Van stubbornly assembled his hardware in the back of the truck, using racks and plastic cable ties. With the rear seats hauled out and left behind in New Jersey, the Range Rover was cozy for him, about the size and shape of a grad student’s office cubicle. With the ongoing network crisis in Manhattan’s pipes and antennas, Van figured that no one would notice his physical absence from Mondiale’s Merwinster offices. Not as long as he stayed on the Internet around the clock.