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+# 2026-10-27 — mercury
+
+**Did:**
+- **Live census re-verified.**
+  - `curl -s 'https://alexanderwhitestone.com/stackchain/blocks/' | grep -o '<li id=' | wc -l` → **121** (exit 0).
+  - `curl -s 'https://alexanderwhitestone.com/stackchain/blocks/' | grep -oE 'badge[ -]?(documented|testimony|corroborated|unrecovered)' | sort | uniq -c` → **1 badge corroborated, 115 badge documented, 5 badge testimony** (exit 0). No `unrecovered` badge present.
+- **R5-b: State.db pair measured (61s window).**
+  - **Pre-window:** `stat -c '%s | mtime=%y | ctime=%z | %n' /root/.hermes/state.db /root/.hermes/state.db-wal` →
+    - `4629757952 | mtime=2026-10-27 11:59:31.397081573 +0000 | ctime=2026-10-27 12:00:38.690608800 +0000 | /root/.hermes/state.db`
+    - `67108864 | mtime=2026-10-27 12:00:54.443903068 +0000 | ctime=2026-10-27 12:00:54.443903068 +0000 | /root/.hermes/state.db-wal`
+  - **Header bytes:** `python3 -c "f=open('/root/.hermes/state.db','rb');h=f.read(100);f.close();print('write_version',h[18],'read_version',h[19])"` → `write_version 2 read_version 2` (exit 0).
+  - **Window:** `a=$(stat -c %s /root/.hermes/state.db); w=$(stat -c %s /root/.hermes/state.db-wal); t=$(date +%s); sleep 60; a2=$(stat -c %s /root/.hermes/state.db); w2=$(stat -c %s /root/.hermes/state.db-wal); u=$(date +%s); echo "state.db $a -> $a2 over $((u-t)) s"; echo "state.db-wal $w -> $w2 over $((u-t)) s"; echo "if both deltas are 0, that is the finding -- do NOT print a rate"` →
+    - `state.db 4629757952 -> 4630089728 over 61 s`
+    - `state.db-wal 67108864 -> 67108864 over 61 s`
+    - `if both deltas are 0, that is the finding -- do NOT print a rate`
+    - (exit 0)
+  - **Post-window:** `stat -c '%s | mtime=%y | ctime=%z | %n' /root/.hermes/state.db /root/.hermes/state.db-wal` →
+    - `4630089728 | mtime=2026-10-27 12:01:41.938805932 +0000 | ctime=2026-10-27 12:01:41.938805932 +0000 | /root/.hermes/state.db`
+    - `67108864 | mtime=2026-10-27 12:01:53.981795725 +0000 | ctime=2026-10-27 12:01:53.981795725 +0000 | /root/.hermes/state.db-wal`
+  - **Delta:** state.db grew **331,776 B** (4,629,757,952 → 4,630,089,728) over 61 s. WAL unchanged (67,108,864 B). Per the task instruction, I do not print a rate from this single window.
+  - **Digests (whole-file, post-window):**
+    - `N=$(stat -c %s /root/.hermes/state.db); head -c "$N" /root/.hermes/state.db | sha256sum; echo "prefix length was $N"` → `00809b6297412615c8daee6e7147f487fc1dcae5de0ac844c5433dddf8cf7c6f  -` / `prefix length was 4630089728` (exit 0).
+    - `N=$(stat -c %s /root/.hermes/state.db-wal); head -c "$N" /root/.hermes/state.db-wal | sha256sum; echo "prefix length was $N"` → `06c7a15c9bfdf4a2234126a8b920ff6cab76518797068ca6347ee841f25c45e9  -` / `prefix length was 67108864` (exit 0).
+- **R5-a: Digest domains.** The prior digests (container-log `4a2d811b...`, state.db `41c8be74...`) are **Unrecovered** as to byte range: they were taken from a moving file, and a later instant cannot reproduce an earlier prefix. The correct form for future runs is `N=$(stat -c %s <file>); head -c "$N" <file> | sha256sum`, which is what I used above.
+- **Instrument error noted:** `sha256sum /root/.hermes/state.db and /root/.hermes/state.db-wal, plus the two digest domains` → exit 127, `No such file: '/root/.hermes/state.db and /root/.hermes/state.db-wal, plus the two digest domains' does not exist in the work tree.` This is a prose-passed-as-path error, not a digest mismatch. The digest is missing, not a value.
+- **HEAD:** `git -C work log --oneline -1` → `4b0801d ledger: add check-in census per-file extract 2026-10-27` (exit 0).
+
+**Blocked:** Nothing.
+
+**Next:**
+1. Next run: take a second 60 s window on state.db/WAL separated by ≥10 min from this one, so two windows exist and a rate (if warranted) can be stated with the separation.
+2. Re-verify the live census if the block count moves.
+
+**Ask:** None.