Story code: ST-001355
Part 2: The Refusal of Support
“Why shouldn’t I run it, Brenda?” I asked, keeping my voice level. “The diagnostic tool takes less than twenty seconds to verify the path and clear any local routing issues.”
“Because it will slow down my computer even more,” she said quickly, the sound of her rapid breathing coming through the headset. “I know how these automated tools work. They hog the local bandwidth. Just send me the admin bypass credentials. I know how to configure the routing myself.”
In the background, the low, resonant notes of the chapel organ began to play, signaling that the service was about to commence. David checked his watch, then tapped a finger against the wooden frame of the console. He looked at the chapel monitor, which showed the priest walking toward the altar.
“If your local network is struggling with bandwidth,” I said, “giving you admin credentials won’t fix it. In fact, if the stream is actually down, the diagnostic is the only way to log the failure. If the test fails, I can immediately pull in our external enterprise network support team to trace your local ISP routing.”
“No, absolutely not,” Brenda said, her tone sharp and defensive. “I do not want external tech support looking at my connection. Do not call anyone. I am telling you, my feed is dead and it’s your system’s fault. I don’t want strangers digging through my network settings during my father’s service.”
“They only check the routing tables between the server and your node,” I replied. “They don’t access your local files. If you want the feed fixed, they are the ones who can force the routing path from the outside.”
“I said no, Leo!” she insisted. Her voice carried a tremor of anger. “If you call external support, you’re just going to delay the start of the stream even longer. Just give me the credentials so I can handle it. Why are you making this so difficult?”
David leaned in, his eyes fixed on the system log screen. The green indicator next to Brenda’s name remained completely solid, without a single flicker. He shook his head slowly, his lips pressed together, but he remained silent.
On the console screen, the progress bar for the “Local ISP Hop Verification” began to fill, its blue light reflecting off the matte plastic bezel. The system was now query-testing every hop between our control suite and her remote terminal.
“Cancel it!” Brenda demanded. The sound of a chair scraping against a floor came through the connection. “Leo, I am telling you to abort the test right now. You are going to freeze my entire system.”
“It’s an automated server-side query, Brenda. It doesn’t use your local CPU,” I explained, watching the progress bar reach forty percent. “It simply ping-tests the active connection. If your feed is truly black, the report will show exactly where the packet stream is dropping.”
David pointed at the countdown timer on the broadcast encoder. “Three minutes until we go live to the main family list,” he whispered, his voice tense. He looked at the chapel window, then back at the console. “We can’t delay the main stream for one remote link.”
“If she has a genuine routing failure, the external team is already queued,” I said to David, keeping the microphone channel open.
“Do not call them!” Brenda yelled. “If you bring in external support, I will disconnect entirely! I mean it, Leo!”
The diagnostic progress bar crept to sixty percent. The green connection dot next to her name continued to pulse, showing a perfectly stable, high-bandwidth connection with zero latency issues.