2026-09-10 12:47:08
Anonymous:
Align preventive closure, current return routes and transfer-gallery encounter
hold the flood/encounter and mechanism placement inventory.md ..
@@ 24,9 24,9 @@
Warnings remain visible independently when they overlap. **Every placement except E03's deliberately quiet first latch lesson is a crowd encounter fed by named source areas** — wards, lift wells, ducts or sealed volumes that physically hold bodies. Sources release their crowds through **feeding apertures** — grilles, hatches, ward doors, ducts, gantry mouths — shown before anything arrives. Feeding apertures are distinct from the walking passages a room needs for the ship, rescue, records, clamps or exploration, and sealing an aperture never closes a walking passage. A placement's 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). Nothing enters except through a shown aperture or route, no creature materializes without a physical approach, and no source reacts to build strength, kill speed or reward. A shown route can still carry creatures behind the player. 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 — resolved stages stay spent, 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.
-
**Stages and temporary upgrades (proposal).** A **stage** is a finite, announced pressure release from an identified physical source. Its peak — feeding apertures fully open, overlapping movement patterns, warning lights and music shifting — is what the player reads as the crest. While a stage is still feeding, killing faster than it arrives suppresses a lane but does not stop it. A stage **resolves** when the player clears all of its committed arrivals, or completes a physical seal that ends its access. Either earns the **same** single temporary upgrade choice in [Build Rules](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Build%20Rules), and clearing or sealing early, before the peak, qualifies immediately. A seal leaves already-arrived creatures active: reward resolution is separate from a safe quiet space, which also needs those threats cleared, bypassed or physically separated. **Escaping resolves nothing:** leaving the pressure boundary saves the astronaut, who keeps carried property and knowledge, but earns no consolation choice, and re-entering resumes the same unresolved stage. Each stage pays once for the current arrangement: it stays spent across a living return, cannot be farmed by leaving and re-entering, and reopening the same seal does not create a new stage. Whether a seal stays closed follows its owning mechanism. Further machinery releases count as separate stages only where they are authored, announced and sourced; a deliberately woken larger stage may offer a transformation. Cleared travel earns nothing, earned-but-unchosen offers expire aboard with temporary power, and death itself pays nothing. Rescue eligibility is a separate question, stated below. Upgrade effects belong to Build Rules.
+
**Stages and temporary upgrades (proposal).** A **stage** is a finite, announced pressure release from an identified physical source. Its announced attackers and arrivals must commit before it can earn a combat-upgrade offer. Its peak — feeding apertures fully open, overlapping movement patterns, warning lights and music shifting — is what the player reads as the crest. While it is still feeding, killing faster than it arrives suppresses a lane but does not stop it. A committed stage **resolves** when the player clears all its committed arrivals or completes a physical seal that ends their access. Either earns the **same** single temporary upgrade choice in [Build Rules](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Build%20Rules), including resolution before the peak. A physical closure completed before release commitment prevents it and gives **no combat-upgrade offer**; safety and access are its benefit, with completed work persisting under its owning rule. This accepts less temporary growth for successful prevention. The stage-only rhythm remains provisional while the owner considers regular defeated-enemy growth plus larger milestone transformations. A seal leaves already-arrived creatures active: reward resolution is separate from a safe quiet space, which also needs those threats cleared, bypassed or physically separated. **Escaping resolves nothing:** leaving the pressure boundary saves the astronaut, who keeps carried property and knowledge, but earns no consolation choice, and re-entering resumes the same unresolved stage. Each stage pays once for the current arrangement: it stays spent across a living return, cannot be farmed by leaving and re-entering, and reopening the same seal does not create a new stage. Whether a seal stays closed follows its owning mechanism. Further machinery releases count as separate stages only where they are authored, announced and sourced; a deliberately woken larger stage may offer a transformation. Cleared travel earns nothing, earned-but-unchosen offers expire aboard with temporary power, and death itself pays nothing. Rescue eligibility is a separate question, stated below. Upgrade effects belong to Build Rules.
-
**Cadence and route support.** As an illustration, a sustained outing might offer three to five meaningful choices — a foundation, a branch, later refinements, and possibly a transformation from a larger optional stage — while a short trip can earn one. The ten placements alone supply only one or two stages each, so that rhythm depends on ordinary travel stages along the routes between them, which are **not yet authored or verified**. The PM's route check of representative Arrangement A found R25's major setpiece reachable directly from cleared R11 after a reset, with no ordinary stage between. Every major placement therefore keeps a baseline approach that needs no temporary upgrade, and route support for the climb is next-assignment room-layout work, not claimed here. If stages come too often the rhythm becomes a chore; too rarely and the build barely grows between climaxes.
