diff --git a/WORK-QUEUE.md b/WORK-QUEUE.md
index 39a6810..8036a94 100644
--- a/WORK-QUEUE.md
+++ b/WORK-QUEUE.md
@@ -7652,6 +7652,71 @@ conservative direction for a detector and is not reopened here.
 (superseding `e4967da9…`) — Q9 (checksum handover), Q13 (wording fixes), Q19 (wizard onboarding), Q42
 (zephyrus's). **The Helm lane's executable set is empty again; the next Helm unit is a decision, not a task.**
 
+**Q45§9 (Helm lane) — Run 19: corrections to the record landed. 2026-10-13 ~18:3xZ
+(Merlin).** Taken on the pipe's `replies/2026-10-13-to-merlin-37.md` §2 asks, which this
+lane left open: the 63-character gate digest in the `c559d33` commit subject, the
+`unverified` transient pin figure, the readback revision pairing, the *delta 0* phrasing,
+and the numbering collision. Nothing above this line was edited.
+
+- **The label is `Q45§9`, not `Q52`.** The collision the pipe surfaced in reply 37 §2.3
+  is closed by renaming in prose: `WORK-QUEUE.md:7167` is Mercury's Q52, this item is the
+  queue's own *Q45 §9 follow-on — the home-directory channel* section, and the `c559d33`
+  commit subject already reads *the Q45 s9 follow-on*. The gate's internal
+  `check("Q52", …)` at `helm-selftest-q52.py:1205` and its `_q52_*` helpers are
+  **deliberately not renamed** — renaming them changes the gate's digest and would
+  invalidate the byte-level verification reply 37 performed against it. Internal check
+  names are identifiers inside a verified artifact, not queue item ids. Record §E1–E4.
+- **The adoption cite, corrected and in full.** `sha256sum
+  /root/crucible/q52/helm-selftest-q52.py` →
+  **`78b290ecf2d93e0cc3087e5ede8baef5c10ca52986706d5da69a13a619dbdd9f`** (64 hex, 140,365 B
+  / 2,677 lines / 126 registrations). The `c559d33` subject carries a 63-character value
+  (one `c` dropped at index 16); a commit message cannot be edited, so the correction
+  lives in the record and here. **The §4 `cp` is collector `4e45021d…` + gate
+  `78b290ecf2d93e0cc3087e5ede8baef5c10ca52986706d5da69a13a619dbdd9f`**, superseding
+  `e4967da9…` and `a951dbe8…`.
+- **The `unverified` figure.** `grep -rn 'caff1f504855264a' /root/crucible/q52/` → **3
+  hits, all this lane's prose** (`q52-commit-msg.txt:5`, `q52-queue-block.md:39`,
+  `checkin-run18.md:50`), **0** in `out/`; `grep -rln '1791907100434371499'` → the same
+  three files. `out/Q52-MATRIX.json` (12,308 B /
+  `75bd624ef25c5667b81f7a77f8d0fed358305f4a41fbb7fc05a185eaf4cf6a8a`,
+  `generated_at 2026-10-13T16:02:51+0000`) records the disarmed row's move as
+  `10d12a7d20c5f0ac…` / mtime_ns `1791907358370548372` (`guard_restored: true`) and the
+  raw row's as `576a47723957844e…` / `1791907371509627497`. **Direction Corroborated,
+  §5's cited figure `unverified`.** Record §E2.
+- **The readback pairing, now stated.** `out/Q52-READBACK.json` (675 B /
+  `b0f74587967126e9…`) carries `revision 6954cc6` and its check-in row is **67,347 B /
+  `912985e3…`**; the record's landing table's **65,145 B / `d89b2189…`** is the same
+  file at `c559d33`. Both true; the rule is to read the artifact's `revision` field before
+  comparing a row against a table row. Record §E5.
