Dr. Vasquez frowned at her tablet. "How did you remember those exact times?"
"I wrote them down," Zara replied matter-of-factly. "Every glitch, every recovery, every pattern. I've been documenting your car's behavior for six months."
Timer: 45 seconds.
Zara stopped walking and pointed toward the cellular tower visible beyond the parking structure. Its red warning lights blinked steadily in the darkness like mechanical heartbeats.
"Second question: when did that 5G tower begin full operational testing?"
Dr. Vasquez looked confused. "I... I don't know. That's telecom infrastructure, not our department."
"Three days ago," Zara said calmly. "October 23rd. I watched them activate it Tuesday morning at 8:47 a.m. The testing schedule runs Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.—exactly when your car fails."
Senior engineer Carl Rodriguez pulled out his phone, frantically searching municipal records. His face went pale as he found the installation permits. "She's right. Installation permit was filed for October 23rd. How did she—"
"I pay attention," Zara interrupted. "When you live outside, you notice everything that changes in your environment."
The crowd's murmur grew louder. This wasn't a lucky guess; this was systematic observation spanning months of data collection.
James Mitchell stared at Zara with growing amazement. "But you couldn't have known the testing schedule. That's proprietary telecom information."
"I didn't need to know it officially; I watched the pattern." Zara pulled out her notebook and flipped to a page covered with timestamps and small sketches. "Every Tuesday and Thursday at 2:00 p.m., the tower's transmission intensity increases. You can see it in how birds change their flight patterns around the antenna. Electronics in nearby buildings start glitching. The pattern is obvious if you're looking."
Dr. Vasquez examined the notebook's crude but detailed observations. Each entry was timestamped and cross-referenced with weather conditions, traffic patterns, and observed electronic malfunctions in the area. "This is surprisingly thorough," she admitted.
Timer: 30 seconds.
Zara walked directly to the hypercar's front end, crouching beside the hood with practiced precision. She pulled a measuring tape from her backpack—a tool that seemed impossibly professional for a homeless girl to own.
"Third question: where exactly is your AI processing unit located in this vehicle?"
"Directly beneath the hood, center-mounted for optimal cooling and electromagnetic protection," Dr. Vasquez replied automatically.
"Perfect." Zara stood and drew an imaginary line from the 5G tower through the air to the exact spot where she'd been crouching. "Direct line-of-sight electromagnetic interference. No barriers, no interference dampening. The tower's test signals hit your AI processor at maximum strength."