^hot^ — Fex Imager

The figure on the screen began to swim closer. It moved with impossible speed, blurring across the void toward the Needle . Elias saw the face inside the helmet now.

Elias grinned. He wasn't looking for the ship itself—salvaging hulks was too much work. He was looking for the cargo . The Fex Imager could look right through the hull plating if the density settings were right. He tweaked a dial.

"Abort!" Elias slammed his fist onto the emergency purge. fex imager

While "live imaging"—taking an image of a running computer—is technically less sound than a "dead" acquisition, sometimes it's the only option. FEX Imager can be run directly from a booted operating system, provided you have local admin privileges.

On the screen, an image began to resolve. The figure on the screen began to swim closer

Elias sat in the cramped cockpit, a lit cigarette dangling from his lip, staring at the device bolted to his copilot’s chair. It looked like a camera designed by a sadist—heavy lead plating, a lens the size of a grapefruit made of polished obsidian, and wires that snaked into a cooling unit humming loudly in the back.

Would you like a short narrative expansion or a visual schematic based on this “fex imager” output? Elias grinned

He engaged the thrusters. The ship, The Rusty Needle , lifted off, shaking off the oily rain. Elias punched in the coordinates for the local asteroid belt, a chaotic swirl of rock known as the Grinder.