v0.26: event-zones.md authored — interaction-substrate paper-pass

Composes the dialog 2026-04-27 ~21:30-22:00 CEST into canon. Nine
compositional moves consolidated onto one substrate without introducing
new primitives — every claim is a composition of existing canon (cells,
zones, slots, verifier-flags, hardstops, lifeforce budgets, the trait-
palette, the consent-spine, the cosmology's composed wheel).

NEW PAPER: runtime-engine/event-zones.md (~400 lines, v0.1)

Sections:
1. Designer-authored event-zones vs emergent zones (orthogonal; clean
   signals; no overlap routing)
2. Cells + event-zones + events as layered data-model with composite
   UID districtid_cellid_eventid; participants on events not cells
3. The composed wheel from imperial-cult/cosmology.md as universal
   mini-game-surface; verifier-flag patterns differentiate hacking /
   lockpicking / install / clasp / decryption / ritual / drug-grammar /
   eye-pulse-proximity; collapses the long-standing "which mini-game
   mechanic for liminal-maintenance" open question
4. Hardstops as consent-gates between event-states with contextual
   activation; ~8-16 budget is per-moment-active, not overall
5. The four hardstop-pattern variants of consent-discipline.md as the
   event-class taxonomy (self/dual/triple/cooldown-augmented = solo/
   dual/triple/temporally-staged event-class)
6. Boundary-zone-with-inner-zone for plaza-scale mass-presence; sparingly
   applied; caste-tier-gated promotion as default
7. Room-boundary cell-layer + rail-passage + lifeforce-budget-per-room
   (district-shard, four-tier hierarchy intact); insolvency-spiral
   gets its mechanical surface
8. Slot-binding suspends lemniscate routing during events (the NPC-
   stays-put fix at the data-model layer; new slot_locked verifier-flag)
9. Player editor-mode + three-source schema unification (world_gen_init /
   runtime_event / player_authored origin field on cell-rows; same
   schema across all three writers)

UPDATES:

architecture-index.md (v0.20 -> v0.21):
- Tree-line: runtime-engine/ now sibling-paper-pattern (architecture.md
  + event-zones.md)
- Quick-reference table: new row for event-zones.md
- Three new key-moves bullets:
  * "The composed wheel as universal mini-game-substrate"
  * "Event-zones + cells + events as layered interaction substrate"
  * "Three-source schema unification + player editor-mode + room-
    boundary lifeforce"
- Open questions: "The mini-game mechanic for liminal-maintenance"
  RESOLVED — all on one wheel, differentiated by verifier-flag pattern

topology-and-rendering/architecture.md:
- New section "Vertical world topology — simple shapes + ±1 LOD tunnels
  + slum-carve-verb": stacked tunnels with primitive shapes; ±1 LOD
  streaming-radius bounds GPU budget; slum-carve verb-grammar; material-
  vocabulary politically-codes editor-eligibility (imperial-marble can't
  be carved; rusted slum-bedrock yields); Boullée-monumental aesthetic
  on the cheap via vertical-stacking

player-experience/architecture.md (v0.7.0 -> v0.8.0):
- New section "The wheel — composed-iconography UI": the trait-circle
  UI renders the composed wheel from imperial-cult/cosmology.md; inner
  ring = 6 caste-tier hardstops (HARD signals — the WHO); outer ring =
  8 trait-axis soft-slots (SOFT signals — the HOW); 2D gesture-history
  coordinate (caste-target × trait-temperature) as political-position
  reading; contextual hardstop activation; wheel as universal mini-
  game-surface

Three identity layers aligned: chrysalis git-author, chrysalis SSH key,
gitea-chrysalis remote. Pre-push verification gates passed.

This is the largest single-session paper-pass since v0.7's three-body-
system split. All nine compositional moves use existing primitives;
no new substrate introduced; the architecture's signature pattern
(cost-budget asymmetry as architectural style) enacted at the
interaction-substrate scale.

