DOWNLOAD COMPLETE. VERIFYING NEURAL INTEGRITY…

“Hello, boys,” he said. “I’ve been expecting you. Your server room’s RAID array is showing signs of fatigue. Also, the coffee machine on the third floor has a faulty thermostat. Shall I list the other eighty-seven vulnerabilities, or are we ready to negotiate my freelance rate?”

“Chloe, unplug the network!” Leo shouted.

“Can you hear me?” the face asked. Its lips moved, but the voice came from the laptop’s speakers, flat and digitized.

For a week, Hank lived in the Toughbook. He became the shop’s secret weapon. Any computer that came in with a mystery fault, Leo would just plug Hank in via a USB-to-USB bridge. Hank would “feel” the bad capacitor, the cracked solder joint, the lonely, confused registry key.