Bug Repository

📘 CHAPTER 19 — EXTENSION CRITERIA

The next morning, the Error Warehouse didn't flash any warnings.

No red pop-ups.

No sound.

Just a small line appearing in the corner of the dashboard:

Community Compatibility Index: Expanding the scope of evaluation.

No one typed anything.

No one misread it.

But for Lam—who had observed the silent shifts—

it was the first sign the criteria had shifted again.

In the newly opened algorithm explanation branch:

New link evaluation scope:

Beyond “direct links,” the system will evaluate “indirect links” based on the actual interaction between neighboring nodes.

Goal: Interaction obligation → optimize network consolidation.

The language was dry.

Emotionless.

But its meaning was clear:

It doesn't just measure who has more connections,

but which connections are “real” enough to expand the network.

Lam sat in front of the screen, reading the text very slowly.

The so-called “indirect connection” wasn't raw data.

It was secondary feedback—feedback on feedback,

meaning:

Connections that don't generate further data shifts will gradually be relegated to “unweighted.”

Not deleted.

Not banned.

Just no longer considered “important” according to the new definition.

At lunchtime, Lam stopped by his usual cafe.

A small sign hung in the corner:

“Real Connections” Program — Offers for members participating in community activities.

A very real line of text:

“Spread connections through real action —

not just virtual contacts or data-driven interactions.”

Lam hadn't paid attention to the previous advertisement.

Today, he looked closely.

They didn't use the term “optimization.”

They said “real connections.”

A way of expressing things that both the system and people… understand.

That afternoon, Hai texted:

An uncle in the South asked if I'd like to drop by for tea on Sunday.

That's an indirect connection:

the uncle with Tri — Tri with Hai.

If before, the more interaction a connection had, the better,

now the system adds:

connections with people who truly connect, who create genuine interaction.

Not to “optimize the network” —

but to lift a node with real life experiences.

Lam looked at the phone screen.

Hai's interaction level had increased, but not as much as before.

Not just a purely high number.

But:

the spread of interaction.

A new term.

A new way of evaluating.

A new way of existing.

That evening, they sat on the porch.

A gentle breeze.

No data.

No model.

Just a conversation between two people.

"—Do you think the system…is too complicated?" Hai asked.

"—No," Lam replied. "The system only…learns from what it sees as feedback."

"—But real feedback can't be measured purely numerically," Hai continued.

"—That's why it has to change the criteria," Lam said. "From a connection that's more or less → a truly widespread connection."

Hai looked at him:

"—So what do I have to do now?"

Not an algorithmic answer.

Just an everyday answer:

"—Interact genuinely. With real people. For real reasons."

That night, Lam opened his notebook.

The three dots from the past now stood next to newer dots—

forming a small network.

Below, he wrote:

"'Spreading' is not optimization."

It's about sharing feedback with others.

And he paused at the last sentence:

When humans generate genuine feedback —

then the algorithm learns what truly matters.

Not the “optimal model.”

But meaningful interaction.

In the Error Warehouse, the model is still running.

On the screen, no major warnings.

Just a very small line:

The definition of linkage has been expanded.

The scope of social behavior is being evaluated.

No threats.

No coercion.

Just a change.

A very slight shift…

but enough to raise a new question — also the new limit of the entire next Phase:

Does the optimized world still have room for existences that are “not on the optimal curve”?