The speakers emitted a low, rhythmic hum. He lunged for the power cable, ripping it from the wall, but the laptop stayed on—its internal battery now a prison cell for his hijacked data. In the reflection of the dark screen, he didn't just see his own worried face; he saw the reality that a "free" license usually costs more than the retail price.

The watermark vanished. Elias let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He opened a celebratory tab to order pizza, but the browser didn't load his homepage. Instead, a command prompt window flickered open and shut. Then another. His webcam light flickered blue for a split second.

He ran the .exe file. A small grey box appeared with a progress bar. Initializing... Bypassing... Successful.