For a while, no one says anything. What started as a routine alignment meeting; titles, schedules, distribution, has tilted into something else entirely. What remains is quieter, heavier, the kind of silence where each of them is running the implications in their own head.
Vaughan is the first to ease back into it, his tone measured as always. "Then we're not talking about whether he's relevant," he says. "We're talking about whether we allow him to become relevant."
Jackson lets out a small breath, rubbing his chin as he leans back. "You're all acting like he's already there. Well, he still has to win the fight, right?"
"He probably will," Mendes replies, not even looking up from his screen. "That's the part you shouldn't ignore."