Genesis note: this paper-pass composes the dialog that emerged after
the v0.25 inline-iconography cleanup landed. Key architectural insights
from the dialog were: (1) the wheel collapses the mini-game-mechanic
open question; (2) consent-discipline-Variants = event-class taxonomy;
(3) the cell-arch atomicity makes editor-mode trivial; (4) the
boundary-zone-with-inner-zone pattern is the architecture's signature
pattern at a fourth scale; (5) the architecture's "describe-by-cross-
reference" discipline composes beautifully when there's a load-bearing
canonical reference like the composed wheel.

architecture-index.md

@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ nimmerworld/
 ├── topology-and-rendering/
 │   └── architecture.md                 ← rail+grid topology; asset economy; color-language; three-shader philosophy; diegetic relays
 ├── runtime-engine/
-│   └── architecture.md                 ← lemniscate runtime; slot-tokens + verifier-flags; gesture-alignment-recursive-lemniscate (v0.7); emergent zones
+│   ├── architecture.md                 ← lemniscate runtime; slot-tokens + verifier-flags; gesture-alignment-recursive-lemniscate (v0.7); emergent zones
+│   └── event-zones.md                  ← interaction-substrate: designer-authored event-zones (sofa/bed/install-table/plaza-inner-stage); the composed wheel from imperial-cult/cosmology.md as universal mini-game-surface; cells + event-zones + events as layered data-model with composite UID (districtid_cellid_eventid); hardstops as consent-gates with contextual activation; consent-discipline Variants 1-4 as event-class taxonomy; boundary-zone-with-inner-zone for plaza-scale; room-boundary cell-layer + rail-passage + lifeforce-budget-per-room (district-shard); slot-binding suspends lemniscate routing during events; player editor-mode + three-source schema unification (world-gen/runtime/player-edit) — v0.1
 ├── identity-and-personhood/
 │   ├── architecture.md                 ← three-body system; mods as trait-bearers; ternary-gate substrate; emergent needs as micro-factions
 │   └── bodies.md                       ← content-canon: body-caste tiers (flesh = status, tech = function); sumptuary fabrication-vat-class; mod-progression-as-flesh-loss; in-between human-mesh + consent-as-rendering; asymmetric clasp (mesh-fidelity inversely proportional to imperial-rank); synth-tongue + drug-grammar + third mod-track (consumer-receptor); service-body honeypot (companions + sex-workers); going-rogue arc + outcast-pair + re-vat / three-body grammar of the defected beloved; black-market body-tier (lobotomy); firewall-breach as dual-use vocation; bounty-staircase event-grammar; body-disposal under pair-consent (sell/destroy/retain) — v0.3
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@ nimmerworld/
 | Political-economy substrate; faction broadcasts; imperial budget; insolvency-spiral | `political-register/architecture.md` |
 | Rail+grid topology; color-language; shaders; diegetic relays | `topology-and-rendering/architecture.md` |
 | Zone runtime; lemniscate; gesture-alignment; emergent zones | `runtime-engine/architecture.md` |
+| Event-zones (designer-authored interaction-surfaces); the composed wheel as universal mini-game-substrate; cells + event-zones + events composite UID; hardstops as consent-gates with contextual activation; consent-discipline-Variants-1-4 as event-class taxonomy; boundary-zone-with-inner-zone (plazas); room-boundary + rail-passage + lifeforce-budget-per-room; slot-binding suspends lemniscate routing; player editor-mode + 3-source schema unification | `runtime-engine/event-zones.md` |
 | NPC identity; trait-vector; ternary-gates; mods | `identity-and-personhood/architecture.md` |
 | Authority flow; intelligence channels; director decision-surfaces | `authority-and-decision/architecture.md` |
 | Player input (voice + gesture); circle UI; universal translator | `player-experience/architecture.md` |
@@ -123,6 +125,9 @@ The remainder of this file holds the **cross-domain meta-lists**: Key moves (con
 - **Body-disposal under pair-consent.** Sell / destroy / retain — the beloved chooses what happens to their former body; the player advises but cannot decide. Three event-classes: lover-confronts-the-shell / ceremonial-farewell / crypt-visit. *Consent-as-rendering as recurring discipline*, not a single-instance principle.
