[Intro][Fast muted guitars climb chromatically while floor fans accelerate beneath the drums.]

[Verse 1 - Mara, Female Clean Lead]

The memo came at eight fifteen: REDUCE THE HIDDEN SPEND.
Its columns showed each monthly cost, not what those costs prevent.
The cooling line was colored red; the backup line was crossed.
The guard contract declared LOW VALUE FOR THE MONTHLY COST.
Greg-or set the failure logs beside the savings chart.
The C-E-O said, “Infrastructure isn’t where we start.”
He tapped one server absent from the ownership display:
“If no one will present it, switch the thing off today.”

[Pre-Chorus - Mara]

They closed the vent at rack twenty.
The temperature climbed four degrees.
A bearing screamed behind the cage.
The graph stayed green upstairs.

[Chorus - Mara & Gregor, Duet]

Budget cuts and burning racks—
Every saving bites us back.
Cut the cooling, lose the guard;
Drop the spare and scorch the card.
Numbers smile while metal cracks:
Budget cuts and burning racks.

[Verse 2 - Mara]

They canceled spare components and the weekend on-call line,
Then spent the same amount repainting every warning sign.
Finance killed one cooling loop to lower energy use;
The dashboard kept its cached report and certified the ruse.
At thirty-eight the drives slowed down; at forty, mail delayed.
At forty-two the badge control forgot the doors it made.
Greg-or opened every vent and rolled in portable cold air,
Management declared success at last upstairs.

[Pre-Chorus - Mara]

The fans became a war drum.
The floor began to shake.
One L-E-D stayed calmly green
Above a smoking brake.

[Chorus - Mara & Gregor, Duet]

Budget cuts and burning racks—
Every saving bites us back.
Cut the cooling, lose the guard;
Drop the spare and scorch the card.
Numbers smile while metal cracks:
Budget cuts and burning racks.

[Guitar Solo][A rapid twin-guitar solo climbs with the simulated rack temperature before collapsing into halftime.]

[Bridge - Management Choir]

“Turn that ownerless host off.
No department bears the cost.”

[Bridge Response - Gregor, Male Baritone]

“Every door and every wage
Still calls a name inside that cage.”

[Breakdown - Mara & Office Choir]

Thirty-nine.
Forty-one.
Cooling circuit:
CANCELED. DONE.

[Build-up - Mara & Gregor, Alternating]

Forty-three—the breaker fell.
Three floors dark. One basement bell.
Mail stopped dead. The lift rang twice.
Someone learned the hidden price.

[Final Chorus - Mara & Gregor, Duet]

Budget cuts and burning racks—
Now the building answers back.
No clean backup, no spare card,
No cold aisle and no night guard.
You cannot cut the maps and hands,
Then blame the smoke for missing plans.

[Outro - Mara]

One server died without a name.
Six systems followed next.
Greg-or reached for master keys
Last turned when they sealed Rex.