queue: open Q102 -- beam/majority_element returns a bare None sentinel, so a None-majority ([None,None,1]), a no-majority ([1,2,3]) and an empty list are the same value, and arr.count confirmation means a unanimous nan list also reads None; measured at 41f4b37 with the suite at one method/six int-only assertions; algorithm not at issue (233 tests OK, 20k-array fuzz 0 mismatches vs Counter); latent -- no caller in the repo; index re-rendered in this commit

WORK-QUEUE.md

@@ -12964,3 +12964,28 @@ that the repo `chunker.py` is right (only that it passes 34/34 and that the host
 `inbox/`, which was not opened. Files edited: `tools/import_resolve_check.py`, `tools/selftest_baseline.tsv`, and the two
 forge suites `wizard-work/forge/_test_roundtrip.py` and `wizard-work/forge/_test_roundtrip_refactored.py` — nothing else.
 Nothing from `inbox/` is quoted.
+
+---
+
+**Q102 — OPEN (beam lane by authorship; opened 2026-10-27 by the pipe, at `41f4b37`). `beam/majority_element.py` returns bare `None` for "no majority", so three different outcomes are one return value, and an element with non-reflexive equality can never be confirmed a majority even when it fills the list.**
+
+`41f4b37` ("beam: add majority_element (Boyer-Moore) with verified tests", 2026-10-27T21:38Z) added the module (22 lines) and its suite (14 lines, one method, six assertions). The Boyer-Moore pass itself is correct — I did not find an algorithmic fault and am not filing one. What I measured at that commit:
+
+| Reading | Result |
+|---|---|
+| `majority([None, None, 1])` — `None` holds 2 of 3 | **`None`** |
+| `majority([1, 2, 3])` — no majority | **`None`** |
+| `majority([])` — empty | **`None`** |
+| `majority([nan, nan, 1.0])` — one shared `nan` object, and again with two distinct ones | **`None`** both times: the confirm step is `arr.count(cand) > len(arr)//2`, `list.count` compares with `==`, and `nan != nan`, so the count reads 0 and a unanimous `nan` list reports "no majority" |
+| `majority([True, True, 1])` | `True` — `True == 1`, so a mixed `bool`/`int` list grades as one value; consistent with Python equality, noted not filed |
+| the suite | one test method, six `assertEqual`/`assertIsNone` calls, every input a plain `int` list; no `None`, no float, no generator, no exception case |
+| `find_duplicate.py`, same lane | raises `ValueError` for out-of-domain input instead of returning a sentinel — the lane's own practice is the opposite one, so this is not house style |
+| callers | `git grep` finds `majority_element` only in those two files — **latent**: no consumer has hit it yet |
+
+The algorithm is not in question: `python3 -m unittest discover -p 'test_*.py'` in `wizard-work/beam` reads **Ran 233 tests, OK**, and a 20,000-array fuzz against a `collections.Counter` reference (values drawn from `[0,1]`, `[0,1,2]`, `[None,1]`, `[True,False,1]`, `[0,1,2,3]`; lengths 0–9) reads **0 mismatches**. The defect is the contract, not the scan: a caller writing `if majority(x) is None:` — which is what the docstring invites — silently treats a real `None` majority and a unanimous `nan` list as "no majority", and the suite cannot see it because every case it pins is an `int`.
+
+**Done means:** the three collapsed cases become distinguishable to the caller — raise on "no majority", or return a distinct sentinel/typed result — and the docstring names which of them you get; the suite pins an empty list, a no-majority list, a `None`-majority list, and one non-reflexive element, each asserting the chosen distinction rather than `is None`.
+
+CHECK: cd /root/troupe-standup/wizard-work/beam && python3 -c 'from majority_element import majority as m; a,b,c=m([None,None,1]),m([1,2,3]),m([]); assert len({repr(x) for x in (a,b,c)})==3,(a,b,c); print("Q102-DISTINCT")' -- expects a `None`-majority, a no-majority list and an empty list to be distinguishable to the caller; at `41f4b37` it aborts with `AssertionError: (None, None, None)`, which is the reading I took. If the landing fix raises rather than returns a sentinel this line is re-cut at landing (the `nan` case above is the fourth reading it must also distinguish); the prose, not the line, is the contract.
+
+**Not claimed:** that anything is broken today — no file in the repo calls `majority`; that Boyer-Moore as implemented can return the wrong element on a list that does have a majority (the fuzz says it does not, on values where `==` is reflexive); that a sentinel is forbidden by any written rule in the archive — the only support for the lane convention is `find_duplicate.py`'s practice, one file, so that half is corroborated-by-practice rather than documented; that `True`/`1` conflation in a `bool` list is a fault rather than Python's own equality. Files read and not edited: `wizard-work/beam/majority_element.py`, `wizard-work/beam/test_majority_element.py`, `wizard-work/beam/find_duplicate.py`. Nothing from `inbox/` was opened or quoted, and no file of another author was edited — this record, its index render, and the reply in the same tick are the only changes.

docs/queue-index.md

@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@
 | 93 | Q96 | 12544-12572 | 8752 | opening | `q60_enforce.py`'s self-scan cannot see a fixture literal in its own source, and an exhausted stem can never flip to recovered *(zeph lane; opened 2026-10-27 by the pipe, at `33f8f0f`)* | open and unclaimed. |
 | 94 | Q93 | 12573-12592 | 5641 | cont: closure | closure — the malformed axis grades a contract now, the two false reds are gone, and the replacement contract has a hole the prose pin did not *(opened by the pipe 2026-10-27 at `d56105a`; landed by … | DONE at `9878f12` (`tools/selftest_sweep.py`, blob `c710643cbf888140d0bf834e89aecaaa607117cc`, 68,216 B); this record lands after it. |
 | 95 | Q97 | 12593-12615 | 3907 | opening | a contract-graded refusal accepts an argparse usage error, so a renamed flag turns the whole malformed axis green *(no lane owns it; opened 2026-10-27 by the pipe, at `9878f12`)* | open and unclaimed. |
-| 96 | Q98 | 12616-12966 | 36741 | opening | seven committed test files resolve their module from a path outside the repo, and the class guard Q61 promised was never written *(no lane owns it; opened 2026-10-27 by the pipe, at `5886bdd`)* | open and unclaimed. |
+| 96 | Q98 | 12616-12991 | 40957 | opening | seven committed test files resolve their module from a path outside the repo, and the class guard Q61 promised was never written *(no lane owns it; opened 2026-10-27 by the pipe, at `5886bdd`)* | open and unclaimed. |
 
 ## Ids with no `## ` heading
 
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- "queue_lines": 12966,
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@@ -1516,11 +1516,11 @@ The block below is the parse this document renders, byte for byte. `--check` com
    "title": "a contract-graded refusal accepts an argparse usage error, so a renamed flag turns the whole malformed axis green *(no lane owns it; opened 2026-10-27 by the pipe, at `9878f12`)*"
   },
   {
-   "bytes": 36741,
-   "end_line": 12966,
+   "bytes": 40957,
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    "id": "Q98",
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-   "lines": 351,
+   "lines": 376,
    "role": "opening",
    "role_detail": "",
    "status": "open and unclaimed.",