2026-09-10 11:04:45
Anonymous:
Outcome 48 scoped repair: source-area crowd contract, break-or-seal crest eligibility with once-per-source accounting and proposed cadence, multi-output controller summary, crowd/source/crest/rework paragraphs for all ten placements including both setpieces, ledger roles, rescue quiet condition; mechanism commits, identities, rescue boundaries and E03 death-shift restriction preserved
hold the flood/encounter and mechanism placement inventory.md ..
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# Hold The Horde — Encounter And Mechanism Placement Inventory
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**Status.** First-pass design-only inventory for exactly **10 encounter placements, including two major setpieces**, and **13 major placed mechanisms** in the accepted 24-module/40-room proposal. It is not an owner-selected scope, balance specification, executable layout, spawn system, tuning pass or evidence of fun, clarity, performance or duration. Exact populations below are starting hypotheses. The six ordinary roles, three special roles, five reusable trap families, equipment behavior, current room identities and all owner choices remain owned by their linked articles.
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**Status.** First-pass design-only inventory for exactly **10 encounter placements, including two major setpieces**, and **13 major placed mechanisms** in the accepted 24-module/40-room proposal. It is not an owner-selected scope, balance specification, executable layout, spawn system, tuning pass or evidence of fun, clarity, performance or duration. Crowd sizes and source areas below are scale hypotheses, not quotas or tested performance. The six ordinary roles, three special roles, five reusable trap families, equipment behavior, current room identities and all owner choices remain owned by their linked articles.
## Source and count boundary
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## Shared encounter contract
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Warnings remain visible independently when they overlap. A group can enter only through a shown current route after local perception, a named mechanism alarm or a completed Caller brace; it must already exist in the encounter's finite roster. A call never manufactures replacements. Defeating the listed population wins that expedition's local combat with no reactive elite or reduced reward. Later visits may have a different authored population, but cleared enemies do not stand back up during the same expedition. **Which visit may differ is now specified:** a different finite authored population variant is selected only at a **death shift**, never on a living return and never on a load. A living return preserves this arrangement's population membership entirely — defeated creatures stay defeated, survivors keep their room/group membership, and nothing is replaced, escalated or reduced because the result was clean. That selection is also independent of the player's build, kill speed or reward, and E03's later variant remains restricted to a later death-shift exactly as stated in its own row.
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Warnings remain visible independently when they overlap. **Every placement is a crowd encounter fed by named source areas** — wards, lift wells, ducts or sealed volumes that physically hold bodies and connect through mouths shown before anything arrives. Its first readable cue may be one creature, but the route to and through it carries a crowd, following [Combat Rules](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Combat%20Rules). A source feeds while its mouth is open and its area disturbed; it ends when the player seals that mouth, leaves its attention range, exhausts the authored surge or kills faster than it can feed. Nothing enters except through a shown mouth or route, nothing appears behind the player, and no source reacts to build strength, kill speed or reward. Defeated creatures stay defeated for the expedition. A different finite population variant is selected only at a **death shift**, never on a living return and never on a load. A living return preserves this arrangement's population state entirely — broken and sealed sources stay quiet, occupied sources stay occupied, and nothing is replaced, escalated or reduced because the result was clean. E03's later variant remains restricted to a later death shift exactly as stated in its own row.
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An ordinary controller uses the current single-actuator rule: Threat Sensor offers one target-bearing trigger only when its one connected ordinary actuator is ready and a nearest visible valid hostile exists. Manual Trigger starts one manual wave after facing/target/material preview. Fork copies trigger/type/wave and conserves usable payload; fixed machinery supplies its own power. Stride triggers only from the astronaut's deliberate grounded traversal. No example assumes a second ordinary actuator, unseen target, universal Arc permission or stat tier.
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**Crests that earn a temporary upgrade (proposal).** Each source area can resolve its crest once per expedition, and that resolution is the event [Build Rules](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Build%20Rules) treats as earning one temporary upgrade choice. A crest is the authored peak a placement announces — feeding mouths fully open, overlapping movement patterns, the room's warning lights and music shift — not a straggler or a single creature. It resolves when the player **breaks** it (the source's flow is exhausted or out-killed and the room visibly releases) or **seals** it (a physical mouth or lock is closed as a completed act). **Escaping does not resolve a crest:** leaving the pressure boundary saves the astronaut but earns nothing, and re-entering an escaped source resumes the same unresolved crest, so stepping out and back in cannot farm a reward. Once broken or sealed, a source cannot award again that expedition, and on a living return it stays resolved. A deliberately woken larger surge is its own source and may offer the rarer choice Build Rules describes. Death ends the expedition, resets every temporary upgrade and brings new population variants with the new arrangement; it grants no award. Upgrade effects and choice size belong to Build Rules.
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World-time work shows its present stage and completed checkpoints. Explicit cancel, displacement beyond reach or a creature occupying the control loses the unfinished stage; damage alone does not. Leaving reach of a work face interrupts that unfinished work; stepping into a cool bay or moving elsewhere inside the host does so only if it also leaves reach. None of those movements alone is a withdrawal reset. Journal pause freezes enemies, oxygen, warnings, projectiles, readiness, mechanisms and work and completes nothing. Journal, quit and load do not move the astronaut across a boundary. Living retreat is physical. On death, still-carried parts/loot/canisters return once; spent gas/material remains spent; installed, dropped or handed-over objects remain at their stable identities; completed work persists; one shift makes old routes historical.
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**Proposed cadence.** An ordinary expedition toward one objective crosses roughly three to five source areas beyond cleared ground — a small side source or two early, one or two larger halls, then the objective's own crest — so a player who fights or seals their way through earns a choice every few minutes of travel rather than only at a climax. Ground cleared on earlier living returns is quick to cross, so the first choice after a reset comes soon. Rooms that never crest award nothing, which keeps teaching beats from becoming checkboxes. The cost is more authored source areas and crowd density along every objective route; if crests come too often the rhythm flattens into a chore, and if too rarely the build barely grows between climaxes. Exact spacing is later tuning.
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Ordinary weapons fire automatically at the nearest visible valid target. A rig may carry more than one ordinary output; [Build Rules](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Build%20Rules) and [Mechanical Interfaces And Opening Quantities](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Mechanical%20Interfaces%20And%20Opening%20Quantities) own their limits, triggers and feedback accounting, and examples below name the rig they assume. Manual Trigger starts one manual wave after facing/target/material preview. Fork copies trigger/type/wave and conserves usable payload; fixed machinery supplies its own power. Stride triggers only from the astronaut's deliberate grounded traversal. No example assumes an unseen target, universal Arc permission or stat tier.
