“Just compile, you piece of—” he muttered, slamming the Enter key.

The download bar crawled. 1%... 2%... His internet, usually a fiber-optic cheetah, had slowed to a diabetic snail. He imagined the investors, sitting in a well-lit Zoom square, yawning. He imagined his co-founder, Mira, sharpening a knife in the kitchen.

And somewhere in the cloud, a little green Android icon glowed, silently laughing.

12%... A notification pinged. His roommate was streaming 4K video of a panda giving birth. Leo briefly contemplated violence.

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