“Come on,” he muttered, pressing the reset switch on the case. The machine clicked, the fans stuttered, and then—the same black screen. The same blinking cursor.
“No,” Lee said, and this time he thrashed, throwing his weight sideways. The chair wobbled but stayed anchored. The screen flickered.
His arms snapped to the armrests, held down by an invisible force. He couldn’t move his fingers. He could only watch.
Please wait. Do not power off your system.
Checking memory integrity... CORRUPTED SECTOR DETECTED. Checking disk volume... FRAGMENTATION CRITICAL. Checking user permissions... OVERRIDE UNAUTHORIZED.
Access denied.
Lee tapped the escape key. Nothing. Ctrl+Alt+Del. Nothing. The power button on the tower glowed a steady, almost mocking green. He pressed and held it. The light stayed on. The fans kept spinning. The screen did not change.