====== ACE 37.5 — Safehouse: Decision Fatigue ====== Rain tapped softly against the safehouse windows. Not wrong. Not delayed. Just— Rain. ---- Ace stared at the table. Mai stared at the shard in her hand. Shammy stared at neither. ---- “…okay,” Ace said finally. A beat. “…we need to eat.” ---- Mai nodded. “Yes.” ---- Silence. ---- Nothing happened. ---- Ace frowned. “…right.” ---- Mai looked up. “We should decide.” ---- Shammy tilted her head slightly. “…or let it happen.” ---- Ace blinked. “…that’s not how food works.” ---- Shammy didn’t answer. ---- Mai exhaled. “We’re overcomplicating this.” ---- Ace leaned back. “Yeah,” she said. “So pick something.” ---- Mai opened her mouth— Paused. Closed it. ---- “…no.” ---- Ace stared at her. “…no?” ---- Mai shook her head slowly. “If I choose,” she said, “I’m optimizing.” ---- A beat. ---- “That’s predictable.” ---- Ace squinted. “…so what, we just starve?” ---- Shammy shifted slightly. The air moved with her this time. Normal. ---- “…we don’t choose,” she said. ---- Ace stared at her. ---- “…you two are killing me.” ---- ====== 🔻 ATTEMPT 1 ====== Mai raised the shard. “Random selection,” she said. ---- Ace nodded immediately. “Good. Do that.” ---- Mai hesitated. ---- “…no.” ---- Ace closed her eyes briefly. “…why.” ---- Mai’s voice stayed calm. “Because it’s still a selection process,” she said. ---- A pause. ---- “Which makes it predictable at a higher level.” ---- Ace stared at her. ---- “…you just made random predictable.” ---- “Yes.” ---- “…I hate that.” ---- ====== 🔻 ATTEMPT 2 ====== Ace stood up. ---- “Fine,” she said. “I’ll pick.” ---- Mai nodded. “Go ahead.” ---- Ace pointed at the first thing on the menu. “Pizza.” ---- Silence. ---- Mai tilted her head slightly. “…you always pick pizza first.” ---- Ace froze. ---- “…right.” ---- She dropped her hand. ---- “…not pizza.” ---- Shammy’s gaze drifted. “…so something else.” ---- Ace pointed again. “Burgers.” ---- Mai didn’t even look. “Second most common fallback.” ---- Ace’s eye twitched. ---- “…okay, you know what—” ---- She sat back down. ---- “…I’m not playing this game.” ---- ====== 🔻 ATTEMPT 3 ====== Shammy moved closer to the table. ---- “…we could not eat yet.” ---- Ace turned slowly. ---- “…no.” ---- Shammy blinked. ---- “…why not.” ---- Ace leaned forward. ---- “Because,” she said slowly, “I’m hungry.” ---- Shammy considered that. ---- “…that’s valid.” ---- Mai pinched the bridge of her nose. ---- “This is spiraling.” ---- ====== 🔻 ATTEMPT 4 ====== Mai straightened. ---- “We split decisions.” ---- Ace frowned. “…explain.” ---- “You choose category,” Mai said. “I choose vendor.” ---- Shammy tilted her head. “…and I?” ---- Mai paused. ---- “…you—” ---- Silence. ---- “…you stabilize.” ---- Ace snorted. “…that’s not a role in food ordering.” ---- Shammy didn’t react. ---- “…it is now.” ---- ====== 🔻 EXECUTION ====== Ace pointed. ---- “…fine. Category.” ---- A beat. ---- “…no fast food.” ---- Mai nodded. ---- “Good.” ---- She looked at the shard. Scrolled once. Stopped. ---- “…Thai.” ---- Ace blinked. ---- “…okay, that actually works.” ---- Shammy exhaled softly. The air settled. ---- “…this feels right.” ---- All three paused. ---- ---- “…wait,” Ace said. ---- Mai froze. ---- “…that felt right.” ---- Shammy blinked. ---- “…yes.” ---- Ace leaned back slowly. ---- “…that’s predictable.” ---- Silence. ---- Mai closed her eyes. ---- “…we just built a stable outcome.” ---- Shammy nodded. ---- “…aligned.” ---- Ace stood up again. ---- “…nope.” ---- ====== 🔻 COLLAPSE ====== “Cancel it.” ---- Mai didn’t move. ---- “…we haven’t ordered yet.” ---- “Good,” Ace said. “Cancel it anyway.” ---- Shammy looked between them. ---- “…we were close.” ---- Ace pointed at the table. ---- “…too close.” ---- ====== 🔻 TIME CHECK ====== Mai glanced at the clock. ---- “…twenty-seven minutes.” ---- Ace stared. ---- “…you’re kidding.” ---- “No.” ---- Shammy blinked. ---- “…we haven’t eaten in twenty-seven minutes?” ---- Ace dragged a hand down her face. ---- “…I hate him.” ---- ====== 🔻 THE KNOCK ====== Knock. ---- All three froze. ---- Slowly— Ace turned toward the door. ---- “…don’t.” ---- Mai didn’t move. ---- Shammy tilted her head. ---- “…that wasn’t random.” ---- Knock. ---- More precise this time. ---- Ace stepped forward. ---- Opened the door. ---- ====== 🔥 DELIVERY ====== Theta-24 stood there. ---- Badger in front. Box in hand. ---- “…food delivery,” he said. ---- Silence. ---- Ace stared at the box. ---- “…no.” ---- Badger raised an eyebrow. ---- “We flipped a coin.” ---- Mai closed her eyes. ---- “…that’s worse.” ---- Shammy exhaled. ---- “…much worse.” ---- Grouse leaned against the wall behind Badger. ---- “You gonna take it or what?” ---- Ace didn’t move. ---- “…what is it.” ---- Badger shrugged. ---- “Doesn’t matter.” ---- A beat. ---- “Statistically, one of you was going to order this anyway.” ---- Ace stared at him. ---- Long. Hard. ---- Then— She took the box. ---- Slowly. ---- “…we’re not predictable,” she said. ---- Badger grinned faintly. ---- “Sure you’re not.” ---- ====== 🔚 FINAL BEAT ====== Door closed. ---- Silence. ---- Ace set the box on the table. ---- Opened it. ---- All three leaned in. ---- Paused. ---- “…of course,” Mai said quietly. ---- Ace exhaled. ---- “…pizza.” ---- Shammy blinked. ---- “…that feels right.” ---- Ace closed the box. ---- “…we’re doomed.” ---- Rain tapped against the window. ---- Perfect timing. ---- For once— No one reacted.