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World-time work shows its present stage and completed checkpoints. Explicit cancel, displacement beyond reach or a creature occupying the control loses the unfinished stage; damage alone does not. Leaving reach of a work face interrupts that unfinished work; stepping into a cool bay or moving elsewhere inside the host does so only if it also leaves reach. None of those movements alone is a withdrawal reset. Journal pause freezes enemies, oxygen, warnings, projectiles, readiness, mechanisms and work and completes nothing. Changing rig links inside the pause is the proposal in Build Rules; picking up or first fitting a part and mechanism work stay in running time. Journal, quit and load do not move the astronaut across a boundary. Living retreat is physical. On death, still-carried parts/loot/canisters return once; spent gas/material remains spent; installed, dropped or handed-over objects remain at their stable identities; completed work persists; one shift makes old routes historical.
**Withdrawal boundaries and reset.** A living withdrawal event happens only when the astronaut physically crosses the named host exit: P01 R02→R01; P02 R05→R06; P03 R08→R09; P04 R15→R14; P05 R20→R17; P06 R23→R24; P07/P08 across R25's current external approach threshold; P09 across R28's current external approach threshold; P10 out of the compact R36–R38 mechanism through R36→R35; P11 across R19's outer threshold to its current approach; P12 across R34's outer threshold; and P13 R40→R36. These are the representative arrangements’ named exits; the reset boundary belongs to a visible physical face of the host, not to an optional neighbouring room’s identity. If R05 is reached through another current approach, crossing that same marked host face resets P02 without requiring R06; R06 remains necessary only for its separately offered rescue variant. The same distinction keeps self-contained R28 working without R29/R30. In a multi-room encounter, crossing the specified mechanism-host boundary can reset that mechanism while combat continues elsewhere in the same current encounter. A host with no currently usable approach cannot be visited; merely lacking the named example neighbour does not disable its machine. Which actual face each permitted layout uses must be authored, never replaced by an invisible distance check. Withdrawal clears only Triage occupancy/undogged shutter position, Carousel warning/sweep/cool phase, Breath Bank cycle, Grid charge/recharge, and unpinned Balance tilt; death applies those same temporary-family resets without requiring an exit crossing. P10–P13 have no free temporary-phase reset: crossing their boundary merely interrupts the current unfinished selector, clamp, exposure, detent or dog stage as their rows state. Completed dogs, clamps, caps, pins, joins, captures, part locations and committed object/mode states persist; defeated current-expedition enemies do not regenerate.
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**Host and warning.** R02 Cargo Turn and compact partner R03 Collar Control, objective 1; P01 Triage Relay and the selected-opening board/rack interface. From R01, the player sees two separated Pressers, the board's two output lamps, the shutter lane and rack through the fixed glazed throat. One Caller waits beside the matching alarm source beyond the shown patient-bay entrance. The final bridge fastener is labelled noisy; the Caller's throat shutters and P01's destination preview identify the answering lane before either commits.
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**Population and space.** Starting hypothesis: two Pressers in separate visible lanes and one Caller with one finite adjacent pair eligible to answer exactly one completed call. Those two are already represented by silhouettes/count lamps beyond the entrance; they are not spawned. R02's waist-high rack breaks one lane, the board occupies the exposed inside corner, R03's bridge work is visible across the fixed throat, and R01 is the retreat. R02/R03 never shift apart.
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**Crowd, sources and space.** The cargo aisle already holds a slow crowd of Pressers in both lanes — a scale hypothesis of 20–40 for the L-shaped aisle — whose first arrivals teach backswing and the nearest-visible target. The **patient-bay ward** beyond the shown entrance is the main source volume, woken by the noisy final fastener or a completed Caller call; it can push a larger surge of perhaps 40–60 through the shutter lane. **Crest:** the final fastener with the bay awake. **Resolution:** break the surge, or seal it by closing the patient-bay shutter as a completed act. R02's waist-high rack breaks one lane, the board occupies the exposed inside corner, R03's bridge work is visible across the fixed throat, and R01 is the retreat. R02/R03 never shift apart. **Rework:** M02's aisle and the patient-bay mouth were authored for a handful of bodies and need widening for this crowd — layout work, not free capacity.
**Objective and commitment.** Remove staged fasteners and carry the isolation bridge home; killing is optional. Each fastener commits separately. The last committed fastener starts the loud hold and may let a braced Caller complete its one call. Fork installation/retrieval and bridge pickup are separate commits.
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**Three approaches.** (1) Install Fork in the board: the board source sends compatible control triggers to rack hold and shutter hold while Fork is seated; Fork supplies no power. The closed lane reduces the finite pressure, but installation/retrieval costs exposed time and the part remains installed if death comes first. (2) Keep Fork carried: the selector powers the rack continuously, the shutter lane stays open, and the four-A opening Sensor→Projector plus Manual→Barrier rig manages the visible lanes. Carrying Fork competes with the bridge and canister. (3) Baseline physical path: use the selector, fixed rack cover, worn cutter and repeated retreats after committed fasteners; cut P01's alarm lead before the final stage if reachable. Refusing the final hold costs another trip, not progress.
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**Three approaches.** (1) Install Fork in the board: the board source sends compatible control triggers to rack hold and shutter hold while Fork is seated; Fork supplies no power. The closed lane cuts off the patient-bay surge, but installation/retrieval costs exposed time and the part remains installed if death comes first. (2) Keep Fork carried: the selector powers the rack continuously, the shutter lane stays open, and the four-A opening Sensor→Projector plus Manual→Barrier rig manages the visible lanes. Carrying Fork competes with the bridge and canister. (3) Baseline physical path: use the selector, fixed rack cover, worn cutter and repeated retreats after committed fasteners; cut P01's alarm lead before the final stage if reachable. Refusing the final hold costs another trip, not progress.
**Persistence and return.** Fasteners, bridge location, cut alarm/dog checkpoint, board state and Fork location persist. Caller eligibility, P01 occupancy, shutter timing and population are current. A released bridge carried at death returns once; one still in the rack does not. The observed R-3 window clue in R01 remains a supported record, never a route.
### E02 — Pace under fire
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**Host and warning.** R05 Pace Calibration Bay, objective 2, P02 single-detent Carousel; R06 is only a current approach/abort room and R07's coupler housing is optional current adjacency. One Boltspitter stands across the single pillar. Its sac fill/aim line and the Carousel's painted sweep/cool detent are visible before the astronaut enters the gait interval. A Presser waits beyond the far floor mark in sight, not behind a success trigger.
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**Host and warning.** R05 Pace Calibration Bay, objective 2, P02 single-detent Carousel; R06 is only a current approach/abort room and R07's coupler housing is optional current adjacency. One Boltspitter stands across the single pillar. Its sac fill/aim line and the Carousel's painted sweep/cool detent are visible before the astronaut enters the gait interval. Pressers trickle from the belt-return duct beyond the far floor mark, in sight, not behind a success trigger.
