# ACE 37.5 — Safehouse: Decision Fatigue Rain tapped softly against the safehouse windows. Not wrong. Not delayed. Just— Rain. --- Ace stared at the table. Mai stared at the shard in her hand. Shammy stared at neither. --- “…okay,” Ace said finally. A beat. “…we need to eat.” --- Mai nodded. “Yes.” --- Silence. --- Nothing happened. --- Ace frowned. “…right.” --- Mai looked up. “We should decide.” --- Shammy tilted her head slightly. “…or let it happen.” --- Ace blinked. “…that’s not how food works.” --- Shammy didn’t answer. --- Mai exhaled. “We’re overcomplicating this.” --- Ace leaned back. “Yeah,” she said. “So pick something.” --- Mai opened her mouth— Paused. Closed it. --- “…no.” --- Ace stared at her. “…no?” --- Mai shook her head slowly. “If I choose,” she said, “I’m optimizing.” --- A beat. --- “That’s predictable.” --- Ace squinted. “…so what, we just starve?” --- Shammy shifted slightly. The air moved with her this time. Normal. --- “…we don’t choose,” she said. --- Ace stared at her. --- “…you two are killing me.” --- # 🔻 ATTEMPT 1 Mai raised the shard. “Random selection,” she said. --- Ace nodded immediately. “Good. Do that.” --- Mai hesitated. --- “…no.” --- Ace closed her eyes briefly. “…why.” --- Mai’s voice stayed calm. “Because it’s still a selection process,” she said. --- A pause. --- “Which makes it predictable at a higher level.” --- Ace stared at her. --- “…you just made random predictable.” --- “Yes.” --- “…I hate that.” --- # 🔻 ATTEMPT 2 Ace stood up. --- “Fine,” she said. “I’ll pick.” --- Mai nodded. “Go ahead.” --- Ace pointed at the first thing on the menu. “Pizza.” --- Silence. --- Mai tilted her head slightly. “…you always pick pizza first.” --- Ace froze. --- “…right.” --- She dropped her hand. --- “…not pizza.” --- Shammy’s gaze drifted. “…so something else.” --- Ace pointed again. “Burgers.” --- Mai didn’t even look. “Second most common fallback.” --- Ace’s eye twitched. --- “…okay, you know what—” --- She sat back down. --- “…I’m not playing this game.” --- # 🔻 ATTEMPT 3 Shammy moved closer to the table. --- “…we could not eat yet.” --- Ace turned slowly. --- “…no.” --- Shammy blinked. --- “…why not.” --- Ace leaned forward. --- “Because,” she said slowly, “I’m hungry.” --- Shammy considered that. --- “…that’s valid.” --- Mai pinched the bridge of her nose. --- “This is spiraling.” --- # 🔻 ATTEMPT 4 Mai straightened. --- “We split decisions.” --- Ace frowned. “…explain.” --- “You choose category,” Mai said. “I choose vendor.” --- Shammy tilted her head. “…and I?” --- Mai paused. --- “…you—” --- Silence. --- “…you stabilize.” --- Ace snorted. “…that’s not a role in food ordering.” --- Shammy didn’t react. --- “…it is now.” --- # 🔻 EXECUTION Ace pointed. --- “…fine. Category.” --- A beat. --- “…no fast food.” --- Mai nodded. --- “Good.” --- She looked at the shard. Scrolled once. Stopped. --- “…Thai.” --- Ace blinked. --- “…okay, that actually works.” --- Shammy exhaled softly. The air settled. --- “…this feels right.” --- All three paused. --- --- “…wait,” Ace said. --- Mai froze. --- “…that felt right.” --- Shammy blinked. --- “…yes.” --- Ace leaned back slowly. --- “…that’s predictable.” --- Silence. --- Mai closed her eyes. --- “…we just built a stable outcome.” --- Shammy nodded. --- “…aligned.” --- Ace stood up again. --- “…nope.” --- # 🔻 COLLAPSE “Cancel it.” --- Mai didn’t move. --- “…we haven’t ordered yet.” --- “Good,” Ace said. “Cancel it anyway.” --- Shammy looked between them. --- “…we were close.” --- Ace pointed at the table. --- “…too close.” --- # 🔻 TIME CHECK Mai glanced at the clock. --- “…twenty-seven minutes.” --- Ace stared. --- “…you’re kidding.” --- “No.” --- Shammy blinked. --- “…we haven’t eaten in twenty-seven minutes?” --- Ace dragged a hand down her face. --- “…I hate him.” --- # 🔻 THE KNOCK Knock. --- All three froze. --- Slowly— Ace turned toward the door. --- “…don’t.” --- Mai didn’t move. --- Shammy tilted her head. --- “…that wasn’t random.” --- Knock. --- More precise this time. --- Ace stepped forward. --- Opened the door. --- # 🔥 DELIVERY Theta-24 stood there. --- Badger in front. Box in hand. --- “…food delivery,” he said. --- Silence. --- Ace stared at the box. --- “…no.” --- Badger raised an eyebrow. --- “We flipped a coin.” --- Mai closed her eyes. --- “…that’s worse.” --- Shammy exhaled. --- “…much worse.” --- Grouse leaned against the wall behind Badger. --- “You gonna take it or what?” --- Ace didn’t move. --- “…what is it.” --- Badger shrugged. --- “Doesn’t matter.” --- A beat. --- “Statistically, one of you was going to order this anyway.” --- Ace stared at him. --- Long. Hard. --- Then— She took the box. --- Slowly. --- “…we’re not predictable,” she said. --- Badger grinned faintly. --- “Sure you’re not.” --- # 🔚 FINAL BEAT Door closed. --- Silence. --- Ace set the box on the table. --- Opened it. --- All three leaned in. --- Paused. --- “…of course,” Mai said quietly. --- Ace exhaled. --- “…pizza.” --- Shammy blinked. --- “…that feels right.” --- Ace closed the box. --- “…we’re doomed.” --- Rain tapped against the window. --- Perfect timing. --- For once— No one reacted.