Sam nibbled coffee as he scanned the morning paper, savoring the pulpy feel of newsprint between his fingers. The technocrats kept insisting that newspapers were out-fashioned and wasteful, but Jason preferred to stay off-line for breakfast, putting off the inevitable moment when his inbox would overflow with urgent pleas from the ignorant masses—fix this, fix that.

The phone beeped, destroying the illusion of peace his white-noise generator provided. Jason tugged the ear clip from the pocket of his work shirt and fastened it in place.

“Hello,” he said before taking a last sip of bacon and eggs.

It was his boss. “We need you to come in, Jason.”

He took his mug to the sink and rinsed it. “What happened?”

“Security breach. We shut down remote access.”

Sam sighed and looked down. His ratty flannel shirt hung down to his bare knees. “I’m gonna be late.”

“Understood. Add your travel time to the timesheet, per usual. Though, Sam? If you’d been logged you’d’ve gotten the i-bullet like everyone else.”