[Intro]

93 pages.
One attachment.
Subject line:
"Monthly usage statement."

[Verse 1]

Mara opens page one slowly.
Victor stands behind her chair.
Compute charges, storage charges,
Traffic moving everywhere.

[Verse 2]

Page four lists reserved capacity.
Page nine lists capacity on demand.
Page twelve bills an empty gateway
In a region no one planned.

[Verse 3]

Every decimal looks harmless
Till the totals meet below.
Every service has a footnote.
Every footnote starts to grow.

[Chorus]

The infinite monthly bill
Keeps climbing when the systems stand still.
Every promise has a meter,
Every meter has a will.
93 pages tell the story
No architecture slide revealed.

[Verse 4]

Page twenty-one records the backups.
Page thirty bills the backup scan.
Page forty shows the premium support
That cannot support the plan.

[Verse 5]

Network traffic crosses borders,
Returns, then crosses them again.
One dashboard polls another dashboard
Every fifteen seconds, ten by ten.

[Verse 6]

Victor checks the final number.
His expression almost breaks.
Then he says, "This demonstrates adoption.
Growth is the investment that it takes."

[Chorus]

The infinite monthly bill
Keeps climbing when the systems stand still.
Every promise has a meter,
Every meter has a will.
93 pages tell the story
No transformation deck revealed.

[Instrumental Break]

[Bridge]

Mara reads the total twice.
Klaus removes his glasses.
Finance calls to verify
The number on the taxes.
Three times the former budget.
Half the systems not migrated.

[Heavy Breakdown]

Storage.
Requests.
Idle clusters.
Managed fees.
Pay per second.
Pay per read.

[Build-up]

Victor turns toward the window.
Clouds hang low above the street.
For the first time since the keynote,
No slogan rises to his teeth.

[Final Chorus]

The infinite monthly bill
Keeps climbing when the office stands still.
Every shortcut has a meter,
Every meter sends the bill.
93 pages name the future
That the sales pitch kept concealed.

[Outro]

Mara prints the final page.
The printer empties its last tray.
The five-note figure sinks beneath
The number due in thirty days.