The corp-wraiths—automated hunter-killer programs—had sniffed out his localized ping. He had seconds before they fried his hardware and traced the signal back to his physical location. The progress bar hit 98%.
The neon hum of the underground bunker was the only thing louder than Kael’s heartbeat. On his cracked monitor, a progress bar crawled forward: AVG Internet Security v23.2.3270 – Generating Activation Key.
Kael grabbed a physical kill-switch attached to his server rack. The door groaned under the weight of a hydraulic ram. 100%. Key Generated: XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX.
"Information wants to be free," Kael said, a small smile playing on his lips as the door finally buckled.