Chapter 5

With the heat nowhere to go, core temperatures spiked in seconds.

Thermal paste cracked under stress. Solder joints softened and failed. This was no longer a system crash, but physical destruction at a hardware level.

…

My estimate was accurate. 20 minutes later, my phone vibrated again.

This time, it was Jake. I picked up and put him on speaker.

"What kind of trap did you leave in that goddamn machine, Susan?" he cried out in a panic, alarm sirens blaring in the background.

"It's smoking! All services are down! Even the backup data can't be read! Did you remotely lock the system?"

"Watch your words," I replied calmly. "That's a serious accusation. You had the hardware key, reset the gateway, and revoked my access. I can't even get into the building. How exactly am I supposed to lock anything?"

"Then, why didn't the UPS kick in?" he questioned harshly. "Why didn't the power failure protection trigger?"

"Oh, that?"

I chuckled softly. "The UPS was leased. The contract expired, and since the company didn't renew it, the leasing provider terminated the service remotely. That's standard procedure, isn't it?"

The other end of the line went silent. Then came the sound of Martin snatching the phone.

"You sabotaged our production operations, Susan! I'm calling the police! You're going to jail!"

"Do it." I stood up and paid the bill. "While you're at it, we can also clarify the ownership of that machine properly with the police."

…

When I pushed open the company doors, chaos already erupted. Calls from furious investors, refund requests from users, employees scrambling in panic…

Even the air smelled burnt. Right—that would be the metallic stench of fried circuit boards and scorched silicon.

Martin rushed out of the server room, drenched in sweat. When he saw me, he reacted as if he had spotted both a lifeline and an enemy at the same time.

"Susan… you've got some nerve showing up here. Fix the damn machine now! We can talk about everything else after!"

I ignored him and walked straight up to Jake. His face was streaked with soot—probably from the smoke—and his whole body was shaking.

"Move," I uttered coldly.

Jake instinctively stepped aside, and I walked into the server room.

Although I was prepared for the worst, the sight still tightened my chest. The once-pristine, high-performance beast was gone, reduced to nothing but charred mass.

"There's nothing I can do," I said, exiting the room and looking at Martin. "Core is fried. Drives are physically damaged. The data's gone. All of it."

Martin's legs gave out. He collapsed onto the floor, mumbling, "Gone… It's all gone…"

The launch was an obvious failure. Not only was funding out of the picture, but the penalty clauses would also hit hard. The company was doomed.

"Police! Over here!"

A commotion erupted at the entrance.

Martin suddenly snapped upright like he had been electrocuted. He pointed at me and shouted, "Officer, it's her! She sabotaged my company's servers and caused the business to collapse! Arrest her!"

Two police officers walked in and scanned the chaotic scene. "Who made the report?"

Martin gritted his teeth. "I did!"

"Good timing," I chimed in. "I'd also like to file a report. This machine is my personal property. I have full purchase invoices and equipment registration documents.

"The company illegally occupied my private assets, and due to improper handling, caused catastrophic damage. I demand full compensation."

I opened my bag and pulled out a stack of documents. There were printed invoice copies, as well as the expired UPS leasing contract.

Martin froze, his face draining of color.