Relief washed over her. She could access the audit logs. She could save the quarter. She opened her file explorer to map the network drive—

The icon in the system tray spun. Orange. Then yellow. Then a sickly, pulsating green.

Ping. The download finished.

Lena blinked. She had been connected for exactly eleven seconds.

The Big-IP Edge Client wizard appeared, a relic of 2005 design. It asked for her server address. She typed it in— vpn.globaltrade.com —feeling like she was inputting a cheat code for a game she hated.

And in the reflection of her dark laptop screen, the green icon blinked once, then turned a deep, silent red.

Her phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number: “We see you’re connected to the VPN. Please step away from the workstation.”