At the halfway score, everyone learned they were losing something.
That was probably the point.
The board rang three bronze notes and froze the simulation district under a pale grid. Wounds slowed. Routes dimmed. Faction markers locked in place. The archive bell remained silent behind the sealed door, which meant it was either inactive or listening with better manners.
I distrusted both.
[Mid-Exercise Score Review]
[Gold Hall Stability Bloc]
[Order Infrastructure: High]
[Verification Reliability: Moderate-High]
[Rank Rigidity Penalty: Moderate]
[Route Respect: Improving]
[Internal Cohesion: Reduced]
Gold Hall students reacted first.
Not to rank rigidity.
To internal cohesion.
Marcell did not look at Lucien.
Lucien did not look away from the board.
Draven laughed.
Of course.
"Reduced," he said. "Such a polite word."
Marcell's smile remained.
"Politeness often survives where accuracy would be vulgar."
Valeria whispered, "I hate that I like the sentence."