+
**Cadence and route support.** As an illustration, a sustained outing might offer three to five meaningful choices — a foundation, a branch, later refinements, and possibly a transformation from a larger optional stage — while a short trip can earn one. The ten placements alone supply only one or two stages each, so that rhythm also depends on travel routes and their unresolved sources. In proposed Arrangement A, **R11→R17→R20→R25** crosses E06 before the R25 setpiece. After a first living return that leaves R11 cleared, unresolved E06 supplies a growth opportunity. If the astronaut resolves E06 and returns home a second time, its stage remains spent and temporary power ends; the same route then reaches R25 through cleared ground without another ordinary award stage. Every major placement therefore keeps a baseline approach requiring no temporary upgrade. The distance to another unresolved frontier remains a design cost; this route does not establish three to five choices on every outing. If stages come too often the rhythm becomes a chore; too rarely and the build barely grows between climaxes.
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.
@@ 100,19 100,19 @@
**Cast and evidence extensions.** E06's finite population may also gate access to R18/R19 through a currently shown route, but it does not become a new encounter. Dorn at R18 requires a verified current side route; direct-hoist opening commits before its newly exposed route is walked. Under the conditional safeguard his crossing additionally needs the marked full-attempt return margin, an armed retreat he can operate to the counted abort room, and that room's local closure tell; a quiet window alone does not supply them. Yeva's later R19 variant requires counted R12 as current abort and a one-junction route. Any absent geometry waits. Story card/ratchet at R18, controlled culture comparison at R19 and source cycle at R20 are separate world-time observations.
-
**Persistence.** Cap, cutter, line-cycle, record-drawer, direct boundary, comparator observation, released rewards and object locations persist. Bank phase, tether, population and routes do not. A carried Dynamo/core returns once; an unremoved source does not. Death mid-rescue remains unconfirmed, distinct from an ordinary witnessed abort.
+
**Persistence.** Cap, cutter, line-cycle, record-drawer, direct boundary, comparator observation, released rewards and object locations persist. Bank phase follows P05's withdrawal/death rule, and tether state follows the Glass Siphon's local rule. Population and unbound routes persist across a living return and may change at a death shift. A carried Dynamo/core returns once; an unremoved source does not. Death mid-rescue remains unconfirmed, distinct from an ordinary witnessed abort.
### E07 — Transfer evidence behind a veil
-
**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.
+
**Host and warning.** R23 Material Sorting Bay, objective 7, P06 Resuscitation Grid. In this proposed arrangement, R24 shows R22 and the approach to R23; the player reaches R21 through the walking route **R24→R23→R21** and sees its clean pair there. One Veilbearer and one Boltspitter are visible across R23's separated evidence stations. The veil edge/anchors, bolt aim line, Grid seams/rising meter and transfer drive/fill direction are readable before the corrective pair is operated or its capture commits.
-
**Crowd, sources and reinforcement.** A Veilbearer screens a Boltspitter across the separated evidence stations while crowds from the occupied transfer galleries press in through **feeding hatches** above R24's three branches — perhaps 30–60 through the placement. The branches themselves stay walkable for records and continuations. 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. **Stage:** the galleries' release through the hatches while a pair is operated or framed. **Resolution:** clear its committed arrivals, or seal the hatches. If the Veilbearer or Boltspitter is defeated, nothing replaces it. **Rework:** M13's bay and M04's gallery need the hatches, their closures and crowd space.
+
**Crowd, sources and reinforcement.** A Veilbearer screens a Boltspitter across the separated evidence stations while a crowd from one named **transfer-gallery loft** presses in through **three feeding hatches** above R24's walking branches — perhaps 30–60 through the placement. The branches themselves stay walkable for records and continuations. 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. **Stage:** operating R23's corrective pair or committing a capture of that pair triggers that loft's release through its three hatches. Merely looking at the pairs, recording R21/R22's clean pair, or starting an uncommitted capture does not trigger it. **Resolution:** clear its committed arrivals, or seal the hatches. If the Veilbearer or Boltspitter is defeated, nothing replaces it. **Rework:** M13's bay and M04's gallery need the hatches, their closures and crowd space.
**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.
**Aster rescue extension.** If non-first Aster waits in R22, E07 must enter a quiet window before A1 — necessary but, under the conditional safeguard, not sufficient without the marked return margin, an armed survivor-operable retreat to counted R24 and R24's local closure tell. The astronaut must separately walk a current ship→one-junction→R24 abort→R22 refuge route; R24 must be stocked and Aster operates her door. Transfer machinery does not transport her. Missing geometry waits. Her later lock is reversible from the outside panel and cannot seal the whole objective.
