Lena smiled. It was the smile of a calculator. "Maya, we've reviewed the software logs on your machine. You activated Minitab 21 at 3:17 PM yesterday using a product key that doesn't exist in our licensing database. Can you tell me where you found it?"
She leaned back in her creaking office chair, rubbing her eyes. Her company, Axiom Forge, had been bought out two months ago by a larger corporation. In the chaos of merging IT systems, her software license had been revoked and never renewed. Her new boss, a spreadsheet-or-die type named Gerald, had told her to "just use Excel." Product Key Minitab 21
Maya’s stomach dropped. "I… found it online." Lena smiled