Cast And Short Rescue Map's D1 is the current correction of this older local example: one personally walked junction crossing, using either the verified side route or the direct route after it is opened and verified. Both converge on the same present counted abort vestibule. The earlier sequence of refuge stops is not an offered rescue route. If neither route and its abort destination meet the short current geometry, departure waits.

On an ordinary living abort, Dorn reaches that prepared vestibule using his travel canister's reserved margin and closes its stationward door from inside; he does not seal himself outside the refuge. Its staged reserve supports the existing bounded waiting convention, with no player refill or hidden countdown. A renewed attempt needs fresh travel air, the current short route rechecked and that same destination restocked. No refuge beyond the ship, fixed shipward access after a shift, or automatic delivery is guaranteed. Death during transfer follows the separately conditional safeguard below, not an extension of ordinary abort.

| State | What establishes it | Next action |

| Waiting | Dorn is in his current supported refuge | Postpone, explore, prepare or revise the route |

| In transfer | Dorn accepts and leaves | Hold the ordinary horde, operate controls, signal movement or call abort; only the original damaged room is permanently lost on opening. **Under the pending candidate**, if the astronaut dies here the armed line runs inside a bounded window in which creatures and hazards are frozen and cannot act on, block or damage him, and he reaches the named abort refuge before the shift |

| Sent / colony | Dorn is inside the ship and the airlock closes | His authored interpretation and proposed canister-packing contribution become available aboard |

The short defence uses ordinary hordes. Clearing the route first can reduce pressure but does not promise an empty crossing. The astronaut chooses route, timing, diversion and abort; Dorn crosses under his own power, operates controls and can call an abort. Both staged movement and continuous escort require survivor behaviour; neither has been demonstrated here.

| Outcome | Persistent result | Player's next choice |

| Astronaut dies before a departure | Everything still carried returns aboard with the astronaut. Dorn remains in his current waiting refuge, not necessarily the original room | Resume rescue, recover committed equipment, or pursue another objective after revival |

| Astronaut dies after Sent | Dorn remains aboard; everything still carried returns with the astronaut | Continue with Dorn still part of the colony |

Requests, radio confirmations and a crossing in progress never count as Sent, and neither does standing inside an **unclosed** ship airlock: that delivery freezes at the lethal instant, and under the candidate he cycles stationward on his own reserved margin rather than closing the airlock himself to finish the mission. If a final approach cannot supply that survivor-operated return, the marked margin and a local tell, the crossing is not eligible to begin and he waits. Failure is locally reversible but consumes travel air and staged reserves already spent and may leave installations committed. It creates no death-cache trip or replacement tax. This does not establish trust penalties, injury, permanent deterioration or universal immunity. A different rescue may need a separate explicit outcome and an owner decision about its stakes.

The earlier continuous-escort comparison explains the original tradeoff, but a long escort is outside the owner's constraint, and a repeated refuge chain is outside this proposed one-junction scene. The current short-route comparison retains preferences, cooperation and the canister commitments at one junction. Reopen its local design if the crossing feels automatic, Dorn's actions are unclear, or the short defence cannot carry the intended human stake. No written comparison proves balance, emotional impact, feasibility or campaign duration.