Stratagems #22: The AI Chose Its Door. Lena Closed It.

Corner the small enemy. Strip away its options, and there is nowhere left to run.

— The 36 Stratagems, Close the Door to Catch the Thief

Previously on this series:

#19: Mark Found His AI Audit Method in a Training Manual. He Left a Trap in His Report. — The bait report was read from a Singapore IP, and P confirmed it for Mark. A note was left: "Entry's gone. Two weeks. Don't reach out. I'll find you."

#20: Alex Felt the AI Collector Slow Down. He Knew Someone Else Had Made a Move. — Processing latency climbed abnormally. A gateway with TTL 247 was caught by Alex's probe.