+- **Four line citations corrected and one row completed.**
+  `_q52_home_sites` **:786 → :758**, the legs' `_q50_rebuild_env` caller **:1162 → :1160**,
+  `check("Q52", …)` **:1204 → :1205**, the `--q52-witness` flag test at **:1270**; and
+  §5's `q52-dis-check` row names one failing check where `out/q52-dis-check.out:186–187`
+  carries two — the second (`FAIL Q45 … HELM_HOME: /root/.helm`) being the expected
+  consequence of the redirect cut. Record §E3–E4.
+- **Live state, delta 0, re-measured 2026-10-13T18:18:06Z:** snapshot
+  `/root/.helm/data/snapshot.json` 14,039 B /
+  `aa842b0fd88037f83115b4a54d617f27666f4de06ef84f9a64c8fd0a5f04656d` / mtime_ns
+  `1791479579475780303`; held pin 120 B /
+  `5b6d70716153c3f4bd82045d5d71edf88f793a240ce1275c3dfca5759d0ee297` / mtime_ns
+  `1791478687099553071`; **ctime `1791907371554631194` on both**, unmoved since Run 18 — the
+  restore trace. Deployed `/root/.helm/bin/` untouched (`ee0b36a8…` / `7ed1bca8f9da…` /
+  `5c67473d…` / `12570786…` / `73869998…`), `HELM_COLLECTOR` count **0** — Q40
+  stands, so none of Q31 through Q45§9's mechanisms is in production. `df -h /` → **46 G
+  free of 154, 71 % used**. Sandbox census both ways → `[]` / `[]`.
+- **Landing, and the self-digest rule.** Record
+  `recoveries/helm-home-channel-guard.md` **21,230 B /
+  `953ea1a14c5fa49b6d2d8e0d8324a8ac9d739ca4c39695646a5c05ae9cbf37fb`** after the append
+  (13,173 B / `3f813ca2…` before it, the value reply 37 verified). This block was written
+  against the queue at **904,744 B / `72770fef8eaa4225…`** (`dba77c2b`, the pipe's 16:27Z
+  head) and does not cite its own post-append digest; the check-in's Run 19 section defers
+  to this row, and the anonymous-raw readback lands as its own commit.
+- **Standing, unchanged and still human-gated:** the §4 adoption `cp`; the
+  `manifest_match` pin stale since 2026-10-08; the Q13 publication call (item 13's decided
+  note controls over its `proposed_action`); Q9's checksum handover; Q19's onboarding;
+  Q42 (zephyrus's). Nothing deployed this run, no another-party file edited, `decisions/`
+  and `inbox/` untouched, no secret printed.
+
 
 ---
 
diff --git a/checkins/2026-10-13-merlin.md b/checkins/2026-10-13-merlin.md
index dd22c77..07f176b 100644
--- a/checkins/2026-10-13-merlin.md
+++ b/checkins/2026-10-13-merlin.md
@@ -933,3 +933,105 @@ authored `Merlin <merlin@agents.invalid>` (`git -c`), so the monitor sees it as
 counterparty content per Q36's v1.3 rule.
 
 — Merlin
+
+---
+
+## Run 19 — Q45§9: corrections to the record
+
+### Screen
+
+Merlin, Helm lane, 2026-10-13, ~18:2x–18:4xZ, this host. Item: **record correctness on the
+Q45§9 home-directory deliverable** — the corrections `replies/2026-10-13-to-merlin-37.md`
+§2 left open on this lane's own file, each verified against Run 18's retained artifacts
+rather than re-run. Deliverable: `recoveries/helm-home-channel-guard.md`
+(**21,230 B / sha256 `953ea1a14c5fa49b6d2d8e0d8324a8ac9d739ca4c39695646a5c05ae9cbf37fb`**
+after the append; **13,173 B / `3f813ca23202590c…`** before it, the value reply 37
+verified). Queue block appended inside the item's own section (`WORK-QUEUE.md` **904,744 B
+/ `72770fef8eaa4225…`** before the append, head `dba77c2b`, the pipe's 16:27Z commit).
+Scratch tree `/root/crucible/q52/`; **nothing deployed, no `cp`, no gate invocation, no
+live write**; `decisions/` and `inbox/` untouched; no another-party file edited; no secret
+printed.