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**Population, space and trigger.** Starting hypothesis: one Boltspitter plus one Presser, no Caller or reinforcement. The marked grounded interval and entire service belt—including return and stop—are inside R05. Starting either gait capture is the first work commitment; it makes standing still costly but creates no enemy. Hard cover sits off the measurement line, so the player must alternate observation, movement and work.
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**Crowd, sources and trigger.** One Boltspitter holds the single pillar's line while a thin, continuous stream of Pressers enters from a **service-belt return duct** at the bay's far end — a river of perhaps 15–30 rather than a hall crowd, because the bay is long and narrow. Starting either gait capture is loud enough to wake the duct fully. **Crest:** both gait captures under a thickened stream. **Resolution:** out-kill the stream until the duct runs dry, or seal it by dropping the duct grille. The marked grounded interval and entire service belt—including return and stop—are inside R05. Hard cover sits off the measurement line, so the player must alternate observation, movement and work. **Rework:** M05 needs the duct mouth and grille added.
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**Objective and approaches.** Perform the same-astronaut grounded crossing and feet-still carrier pass, then choose whether to remove Stride. If R07 is visibly adjacent, its separate coupler release may follow; otherwise the assembly waits. (1) Opening rig: Sensor→Projector handles the nearest visible target when ready; Manual→Barrier faces the locked bolt line while one capture stage completes. (2) Four-A movement rig on revisit: Stride→Projector plus Manual→Barrier. Only the astronaut's deliberate grounded pass can source the shot; belt motion, Ivo, shove and recoil cannot. (3) Baseline: bait line lock into the pillar, step through the cool detent, isolate the Presser with the cutter, and withdraw after either committed observation.
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**Objective and approaches.** Perform the same-astronaut grounded crossing and feet-still carrier pass, then choose whether to remove Stride. If R07 is visibly adjacent, its separate coupler release may follow; otherwise the assembly waits. (1) Opening rig: Sensor→Projector handles the nearest visible target when ready; Manual→Barrier faces the locked bolt line while one capture stage completes. (2) Four-A movement rig on revisit: Stride→Projector plus Manual→Barrier. Only the astronaut's deliberate grounded pass can source the shot; belt motion, Ivo, shove and recoil cannot. (3) Baseline: bait line lock into the pillar, step through the cool detent, thin the stream with the cutter at the duct mouth, and withdraw after either committed observation.
**Rescue/state work.** If Ivo is selected and R05/R06 form a personally walked current short route to the ship, R06 must be stocked and the combat made quiet before I1. **Quiet is necessary but not sufficient** under the accepted conditional candidate: the crossing is eligible only if his travel canister also reads at or above the route's full-attempt return mark, a retreat line to R06 is armed that he can operate alone, and R06 carries a local closure tell. Death mid-crossing then leaves him at R06 alive and unsent as world truth, while the astronaut learns nothing aboard. Ivo signals readiness; the astronaut triggers installed Stride or Ivo uses the fixed manual cue, then he walks. Missing R06 adjacency waits—no belt ride becomes an escort. Test captures, Carousel clamp, Stride/coupler locations and survivor confirmation persist; current aim, detent and crowd do not.
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**Host and warning.** R08 First Local Latch Hall with a currently adjacent R09 test face, objective 3 and P03 Triage Relay. On the first local-latch introduction, one Clampcrawler is visible beside the centre inspection island and it is the entire combat population. Its arched crouch and jaw-flash lock draw a fixed landing arc when the latch control activates. The answering shutter is physically closed and its empty count lamp confirms that no Presser is eligible during this first lesson.
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**Population and geometry.** Entry to that first lesson records one persistent **introduction seen** staging bit whether the player succeeds, refuses, cancels or withdraws; it is not a reaction to a build or victory. On a later death-shift population setup after that introduction, the authored finite variant may place exactly one Presser in the adjacent holding lane, where it already exists before the player enters. The introduction-seen bit does not create a creature on a same-life retry, exit or immediate re-entry; that life retains its existing finite population and defeated enemies stay defeated. This delays the combined variant until a later life and does not settle other encounters’ global repopulation rules. A count silhouette shows that creature before activation, but the closed opaque shutter denies mutual local sight and is the only physical route, so this variant is explicitly alarm-only. A completed P03 alert opens that route; cutting the lead before alert commitment prevents the approach. If the alert has already opened the shutter and the Presser is moving, cutting the lead neither closes the route nor dismisses it. There is no hidden pool or success-triggered spawn. This clean first lesson costs one persistent staging bit, a distinct later population/cue state and an alarm-only shutter exception. Opposed service faces are readable from the island; the latch work position sits inside the Crawler's possible arc, while one side step and R09 retreat lie outside. P03's alarm lead is exposed before the control.
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**Crowd, sources and geometry.** The first latch lesson is a deliberately quiet beat: inside the hall one Clampcrawler is the whole fight, reached through the ordinary crowded route. Entry to that first lesson records one persistent **introduction seen** staging bit whether the player succeeds, refuses, cancels or withdraws; it is not a reaction to a build or victory. On a later death-shift population setup after that introduction, the authored finite variant may occupy the **holding volume** behind the alarm-only shutter with a crowd of perhaps 20–40 Pressers, already present before the player enters. The introduction-seen bit does not create a creature on a same-life retry, exit or immediate re-entry; that life retains its existing population and defeated enemies stay defeated. This delays the combined variant until a later life and does not settle other encounters’ repopulation rules. A count silhouette shows the holding volume is occupied before activation, but the closed opaque shutter denies mutual local sight and is the only physical route, so this variant is explicitly alarm-only. A completed P03 alert opens that route; cutting the lead before alert commitment prevents it. If the alert has already opened the shutter and the crowd is moving, cutting the lead neither closes the route nor dismisses it. **Crest:** the later variant's released crowd while the latch stage runs; **resolution:** break it, or seal it by dogging the shutter closed. The first lesson itself has no crest and awards nothing. There is no hidden pool or success-triggered spawn. Opposed service faces are readable from the island; the latch work position sits inside the Crawler's possible arc, while one side step and R09 retreat lie outside. P03's alarm lead is exposed before the control. **Rework:** M06's hall and holding volume need space for the later crowd.
