World of Data

The three of them watched nervously.

The small progress bar on the screen inched forward at an agonizing pace.

James tapped his foot anxiously. "Come on, come on..."

Allen crossed his arms. "If this doesn't work, we're screwed."

Mia stared at the screen, barely blinking.

Ding!

The progress bar completed.

James immediately leaned in, typing furiously. His eyes darted across the screen, scanning the system.

"It's gone," he whispered.

Allen exhaled loudly, slumping against his chair. "Oh, thank God. We almost got fucked."

James grinned. "See? I told you. My virus wiped that bastard out."

"Wait..." Mia's voice cut through their relief.

She was staring at the screen, her brows furrowed.

"Something's wrong."

James turned back to the monitor. "What do you mean?"

Mia pointed. "Look at the logs. The virus disappeared along with 2099."

Allen's eyes widened. "It's... gone? Completely erased?"

James clicked through the system rapidly, checking file paths and storage logs. He nodded slowly. "Yeah, the virus got deleted along with 2099. I guess... they canceled each other out?"

Allen frowned. "That's... weird. I thought viruses usually leave traces."

Before anyone could answer, the screen flashed.

A new progress bar appeared.

[File Number 2099 Transfer in Progress…]

James' blood ran cold. "Wait—what?!"

Ding!

[Transfer Complete.]

Allen shot up from his chair. "Where the hell did that file go?!"

James frantically clicked through the system. Mia jumped to another terminal, checking network logs.

"Shit, shit, shit—" James muttered.

Then Mia gasped.

"FOUND IT!" she shouted.

Allen and James rushed to her screen.

There it was—

2099 was in another computer.

And it was already corrupting the files.

Mia's voice was shaking. "It's spreading."

James cursed. "We didn't delete it—we just moved it!"

Allen ran a hand through his hair. "Do you have another virus?"

James shook his head. "No. I only had one. Those things are expensive!"

Allen slammed the desk. "Well, do something!"

James frantically typed, searching for a solution.

Then his face went pale.

"It's trying to connect to Internet."

A horrified silence filled the room.

"FUCK," Allen shouted. "SHUT DOWN THE WI-FI! NOW!"

James lunged for the router, yanking the power cord out. The office lights flickered as the network cut off.

"Okay, okay, it's disconnected," James panted.

Allen spun back to the computer. "Reset the damn system. We're not taking any chances."

James didn't hesitate. His fingers flew across the keyboard, overriding security prompts.

Mia watched the screen. "Hurry!"

The computer flashed

[System Reset in Progress…]

The screen went black.

The room was silent.

Allen let out a shaky breath. "Is it... gone?"

James stared at the blank screen. "I—I think so."

Mia sat back in her chair, rubbing her temples. "Holy shit..."

Allen exhaled, running a hand through his hair. "That was too close."

James chuckled nervously. "Hey... at least it didn't reach internet, right?"

But none of them laughed.

Because deep down...

None of them were sure.