“TikTok says you did.”
“TikTok also says I was in the Marines.”
“You hate camping.”
“Exactly.”
Danielle laughed.
Then her voice softened.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
“You sound irritated.”
“I am.”
“Why?”
Simone sat on her couch and thought for a moment.
“Because the interesting part disappeared.”
“What was interesting?”
“They improved.”
Danielle paused.
“The three black belts trying to trap you?”
“Yes.”
Simone explained the first round.
They had behaved like three strong individuals.
In the second, they communicated.
Changed assignments.
Stopped chasing.
Became harder to manipulate.
“That was the actual story,” Simone said.
Danielle laughed.
“Woman destroys three men is probably easier to fit in a caption.”
“Less accurate.”
“You going back?”
“Of course.”
“Why?”
“My membership already autopaid.”
Danielle laughed again.
Monday evening at Forge felt strange.
People stared when Simone entered.
She stopped at reception and asked Andre whether fame came with a membership discount.
He looked up.
“No, but you owe me thirty dollars for emotional distress.”
“Fair.”
Then his expression changed.
“You okay with the clip?”
“No.”
“You want the original removed?”
“Can you?”
Andre nodded toward a twenty-one-year-old blue belt named Tyler Kane.
Tyler immediately looked guilty.
Simone walked over.
“You posted it?”
He nodded.
“I thought it was cool.”
“Did you ask me?”
His face changed.
“No.”
“Grant?”
“No.”
“Elijah?”
“No.”
“Rafael?”
“No.”
Simone waited.
Tyler looked down.
“I’m sorry.”
Andre joined them.
Forge had never created a formal policy for ordinary training footage because phones had gradually become so normal that everyone assumed someone else understood what was acceptable. Andre realized the assumption was not good enough.
Tyler deleted his original video.
Copies were already everywhere.
Deletion would not erase them.
It was still the correct action.
That night Andre posted a new gym rule.
NO TRAINING FOOTAGE MAY BE POSTED WITHOUT CONSENT FROM EVERY IDENTIFIABLE PARTICIPANT.
A few students complained.
Andre ignored them.
Simone told Tyler, “I’m not angry because people saw me.”
He looked up.
“I’m angry because you decided that for me.”
Tyler nodded.
“I understand.”
“Good.”
That was the end of the conversation.
No public humiliation.
No punishment ritual.
Learn and move forward.
Three days later, Grant approached Simone after open mat.
“One normal round?”
She looked at him.
“Why?”
“I want to understand how your wrestling transitions connect to your jiu-jitsu.”
That answer interested her.