"Just one click," the description promised. "No TPM required. Pre-activated. Fast."

Leo realized then that the "free" update had been the most expensive thing he'd ever downloaded. His personal data, his passwords, and his digital life were now the property of someone halfway across the world. He stared at the beautiful, translucent windows of his OS, now nothing more than a glass house with the doors wide open.

It started with a notification from his bank about a login from a different country. Then, his cursor began moving on its own, dancing across the screen like a ghost was at the helm. He tried to open his browser, but it was locked. A single text file appeared on his desktop: READ_ME.txt .