Chapter 5 - The Scoreboard Nobody Could Laugh At
The results were read aloud because that had been Briggs’s condition. If humiliation had been his intended record, then accuracy would become hers. Brooke’s team had cleared the course with fewer penalties, cleaner communications, better threat identification, and a completion time close enough that speed could no longer carry the argument. The field went quiet when the final score was announced.
Briggs tried to recover with a laugh. “One clean run doesn’t prove a program.” Brooke removed her helmet slowly and tucked it under one arm. “No,” she said. “But one public challenge can expose why the program needed oversight.” That was the first time she had spoken directly to him in front of everyone.
Major Ellis stepped forward before Briggs could answer. “Staff Sergeant Briggs, you requested a sanctioned demonstration to test capability. The demonstration has been completed. The record will reflect both team performance and conduct before the lane.” Briggs’s face changed at the word conduct. It was subtle, but Brooke saw it. The same men who had laughed earlier saw it too.
May you like
Briggs glanced around, searching for the crowd that had belonged to him ten minutes earlier. Nobody gave it back. Some looked away. Some stared at Brooke with the uncomfortable expression of people realizing they had mistaken composure for weakness because someone louder told them to. One young Marine near the fence lowered his eyes as if he had just remembered every time he had laughed without thinking.
Brooke did not enjoy that. She did not need their shame. She needed the system to stop rewarding the performance that produced it.
