Cyberpunk Echoes
Detective Mae adjusted the dial on her spectrometer. The device’s hum intensified, as it struggled to cool itself down in the summer heat. It was beginning to work though, as the small screen sharpened into a web of glowing lines. Each one of them represented the reflection of Wi-Fi signals which permeated the city’s streets.
“Anything?” asked her rookie officer Cat.
“Not yet,” Mae answered, “but we’re getting good Echoes now. So we just have to wait a bit.”
They were after something hard to detect. The recent string of crypto heists had affected industries across the whole city. These new crimes lacked digital traces, as they were too good at covering their tracks. So they had to turn back to physical techniques.
“How do they even do it?” Cat wondered.
“That’s what we’re here to find out,” Mae stated grimly. “The Cipher has managed to launder their stolen crypto into the city’s mesh network, making it untraceable. I have to admire their ingenuity, but it’s been leading many to lose their life savings.”
The officers approached the warehouse door on the outskirts of the city’s long-abandoned Garments District. This is where their human-gathered intel led them. The building was covered in rust and dust. It looked like it hadn’t been used in decades.
“This is the spot,” Mae announced as she wrapped her hand around the handle. “Ready?”
Cat tightened her grip around her own Wi-Fi scanner. “Ready,” she whispered.
Mae opened the door and stepped into the darkness. The hunt for The Cipher had begun.
The whole interior was shrouded in darkness. Even the emergency lights had burned out long ago. They didn’t need to see, as their scanners were able to measure how the signals bounced and reflected throughout the space. They could see the maze of containers and columns on the screen to help them navigate.
“This place is like a maze,” Cat whispered.
“And the Cipher is the minotaur,” Mae concluded.
Deeper in the lair, she began hearing the hum of machinery. Likely this was the source of their operations. She stopped and grabbed onto Cat’s arm.
“There,” she saw a faint glow coming out of a doorway at the end of a narrow corridor.
The two of them approached the door. Mae looked over at Cat, who was now illuminated from below. She looked tense, ready for whatever was to come.
With a swift movement, Mae kicked the door open to this hidden server room.
Rows upon rows of servers filled the space, each with tiny blinking lights and soft hums which threw an eerie glow upon the faces of several figures huddled around a central terminal. One of them must be the Cipher, the one they were looking for. Or all of them?
A man turned around, his face partially obscured by a dark cloak, cackled in a deep voice.
“Well, it seems like the Static Unit has finally caught up.”
“All of you are under arrest. Put up your hands,” Mae called out.
“What if I don’t?” the man taunted as his fingers lowered to the keyboard.
With a small tap of a key, the room erupted into chaos. The servers surged with power, causing the LED lights to become blindingly bright. As Mae shielded her eyes, she heard the criminals draw their own weapons.
Mae and Cat ran out of the room in search for cover as they frantically returned fire and sought a tactical advantage.
Mae found a toppled server rack and crawled behind it. Its metal frame was meager protection from the hail of bullets, but it would at least give her a moment to breathe.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out the scanner. It had now become an invaluable tool.
“We can’t stay here,” Cat yelled.
Mae adjusted the sensor’s settings, adjusting the range of accuracy. The screen flickered and then revealed a series of pulsing dots.
“I can spot them on the scanner. When they reload, we should be able to see their movement.”
Mae kept her head low, hoping they had poor aim. Then finally the signals shifted. Mae looked over to Cat, signaling it was their chance.
“Now,” she yelled at she leapt from behind the rack with her weapon raised.
Cat rolled to the side and began firing her gun to draw their attention. The criminals couldn’t retaliate, as they hadn’t been given a chance to reload.
The cloaked man quickly realized he had lost, and he tried to run into the darkness. However, he wouldn’t be able to hide. Mae contacted the bureau for reinforcements, and knew that they too would be able to use these scanners.
Cat walked into the server room and pulled the plug. The room fell silent, with only the labored breathing of the defeated criminals.
“The network is healing. The city can rest easy tonight,” Mae remarked.
Cat holstered her weapon and wiped the sweat off her face.
“I can rest easy tonight too. And so can my wallet.”
I wanted to write a story about the little-known technology of Wi-Fi Sensing. They can basically act as a radar, allowing one to detect movement and gestures. While there haven’t been much in the way of real-world applications yet, it could be a way for future police to see through walls.