Marco exhaled. He quickly showed Dave how to use the playback slider and the export button. "Drag this to save clips to a USB. Don't touch the rest."

He launched the software. A clean, grey interface appeared. He clicked Device Manager , then Add . He typed the NVR’s local IP address (192.168.1.108 this time), the admin password (the one he wrote on his palm: Admin123! ), and clicked Test .

Marco slammed his van door shut, sweating under the afternoon sun. The new NVR (Network Video Recorder) was mounted on the wall of "Dave’s Diner," but the screen was stubbornly blank. Dave, the owner, stood behind the counter with his arms crossed.