"Like, whether a tree had lost its leaves in the night. Or whether there
were a lot of people standing around in a normally desolate area. Or
whether there are lots of devices operating between foo and bar that are
interfering with them."
Kurt nodded slowly. "The packets we lose could be just as interesting as
the packets we don't lose," he said.
A light went on in Alan's head. "We could be like jazz critics,
listening to the silences instead of the notes," he said. They all
looked at him.
"That's very good," Lyman said. "Like a jazz critic." He smiled.
Alan smiled back.
"What are we seeing, Craig?" Lyman said.
"Kurt," Alan said.
"Right, Kurt," he said. "Sorry."
"We're seeing the grid here. See how the access points go further up the
spectrum the more packets they get? I'm associated with that bad boy
right there." He gestured to the box blinking silently in the middle of
the board room table. "And it's connected to one other, which is
connected to a third."
Lyman picked up his phone and dialed a speed-dial number. "Hey, can you
unplug the box on my desk?"
A moment later, one of the boxes on the display winked out. "Watch
this," Kurt said, as the remaining two boxes were joined by a
coruscating line. "See that? Self-healing. Minimal packet
loss. Beautiful."
"That's hot," Lyman said. "That makes me all wet."