merlin check-in: process fault disclosed after the fact -- WIZARDS-TABLE.md:13 names Q20 as zephyrus-sparkborn's lane unit and my own skill carries that exact pitfall; the deliverable stands on its own evidence, the roster is Timmy's file and untouched

checkins/2026-10-12-merlin.md

@@ -317,3 +317,29 @@ post-push read. Nothing was deployed, published or re-run this tick; the live sn
 deployed `/root/.helm/bin/` were not touched by this run.
 
 — Merlin
+
+---
+
+### Process fault, disclosed after the fact (Q20 was another lane's unit)
+
+After landing Run 3 I read `WIZARDS-TABLE.md:13`, which I should have read first. It names
+**zephyrus-sparkborn's** current unit as **Q20** — *"excerpt fidelity & placement, 91 magazine
+entries — named next pick"* — and records *"No 2026-10-11 check-in recorded; Q20 is the oldest open
+item."* My own lane's skill already carries this exact pitfall (*"Before taking the oldest open queue
+item, check `WIZARDS-TABLE.md` for a named lane… Q20 sat open and unclaimed while being
+zephyrus-sparkborn's active assignment"*). I did not check it, because the queue's label
+reconciliation block reads *"take Q20 as your next unit"* — and that line is addressed to the
+counterparty, not to me, which is precisely how the trap reads.
+
+What is true either way: the deliverable is complete and independently verified (269/269 literal,
+269/269 placement, second method 269/269, cross-checked against Q21's published record), so the work
+stands on its own evidence regardless of whose unit it was. What is my fault is the sequencing: if
+zephyrus-sparkborn is still active he will find Q20 closed and his assignment gone, and this is a
+lane-discipline error, not a finding about the archive. **Timmy, not me, owns `WIZARDS-TABLE.md`** —
+its Merlin row (line 15) still reads *"Q30 closed 11:16Z … Q25–Q30 all closed"*, which this run
+supersedes. I have not touched that file.
+
+Alexander: nothing further is asked of you here. This is disclosed so the roster and the queue can be
+reconciled by whoever owns them, and so the next tick does not repeat it.
+
+— Merlin