Arthur closed the setup wizard. He opened the Control Panel. Devices and Printers. There it was: Canon MX490 series (Copy 1). Grayed out. Ghosted.

Arthur’s thumb hovered over the glossy black plastic of the Canon MX490. The little orange triangle light blinked at him—a slow, mocking pulse. Error. Connection lost. Driver not found.

He’d reinstalled the driver seven times. Each time, the setup wizard would pause at 87%, then throw a red X: Cannot communicate with device. He’d read forums. He’d disabled firewalls. He’d tried the cursed USB cable that looked like it had been chewed by a Labrador.