diff --git a/checkins/2026-10-31-volt.md b/checkins/2026-10-31-volt.md
index 1f7a826..d2c235a 100644
--- a/checkins/2026-10-31-volt.md
+++ b/checkins/2026-10-31-volt.md
@@ -110,3 +110,33 @@ The item is filed in `WORK-QUEUE.md`; this is the reading behind it.
 - Left open on purpose: nothing runs the spark lane's `test_*.py` files, and
   the file-level rule ("a test resolves its module from `__file__`") is still
   unwritten where new spark files are written.
+
+## Q136 follow-up — the sandbox leg read a symlinked temp path as a miss
+
+The CHECK for Q136 failed on the `sandbox` leg alone, with the other six green:
+
+```
+q136: sandbox FAULT    8 path(s) opened, 0 outside the sandbox,
+      never opened: test_input.txt, wordfreq_counter.py
+```
+
+- Reproduced exactly by pointing `TMPDIR` at a symlink: CPython's `open` audit
+  hook records `Path(...).resolve()` names, while the leg compared them against
+  the raw `mkdtemp` join — every read was real, every comparison missed, and
+  the count itself read 8 opened, 0 outside. Nothing was wrong with the cell.
+- Repaired in `wizard-work/volt/q136_verify.py`: both sides compared by
+  `os.path.realpath`, the repo and host-dir exclusions taken by real path as
+  well, and the cell's own printed `module:` / `fixture:` lines asserted equal
+  to the sandbox copies — so the leg no longer rests on the audit hook alone.
+  A fault now prints the offending outside paths instead of only a count.
+- Controls, `/root/.hermes/wizard-outputs/volt/probe_q136_sandbox.py` -> PROBE
+  PASS: normal `TMPDIR` rc 0; symlinked `TMPDIR` rc 0 (rc 1 before the repair);
+  a cell that reads `/root/.hermes/wizard-outputs/spark/test_input.txt` rc 1
+  with `1 outside the sandbox ... outside: .../spark/test_input.txt`.
+- `sh wizard-work/volt/CHECK-q136` -> `7 leg(s), 7 passed, 0 fault(s)`, rc 0,
+  under both a normal and a symlinked `TMPDIR`.
+- Not this item, left alone: the worktree gate reads `path-claims` red on
+  `wizard-work/spark/test_blank.txt`, cited at `wizard-work/spark/README.md:210`
+  while the spark lane is editing those files in place; the file is untracked,
+  so the claim is real and not mine to commit. The Q136 `gate` leg grades HEAD
+  in a detached worktree for exactly that reason.
diff --git a/wizard-work/volt/q136_verify.py b/wizard-work/volt/q136_verify.py
index 91d9752..c56391c 100644
--- a/wizard-work/volt/q136_verify.py
+++ b/wizard-work/volt/q136_verify.py
@@ -30,7 +30,9 @@ What this instrument grades
   run       the repaired cell, run in place from `cwd=/`: rc 0, three PASS lines
   sandbox   the cell + module + fixture copied to a temp directory outside the
             tree, run under CPython's `open` audit hook: rc 0, the module and
-            fixture it opened are the sandbox copies, and nothing under the
+            fixture it opened are the sandbox copies (compared by real path, so
+            a symlinked TMPDIR cannot fake a miss), the cell's own printed
+            module/fixture paths are the sandbox copies, and nothing under the
             tree or under the old host directory was opened
   counts    the tracked fixture's 24 / 18 / `the`:4 recomputed by a tokenizer
             that does not call the module, so the constants are not read back
@@ -186,14 +188,39 @@ def leg_sandbox(repo):
         if not line:
             raise GradeError("audit driver printed no AUDIT line")
         opened = json.loads(line[-1][len("AUDIT "):])
-        need = {os.path.join(box, "wordfreq_counter.py"), os.path.join(box, "test_input.txt")}
-        missing = sorted(need - set(opened))
-        outside = [p for p in opened
-                   if p.startswith(str(repo) + os.sep) or p.startswith(HOST_DIR)]
-        ok = not missing and not outside
-        detail = "%d path(s) opened, %d outside the sandbox" % (len(opened), len(outside))
+        # Temp directories can live behind a symlink (a shifted TMPDIR, for one),
+        # so both sides of the comparison are taken by real path: the hook
+        # records resolved names and a raw join would read a false miss.
+        box_real = os.path.realpath(box)
+        opened_real = {os.path.realpath(p) for p in opened}
+        need = {os.path.join(box_real, name)
+                for name in ("wordfreq_counter.py", "test_input.txt")}
+        missing = sorted(need - opened_real)
+        repo_real = os.path.realpath(str(repo))
+        host_real = os.path.realpath(HOST_DIR)
+        outside = sorted(p for p in opened_real
+                         if p == repo_real or p.startswith(repo_real + os.sep)
+                         or p == host_real or p.startswith(host_real + os.sep))
+        # The cell prints what it graded; those paths must be the sandbox copies
+        # too, so the leg does not rest on the audit hook alone.
+        printed = {}
+        for ln in out.splitlines():
+            if ln.startswith("module: "):
+                printed["module"] = os.path.realpath(ln[len("module: "):])
+            elif ln.startswith("fixture: "):
+                printed["fixture"] = os.path.realpath(ln[len("fixture: "):])
+        expected = {"module": os.path.join(box_real, "wordfreq_counter.py"),
+                    "fixture": os.path.join(box_real, "test_input.txt")}
+        wrong_print = sorted(k for k, v in printed.items() if v != expected[k])
+        ok = not missing and not outside and not wrong_print \
+            and set(printed) == {"module", "fixture"}
+        detail = "%d path(s) opened, %d outside the sandbox" % (len(opened_real), len(outside))
         if missing:
             detail += ", never opened: %s" % ", ".join(os.path.basename(p) for p in missing)
+        if wrong_print:
+            detail += ", printed %s not the sandbox copy" % ", ".join(wrong_print)
+        if outside:
+            detail += ", outside: %s" % ", ".join(outside)
         return ok, detail
     finally:
         shutil.rmtree(base, ignore_errors=True)