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**Objective and approaches.** Commit a valid seam or record a safe refusal, walk through and operate the network-side release. (1) In the solo introduction, bait the Crawler: start work, wait for jaw-flash lock, cancel, step out so it skids, then use the recovery to work; this needs no part. (2) Opening rig: Manual→Barrier intercepts a committed leap while Sensor→Projector fires only on a visible valid target. (3) Later Manual→Nozzle displaces the Crawler before lock or clears the work face; recoil clearance is shown at this instance. In the later Presser variant, cut P03's lead before crossing if the alarm-only route should stay closed, or accept the cued second lane; once the alert has committed, the physical approach remains valid.
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**Objective and approaches.** Commit a valid seam or record a safe refusal, walk through and operate the network-side release. (1) In the solo introduction, bait the Crawler: start work, wait for jaw-flash lock, cancel, step out so it skids, then use the recovery to work; this needs no part. (2) Opening rig: Manual→Barrier intercepts a committed leap while Sensor→Projector fires only on a visible valid target. (3) Later Manual→Nozzle displaces the Crawler before lock or clears the work face; recoil clearance is shown at this instance. In the later crowd variant, cut P03's lead before crossing if the alarm-only route should stay closed, or accept the cued second lane; once the alert has committed, the physical approach remains valid.
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**Commit and persistence.** A refused signature consumes no cradle pulse and creates no join. The introduction-seen bit, each completed latch dog and the final selected seam persist; an unfinished dog resets. Cut alarm persists; relay occupancy and an undogged shutter rearm neutral only at R08→R09 withdrawal or death. That reset does not turn back a Presser already moving through an opened route. Releasing the seam is another completed hand-cycle and preserves other joins. No creature supplies charge and no successful latch reveals an unseen neighbour.
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**Commit and persistence.** A refused signature consumes no cradle pulse and creates no join. The introduction-seen bit, each completed latch dog and the final selected seam persist; an unfinished dog resets. Cut alarm persists; relay occupancy and an undogged shutter rearm neutral only at R08→R09 withdrawal or death. That reset does not turn back a crowd already moving through an opened route. Releasing the seam is another completed hand-cycle and preserves other joins. No creature supplies charge and no successful latch reveals an unseen neighbour.
### E04 — R-3 quiet crossing
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**Host and warning.** R11 R-3 Approach, with current route R01→R11→R12→R13 only in an eligible arrangement; objective 4. One Flanker is visible in R11's side leg, with chevron/outer-leg cue and central bollard. Two Pressers wait in sight beyond the contested leg. R13's quarantine Arc is an equipment-source fixture, not a numbered mechanism or rescue requirement.
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**Host and warning.** R11 R-3 Approach, with current route R01→R11→R12→R13 only in an eligible arrangement; objective 4. One Flanker is visible in R11's side leg, with chevron/outer-leg cue and central bollard. The quarantine wing's crowd is visible beyond the contested leg. R13's quarantine Arc is an equipment-source fixture, not a numbered mechanism or rescue requirement.
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**Population and commitment.** Starting hypothesis: one Flanker plus two Pressers, finite, no Caller. Their current paths, the R12 pressure gauge and R13 refuge door are visible before preparation commits. The first rescue commitment is stocking/confirming travel air after the astronaut has personally walked the exact route this life. Transfer cannot begin until the listed population is defeated, bypassed into a demonstrated quiet state or separated from the junction by a persistent local closure.
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**Crowd, sources and commitment.** A Flanker pack uses R11's side leg while Pressers fill the contested junction from the **quarantine ward wing** behind R11's second branch mouth — a scale hypothesis of 25–50 moving through the T junction as a continuous river rather than standing at once, because the junction is small. **Crest:** the wing's full flow through the junction. **Resolution:** break it, or seal the wing's branch mouth. Their current paths, the R12 pressure gauge and R13 refuge door are visible before preparation commits. The first rescue commitment is stocking/confirming travel air after the astronaut has personally walked the exact route this life. Transfer cannot begin until the crest is broken or its source sealed, or the junction is separated from it by a persistent local closure. **Rework:** M04's junction needs the wing mouth and a sealable closure.
**Approaches and objective.** The objective beyond killing is one short cooperative crossing. (1) Opening rig: face Manual→Barrier across the Flanker chevron while Sensor→Projector selects the nearest visible hostile; move to change that candidate. (2) If Nozzle is already owned, Manual→Nozzle can spoil the locked Flanker lane or separate Pressers, but recoil cannot trigger Stride. (3) Baseline: lengthen the side route around the bollard, leave each locked arc, use hard cover/cutter and retreat to R01. The Arc grid may be observed, left or removed; no rescue state depends on it.
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### E05 — Builders' runs through heat and veil
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**Host and warning.** One connected placement across current R14 Pump Hall and R15 Cable Junction, objective 5, P04 Carousel. R14 first shows one Boltspitter, straight aim line and pillar. R15 shows a Veilbearer's folded membrane/anchor preview and one Presser behind a transparent service rail, plus Carousel arc/cool detents. All are visible before the player frames a record.
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**Host and warning.** One connected placement across current R14 Pump Hall and R15 Cable Junction, objective 5, P04 Carousel. R14 first shows one Boltspitter, straight aim line and pillar. R15 shows a Veilbearer's folded membrane/anchor preview and a crowd behind a transparent service rail, plus Carousel arc/cool detents. All are visible before the player frames a record.
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**Population and conditional movement.** Starting hypothesis: exactly one Boltspitter, one Veilbearer and one Presser. If the Boltspitter survives or was bypassed and the current R14→R15 approach remains open, it may walk along that already cued route behind a later veil. If defeated, nothing replaces it. The Presser can screen the first cast but cannot cross the rail until its existing gate state allows; the cast therefore teaches occlusion without an ambush.
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**Crowd, sources and movement.** R14's tall machine room lets a crowd drift in along the **overhead main's service gantry** — perhaps 30–60 over the placement — while a Boltspitter holds one straight line and pillar. In R15 a Veilbearer screens a second group behind the transparent service rail, fed by the **cable-duct run** beyond the open wall crawl; that group cannot cross the rail until its existing gate state allows, so the first cast teaches occlusion without an ambush. If the Boltspitter survives or was bypassed and the current R14→R15 approach remains open, it may walk along that already cued route behind a later veil; if defeated, nothing replaces it. **Crests:** the gantry flow while records are framed, and the rail group released. **Resolution:** break each, or seal the gantry hatch and duct grille. **Rework:** the gantry and duct mouths are added layout work in M10/M11.
**Objective and approaches.** Capture the two ordered runs, ending mains, A/B/address cases and open-crawl relation; Lens recovery is optional. (1) Opening rig: use the pillar to break Boltspitter sight, circle the finite veil edge so Sensor→Projector reacquires a valid nearest target, and spend Manual→Barrier only on the locked line. (2) Later Manual→Nozzle can displace Veilbearer before commitment or push an eligible shield panel into the Carousel arc; it does not blow away the anchored sheet after release. (3) Baseline: wait for veil decay and cool detent, use rail/pillar/cutter, commit one capture and physically withdraw. Taking an old crawl costs oxygen and may end blocked.
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### E06 — Pressure ledger under drain
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**Host and warning.** One staged placement across current R17 Jammed Pressure Approach and R20 Sampling Loop, objective 6, P05 Breath Bank. R17 first exposes one Flanker side lane, then a Glass Siphon's hose radius/bladder flash across two pillars. If the Flanker survives or follows the visibly connected route, it can reach R20; no second Flanker appears. R20's three-beat Bank indicator, draw lane and cap control are visible before the hand-cycle.
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**Host and warning.** One staged placement across current R17 Jammed Pressure Approach and R20 Sampling Loop, objective 6, P05 Breath Bank. R17 first exposes the side wards and a Flanker side lane, then a Glass Siphon's hose radius/bladder flash across two pillars. If the Flanker survives or follows the visibly connected route, it can reach R20; no replacement pack appears. R20's three-beat Bank indicator, draw lane and cap control are visible before the hand-cycle.
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**Population and space.** Starting hypothesis: one Flanker and one Siphon, finite, no Caller. R17's long route and marked cutter panel are alternatives; R20's circular walk keeps two pillars between tether line and valve. The work position sits inside one Bank lane and outside the other on alternating beats. Entering Siphon radius triggers its wind-up; touching the valve begins staged work but spawns nothing.
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**Crowd, sources and space.** R17's long pressure hall carries a slow crowd from its **two side wards** — a scale hypothesis of 40–80 through the hall — with a Flanker pack in the fully visible side gallery. Glass Siphon waits across R20's two pillars. **Crests:** both ward doors open while the player is mid-hall, and later Siphon plus stragglers at the valve. **Resolution:** break the hall crowd, or seal each ward door by throwing its lock as a completed act. R17's long route and marked cutter panel are alternatives; R20's circular walk keeps two pillars between tether line and valve. The work position sits inside one Bank lane and outside the other on alternating beats. Entering Siphon radius triggers its wind-up; touching the valve begins staged work but spawns nothing. **Rework:** M07's side wards and ward-door locks are added layout work.
**Objective and approaches.** Close a cap/complete the pressure cycle, capture the source counter, then choose Dynamo and regulator core against carrying space. (1) Opening rig: Sensor→Projector attacks a visible target; Manual→Barrier can catch the hose, and only a Dynamo already locally clamped to that Barrier would receive the impact—none is assumed before recovery. Use retraction plus the Bank's opposite lane for one cap. (2) Under the proposed later six-A allowance, Sensor→Projector plus Manual→Nozzle occupies five A/C; face Nozzle to push the committed Flanker into the draw lane while accepting recoil/clearance and one less unit of free carrying than a four-part rig. (3) Baseline: bait hose into pillars, leave radius, cross on the quiet beat, hand-close one cap and withdraw. Language may guide the marked bypass but cannot make it open.
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**Host and warning.** R23 Material Sorting Bay with current viewing relation to R21/R22 through R24, objective 7, P06 Resuscitation Grid. One Veilbearer and one Boltspitter are visible across separated evidence stations. The veil edge/anchors, bolt aim line, Grid seams/rising meter and transfer drive/fill direction all announce themselves before the player operates a pair or frames a record.
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**Population and reinforcement.** Starting hypothesis: exactly those two creatures, no Caller. Veilbearer may cast only while it sees the astronaut and the visible Boltspitter remains behind the previewed sheet. No group arrives from a transfer line; material movement is not a creature route. If one creature is defeated, there is no replacement and the remaining role may lose its condition.
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**Crowd, sources and reinforcement.** A Veilbearer screens a Boltspitter across the separated evidence stations while crowds press in from R24's **three branch mouths**, each opening onto an occupied transfer gallery — perhaps 30–60 through the placement. Veilbearer may cast only while it sees the astronaut and a visible ally remains behind the previewed sheet. Material movement along transfer lines is not a creature route. **Crest:** the branch mouths flowing together while a pair is operated or framed. **Resolution:** break it, or seal the branch mouths. If the Veilbearer or Boltspitter is defeated, nothing replaces it. **Rework:** M13's bay and M04's gallery mouths need space and closures for this crowd.
**Objective and approaches.** Operate/capture the corrective third pair and cross-register cases; on a first source visit, decide whether to remove the one Cycler or leave it in the sorter. (1) Opening rig: break the Boltspitter line with the station, move around the veil edge so Sensor→Projector has a valid target, and face Manual→Barrier only for the locked bolt. (2) On a later return after its committed removal, the source cradle is visibly empty and that same owned Cycler may be in a four-A Manual Trigger (1)→Cycler (2)→Projector (1) rig, leaving Sensor/Barrier aboard. A protected or invalid sample refuses before activation and is not spent; once Cycler validly accepts/consumes selected salvage, a later Projector refusal for readiness/target/occlusion does not refund it. If Cycler was left at source, this branch is unavailable; another acquisition model would need an explicitly different origin and is not assumed here. (3) Baseline: walk ceramic strips, lure a strike onto the enabled Grid from cover, wait for recharge, or cut both clamps/throw the breaker before recording.
@@ 112,11 116,11 @@
### E08 — Balance Gallery Hold — setpiece A
-
**Host and warning.** R25 Balance Gallery, objective 8, P07 Breath Bank and P08 Phase-Balance; R26/R27 contain the optional Nozzle/Mara/exchanger follow-through. Bellback stands alone across the fixed rib so its dust draw, planted cone and collapse recovery can be read before two visible Pressers enter from an already shown waiting mouth. Bank frost/three-beat lane, plate outlines, plumb cage and swing arc remain simultaneously visible.
+
**Host and warning.** R25 Balance Gallery, objective 8, P07 Breath Bank and P08 Phase-Balance; R26/R27 contain the optional Nozzle/Mara/exchanger follow-through. Bellback stands alone across the fixed rib so its dust draw, planted cone and collapse recovery can be read before the crowd enters from its two already shown feeding mouths. Bank frost/three-beat lane, plate outlines, plumb cage and swing arc remain simultaneously visible.
-
**Population and phases.** Starting hypothesis: one Bellback and two Pressers, all present before the player crosses the neutral line. Phase 1 reads Bellback and mechanism directions; phase 2 the same visible Pressers enter when local sight/sound reaches them, not on success; phase 3 is cap/pin work. There is no counter-wave if a build clears them early.
+
**Crowd, sources and phases.** R25's broad gallery is the right kind of room for a large fight: Bellback stands across the fixed rib while two visible **feeding mouths** from adjacent source volumes hold a crowd on the proposed 80–150 scale at once, passing several hundred through the full crest. Phase 1 reads Bellback and mechanism directions while the first bodies gather. Phase 2 is the crest from both mouths, which the player can hold, reduce by sealing one mouth, or overpower. Phase 3 is cap/pin work in the break. **Resolution:** break the crest, or seal both mouths. There is no counter-wave if a build clears it early. **Rework:** the two sealable mouths and crowd floor space are added layout work in M15's existing room.
-
**Objective and approaches.** Complete one persistent cap or rib pin, then decide whether to recover exchanger core/Nozzle. (1) Four-A opening rig: Sensor→Projector supplies ordinary fire; Manual→Barrier faces Bellback's locked pressure cone or a Presser strike. Barrier does not stop oxygen drain or heat, and a Dynamo cannot feed unless locally clamped. (2) Under the proposed eight-A configuration, Sensor→Projector supplies the one ordinary actuator; Dynamo clamped to Projector's physical-output feed sends charge through Fork to eligible Arc/Capacitor branches under conservative splitting. A later paid rewire uses manual Capacitor release→Lens→Projector. Insufficient split/readiness/targets safely produce less effect, not extra power. (3) Baseline: leave the fixed cone, shelter at the rib, cross on the Bank's opposite beat, occupy the stirrup and hand-cycle one cap before retreating.
+
**Objective and approaches.** Complete one persistent cap or rib pin, then decide whether to recover exchanger core/Nozzle. (1) Four-A opening rig: Sensor→Projector supplies ordinary fire; Manual→Barrier faces Bellback's locked pressure cone or a Presser strike. Barrier does not stop oxygen drain or heat, and a Dynamo cannot feed unless locally clamped. Seal one mouth early to keep the crest manageable. (2) A developed crowd build — an arc chain fed by density, with charge stored for a manual release — turns the crest into the payoff in the neutral lane. [Build Rules](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Build%20Rules) owns how many ordinary outputs it carries and how its links change; insufficient readiness or targets safely produce less effect, not extra power. (3) Baseline: leave the fixed cone, shelter at the rib, cross on the Bank's opposite beat, occupy the stirrup and hand-cycle one cap before retreating.
**Mara rescue extension.** After a real quiet window, R26 can host M1 only if the astronaut has walked its one-junction route and stocked counted R27 as clean abort. Mara chooses/operates her inner curtain and walks; her rack purge or seal is distinct from Story30 cultures. Nozzle removal changes the air knife, not the A↔B service transformer. Missing geometry waits rather than adding refuge stages.
@@ 124,9 128,9 @@
### E09 — Regulator reply behind moving cover
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**Host and warning.** R28 Regulator Gallery, objective 9, P09 Resuscitation Grid; R29/R30 are optional current observation/staging rooms. One Shutterback begins with one Presser visibly inside its previewed shelter angle. One Caller and one finite pair wait along the named alarm route, shown before the R4 pull. Fan shadow, heel-clamp click, Grid meter/seams and Caller's throat/source lamp are all readable from R28's own protected mark.
+
**Host and warning.** R28 Regulator Gallery, objective 9, P09 Resuscitation Grid; R29/R30 are optional current observation/staging rooms. One Shutterback begins with its first Pressers visibly inside its previewed shelter angle. One Caller and its answering source wait along the named alarm route, shown before the R4 pull. Fan shadow, heel-clamp click, Grid meter/seams and Caller's throat/source lamp are all readable from R28's own protected mark.
-
**Population and trigger.** Starting hypothesis: Shutterback, Presser, Caller and one two-Presser eligible group. Pulling R4 is noisy and may start the Caller brace; only a completed call moves that already counted pair through the shown entrance. Cutting the alarm first prevents the move; it does not dismiss bodies already travelling. Nothing depends on R29/R30 adjacency.
+
**Crowd, sources and trigger.** Shutterback's fan shelters a crowd of Pressers moving down R28's four rack aisles — perhaps 30–60 — fed from the **plate service stack** behind the rack wall. Pulling R4 is noisy and may start the Caller brace; a completed call wakes the second source, the **reply niche's maintenance well**, whose route is shown before the pull. Cutting the alarm first prevents that wake; it does not dismiss bodies already travelling. **Crests:** the rack-aisle crowd, and the second source if woken. **Resolution:** break each, or seal the stack hatch and the maintenance well. Nothing depends on R29/R30 adjacency. **Rework:** M16's aisles and the two source mouths need space and closures.
**Objective and approaches.** Pull R4, record the responsive line and test R3's matching B plate; Capacitor removal is optional. (1) Opening rig: Sensor→Projector can target exposed Shutterback but cannot shoot sheltered Pressers through its fan; Manual→Barrier holds the direct lane while one pull stage commits. (2) Later Manual→Nozzle may rotate/break heel clamps or push an eligible body onto the Grid; recoil clearance is marked. Arc has no assumed permission through the fan. (3) Baseline: take the longer visible angle, cut the alarm lead, bait Grid discharge while on ceramic strips, or cut both Grid clamps, then use cutter/ordinary fire and withdraw after a pull checkpoint.
@@ 134,11 138,11 @@
### E10 — Receiver Vault — setpiece B
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**Host and warning.** Current R35 approach into compact R36–R40 core-boundary assembly, objective 11; P10 iris/two-clamp mechanism, followed by P13 isolation after access. Shutterback's shelter angle, Siphon radius/bladder, Caller/source and one finite answering entrance are visible before commitment. R35's two pillars, R36 selector lane, R37 first-clamp refuge, R38 longer fan flank/second clamp and retreat are physically related as accepted Room32 states.
+
**Host and warning.** Current R35 approach into compact R36–R40 core-boundary assembly, objective 11; P10 iris/two-clamp mechanism, followed by P13 isolation after access. Shutterback's shelter angle, Siphon radius/bladder, Caller/source, the hall's feeding mouths and the second source's entrance are visible before commitment. R35's two pillars, R36 selector lane, R37 first-clamp refuge, R38 longer fan flank/second clamp and retreat are physically related as accepted Room32 states.
-
**Population and phases.** Starting hypothesis: one Shutterback, one Siphon, one Caller and one finite pair of Pressers eligible to answer exactly one call. Phase 1 chooses exposed selector, longer flank or first clamp; phase 2 resolves/accepts the finite call and special pressures; phase 3 equalises and hand-cycles the iris. Opening R39/R40 creates no new combat population.
+
**Crowd, sources and phases.** R35's long approach hall carries the main crowd from two sealable **feeding mouths** on the proposed 80–150 scale, with Shutterback sheltering part of it and Siphon holding the pillar line. A completed Caller call wakes a second source volume behind R36's side opening. Phase 1 chooses exposed selector, longer flank or first clamp while the hall wakes. Phase 2 is the crest: resolve or accept the second wake and the special pressures inside the surge. Phase 3 equalises and hand-cycles the iris in the break. **Resolution:** break each crest, or seal its mouths. Opening R39/R40 creates no new combat population. **Rework:** R35's mouths, crowd floor space and the second source volume are added layout work in M07/M22.
-
**Objective and approaches.** Open the bounded passage and inspect evidence; language is guidance, not a gate. (1) Proposed eight-A heat-lance network uses Sensor→Projector as the sole ordinary launch. A Dynamo clamped to Projector output may split charge through Fork to ready Arc/Capacitor; manual stored release needs a paid rewire and valid target. A clean win creates no replacement. (2) Four-A opening rig uses the pillars to break Siphon tether, Manual→Barrier for one physical hose/strike and automatic Projector only on visible targets, then finishes one clamp. (3) Baseline: bait hose into a pillar, cross during full retraction, cut the alarm, use the long flank outside the fan and complete one clamp before withdrawing. Gauges and the two-clamp route remain sufficient without language, parts or people.
+
**Objective and approaches.** Open the bounded passage and inspect evidence; language is guidance, not a gate. (1) A developed build takes the crest head-on: automatic fire strips the exposed Shutterback, the fan collapses, and a stored manual release clears the packed hall and Siphon; a player who wants the spectacle may let the Caller wake the second source and break both. [Build Rules](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Build%20Rules) owns the rig's outputs and link changes. A clean win creates no replacement. (2) Four-A opening rig seals the nearest mouth, uses the pillars to break Siphon tether, Manual→Barrier for one physical hose/strike and automatic Projector only on visible targets, then finishes one clamp. (3) Baseline: bait hose into a pillar, cross during full retraction, cut the alarm, use the long flank outside the fan and complete one clamp before withdrawing. Gauges and the two-clamp route remain sufficient without language, parts or people.
**Mechanism/story boundary.** Pump/inward can equalise P10 directly; purge/outward visibly lowers the gauge and is reversible through neutral. P10 opens access but does not operate P13. R39 baffle evidence and R40 isolation are later world-time choices; re-seating isolation does not close the iris or walking joins. No treatment, survivor or diagnostic is required.
@@ 178,20 182,20 @@
| Encounter | Objective / actual room host | Roles and major mechanisms | Cross-listed content counted elsewhere |
| **E03** | O3, R08 with current R09 | First lesson: Clampcrawler alone; later alarm-only finite Presser variant; P03 | First local latch/refusal/release; no part source |
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| **E04** | O4, R11–R13 current short route | Flanker, 2 Pressers; no major mechanism | Arc R13; Y1/A1 mutually exclusive first rescue; wall/ward records |
| **E10 — setpiece B** | O11, current R35 into compact R36–R40 | Shutterback, Siphon, Caller + finite pair; P10, then P13 | Inlet reply, strip, evidence cell, isolation. P12/O12 is separate and has no encounter. |
+
| **E01** | O1, R02–R03 compact assembly | Presser crowd in the aisle; patient-bay source woken by Caller or final fastener; P01 | Fork R02, isolation bridge R03, selected opening board, R-3 window R01 |
| **E03** | O3, R08 with current R09 | First lesson: Clampcrawler alone, no crest; later death-shift variant releases a holding-volume crowd, alarm-only; P03 | First local latch/refusal/release; no part source |
+
| **E04** | O4, R11–R13 current short route | Flanker pack; Presser river from quarantine wing; no major mechanism | Arc R13; Y1/A1 mutually exclusive first rescue; wall/ward records |
+
| **E05** | O5, current R14–R15 relation | Boltspitter, Veilbearer; crowds from gantry and cable duct; P04 | Builder runs, A/B/address, wall crawl, Lens R15 |
+
| **E06** | O6, current R17→R20; optional R18/R19 | Hall crowd from two side wards, Flanker pack, Siphon; P05, with P11 extension | Dynamo/core R20; last-transfer evidence; D1 R18/Y1-later R19 rescues |
+
| **E07** | O7, R23 with current R21/R22/R24 views | Veilbearer, Boltspitter; crowds from three gallery mouths; P06 | Three transfer pairs, Cycler R23, A1-later R22/R24 rescue |
| **E10 — setpiece B** | O11, current R35 into compact R36–R40 | Shutterback, Siphon; large hall crowd from two mouths; Caller waking a second source; P10, then P13 | Inlet reply, strip, evidence cell, isolation. P12/O12 is separate and has no encounter. |
The ledger contains six ordinary roles—Presser, Flanker, Caller, Boltspitter, Clampcrawler and Veilbearer—and all three special roles—Bellback, Shutterback and Glass Siphon. A role appearing in several rows is one reusable behavior, not another enemy definition. E08/E10 are already placements 8/10 and the only major setpieces.
-
Five rescue identities occupy disclosed extensions, not five new encounter IDs: I1/E02; Y1-or-A1 first/E04; D1 and Y1-later/E06; A1-later/E07; M1/E08. The alternative host selected by continuity changes authored geometry/state work but not the scene count. No rescue begins under live pressure: the finite encounter must be quiet and the current route separately walked/prepared. Home and evidence conversations remain among the existing 15 cast scenes aboard.
+
Five rescue identities occupy disclosed extensions, not five new encounter IDs: I1/E02; Y1-or-A1 first/E04; D1 and Y1-later/E06; A1-later/E07; M1/E08. The alternative host selected by continuity changes authored geometry/state work but not the scene count. No rescue begins under live pressure: the placement's crest must be broken or its source sealed, and the current route separately walked and prepared. Home and evidence conversations remain among the existing 15 cast scenes aboard.
## Two qualitative encounter walkthroughs
@@ 199,11 203,11 @@
The current route is R01→R02⇄R03; its reverse breadcrumb is current only for this life. The retrieval-ready proposed manifest has the four one-unit opening parts active plus one two-unit canister, leaving four of ten illustrative carrying units. At R02 the player sees the loose one-unit Fork, both board outputs, P01 preview and the bridge's two-unit size before choosing. Capacity is a displayed hypothesis, not proof that the oxygen margin is sufficient.
-
**Installed branch.** The player previews Fork in the compatible board seat; invalid orientation would refuse before commitment. Completing installation moves that exact Fork out of carried property. The board supplies the source/energy and Fork passes compatible control triggers to rack and shutter; it is not power. With rack held and side shutter closed, the player crosses to R03 and completes one fastener. If displaced before the physical fastener checkpoint, the stage resets; after its click, it persists. The final fastener cues the finite hold. Sensor→Projector offers an ordinary launch only when Projector is ready and the nearest visible hostile is valid; Manual→Barrier is the separate faced special. Journal pause freezes Caller brace, weapon readiness, oxygen and fastener progress.
+
**Installed branch.** The player previews Fork in the compatible board seat; invalid orientation would refuse before commitment. Completing installation moves that exact Fork out of carried property. The board supplies the source/energy and Fork passes compatible control triggers to rack and shutter; it is not power. With rack held and side shutter closed, the player crosses to R03 and completes one fastener. If displaced before the physical fastener checkpoint, the stage resets; after its click, it persists. The final fastener wakes the patient bay and starts the crest. Sensor→Projector offers an ordinary launch only when Projector is ready and the nearest visible hostile is valid; Manual→Barrier is the separate faced special. Journal pause freezes Caller brace, weapon readiness, oxygen and fastener progress.
After bridge pickup, the player can cross back and reclaim Fork, paying exposed time; carried bridge and Fork then fit the example manifest. If death occurs before reclaim, the carried bridge returns once but installed Fork remains R02. If death occurs before bridge pickup, only committed fasteners persist and the bridge remains R03. In either case, the shift makes R01's old outer relation historical; R02/R03 remain a compact pair but are not promised as the next airlock neighbour.
-
**Carried branch.** The player picks up Fork and leaves it inactive; it consumes one carrying unit but no active area. The board selector must hold the rack, leaving the patient-bay shutter open. The same four-A opening rig fights the additional visible lane; no extra actuator is created by carrying Fork. The player may cut P01's alarm, finish one fastener and retreat to refill. Choosing an air-heavy two-canister manifest instead leaves only two units for the bridge, so Fork must remain installed/at source or another carried object must be deliberately dropped—never silently deleted. The physical baseline is identical board selection, cover, cutter and checkpointed withdrawal without relying on a successful shot.
+
**Carried branch.** The player picks up Fork and leaves it inactive; it consumes one carrying unit but no active area. The board selector must hold the rack, leaving the patient-bay shutter open. The same four-A opening rig fights the additional crowd lane; carrying Fork adds no weapon output. The player may cut P01's alarm, finish one fastener and retreat to refill. Choosing an air-heavy two-canister manifest instead leaves only two units for the bridge, so Fork must remain installed/at source or another carried object must be deliberately dropped—never silently deleted. The physical baseline is identical board selection, cover, cutter and checkpointed withdrawal without relying on a successful shot.
### Later transfer bay: payload accepted, observation interrupted, route becomes historical
@@ 223,10 227,10 @@
**Exact counts.** E01–E10 are ten unique placements, with E08/E10 the two included setpieces. P01–P13 are 13 unique major mechanisms: nine instances of five reusable families plus four unique objective mechanisms. They reference 24 modules/40 rooms, 12 objectives, four assemblies, eight later part sources, four language chains, four story chains and five rescue identities without changing those counts. Six ordinary and three special roles are all used. The unselected first-survivor and later host variants remain conditional.
-
**State check.** Every brief identifies current entrance/retreat, warning, finite population or absence, first commitment, objective beyond killing, equipment choices, physical baseline, interruption, persistent work/object/evidence and reset state. Installed/carried/consumed states conserve identities. Journal pause advances nothing. Short rescues require current personally walked geometry, their own controls/air/abort place and a quiet window; ordinary abort and death-during-transfer remain distinct. All involved rooms retain network-side releases and whole-station eligibility without diagnostic/story/survivor gates.
+
**State check.** Every brief identifies current entrance/retreat, warning, source areas, crowd scale hypothesis and crest resolution or deliberate absence, first commitment, objective beyond killing, equipment choices, physical baseline, interruption, persistent work/object/evidence and reset state. Installed/carried/consumed states conserve identities. Journal pause advances nothing. Short rescues require current personally walked geometry, their own controls/air/abort place and a quiet window; ordinary abort and death-during-transfer remain distinct. All involved rooms retain network-side releases and whole-station eligibility without diagnostic/story/survivor gates.
**Strongest case.** Pressure changes what the player risks while doing discovery work rather than merely decorating combat. Bolt lines determine when a gait observation can commit; a veil changes whether a material-spending shot has a valid receiver; Bank/Balance timing turns one durable cap into a different revisit; the opening Fork choice links personal build, infrastructure and property state. Reused families gain meaning from changed geometry instead of palette swaps.
-
**Accepted costs.** Thirteen major mechanisms exceed the SMALL baseline by one. Multi-room placements demand compact/current-boundary discipline. Rescue variants add quiet-window and route states without new encounter IDs. Finite Callers require authored adjacent populations and entrances. The example rig choices add carrying/area and target/readiness cases. Mechanisms, service transformations, ordinary joins and enemy warnings may compete for attention; paper cannot show that their cues remain legible in a horde.
+
**Accepted costs.** Thirteen major mechanisms exceed the SMALL baseline by one. Multi-room placements demand compact/current-boundary discipline. Rescue variants add quiet-window and route states without new encounter IDs. Crowd-scale placements require authored source volumes, sealable mouths and floor space in rooms first authored for small fights; that rework is real work, not free capacity. The example rig choices add carrying/area and target/readiness cases. Mechanisms, service transformations, ordinary joins and enemy warnings may compete for attention; paper cannot show that their cues remain legible in a horde.
-
**Still-open detail.** Exact timing, damage, oxygen drain, population sizes beyond these hypotheses, thresholds, cooldowns, target overrides, overflow, simultaneous warning priority, surviving-enemy hold and presentation detail on living return within the preserved population membership and defeated states, exhaustive arrangement/geometry/state variants, P13’s exhaustive detail within its already-prepared first-pass allocation, full scripts, accessibility cue forms, asset selection, implementation and validation remain later work. Final content band, first survivor, global death/shift/transfer ordering, post-Sent mortality, story package, full-station behavior and endings remain owner choices. No fun, balance, performance, universal reachability or campaign-duration claim follows.
+
**Still-open detail.** Exact timing, damage, oxygen drain, crowd sizes beyond these hypotheses, on-screen effect density, performance, thresholds, cooldowns, target overrides, overflow, simultaneous warning priority, surviving-enemy hold and presentation detail on living return within the preserved population membership and defeated states, exhaustive arrangement/geometry/state variants, P13’s exhaustive detail within its already-prepared first-pass allocation, full scripts, accessibility cue forms, asset selection, implementation and validation remain later work. Final content band, first survivor, global death/shift/transfer ordering, post-Sent mortality, story package, full-station behavior and endings remain owner choices. No fun, balance, performance, universal reachability or campaign-duration claim follows.
