his face ful

ex? What are you going to d

aptop bag slung over my other shoulder. He must have realize

e trash," he grunted, yankin

than he looked. He called over two se

rty," Mark yelled, pointing a

e instantly. They grabbed my arms, pinning them behind my back. My muscles tensed, but I

der. He unzipped it and dumped th

screen, the cracked motherboard, and a handf

, a high, mo

ece of the motherboard. "It looks like something you'd find in a junkya

iece, the central processin

Alex? Your s

f design and refinement lying broken on the grou

y quiet. "The entire system architecture is authenticated through its hardware ID. Every 24 hours, it requires a cryptographic handshake from that

ing the words

y-four hours until it

rds glanced at each other, a flicker of uncertain

urst out

de into failure? Cryptographic handshake? You've been watching t

he growing cro

are us! As if our multi-billion doll

e simple, comforting idea that I was just a bitter, vengeful nob

as e