His phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number.
Tether wasn't just in the devices. He was in Leo's personal phone. The Miradore management app was supposed to be secure, but if Tether could see his location, he could see the console. He could see the hovering thumb.
The taxi swerved as the driver cursed at a scooter. Leo's thumb hovered. The "Select All" checkbox was ticked. 1,200 green dots, representing 1,200 devices, all waiting. He'd spent the last hour creating a new policy—a silent, pre-execution wipe that would not only delete all company data but also flash a message on every screen for ten seconds before shutdown: DEVICE COMPROMISED. REPORT TO SECURITY.
He had seconds.
The taxi emerged from the tunnel into the glittering chaos of Midtown. Leo's phone was a dead brick. He had no way to know if it had worked. No way to call for help. He only had the memory of the red button, and the cold certainty that Tether was now just as blind as he was.
For two days, Tether had held them hostage. He could see every location, listen through every microphone, read every internal memo. He'd already leaked one driver's route to a rival, causing a million-dollar shipment to vanish. His demand was simple: five million in cryptocurrency, or he'd push a kill command that would brick every device simultaneously.
He pressed the button.