“There is no new one,” Daniel said, his voice flat. “This is a trial license. It dies in two weeks. When it does, the entire company goes read-only. No new orders. No payroll. Nothing.”

She stared at the server. It stared back with its mundane, faithful glow.

He yanked the dead server from the rack. The warranty had lapsed two years ago, a fact he’d flagged in six separate budget meetings. “Not a priority,” Finance had said.