The crimson brick of Redwood University’s administration building seemed to mock Liam. He sat on a cold, wrought-iron bench, the expulsion letter clutched in his sweating hand like a poisoned chalice. A week. A single, solitary week separated him from graduation, from the promised land of a respectable job, a slightly less suffocating mountain of debt, and maybe, just maybe, a life that didn’t involve rationing instant noodles. Now, that week stretched into an infinite, bleak wasteland.

The letter itself was a masterpiece of bureaucratic obfuscation, couched in polite, legalistic language that failed to mask its underlying cruelty. "Violation of University Code of Conduct, Section 4, Subsection B, Paragraph 12: Unapproved modification of University property resulting in potential compromise of network security." In layman's terms: he'd tried to fix the notoriously unreliable Wi-Fi in the computer lab, using a script he'd cobbled together in a caffeine-fueled frenzy. Apparently, that constituted a "potential compromise of network security." Never mind that he'd actually improved the damn thing.

Liam ran a hand through his already disheveled hair. He'd argued, pleaded, even offered to rewrite the entire university's network security system for free. But the Dean, a portly man with the personality of a damp dishrag, remained unmoved. "Zero tolerance policy, Mr. Walker. Your actions were reckless and irresponsible. We simply cannot condone such behavior."

Reckless? Irresponsible? Liam snorted. He'd spent the last four years practically living in the library, sacrificing sleep and social life for grades. He'd even taken out a second student loan to buy the damn software development kit that he'd used to create the Wi-Fi fix. Now, it was all for nothing.

He stuffed the expulsion letter into his backpack, feeling the weight of it like a physical burden. The weight of his parents' disappointment. The weight of his mounting debt. The weight of his shattered dreams.

He stood up, the bench cold against his numb backside, and started walking. He didn't know where he was going, didn't care. He just needed to move, to escape the oppressive atmosphere of Redwood University, a place that had once represented hope and opportunity, now a symbol of his crushing failure.

He ended up back at his apartment, a cramped, dilapidated studio a few blocks from campus. The peeling paint, the stained carpet, the overflowing laundry basket – it all seemed to mirror his internal state.

He kicked a pile of textbooks out of the way and slumped onto his ancient, lumpy couch. The springs groaned in protest. He reached into the fridge and pulled out a six-pack of discount beer, the kind that tasted vaguely metallic and left a lingering aftertaste of regret.

He cracked open a can and took a long, desperate swig. The cheap beer burned its way down his throat, offering a momentary distraction from the gnawing anxiety that threatened to consume him.

Days bled into nights. Liam became a recluse, venturing out only to buy more beer and the occasional frozen pizza. He ignored calls from his parents, his friends, even his exasperated loan officer. He watched endless reruns of bad sitcoms, trying to numb the pain, to forget the future that had been so abruptly snatched away from him.

His apartment became a monument to his despair. Empty beer cans piled up on every surface. Dirty dishes overflowed the sink. The air hung thick with the smell of stale beer and unwashed laundry.

One evening, after polishing off another six-pack, Liam sat staring at his laptop, a battered, five-year-old machine that had seen better days. It was a relic, a testament to his frugal existence. He'd been meaning to upgrade for years, but the student loans had always taken priority.

He idly opened a coding window, the familiar characters glowing dimly on the screen. He hadn't written a line of code since the expulsion. The thought of it now filled him with a bitter sense of irony. He, the expelled coder, the pariah of Redwood University.

He started typing, a random string of characters, a meaningless jumble of letters and numbers. He didn't know what he was doing, didn't care. It was just something to do, anything to fill the void.

Suddenly, the screen flickered. The lights in the apartment dimmed, then flickered again. A low hum filled the air, growing louder, more intense. Liam felt a strange tingling sensation, a prickling heat that spread across his skin.

He looked around the apartment, his head swimming. The hum intensified, vibrating through the floorboards, through the walls, through his very bones.

Then, the laptop screen exploded in a blinding flash of white light.

Liam recoiled, shielding his eyes. When he could see again, the laptop screen was filled with a chaotic mess of code, symbols, and gibberish. It looked like the digital equivalent of a Jackson Pollock painting.

But something was different. This wasn't just random noise. He could feel it. He could understand it, on some primal, intuitive level. It was as if the code was speaking to him, revealing its secrets, its potential.

And then, a single line of text flashed across the screen, clear and concise amidst the chaos:

"SYSTEM BOOT: INITIATED."

Liam stared at the screen, his mind reeling. What the hell was happening? Had the cheap beer finally driven him completely insane?

Before he could process the question, another line appeared:

"ERROR 404: COMMON SENSE NOT FOUND."

Liam blinked. A nervous laugh bubbled up from his throat. This was officially insane. But as he stared at the screen, at the swirling chaos of code and the cryptic messages, a strange sense of excitement began to stir within him.

Something extraordinary was happening. Something unpredictable. Something… broken.

And Liam Walker, the expelled coder, the failure of Redwood University, was about to find out just how broken it was.