[Intro]

Price score: forty.
Terms score: twenty.
Vendor score: thirty.
Delivery score: ten.

Winner: Meridian Supply.
Delivery: twelve weeks.

[Verse]

Oliver rebuilt the scoring frame—
Meridian rose, the cheapest name.
Northline had stock, but cost the more;
The model called it "unscored."

He tried outage cost per hour;
The template had no place for power.
Mara said, "Your winner cannot help."
Oliver whispered, "Now I see it myself."

[Chorus]

Lowest price, highest risk,
A perfect decision built on what we missed.
Lowest price, highest risk,
The cheapest line can carry the greatest cost.

The score says yes, the machines say no—
The danger lives outside the row.

[Verse]

He traced the policy to its source:
A savings target, years before.
No clause for fans at thirty-eight,
No weight for hours that cannot wait.

He saw his training in every cell:
"Consistency protects us well."
Mara said, "A rule can still be wrong."
He paused. "Then maybe rules aren't strong."

[Pre-Chorus]

Three offers lay upon the screen.
One fast and blocked, two slow and clean.
The model gave the crown away
To what could not arrive today.

[Chorus]

Lowest price, highest risk,
A perfect decision built on what we missed.
Lowest price, highest risk,
The cheapest line can carry the greatest cost.

The score says yes, the machines say no—
The danger lives outside the row.

[Guitar Solo]

[Bridge]

He added one new chart to see:
Cost at six, at twelve, at twenty-three.
"We have not lowered risk at all—
We've only moved it past the wall."

[Breakdown]

Lowest price. Highest heat.
Lowest cost. Failed receipt.
Passed audit. Broken rack.
Money saved. No service back.

[Build-up]

The three-stroke motif changed its shape.
A fourth note pushed against the gate.
Oliver closed the vendor chart
And opened Northline's waiting cart.

[Final Chorus]

Lowest price, highest risk,
No calculation can erase what we dismissed.
Lowest price, highest risk,
A perfect process can produce a perfect loss.

The score says yes, the machines say no—
I choose the danger that I know.

[Outro]

Northline Air.
One unit in stock.
Collection possible until nine.

Oliver stared at the line.