Blackout

Your company is finally making a significant push onto the Chinese mainland. There are several options under consideration by the board: partnering with a local firm, looking for an acquisition, or creating a local team under your supervision to execute a winning strategy.

With your track record and local contacts, you are the strongest advocate of option three, and have spent weeks laying the groundwork for tomorrow's meeting. And now the time is almost upon you. It's midnight the night before your presentation and you've just polished off your slides for the board. The text and pictures are perfect: compelling, attractive. They make the decision obvious. And so after giving it one final look, you move your mouse up to the save button and.... in less than the time it takes you to think "autosave is unreliable", the screen turns black.

This has happened before, but never quite like this: for somewhere deep inside your computer, you can hear a faint sizzling sound.