Elias froze. He knew Taylor lived in North Alabama. He wasn't just looking at a game engine; the "Retail" tag had been a lure. The zip file was a honeypot, a digital tripwire designed to catch anyone curious enough to go looking for Taylor’s more sensitive aerospace work.
The air in Elias’s small apartment was thick with the hum of overclocked processors and the smell of stale coffee. On his screen, the progress bar for the was a sliver away from completion. This wasn't just any file; it was the digital heart of Travis Taylor’s latest tactical simulation, a retail-grade build that was rumored to contain "black box" ballistics data straight from the labs.
Outside, the quiet chirp of a siren began to rise in the distance. Elias realized too late that in the world of ballistics, it isn't just the bullet that moves fast—it's the consequences.