"Creepy," Leo muttered, and launched it.

"3.9.9 is the last version before they added the conscience patch."

And he'll wonder: how many other engineers found that link? And what are they designing right now?

He unplugged his laptop. He pulled the battery. He took the hard drive to the sink and poured his morning coffee over it.

He decided to test it. A simple catenary arch for a pedestrian bridge in the park near his apartment. He sketched the nodes, applied a load of 5 kilonewtons per meter. He hit "Solve."

Leo slammed the laptop shut. His heart hammered against his ribs. This wasn't a finite element analysis package. This was a goddamn oracle.

The model didn't just display results. It breathed .