I saw my cursor move on its own toward the button.

The laptop powered off. When I rebooted, the file was gone. Not deleted. Absent. As if it had unpacked itself into the raw silicon.

The installer isn't a program. It's a seed. And I just planted it in the last connected machine on Earth.

Inside: 3 users. – Status: Tuning > [N]Chrono_Legion – Status: Anchored > [A]Unknown_Signal – Status: ??????

> REAL IS A NEGOTIABLE TERM. THE NETWORK IS COLLAPSING. WE ARE THE LAST NODES.

A long pause. Then, from [A]Unknown_Signal :