The Scumbag's Guide To Heroism novel Chapter 329

Chapter 329: 329 | Anatomy of a Flawless Rebuild [PS BONUS]

Felicity’s expression had shifted from cheerful agreement to the particular discomfort of someone who had just endorsed a position that was being systematically taken apart. She looked at me, then at Camille, then back at me.

"I mean," Felicity started, "the core concept still works though, right? The environmental denial part is solid even if the execution needs adjusting."

"The core concept is fine in a vacuum where civilians don’t exist," Camille said, not unkindly but not gently either. "Halloran doesn’t grade in a vacuum. Steele specifically told us that any brief resulting in higher civilian casualties than the actual outcome means extra miles on Thursday. Lukas’s plan seals the building. What happens when civilian number seven on the second floor hears construction noise from us blocking windows, panics, and runs toward the stairwell that puts him directly in the Villain’s line of sight?"

I didn’t have an answer for that because I hadn’t considered it. I’d been so busy designing a clever environmental control strategy that I’d forgotten the environment contained living people whose behavior could not be predicted or controlled.

"Displaced," Percy said quietly. It was the first word he’d spoken since I finished my pitch. "Civilian enters the Villain’s sight line, gets displaced to a random position on a different floor. Potentially into an area we’ve already sealed. Potentially into structural elements we’ve disrupted for our breach from below. Injury probability increases from seven percent to approximately thirty-one percent per displacement event, based on the Villain’s documented control parameters under stress conditions."

"Which means my plan potentially produces more casualties than the original outcome," I said.

Percy looked at me with brown eyes that held no judgment and considerable sympathy. "Yes."

Felicity winced. "Okay. So we need a different approach."

"We need a different approach," Camille confirmed. She hadn’t taken her eyes off me during any of this, and her expression carried something that surprised me. Not satisfaction at proving me wrong. Not the competitive triumph I’d expected from someone whose default mode involved dominating every engagement she entered. What Camille’s face held was respect for the fact that I’d put forward a plan, listened to why it was wrong, and accepted the correction without deflecting or making excuses.

That expression did things to me that I was not going to examine in a classroom full of witnesses.

"The Villain’s Aspect swaps positions of objects within line of sight," Camille said, pulling us back to the problem. "Percy, your Analyze. Can you determine the range limitation from the available data?"

Percy’s Analyze engaged with a subtle shift in his focus. His eyes went distant for one and a half seconds before returning with new information.

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