There it was. AnyDesk. Back on the tray. This time, the ID had changed to 999 999 999 —a mocking, perfect number.

The moment the desktop loaded, a familiar orange icon winked at him from the system tray. AnyDesk was still there , humming softly, its little status light glowing green.

He bought a new hard drive, burned the old one with a blowtorch, and moved to a cabin with no internet.

The orange icon was back.

Arnold smiled. Cleanliness. He restarted his PC.

Two weeks later, his mother-in-law called. “The printer’s acting up again. I’ll just remote in using the app you left installed on my computer.”