Maya lunged for the power strip. She yanked the cord. The lights in the room stayed on. The computer stayed on. The drone grew louder.

The Xpand 2 interface morphed one last time. The green dot became a progress bar. And text appeared beneath it:

She needed a vintage synth pad for her track, “Neon Ghosts.” Her budget was zero dollars. Her deadline was tomorrow morning. The official plugin was $79.99. This link was free.