Chapter 46: Emergency Stop on Sepulveda Boulevard
Unlike the compact, almost intimate academic atmosphere of Caltech, the UCLA campus appeared broad and magnificent in the night.
Royce Hall glowed a warm honey color under the landscape lights, and students still walked sporadically across the vast Dickson Plaza.
David parked the car in the designated visitor parking lot, took a deep breath of the crisp, cool air, and hurried toward the Applied Physics and Computational Science Building where Martin was located, carrying his backpack containing the hard drive.
Martin's office door was ajar, and the light was on. David knocked and entered, seeing Martin hanging his coat on the rack, his desktop computer having just booted up.
"Hey, David! You made good time!" Martin turned around and shook his hand vigorously with a smile. "I just got here myself—haven't even warmed my chair yet. Did you bring the data? I can't wait to see this 'Quantum-Hoffman Ghost' everyone's talking about."
"Got it right here. Thanks so much, Martin. Sorry for making you come all the way out here during winter break." David took the portable hard drive out of his backpack and handed it over, his tone apologetic.
"Don't mention it! I live in Westwood anyway, so I'll just treat this as my evening workout." Martin waved dismissively and swiftly connected the hard drive to his workstation. "Besides, the problem you described sounds fascinating—I wouldn't be able to sleep without seeing if I could crack it."
As he spoke, Martin's hands kept working, loading the data files David brought onto the computer.
When the images covered in grid-like artifacts appeared on his high-resolution professional monitor, he whistled.
"Wow, this 'ghosting' actually has kind of an artistic quality to it. This is definitely the classic breakdown pattern of 'Quantum-Hoffman' under ultra-high load—the data packet sequence got completely scrambled."
Martin said this while skillfully opening a custom software program with a simple interface but incredibly complex functionality. "Don't worry, our 'Scavenger' eats this stuff for breakfast."
For the next hour or so, David and Martin sat side-by-side in front of the computer, deep in discussion about data structures and algorithm principles.
Martin's "Data Scavenger" tool demonstrated impressive capabilities. It used multi-layer neural networks to identify and separate signals from noise, then employed a unique reconstruction algorithm to repair the corrupted data packets.
David not only watched the 'ghosting' on the screen gradually fade and disappear, revealing the clean physical signal underneath, but also gained new insights into cutting-edge technology in large-scale scientific data processing through his discussion with Martin.
He even offered several optimization suggestions based on his understanding of physical imaging, which made Martin nod enthusiastically, clearly inspired.
"Done!" Martin finally hit the Enter key, generating the final processed, clean dataset. He securely transferred it back to David's designated Caltech server address and saved a backup on the portable hard drive. "Well, my friend, I'd say that was worth the drive over, wouldn't you?"
"Worth it? You practically saved our entire experiment!" David looked at the pristine data image on the screen, a huge weight finally lifting off his chest, and thanked him sincerely. "Martin, I seriously owe you for this!"
"Are you kidding? If you have any more 'tough cases' like this in the future, bring them over. We need all kinds of weird examples to improve our tools." Martin laughed heartily, unplugged the portable hard drive, and handed it back to David.
The two chatted about life and work for a few more minutes. Seeing that it was getting late, David got up to leave. Martin walked him to the office door and waved. "Drive safe, and keep in touch!"
Sitting back in Leonard's car, David felt completely relaxed. The data problem was perfectly solved, and the process had been smoother and more productive than he'd anticipated.
He set the navigation for his return to Pasadena and chose Sepulveda Boulevard, the route that cuts through the Santa Monica Mountains.
Although driving through the winding Santa Monica Mountains at night required greater concentration, David knew that because of the light traffic at this hour, the total travel time was nearly twenty minutes shorter than taking the 405 or other major highways.
Shortly after leaving UCLA and merging onto Sepulveda Boulevard, David relaxed his grip on the wheel, enjoying the tranquility of the mountain drive at night.
However, this tranquility was soon shattered.
As he drove along the deepest section of Sepulveda Boulevard cutting through the Santa Monica Mountains, the streetlights were sparse, flanked by dense, dark vegetation and steep hillsides.
His headlights cut through the heavy darkness like two bright beams. Just after rounding a sharp curve, a small, grayish-black shadow bolted out of the bushes on the right side of the road without warning, freezing directly in the center of his headlights!
"Screech—!"
David's nerves instantly went on high alert. Almost instinctively, he slammed the brake pedal to the floor! The tires screeched against the pavement, the car body slid slightly, and finally came to a heart-stopping halt less than three feet away from the small creature.
The powerful inertia threw his entire body forward before the seatbelt firmly yanked him back into the seat.
Still shaken, he gasped rapidly, his gaze locked on the space immediately ahead of the car.
Illuminated by the bright headlights, he could see clearly—it was a furry animal, likely only a month or two old.
Its fur was gray and black, its ears hadn't fully stood up yet, drooping slightly. Its face shape was somewhere between the roundness of a puppy and the sharper features of something wild, but its eyes—reflecting an eerie greenish glow in the headlights—were currently filled with terror and confusion. Its four thin legs were trembling, as if frozen to the spot.
"What the hell? Whose dog is this?! How did it end up out here?!" David's heart was still pounding. His first thought was a lost Husky or Malamute puppy. He immediately pressed the hazard lights; the yellow flashers blinked lonely in the silent mountain darkness.
He quickly checked his mirrors—no cars coming from either direction. He glanced at the puppy again and decided to get out and check.
"I can't just leave it here... it's way too dangerous. If the next car doesn't hit it, a coyote or mountain lion will get it for sure..."
This thought spurred him into action. He unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the car door, and quickly walked over.
Cold wind immediately rushed in, making him shiver.
As he approached, the puppy didn't bare its teeth or growl. Instead, as he got closer, it let out a more pitiful, whimpering cry, and its small body shook even harder.
David crouched down, trying to make his movements appear non-threatening.
He looked closely. The puppy had no collar; its fur was matted and messy, covered in dirt and debris, suggesting it had been wandering for a while. It looked weak and cold.
"Alright, little guy," David sighed, his voice sounding particularly clear beside the empty, silent road. "You win. I can't just leave you out here to die."
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