When I logged into IT Gens that morning, I expected the usual: caffeine-fueled arguments over kernel updates, flame wars about which language God would use if He coded (it's not Java), and maybe, just maybe, another poor bastard melting down over a corrupted RAID array.
What I did not expect was the universe handing Peter Carter a gold-plated, diamond-encrusted escape hatch from financial despair. And it was glowing.
The channel was on fire—an electric, chaotic frenzy exploding in real-time over one name: Quantum Tech. Or, as the regulars affectionately called them, "Quantum Desperate." The desperation wasn't subtle anymore.
You could smell it—like the scent of blood in the water before a corporate feeding frenzy. Quantum Tech had posted the offer that broke the system's sanity filters: $700,000 upfront, plus a permanent position, for one impossible job. No strings attached—except the strings were clearly made of razor wire.
