The Snipping Tool was back. Its icon was a little pair of scissors, cutting a perfect square out of nothing. It felt like a smile.

He tried PowerShell as an administrator. He typed: Get-AppxPackage *ScreenSketch* | Remove-AppxPackage . The green bar flashed. Success. He exhaled. Then he clicked the Start menu. The icon was gone.

Two weeks later, the loan was "lost," and the client had a new lawyer.

Every morning, his assistant, Chloe, would bring him a latte and a list of digital grievances. Today’s was at the top of the list.

Elias leaned back. His office had no windows—just LED bars and the low hum of a server rack. “Then we delete it.”