Every click, every tab, every half-finished search for “causes of the War of 1812” was logged, timestamped, and neatly packaged for Mr. Henderson, the school’s IT coordinator. The school’s filter, a glowering digital gatekeeper named FortressGuard, blocked everything from YouTube tutorials to the online etymology dictionary (flagged for “alternative reference materials”).

Leo stared at the paper. Then at the terminal. Then back at Mr. Henderson.

Mr. Henderson stood behind him, holding a coffee mug that said “I block therefore I am.” He wasn’t angry. He was smiling.

Leo shook his head.

The screen flickered. The homework portal vanished. A new window appeared: ProxySite Delta – Stealth Mode Active.

This one was different. No pastel logos. Just a black terminal with a blinking cursor. Leo typed “Reddit.” The page loaded in raw HTML—no images, no fonts, just text. It was faster than NebulaNet. Smarter, too. It randomized its packet signatures every thirty seconds.