 - **The black-market body-tier — lobotomy via firewall-breach.** Imperial-bodies-with-mind-capsules-extracted via the *same* witness-axis mods that enable consensual deep-clasp (firewall-breach as **dual-use vocation**; underground-lobotomist is the dark cousin of the romantic). Empty-body + reflex-loops; *cruelty in the use, not in the existence of a victim*. **Dark mirror of the deva-pinnacle; manusya-tier-doctrinal-fiction materialized criminally; the single biggest crack in sumptuary-fabrication discipline** — explains the imperium's disproportionate hunting-ferocity (the one place where their entire sumptuary-architecture is being made fungible).
 - **The bounty-staircase — imperial-response event-grammar template.** Authoritarian billboards blare perpetrator name+crime → drone-sweep → patrol → enforcer. **Reusable across all crime-classes** (escalation-rate × terminal-rung as the gamemaster's single tunable knob per crime). *The billboard IS the chorus*; time-between-crime-and-billboard = **dread-time** (Greek-tragedy register). Outcast-status pre-loads the staircase. Full canonization pending in gamemaster v1 / arbitration-policy.
+- **The composed wheel as universal mini-game-substrate.** The cosmology's composed wheel (per `imperial-cult/cosmology.md` §The composed wheel) is canonical iconography for two registers — diegetic in-fiction wheel AND non-diegetic player UI — AND the universal mini-game-surface running on every event-zone interaction. Same wheel, different verifier-flag patterns per task: hacking (signal-from-hub-out), lockpicking (slide-elements-on-ring), install (mutual-alignment-of-two-avatars), clasp (coordinated-firewall-breach hardstop), eye-pulse (passive proximity-warning), decryption, ritual, drug-grammar. **One image, one substrate, every interaction.** Collapses the long-standing open question *"which mini-game mechanic for liminal-maintenance: juggling / rhythm / attention / gestural / decision-cascade / observation / hybrid?"* — answer: *all of them, on one ring, differentiated by verifier-flag pattern.* Per `runtime-engine/event-zones.md` §The wheel — universal mini-game-surface.
+- **Event-zones + cells + events as layered interaction substrate.** Cells (1×1×1m atomic, one asset) host designer-authored event-zones (multi-cell interaction-surfaces with slot-inventory + eligible-task-classes); event-zones host events (instances with participant-lists; UID composite `districtid_cellid_eventid`); slot-binding sets verifier-flag suspending lemniscate routing for event-duration (the NPC-stays-put fix); the four hardstop-pattern variants of `style/consent-discipline.md` map one-to-one to event-class taxonomy (self/dual/triple/cooldown-augmented = solo/dual/triple/temporally-staged event-class). Hardstops gain **contextual activation** — most cycle in/out based on event-zone-eligibility; the canonical ~8-16 budget is *per-moment-active*, not overall. Per `runtime-engine/event-zones.md`.
+- **Three-source schema unification + player editor-mode + room-boundary lifeforce.** The cell-arch's atomicity makes player-cell-addition trivial; **three writers, one schema** — `world_gen_init` / `runtime_event` / `player_authored` — extend the architecture's existing world-gen-as-init-function key-move to player-edit-time. Editor-eligible zones designer-flagged at L4 (slum/underground concentrate; imperial districts editor-locked). The verb is **carve, not build** — slum/underground material yields; imperial-marble doesn't; *the editor-mode is politically-coded by material vocabulary*. Every interior room carries a **boundary cell-layer** (room+1 each axis) where the rail-graph passes through; capacity-check at boundary-passage; **lifeforce-budget per room as district-shard** (four-tier hierarchy intact); events cost lifeforce; **insolvency-spiral now has its mechanical surface** (room-by-room dimming as imperial budget contracts; diegetic-relay at its purest). Per `runtime-engine/event-zones.md` + `topology-and-rendering/architecture.md` §Vertical world topology + `political-register/world-generation.md` §Editor-mode pre-flagging.
 
