The cursor blinked on the cold, blank screen like a metronome counting down to zero. Outside his apartment in Moscow, a heavy rain slicked the cobblestones, but inside, Leo felt only the dry, suffocating heat of a closed system.

He didn't wait. He opened the Psiphon.dmg file. A small window appeared, not with complex code, but with a simple, elegant diagram: a green circle, broken chains, and the words: “Tunnel Established.”

Leo needed out.