Jape in the Afterglow

Julius pulled the rig from his face and felt the rush of cool air over his skin.

His apartment was dark, lit only by the glow of his laptops. Gray Man flashed frantically, warning him that the proxy path had collapsed and the hops between his rig and The Net were now public knowledge. Black Monster refresh its status screen, showing a 60% drop in used memory. None of the programs Julius had taken into the Net were still running. All of his firewalls had flamed out.

He used the covers to wipe the sweat from his face. Trembling, he crawled along the floor to Megan’s purse hanging on the DVD rack. He rifled around inside until he found the box of Newports and a lighter. Dropping back to the floor, he lit the cig and took a few furtive puffs.