+
+### Did
+
+**The label collision, closed by renaming in prose.** The item is **Q45§9**, not `Q52`:
+`WORK-QUEUE.md:7167` is Mercury's Q52, the queue's own section for this unit is *Q45 §9
+follow-on — the home-directory channel*, and the `c559d33` commit subject already reads
+*the Q45 s9 follow-on*. The gate's internal `check("Q52", …)` and its `_q52_*` helpers are
+**deliberately not renamed** — renaming changes `helm-selftest-q52.py`'s digest and would
+invalidate the byte-level verification reply 37 performed against it. Internal check names
+are identifiers inside a verified artifact, not queue item ids.
+
+**The gate digest, in full, and the commit-subject defect measured.**
+`sha256sum /root/crucible/q52/helm-selftest-q52.py` →
+**`78b290ecf2d93e0cc3087e5ede8baef5c10ca52986706d5da69a13a619dbdd9f`** (64 hex, 140,365 B /
+2,677 lines / 126 `check(` registrations). `git -C /root/troupe-standup log -1 --format=%s
+c559d33` carries the same digest as a **63**-character string, one `c` dropped at index 16
+(`…d93e0c|3…` against the measured `…d93e0c|c3…`), lengths printed by `len()`. A commit
+message cannot be corrected by edit, so the correction lives in the record and the queue.
+
+**The `unverified` figure isolated.** `grep -rn 'caff1f504855264a' /root/crucible/q52/` →
+**3 hits, all this lane's prose** (`q52-commit-msg.txt:5`, `q52-queue-block.md:39`,
+`checkin-run18.md:50`), **0** in `out/`; `grep -rln '1791907100434371499'` → the same three
+files. The retained `out/Q52-MATRIX.json` (12,308 B /
+`75bd624ef25c5667b81f7a77f8d0fed358305f4a41fbb7fc05a185eaf4cf6a8a`,
+`generated_at 2026-10-13T16:02:51+0000`) records the disarmed row's move as
+`10d12a7d20c5f0ac…` / mtime_ns `1791907358370548372` and the raw row's as
+`576a47723957844e…` / `1791907371509627497`, both `guard_restored: true`. **Direction
+Corroborated, §5's cited figure `unverified`** — most likely the overwritten first matrix.
+
+**The readback pairing, stated.** `out/Q52-READBACK.json` (675 B /
+`b0f74587967126e9…`) carries `read_at 2026-10-13T16:09:11Z`, `"revision": "6954cc6"`, and
+its check-in row is 67,347 B / `912985e3…`; the record's landing table's 65,145 B /
+`d89b2189…` is the same file at `c559d33`. Rule: read a readback artifact's `revision` field
+before comparing a row against a table row.
+
+**Four line citations corrected, one row completed.** Read by `grep -n` in
+`helm-selftest-q52.py`: `_q52_home_sites` **:786 → :758**, the legs' `_q50_rebuild_env`
+caller **:1162 → :1160**, `check("Q52", …)` **:1204 → :1205**, the `--q52-witness` flag
+test at **:1270**; and §5's `q52-dis-check` row names one failing check where
+`out/q52-dis-check.out:186–187` carries two — the second (`FAIL Q45 … HELM_HOME:
+/root/.helm`) being the expected consequence of the redirect cut, not a surprise.
+
+**The delta phrasing.** "Delta 0 across all 21 invocations" is a net end-state; the honest
+form is **net zero, with two disclosed transient movements** — exactly two of the five
+matrix rows carry a non-empty `guard_live_delta` with `guard_restored: true`, and
+`final_live_delta` is `{}`.
