edges = list(edges) above validation. The redundant ready-queue pre-sort is deleted (level is re-sorted one line later; 3000 random DAGs, 0 level-set diffs with it removed). The flattened-invariant assert is a raise, so -O cannot strip it. test_topo_levels resolves topo_levels from Path(__file__).parent, raises ImportError if the import resolves elsewhere, and its 17 cells are TestCase methods so unittest discover collects them (module-level functions were invisible to the gate). test_rendezvous_hash no longer sys.exit()s at import; its trials are a TestCase.
Measured at be363f5+worktree: bash wizard-work/beam/CHECK rc 0, