An ordinary controller launch, manual special activation, a new enemy attack or an ambient hazard is an **external event** and starts a causal wave. In the current Sensor → Projector arrangement, the ready, target-valid controller event and physical launch are one event; a downstream actuator accepting a rig packet retains that packet's wave. Ordinary firing is mostly automatic and special abilities are manual under the owner's decision. [Combat Rules](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Combat%20Rules) supplies the proposed targeting/readiness contract: a ready controller launches when a valid target is available, spends readiness, and recovers through stated world time; rig output cannot reset it. Rig-created projectiles, fragments, arcs, barriers and contacts keep that wave identity rather than becoming new external events.
+
An ordinary controller launch, manual special activation, a new enemy attack or an ambient hazard is an **external event** and starts a causal wave. The accepted first-pass envelope in [Mechanical Interfaces And Opening Quantities](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Mechanical%20Interfaces%20And%20Opening%20Quantities) permits one independent ordinary launch path per active rig, sourced by Threat Sensor or qualifying grounded-movement Stride. One designated ordinary actuator owns target/readiness; its valid target and one readiness spend seal a launch reservation. When that wave reaches it through any Fork, the actuator executes exactly once without rechecking the spent readiness. Other descendants check independently. A second independent source-to-ordinary-launch path refuses before edit commitment under this proposed content limit; an unrelated manual source, non-launch Stride path or Projector descendant remains legal. Ordinary firing is mostly automatic and special abilities are manual under the owner's decision. Rig-created projectiles, fragments, arcs, barriers and contacts keep their wave identity rather than becoming new external events.
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Within a wave, each part resolves once and a returning signal stops. Force projectiles, pressure bursts, fragments and external strikes against the player or Barrier Plate are impacts; arcs and heat are not unless explicitly converted. Impact Dynamo watches one named carrier through its local clamp and batches qualifying same-wave impacts there into one visible accumulator contribution and downstream charged trigger. The carrier is a Barrier frame, Projector physical-output feed or authored fixture surface; the Dynamo does not hear remote impacts. Stored states persist across waves with saturation visible. Releasing stored charge requires a chosen trigger: a manual release starts a new wave, while a release caused by a rig-generated packet retains that packet's wave. Storage becoming ready does not itself create a new external event. Exact capacities and damage remain open.
+
Within a wave, each part resolves once and a returning signal stops. Force projectiles, pressure bursts, fragments and external strikes against the player or Barrier Plate are impacts; arcs and heat are not unless explicitly converted. Impact Dynamo watches one named carrier through its local clamp and batches qualifying same-wave impacts there into one downstream charged trigger of proposed **2 U**, regardless of batched impact count. The carrier is a Barrier frame, Projector physical-output feed or authored fixture surface; the Dynamo does not hear remote impacts. Capacitor stores exact **0–4 U**, accepts at least 1 U up to free space, visibly vents delivered overflow and is blocked before Fork allocation when full. Its chosen release is **2 U**: below 2 U or when its first receiver refuses, nothing commits and charge remains; after that first receiver accepts, charge is committed and a later refusal does not refund it. A manual release starts a new wave, while rig-caused release retains the incoming wave. Storage becoming ready does not create a new external event. Retained charge across death remains unresolved rather than silently kept or cleared.
A later external event begins another wave. Enemy attacks can repeatedly feed Counterwall until attacks stop, the barrier fails or storage saturates. That is an intended horde-fed engine, not recursive self-activation or a balance claim.
-
An incompatible link is visibly invalid before commitment. A saturating part holds, vents or passes overflow by its stated rule. Surprise should remain traceable, not depend on hidden exceptions.
+
An incompatible link is visibly invalid before commitment. Fork determines pre-allocation candidates from link, type, readiness, storage and required-target validity. No candidate dissipates the input; one gets the whole payload; two divide whole U evenly, with output 1 receiving any odd remainder. Each share then checks its receiver threshold; a sub-threshold share dissipates without copying, buffering or reassignment. Bare triggers copy to accepting outputs. Surprise should remain traceable, not depend on hidden exceptions.
## Navigation, inspection and discovered families
@@ 32,28 32,28 @@
## Illustrative parts
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These eight parts demonstrate the grammar; they are not a final catalogue or starting loadout. The current [Equipment Catalogue](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Equipment%20Catalogue) owns their acceptance, clamp, split and readiness details. Larger modular expansions, integrated weapons, heated-barrier effects and separate vent receivers remain undeveloped, unselected alternatives.
+
These eight parts demonstrate the grammar; they are not a final catalogue or starting loadout. The current [Equipment Catalogue](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Equipment%20Catalogue) owns their acceptance, clamp and presentation details; the accepted mechanical article owns this bounded split/storage/controller candidate. Larger modular expansions, integrated weapons, heated-barrier effects and separate vent receivers remain undeveloped, unselected alternatives.
| Part | Known individual behavior | Different uses it opens |
|---|---|---|
| Pulse Projector | An accepted trigger, valid target and readiness launch the packet's payload, or a weak force pulse if the packet has no payload | Starter actuator; carries heat or force; supplies impacts |
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| Impact Dynamo | Qualifying impacts on its one locally clamped carrier emit a charged trigger once per causal wave | Projectile engine; barrier counter; salvage-chain bridge |
-
| Fork Relay | Copies a bare trigger to accepting outputs; divides any usable payload between accepting outputs while retaining one wave | Splits offense/defense; charges storage while firing |
-
| Capacitor | Stores charge across waves and releases it on a chosen trigger | Burst damage; emergency barrier; delayed combo timing |
+
| Impact Dynamo | Qualifying impacts on its one locally clamped carrier emit one proposed 2 U charged trigger per causal wave | Projectile engine; barrier counter; salvage-chain bridge |
+
| Fork Relay | Copies a bare trigger; divides whole U across pre-allocation candidates, output 1 taking an odd remainder, with no post-threshold reallocation | Splits offense/defense; charges storage while firing |
+
| Capacitor | Stores exact 0–4 U, vents overflow and releases chosen 2 U only after its first receiver accepts | Burst damage; emergency barrier; delayed combo timing |
| Thermal Lens | Converts a packet's charge payload into heat while preserving its trigger | Stored-charge or conductive-Cycler heat through Projector |
| Arc Emitter | An accepted charged trigger produces arcs from its valid selected target when ready | Horde clearing; capacitor burst; secondary Fork output |
| Barrier Plate | A trigger creates a directional barrier; a charged trigger can create or refresh it using that charge; strikes produce impact events | Defence; Dynamo trigger surface; route-holding tool |
-
| Salvage Cycler | A valid activation trigger consumes selected salvage and emits the inspected material-response packet | Conductive charge, pressure force or brittle fragments |
+
| Salvage Cycler | A valid activation trigger consumes selected salvage and emits proposed conductive 2 U charge, pressure 2 U force or brittle fragments with amount still open; later refusal does not refund material | Conductive charge, pressure force or brittle fragments |
Finding a Capacitor is therefore not a prescribed upgrade. The player can replace an immediate Arc connection with stored burst, store Dynamo charge from qualifying Barrier strikes, or route one Fork branch into storage while the other fires. Taking it occupies room that could carry salvage or an extra canister, whether installed or inactive. Installing it grants present use and commits active rig area and edit time; carrying it home inactive preserves later options without using it now.
## Three materially different paths
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**Cascade lance.** Use the catalogue's hypothetical later 8 A / 8 C configuration: Sensor → Projector starts one ordinary launch wave; Dynamo, clamped to Projector's physical-output feed, sends its charged trigger through Fork. Ready Arc and unsaturated Capacitor receive separate shares, subject to their eventual thresholds. The player then pays for a world-time rewire, disconnecting Sensor from Projector and connecting built-in manual Capacitor release → Thermal Lens → Projector. A prepared later release produces one targeted heated shot if each receiver accepts; the built-in release checks its first receiver and does not promise an atomic check of the entire path. Sparse targets reduce Arc opportunities; this is not the four-space opening rig. Packed hordes may be overwhelmed.
+
**Cascade lance.** Use the catalogue's hypothetical later 8 A / 8 C configuration: Sensor reserves one designated Projector launch; Dynamo, clamped to Projector's physical-output feed, emits 2 U through Fork. Ready Arc and unsaturated Capacitor as two pre-allocation candidates receive 1 U each; if only one is a candidate it receives all 2 U. A post-split threshold refusal dissipates that share without reallocation. The player then pays for a world-time rewire, disconnecting Sensor from Projector and connecting built-in manual 2 U Capacitor release → Thermal Lens → Projector. If Lens accepts first, the 2 U is committed and a later Projector refusal does not restore it. Sparse targets reduce Arc opportunities; this is not the four-space opening rig. Packed hordes may be overwhelmed.
-
**Counterwall reactor.** The catalogue's later 6 A / 6 C example uses Manual Trigger → Barrier, Dynamo clamped to that Barrier, Capacitor and Arc Emitter. Each new external strike can feed a separate charge contribution; a later built-in manual Capacitor release feeds the ready, targeted Arc. Releasing toward Barrier instead requires its single input to be configured for that path, replacing its Manual Trigger link. The wall becomes protection and engine while a horde attacks; it stops when strikes stop, bypass its facing or break the barrier, and storage cannot accept more charge when saturated.
+
**Counterwall reactor.** The catalogue's later 6 A / 6 C example uses Manual Trigger → Barrier, Dynamo clamped to that Barrier, Capacitor and Arc Emitter. Each eligible wave feeds exactly 2 U; Capacitor stores up to 4 U and vents delivered overflow. A later built-in manual 2 U release feeds the ready, targeted Arc only after Arc accepts as first receiver. Releasing toward Barrier instead requires its single input to be configured for that path, replacing its Manual Trigger link. The wall becomes protection and engine while a horde attacks; it stops when strikes stop, bypass its facing or break the barrier, and full storage is excluded before allocation.
-
**Salvage storm.** The current catalogue supports a chosen cargo shot through Manual Trigger → Cycler → Projector, using 4 A / 4 C and spending the selected material. Conductive responses can instead use the catalogue's compatible charge-consuming routes. The former continuous Cycler/Dynamo/Fork/Arc/storage expansion is an undeveloped alternative, not an established complete loadout. All descendants retain their wave. The path spends colony-bound salvage; hoarding starves it and firing destroys return value. Equipment/material composition, not enemy control, is the experiment.
+
**Salvage storm.** The current catalogue supports a chosen cargo shot through Manual Trigger → Cycler → Projector, using 4 A / 4 C and spending the selected material. Cycler emits proposed conductive 2 U charge, pressure 2 U force, or brittle fragments whose amount remains open. Conductive responses can instead use the catalogue's compatible charge-consuming routes. Once Cycler validly commits material, later receiver refusal never refunds it. The former continuous Cycler/Dynamo/Fork/Arc/storage expansion is an undeveloped alternative, not an established complete loadout. All descendants retain their wave. The path spends colony-bound salvage; hoarding starves it and firing destroys return value. Equipment/material composition, not enemy control, is the experiment.
All three reuse parts while asking whether to sustain a chain, power defence or consume cargo. A found Fork, Lens or Capacitor changes several paths because ports describe possibilities, not archetype membership.
@@ 85,7 85,7 @@
## Counterexample and consistency check
-
- **Infinite feedback:** descended effects retain their source wave; a returning path stops. Multiple qualifying impacts on Dynamo's attached carrier become one batched accumulator contribution. New enemy attacks may sustain new waves, but rig output alone cannot mint them.
+
- **Infinite feedback:** descended effects retain their source wave; a returning path stops. Multiple qualifying impacts on Dynamo's attached carrier become one 2 U contribution for that wave. New enemy attacks may sustain new waves, but rig output alone cannot mint them.
- **One obvious upgrade:** Capacitor, Fork and Lens each have offensive, defensive and storage placements with different carried costs; no path is declared numerically superior.
- **Cycler consumes the entire tradeoff:** it cannot consume the protected objective accidentally, and spending ordinary salvage loses return value. Other paths remain effective without cargo fuel.
- **Death duplication:** the astronaut and everything still carried return aboard once. Consumed resources stay consumed, and parts dropped or left installed in the station stay there; no second copy is created.