 
 ## Mapping to phoebe task list
@@ -269,7 +274,7 @@ The remainder of this file holds the **cross-domain meta-lists**: Key moves (con
 ### Still open
 
 - **Demand-arbitration algorithm v1 shape** (refined v0.10) — v1 candidate: *imperium-policy-driven scoring* (per §Three-tier policy loop's existing priority-weights mechanism; imperium broadcasts faction-priority-weights, GM applies them to incoming demand-broadcasts, sorts by weighted-score, processes top-down until lifeforce-budget exhausted). Concrete weights and refinements at implementation-time.
-- **The mini-game mechanic for liminal-maintenance** (v0.5; refined v0.8) — exact gameplay action deferred pending design-research survey. Architecture commits to the role-contract (gates in-between entry; time-limited; lifeforce-cost; repeatable; muted-melancholic register; trait-circle-compatible; extensible to body-mod-progression Phase-B arc per `identity-and-personhood/architecture.md` §The clasp endgame); specific mechanic (juggling / rhythm / attention / gestural / decision-cascade / observation / hybrid) selected after surveying 20-year history of outstanding mini-interaction principles. **Same "by-role, binary-deferred" discipline as LLM tiering** — generalizes from sub-system selection to mini-game selection
+- ~~**The mini-game mechanic for liminal-maintenance**~~ **RESOLVED 2026-04-27 (v0.20):** all mini-game mechanics live on the composed wheel (per `imperial-cult/cosmology.md` §The composed wheel + `runtime-engine/event-zones.md` §The wheel — universal mini-game-surface). Differentiation is by verifier-flag pattern per task, not by selecting one mechanic from juggling/rhythm/attention/gestural/decision-cascade/observation/hybrid. The architecture didn't need a survey; it needed the composed wheel. Liminal-maintenance, hacking, lockpicking, install/consent, clasp-entry, decryption, ritual, drug-grammar — all the same UI substrate, different verifier-flag patterns.
 - **Emergent-signal decay curves** (v0.5; refined v0.10) — per-signal-type, designer-tuned, refined via Dream-process feedback at implementation-time tuning. Architecture commits to the *shape* (per-signal designer-authored decay-config); implementation-time tunes the curves against actual gameplay data.
 - **Cross-district migration topology** (v0.6; refined v0.10) — answer-in-conversation: dual-system of *official rail/metro* (cyclic, scheduled, district-director-managed; cargo + imperial troop patrols + standard daily traffic) + *hidden shadow-topology* (sewer-gates, air-ducts, random-time-gated; brave players time the floods/fan-cycles to traverse). Architecture not yet written; specific schema (rail-segment metadata extension + shadow-edge time-window data) pending. Pipe-capacity limits + cohort-traversal scheduling are the rail-side specifics; shadow-topology is parallel architecture.
 - **Shader-trait modulation implementation** — performance + rendering-consistency. **(Sharpened v0.17:** cel-shading-everywhere with per-register parameter variation (per [`topology-and-rendering/architecture.md`](./topology-and-rendering/architecture.md) §Three-shader philosophy) caps the perf-budget more predictably than PBR (no GI-quality-knob to argue about); rendering-consistency improves (flat-color regions don't fight per-NPC color-modulation). Specific shader-stack budget per the rule-catalogue when authored.**)**
@@ -309,4 +314,4 @@ The remainder of this file holds the **cross-domain meta-lists**: Key moves (con
 
 ---
 
- **Version:** 0.20 | **Created:** 2026-04-24 | **Updated:** 2026-04-27
+ **Version:** 0.21 | **Created:** 2026-04-24 | **Updated:** 2026-04-27