O'Niel's agency is HIGH throughout — he keeps investigating when told to stop, keeps refusing to be bought, keeps preparing to fight when everyone abandons him. The High Noon structure is visible in the gap: control drops steadily as the shuttle countdown approaches and allies vanish, but agency holds above 70 because every beat is a choice to stay. The widest gap comes at beats 26-31 — control near 10 as deputies refuse and workers call in sick, but agency at 75+ because O'Niel is actively choosing this isolation. The 'rotten machine' speech is the film's thesis: he stays not because he thinks he'll win, but because walking away would prove the machine right.