."
The photo was from the day on the field, showing Leon Chen with the obedient Lily Lin behind him. The article detailed the push-up contest with Michael Fang, and this time, the photo was not pixelated.
Leon Chen was now truly famous.
"Damn it, this is deliberate," Leon fumed as he read the newspaper in his dorm.
Although he expected this outcome, seeing the "beastly senior" label was still infuriating.
Before he could finish reading, messages from his friends started pouring in.
"Congrats on ending your single life, remember to treat the freshman well, she's a good girl," John Wu, always mature and responsible, messaged.
Daniel Zhang's message was: "I thought it was a joke, but it turned out to be true. You're impressive! When can we all have dinner with your girlfriend?"
Michael Fang's message read: "You bastard, you actually got Lily Lin! Respect! What's your secret? I've failed 157 times already!"
There were messages from others too.
"Amazing, Leon. The top freshman beauty is already yours just one week into the term. You said the truth would come out, but it seems you planned it all along..." This one was from Fiona Lin.
And then there was an anonymous message: "I envy Lily Lin. If only I were braver."
Leon was speechless. Was him having a girlfriend that unusual?
After scratching his head, Leon responded to each message. To John Wu: "Thanks." To Daniel Zhang: "Maybe." To Michael Fang: "Go to hell." To Fiona Li: "..." As for the anonymous message, he decided to ignore it. Who knew which pervert was messing with him?
Just as he finished replying, another message came through.
"Leon, come to our dorm quickly. Lily Lin has an urgent matter." The message was from Celia, Lily Lin's roommate.
...
The freshman dorms were separated, with a hundred meters between the boys' and girls' dorms.
When Leon arrived, he found a crowd of boys gathered at the entrance. Hesitating for a moment, he walked over, only to be stopped by the dormitory matron.
"No entering! You boys always want to sneak into the girls' dorms. It's outrageous!" the matron scolded, hands on her hips, looking formidable.
The other boys put on pitiful faces.
Leon was at a loss until he heard a girl's voice from upstairs, laughing, "Isn't that the 'beastly senior' from today's newspaper?"
The boys looked up, swallowing hard as they saw the beautiful girls. Following their gazes, they spotted Leon.
"Wow, it really looks like him."
"You're our idol! You snagged the top freshman beauty in just seven days."
"This is unfair. I kissed my precious sweetheart and she didn't even budge," a boy said, only to be beaten up by his peers.
"Are you Leon?" the matron scrutinized the photo in the newspaper.
Leon nodded. "I'll wait for Lily to come down."
The other boys were green with envy. He was calling her "Lily" so intimately; such a pure beauty was taken.
"Oh, ha. You can go up," the matron said with a smile.
Leon was stunned but thanked her and walked into the girls' dorm under the envious gazes of the boys.
"Why does he get to go in?"
"Look how polite and well-mannered he is," the matron scolded. "If you can make your relationship public in the newspaper, I'll let you in too."
"I'm not satisfied. Even the 'beastly senior' can enter the girls' dorm, but my pure heart is kept outside."
"I protest! There's only one top freshman beauty."
The boys howled in despair.
Leon, sweating, hurried up the stairs before they could tear him apart with their eyes. Once inside the girls' dorm, he realized that escaping the wolves only brought him to a den of curious little lambs.