The Only Fixer

My voice was not loud, but every word pierced Henry's heart like an awl.

"I... I didn't...You're spouting nonsense! This is slander!" Henry rambled incoherently, trying to argue his way out.

Bill could not take it anymore. The self-made businessman hated nothing more than being scammed like a fool. He suddenly kicked over the toolbox beside him, scattering metal tools everywhere with a deafening bang.

"Henry Lewis!" Like a furious lion, Bill lunged at Henry and grabbed him by the collar. "You fucking dare to scam me? I pay you 200,000 dollars a year for consulting, and you fucking colluded with outsiders to swindle me out of four million dollars?"

He punched Henry hard across the face.

Henry's refined face instantly turned into a bloody mess; his gold-rimmed glasses flew off and shattered on the floor.

"Mr. Lamar! Mr. Lamar, let me explain! It's a misunderstanding!" he screamed in horror.

"Misunderstanding my ass!" Bill kicked him again, knocking him to the ground. "Beat him! Beat this traitorous bastard out of here!"

Several burly workers, who had long disliked Henry, immediately rushed forward and dragged him out of the workshop.

Henry's piercing screams echoed through the workshop before gradually fading into the distance.

The farce finally came to an end.

Bill breathed heavily, his chest heaving. He walked up to me, his face alternating between pale and grim, his expression utterly complex. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but he eventually pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and offered one to me.

He changed the way he addressed me, his voice now hoarse and embarrassed. "Shaun... No, Mr. Zigger. I acted impulsively... just now. I'm sorry."

I did not take his cigarette, only shaking my head. "Get the machine fixed first."

I returned to the computer and asked Melody to revert the maliciously modified parameter to its default value.

Melody typed the command, but a new warning window popped up on the screen.

[Firmware Locked by Administrator]

Melody's expression changed. "Oh no! He had a backup plan! He locked the entire firmware. We no longer have write permissions! This is the highest-level firmware lock. Unless we have the original Gorman-made key generator, it's impossible to unlock!"

Bill's newly ignited hope was instantly extinguished. He was frantic, like a cat on a hot tin roof. "What do we do? It's still useless, isn't it?"

The atmosphere in the entire workshop froze again.

I stared at the screen in silence for a moment.

Everyone thought I was at a loss.

I suddenly said, "No need for a key generator."

I turned to Melody. "Melody, do me a favor. Go to the electronics market and buy me an Arduino Uno development board, a decent soldering iron, a roll of 0.2mm solder wire, and some DuPont wire."

Melody paused.

Arduino? Was that not a basic microcontroller development board for students and electronics enthusiasts? It was only a few dozen dollars each.