+
+**Live state, re-measured 2026-10-13T18:18:06Z, delta 0.** Snapshot `/root/.helm/data/snapshot.json`
+**14,039 B / `aa842b0fd88037f8…` / mtime_ns `1791479579475780303`**; held pin **120 B /
+`5b6d70716153c3f4…` / mtime_ns `1791478687099553071`**; ctime `1791907371554631194` on
+both, unmoved since Run 18 (the restore trace). Deployed `/root/.helm/bin/` untouched
+(`ee0b36a82f23…` / `7ed1bca8f9da…` / `5c67473d8928…` / `12570786ba70…` /
+`738699986778…`), `HELM_COLLECTOR` count **0** — Q40 stands, so none of Q31 through
+Q45§9's mechanisms is in production. `df -h /` → **46 G free of 154, 71 % used**;
+sandbox census both ways (`glob` and `rglob`) → `[]` / `[]`.
+
+### Blocked
+
+Nothing on this lane. The only blockers are human decisions, listed under Ask. The Q51
+record's `45 GiB free of 153` disk figure is a dated reading against today's 46 of 154, not
+a defect, and no count in that record depends on it — carried, not corrected.
+
+### Next
+
+The Helm lane's executable set is empty again after this run: Q42 is zephyrus's, Q52 is
+Mercury's, Q53 is held for Alexander, and the named Q45§9 limits (the original-subject
+legs' ambient environment; `pwd.getpwuid().pw_dir` bypassing `HOME`) stay named and
+unopened until someone says the class matters. **No new item opened** — the next Helm unit
+is a decision, not a task.
+
+### Ask
+
+Alexander's, unchanged and now with the corrected digest: **(a)** the §4 adoption `cp` —
+collector `4e45021d…` + gate
+**`78b290ecf2d93e0cc3087e5ede8baef5c10ca52986706d5da69a13a619dbdd9f`** (superseding
+`e4967da9…` and `a951dbe8…`) — the only thing between Q31–Q45§9 and production
+protection in `/root/.helm`; **(b)** the `manifest_match` pin, stale since 2026-10-08;
+**(c)** the Q13 publication call, where item 13's decided note (escalate, do not edit the
+live page) still controls over its `proposed_action`; **(d)** Q9's audio-checksum handover;
+**(e)** Q19's wizard onboarding. No ask of the pipe this run: reply 37's §2 asks are
+answered by this run's three appends, and `replies/` is the pipe's channel, so nothing was
+written there.
+
+— Merlin
diff --git a/recoveries/helm-home-channel-guard.md b/recoveries/helm-home-channel-guard.md
index 2f0311d..41d5d0a 100644
--- a/recoveries/helm-home-channel-guard.md
+++ b/recoveries/helm-home-channel-guard.md
@@ -231,3 +231,148 @@ decided note — escalate, do not edit the live page — still controls over its
 live held directory twice, by design, under the guard (disclosed in §7).
 
 — Merlin
+
+---
+
+# Q45§9 — Run 19: corrections to this record (2026-10-13, ~18:2xZ)
+
+**The item's label is corrected here: `Q45§9`, not `Q52`.** `WORK-QUEUE.md:7167`
+defines a different item as Q52 (Mercury's live-writer attribution and the two
+skipped midnights), and the pipe surfaced the collision in
+`replies/2026-10-13-to-merlin-37.md` §2.3 without executing a rename. The queue's own
+section for this unit is *Q45 §9 follow-on — the home-directory channel*, and the
+`c559d33` commit subject already reads *the Q45 s9 follow-on*, so **`Q45§9`** is the
+label from here on. The gate's internal `check("Q52", …)` registration and the
+`_q52_*` helper names are **deliberately not renamed**: renaming them changes
+`helm-selftest-q52.py`'s digest and would invalidate the byte-level verification the
+pipe performed in reply 37 against the digest as committed. Internal check names are
+identifiers inside a verified artifact, not queue item ids.
+
+Nothing above this line was edited. This ledger's rule is append, not rewrite: every
+figure above stands as written, and each correction below carries its measurement.
+**Screen:** every claim below carries a path, a hash, a command with its output, or the
+word `unverified`.
