The annex absorbed the lower-quality replacements.
And guests marked by the same biased classification system were the people most likely to receive them.
Grant had found an ugly efficiency: prejudice created a group whose complaints management believed could be safely dismissed. Fraud used that group as cover.
The Black nurse two tables away lifted her fruit cup and frowned.
She smelled it again, then called an attendant over.
"This smells fermented," she said. "Would you check it before anyone else gets one?"
The attendant did not smell it.
He did not inspect the seal.
He opened his tablet.
Adrian could see the complaint field from his chair.
The nurse repeated herself. "I'm not asking for anything special. I think the fruit may have turned."
The attendant tapped through a menu. "I'll note that you were dissatisfied with the presentation."
"That's not what I said."
"The kitchen will review it later."
"Then please write that I said it smelled fermented."
The attendant glanced toward Grant.
Grant gave the smallest shake of his head.
The attendant typed: GUEST DISSATISFIED WITH PRESENTATION. NO SAFETY ISSUE OBSERVED.
Adrian's fingers tightened around the edge of the table.
No thermometer appeared.
No label was checked.
No one had observed that there was no safety issue. They had chosen not to look for one.
A white traveler in the main room stood near the coffee station and raised his voice. "I've been waiting ten minutes for a cappuccino. Is anybody actually working this bar?"
Several guests turned.
The man struck the counter lightly with the flat of his palm.
An attendant hurried over. "I'm sorry, sir. I'll remake that immediately."
"It should have been made the first time."
"You're right. I'll also add lounge points to your profile for the delay."
No manager appeared.
No behavior note opened.
No one wrote that the man had escalated.
His frustration became a service-recovery opportunity.
The nurse's quiet food-safety warning had become a mark against her judgment.
Two guests.