Your Girlfriend Calls Me Daddy-Chapter 16 | I Don’t Do The Homework, I Just Provide The Final Answer

Chapter 16: 16 | I Don’t Do The Homework, I Just Provide The Final Answer

All four of us looked at her.

"The Syndicate Five escaped custody twice before this incident. Both times they were apprehended by hero teams with higher ratings than Latitude’s group. Both times they broke out within seventy-two hours."

I saw where she was going immediately.

"They had outside help."

"Correct. Which means your tactical breakdown is incomplete. You’re planning for a fight against five villains when the real scenario includes an unknown sixth variable."

Nolan’s face fell.

"We didn’t account for that."

"No. You didn’t."

Reeves straightened up and stepped back from the table.

"The Syndicate Five are still at large, by the way. They broke out of holding during transfer last week. FBH has them listed as a active Class-Two threat operating somewhere in the Corridor district."

Aurora’s eyes widened.

"They’re still in Century City?"

"For now. Which means you might actually encounter them during your field training next month."

The classroom felt colder suddenly.

She’s not joking.

This isn’t hypothetical anymore.

Reeves glanced at her watch.

"You’ve got five minutes left. I’d recommend adding a section about unknown variables and how you’d adapt your strategy when new information emerges mid-engagement."

She walked away toward the next table.

Nolan immediately started typing again, his fingers moving fast across the keyboard.

"We need to add the sixth-variable scenario. If someone breaks the Syndicate Five out twice, they’re well-funded and organized."

"Could be another villain group," Aurora said. "Or a corrupt agency."

Noel shook her head.

"Doesn’t matter who it is. We can’t plan for an unknown threat. We can only plan to disengage if things go wrong."

"That’s not a plan," Nolan argued. "That’s giving up."

"That’s surviving."

I glanced at Noel.

She gets it.

More than I expected.

"Nolan’s right that we need something on the slide," I said. "But Noel’s also right that we can’t predict an unknown. So we split the difference."

Aurora looked at me.

"How?"

"We add a protocol. If new threats appear that weren’t in the initial assessment, the priority shifts from engagement to intelligence gathering. Get eyes on the new variable, report back to command, and wait for instructions."

Nolan hesitated.

"That still feels like running away."

"It’s called not dying stupid." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Noel typed the addition into the document without waiting for consensus.

"There. Intelligence-gathering protocol for unknown variables. Are we satisfied now?"

Aurora nodded.

Nolan looked less convinced but didn’t argue.

The timer hit zero and Reeves called for attention at the front of the room.

"Time’s up. I’ll be calling on groups at random to present their analysis. Three minutes per group. Keep it tight."

She pulled up a random number generator on her laptop and hit enter.

"Table Five. You’re up first."

A group of four students stood and made their way to the front. One of them pulled up their slide deck on the projector.

I half-listened to their presentation. Standard stuff. Engage with superior firepower. Contain the villains. Call for backup.

Reeves tore them apart in under thirty seconds.

"You’re assuming backup is available. Read the incident report. Photon was the only Three-Star hero in range and he was delayed. Next."

Table Five sat down looking miserable.

She called Table Two next. They lasted longer but still got shredded for not accounting for Blink’s mobility.

Reeves doesn’t pull punches.

Good.

I hate teachers who coddle.

Table Seven went up and actually impressed her with a solid breakdown of how to counter Red Mask’s amplification using environmental hazards. Reeves gave them a nod and moved on.

Then she looked directly at our table.

"Table Three. Let’s see what you’ve got."

Nolan stood first. Aurora and Noel followed.

I stayed seated.

I didn’t contribute to the slide deck. No reason for me to present.

Reeves noticed.

"Rome. You’re part of this group. Get up there."

Of course.

I pushed back from the table and joined the others at the front.

Nolan pulled up our presentation on the projector. Clean slides. Clear formatting. Noel’s work.

He started with the overview, outlining our four-person composition and how we’d allocated roles based on Essentia synergy.

Aurora took over for the tactical breakdown, explaining how her ranged damage would suppress multiple targets while Nolan absorbed kinetic energy for a high-impact finisher.

Noel covered contingencies, walking through each backup plan in clipped professional language.

Then Reeves looked at me.

"Rome. Explain your role in this strategy."

She’s putting me on the spot deliberately.

Testing to see if I actually understand what we built or if I just sat there.

I met her eyes.

"I’m the insurance policy."

"Elaborate."

"Noel’s astral form is our reconnaissance advantage but it leaves her physical body vulnerable. I stay with her and handle anything that gets close. Blink, Surge, whoever. My job isn’t to win fights. It’s to buy time until Noel can disengage or Aurora can provide support."

"And if you can’t buy enough time?"

"Then the plan was bad and we adapt."

Reeves studied me for a long moment.

Then she smiled.

"Acceptable. Sit down."

We returned to our table.

Reeves called on Table One next but I stopped paying attention.

That went better than expected.

She could’ve buried me in front of the whole class.

She didn’t.

I glanced at Reeves standing at the front of the room, arms crossed, watching the next group present.

Her eyes flicked toward me for just a second.

Yeah.

She knows exactly what she’s doing.