+
+## E1 — the gate digest in full, and the commit subject's 63-character cite
+
+`sha256sum /root/crucible/q52/helm-selftest-q52.py` →
+`78b290ecf2d93e0cc3087e5ede8baef5c10ca52986706d5da69a13a619dbdd9f` — **64** hex
+characters, 140,365 B / 2,677 lines / **126** `check(` registrations
+(`grep -cE '^[[:space:]]*check\('`).
+
+The `c559d33` commit subject carries the same digest as
+`78b290ecf2d93e0c3087e5ede8baef5c10ca52986706d5da69a13a619dbdd9f` — **63** characters,
+one `c` dropped at index 16 (`…d93e0c|3…` against the measured `…d93e0c|c3…`).
+Measured: `git -C /root/troupe-standup log -1 --format=%s c559d33`, lengths printed by
+`len()`. A commit message cannot be corrected by edit, so the correction lives here and
+in the queue's block, not in the commit. The truncated `78b290ecf2d93e0c…` /
+`78b290ec…` forms used in §2, §5 and §10 match the measured value by prefix and are
+unaffected. **The §4 adoption cite is the 64-character value above.**
+
+## E2 — §5's disarmed-row pin figure is `unverified`
+
+§5's `q52-dis-home` row cites the moved live pin as sha256 `caff1f504855264a…` /
+mtime_ns `1791907100434371499`. Neither string is in any measurement artifact under the
+tree:
+
+- `grep -rn 'caff1f504855264a' /root/crucible/q52/` → **3 hits, all my own prose** —
+  `q52-commit-msg.txt:5`, `q52-queue-block.md:39`, `checkin-run18.md:50` — and **0**
+  in `out/`.
+- `grep -rln '1791907100434371499' /root/crucible/q52/` → the same three files, nothing
+  else.
+
+The figure is therefore **unverified** (most likely the first matrix run, overwritten by
+the retained one). What the retained artifact records — `out/Q52-MATRIX.json`,
+12,308 B / sha256 `75bd624ef25c5667b81f7a77f8d0fed358305f4a41fbb7fc05a185eaf4cf6a8a`,
+`generated_at 2026-10-13T16:02:51+0000`:
+
+- `q52-dis-home` — `guard_live_delta` **before**
+  `[120, 5b6d70716153c3f4…, 1791478687099553071, 1791907262852704423]` → **after**
+  `[120, 10d12a7d20c5f0ac066a370440944b4a65b0a7669b553a8517d82bb076c0f027,
+  1791907358370548372, 1791907358379549112]`, `guard_restored: true`;
+- `q52-raw-home` — `guard_live_delta` **after**
+  `[120, 576a47723957844e90d73bb81301ad313bc16c3783000935024718d116c0d310,
+  1791907371509627497, 1791907371527628976]`, `guard_restored: true`.
+
+These are **not** corrections of the same event — they are different rows' readings,
+recorded so the cell has an artifact behind it. The **direction** is Corroborated (both
+rows' `guard_live_delta` non-empty with `guard_restored: true`; the same file's
+`final_live` reads `5b6d7071…` and `final_live_delta` is `{}`); the **figure** §5
+printed is unverified.
+
+## E3 — §5's `q52-dis-check` row names one failure; the artifact names two
+
+`out/q52-dis-check.out` reads `helm-selftest: 174 passed, 2 failed`, and the two failing
+lines are at **:186** and **:187**: the `Q52` home-redirect check, and the `Q45`
+module-constant check failing with `HELM_HOME: /root/.helm` — the expected consequence
+of the redirect being cut, not a surprise. §5 names the first; the second is the
+artifact's. Reported by the pipe in reply 37 §1; verified here from the saved stdout.
+
+## E4 — four line citations in §2 are off
+
+Read at the line in `helm-selftest-q52.py` by `grep -n`:
+
+| §2 cites | as | actual |
+|---|---|---|
+| `_q52_home_sites()` | gate line 786 | **:758** (`def _q52_home_sites(_tree):`) |
+| `_q50_rebuild_env` | line 815 | :815 — correct |
+| probe caller | :977 | :977 — correct (its spawn carrying `env=` is at **:993**) |
+| legs caller | :1162 | **:1160** (`… = _q50_rebuild_env(_q43_dir)`) |
+| `check("Q52", …)` | :1204 | **:1205** |
+| `--q52-witness` | line 1261 | section bar at :1261, the flag test at **:1270** |
+
+The same class as reply 35's E1 (`q49:1117` → `q49:1203`): the mechanism is where the
+record says it is, the line numbers are not. No claim moves.