-
**Persistence.** Pair operations/captures, Grid clamp/breaker state, Cycler location, any consumed sample and confirmed survivor state persist. Grid charge, veil, aim and population reset. An interrupted capture yields no record; an interrupted transfer operation retains only its named completed fixture stage. Old pair locations after death are historical even when their records remain valid evidence.
+
**Persistence.** Pair operations/captures, Grid clamp/breaker state, Cycler location, any consumed sample and confirmed survivor state persist. Grid charge follows P06's withdrawal/death rule; veil and aim follow their creatures' temporary-state rules. Population and unbound routes persist across a living return and may change at a death shift. An interrupted capture yields no record; an interrupted transfer operation retains only its named completed fixture stage. Old pair locations after death are historical even when their records remain valid evidence.
### E08 — Balance Gallery Hold — setpiece A
@@ 188,7 188,7 @@
| **E04** | O4, R11–R13 current short route | Flanker pack; Presser river through the ward-wing grille; 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 | Flanker-only approach, then one stage from two side wards; Siphon at the valve; 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; gallery crowds through feeding hatches; P06 | Three transfer pairs, Cycler R23, A1-later R22/R24 rescue |
+
| **E07** | O7, R24→R23→R21 walking route; R22 and R23 approach visible from R24 | Veilbearer, Boltspitter; one transfer-gallery loft feeds three R24 hatches; release answers R23 corrective-pair operation or committed capture; P06 | Three transfer pairs, Cycler R23, A1-later R22/R24 rescue |
| **E09** | O9, R28; optional R29/R30 | Shutterback-sheltered crowd from R28's aisle grille; Caller releasing a second stage through R28's ceiling hatch; P09 | Regulator reply, Capacitor R28; no rescue |
| **E10 — setpiece B** | O11, current R35 into compact R36–R40 | Shutterback, Siphon; large hall crowd from two side mouths; Caller releasing a second stage through R35's far-wall hatch; P10, then P13 | Inlet reply, strip, evidence cell, isolation. P12/O12 is separate and has no encounter. |
@@ 215,7 215,7 @@
The player first selects an expendable pressure sample. A protected record sample or invalid material refuses before Cycler activation and costs nothing. On a valid press, Manual starts one wave and Cycler commits consumption before emitting its inspected force response. Projector then checks its own readiness and selected valid target. If the Veil makes that target invalid or the receiver otherwise refuses at that point, the already consumed sample stays spent and there is no shot; refusal does not rewind the wave. The player can instead wait around the finite sheet edge and press when the target/readiness preview is valid. A successful shot does not retarget, duplicate payload or create a second wave; any physical Grid strike follows the Grid's own local rule.
-
The equipment-free route uses ceramic strips and the Boltspitter's locked line to lure one eligible rail impact, waits through the visible Grid discharge/recharge, then cuts a clamp or frames the pair from cover. Beginning capture shows progress. Cancel/displacement before atomic commit yields no record; after commit the record persists even if the player is then forced to retreat. A completed Grid clamp remains cut; the other incomplete clamp resets. The single Cycler never exists in both rig and sorter: if active in the carried rig at later death it returns once, while a Cycler deliberately detached into a station socket remains there; spent sample remains spent and the source cradle remains empty. The death shifts external adjacency, preserves the pair capture/Grid cut and marks R24→R23 historical. Aster's rescue at R22 does not begin from those records; it waits unless a fresh, personally walked one-junction route with stocked R24 abort exists.
+
The equipment-free route uses ceramic strips and the Boltspitter's locked line to lure one eligible rail impact, waits through the visible Grid discharge/recharge, then cuts a clamp or frames the pair from cover. Beginning capture shows progress. Cancel/displacement before atomic commit yields no record and that capture does not trigger E07's release. Committing the corrective-pair capture can trigger the still-uncommitted release; the record then persists even if the astronaut is forced to retreat. A stage already triggered or spent is not created again by another capture. A completed Grid clamp remains cut; the other incomplete clamp resets. The single Cycler never exists in both rig and sorter: if active in the carried rig at later death it returns once, while a Cycler deliberately detached into a station socket remains there; spent sample remains spent and the source cradle remains empty. The death shifts external adjacency, preserves the pair capture/Grid cut and marks R24→R23 historical. Aster's rescue at R22 does not begin from those records; it waits unless a fresh, personally walked one-junction route with stocked R24 abort exists.
