Grant laughed.
“That answer I respect.”
Andre walked over.
“Everybody safe?”
Four yeses.
He looked toward Simone.
“One minute?”
She nodded.
“Yes.”
The three black belts immediately huddled.
That interested Simone more than anything else.
They were learning.
Grant would hold central pressure without chasing, Rafael would remain deeper near the boundary, and Elijah would react to whichever direction Simone committed toward. They agreed to communicate with simple words rather than assuming somebody else saw the same problem.
Andre reset the timer.
“Sixty.”
Simone rolled her shoulders.
The room became quiet.
“Go.”
This time Grant did not chase.
Simone shifted.
No reaction.
She stepped toward Elijah.
He mirrored instead of committing.
Rafael stayed deep.
Grant maintained the center.
They had learned quickly.
Ten seconds passed without a useful opening.
Then fifteen.
Simone circled.
Grant’s size became an obstacle without him applying much force at all.
She tried drawing him left.
He refused.
Twenty seconds.
She changed direction.
Elijah stayed disciplined.
Rafael waited.
At twenty-five seconds Simone understood something unpleasant.
Their plan was working.
If she simply waited for a mistake, there might not be one.
She had to create disagreement.
Simone approached Rafael and allowed light positional contact.
He held his lane.
Grant shifted behind her.
Elijah moved toward what he believed would become the escape side.
Simone did nothing.
Two seconds passed.
Then three.
Grant finally asked, “Why’d you stop?”
Simone smiled.
“Why are you asking?”
Elijah laughed.
Tiny distraction.
Simone pivoted.
Grant had already moved behind.
Elijah anticipated right.
She went left.
Rafael rotated.
Grant corrected.
Thirty-eight seconds.
Still nothing.
Simone tried another angle.
Blocked.
Forty-three.
Nobody in the room made a sound.
At that point, fatigue was not primarily physical.
It was decision fatigue.
Three people were continuously updating their positions relative to one moving person and to one another, while Simone only had to monitor the system and choose a direction. She needed one moment when two good decisions accidentally became the same decision.
It came at forty-seven seconds.
Grant and Elijah both shifted toward the same escape lane.
Nothing dramatic happened.
Nobody fell.
Nobody made a terrible mistake.
Their shoulders simply occupied nearly the same piece of useful space.
Rafael saw it first.
“Separate.”
Too late.
Simone reversed.
Rafael sprinted across the square.
She reached the boundary.
One palm touched outside.
The rule required two.
Rafael arrived and blocked the second shoulder.
Simone withdrew.
Fifty-one seconds.
The room inhaled collectively.
Grant was now behind her.
Elijah controlled front space.
Rafael protected left.