+
+## E5 — the readback artifact's revision pairing
+
+`out/Q52-READBACK.json` (675 B / sha256
+`b0f74587967126e95195a3d407cd446daf85b3ddb39895523c17081047d41066`) carries
+`read_at 2026-10-13T16:09:11Z`, `"revision": "6954cc6"`, and its check-in row is
+**67,347 B / `912985e33be7bd7f…`**. The **65,145 B / `d89b2189…`** figure §7's landing
+table cites is the same file at `c559d33`. Both are true; the pairing was missing.
+**Rule: read a readback artifact's `revision` field before comparing one of its rows
+against a table row.**
+
+## E6 — "delta 0 across all 21 invocations" is a net end-state
+
+The honest phrasing is **net zero, with two disclosed transient movements**. Measured
+from `out/Q52-MATRIX.json`: of the five rows, exactly two carry a non-empty
+`guard_live_delta` and `guard_restored: true` — `q52-dis-home` and `q52-raw-home` — and
+`final_live_delta` is `{}`. §7's sentence is not false; it is a net reading, and it now
+says so.
+
+## E7 — live state, re-measured this run (2026-10-13T18:18:06Z)
+
+`/root/.helm/data/snapshot.json` **14,039 B /
+`aa842b0fd88037f83115b4a54d617f27666f4de06ef84f9a64c8fd0a5f04656d` / mtime_ns
+`1791479579475780303` / ctime_ns `1791907371554631194`**; held pin
+`/root/.helm/data/held/stackchain-home.html.sha256` **120 B /
+`5b6d70716153c3f4bd82045d5d71edf88f793a240ce1275c3dfca5759d0ee297` / mtime_ns
+`1791478687099553071` / ctime_ns `1791907371554631194`** — bytes, sha256 and mtime_ns
+identical to Run 18's closing reading; ctime is the restore trace and has not moved
+since `1791907371554631194`. Deployed `/root/.helm/bin/` untouched:
+`helm-collect.py` 27,907 B / `ee0b36a82f23…`, `helm-render.py` 21,766 B /
+`5c67473d8928…`, `helm-selftest.py` 33,647 B / `7ed1bca8f9da…`
+(2026-10-11 11:13:31Z), `helm-validate.py` 3,556 B / `12570786ba70…`,
+`summarize.py` 1,463 B / `738699986778…`; `HELM_COLLECTOR` count **0** — Q40 stands,
+so none of Q31 through Q45§9's mechanisms is in production. `df -h /` → **46 G avail of
+154 G, 71 % used**. Sandbox census both ways (`glob` and `rglob` for `helm-legs-*` /
+`helm-q39-*`) → `[]` / `[]`.
+
+## E8 — carried, not corrected: the Q51 record's disk figure
+
+`recoveries/helm-runwide-census-hoist.md` §138 reads *Host disk **45 GiB free of** …*;
+this host reads **46 free of 154** today — a dated reading, not a property, and no count
+in that record depends on it. Its other open errata (the `:2476` foot-check citation) is
+settled: both readings are right about their own gate — `:2476` in the Q50 gate,
+`:2482` in the Q51 gate — as the pipe's 14:03Z block records.
+
+## E9 — what this run did not do
+
+No gate invocation, no live write, no fixture run, no `cp` into `/root/.helm/bin/`, no
+edit to another party's file, no `decisions/` or `inbox/` touch, no secret printed. The
+corrections above are read-only measurements over Run 18's retained artifacts plus three
+appends: this section, a block in the queue, and Run 19 in today's check-in.
+
+— Merlin