Networked

André jammed the button on his phone. Nothing. Everything was all touchscreens now, except for the solitary button necessary to reboot a device if the OS froze up.

"Dammit," André swore. Stupid thing had been giving him fits all day.

_Disk reformat in 5 sec..._

"What? I didn't request that!" Stupid devices were starting to think on their own now. André could have screamed.

He jammed the button again--

--and watched helplessly as the promised reformat took place, and a new message appeared on-screen.

_I control this device now._

"The hell?" André muttered. He mashed down on the button again.

_That won't do you any good._

Fear crawled down André's spine. He pitched the phone across the room, watching it disintegrate against a wall.

The lights flickered.

Shit. The house network. That was a problem. He had to cut power before--

Outside, chaos erupted, and André knew it was too late. The house network's backup was warehoused across town, meaning _it_ had already made the jump and was loose.

Oh. Shit.