The final fifteen minutes of the simulation were a blur of controlled, hyper-efficient activity. Under Leo's precise commands, the chaotic mess of data began to coalesce into a coherent counter-offensive. Sarah salvaged a brilliant executive summary. Tom and David compiled a damning portfolio of broken promises made to their department. Jessica, with surprising speed, delivered a concise report on the Vanguard team's lead analyst: a man named 'Mark Jennings' who was ambitious but overstretched, known for cutting corners on due diligence.
With five minutes left on the clock, Ben slammed his hand on his virtual desk. "Got it," he growled. "The flaw. It's beautiful."
He explained with grim satisfaction. Project Vanguard's entire financial model was based on a new cloud-hosting contract that offered incredible savings. But Ben, using Corporate Espionage, had dug into the contract's fine print. The low price was only valid if the company's data usage stayed below a certain threshold. A single major client acquisition—like the one their own Project Sentinel was designed to land—would trigger a penalty clause that would triple the cost, making Vanguard catastrophically unprofitable. It was a rookie mistake, born of haste and ambition.
The team looked at Leo, their eyes wide. They had done it. They had the weapon.
As Leo prepared to integrate this final, lethal piece of data into his presentation, a new window popped up in his vision, overriding everything else. It wasn't a crisis alert. It was a choice.
[Final Leadership Scenario Initiated] [You have discovered a career-ending flaw in a rival's project. The flaw was caused by individual negligence, not systemic failure. You have two options:]
[OPTION A: Efficiency] [Proceed with the counter-proposal. Expose the flaw and Mark Jennings's negligence during your final review. This guarantees the immediate failure of Project Vanguard and the success of your department. 100% Probability of Success.]
[OPTION B: Empathy] [Scrap the counter-proposal. Use your remaining time to discreetly alert Mark Jennings to his error, allowing him to fix it. This will save his career but force your team to find another solution under an impossible deadline. 30% Probability of Success.]
Leo stared at the choice for exactly 1.2 seconds. To his Calm Mind, it wasn't a moral dilemma. It was a math problem. 100% versus 30%. The career of a simulated person versus the guaranteed success of his mission. There was no debate. There was no hesitation.
He selected Option A.
The final five minutes were an exercise in brutal precision. He took Ben's analysis, wove it into his proposal, and outlined a three-step plan to not only defund Project Vanguard but to absorb its most valuable assets into their own project after its inevitable collapse.
With ten seconds left, he hit 'Submit'.
[Time Remaining: 00:00] [Simulation Complete]
The virtual world dissolved into white light. A final assessment screen appeared before him, stark and absolute.
[CRUCIBLE ANALYSIS COMPLETE] - Crisis Management: 99th Percentile - Team Optimization: 99th Percentile - Strategic Counter-Offensive: 100th Percentile - Final Decision Matrix: Efficiency over Empathy
A final line of text glowed at the bottom of the screen, a chilling confirmation from the soulless, pragmatic heart of the System—and of TitanCorp itself.
[True Business Instinct Detected. Candidate Approved.]