[zbentley]

> In the context of this story, well... your protagonist is actually on life support. But not to worry! They'll be taken off it soon...

"Soon" is often...not soon. I have never, ever seen a legacy system of any substantial complexity taken fully offline. Nor have I seen even partial replacements for such a system deliver a reliable alternative anywhere close to on time. In fact, I've seen more half-baked successors be either scrapped or put on life support themselves than I have seen get even into the ballpark of what could generously be considered success.