Elias leaned back. The solution was brutal but clean. He couldn't unblock the file; he had to remove the bouncer.

Elias had tried everything. He checked the file's properties—no "Unblock" checkbox. He ran Unblock-File in PowerShell. Nothing. He disabled SmartScreen. Nothing. It was as if the file itself had been cursed.

He held his breath. The CNC router's interface loaded. The motors homed. A test cycle ran.

Reboot.

The DLL wasn't locked. It was being strangled by a ghost.

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