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\u201cCaptain Hayes has been with our program for six weeks now,\u201d Lang announces, his voice dripping with a kind of false patience. He\u2019s performing for the thirty candidates, teaching them a lesson that has nothing to do with tactics. \u201cSix weeks of\u2026 excuses. An old injury here, a scheduling conflict there. Six weeks of barely scraping by the minimum qualification standards.\u201d<\/p>\n
He pauses, letting the poison in his words seep into the air, into the ears of every man standing there. \u201cSix weeks of proving that some people are here because of diversity requirements, not actual capability.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emma doesn\u2019t flinch. She just shifts her weight, a tiny, almost imperceptible movement, settling into a perfectly balanced stance, fifty-fifty on the balls of her feet. Her hands are loose at her sides, not clenched in anger, not rigid with fear. They\u2019re just\u2026 ready.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday,\u201d Lang continues, his voice hardening, \u201cwe address that disconnect. The one between the paperwork and the performance. Today, we run a real resilience assessment.\u201d
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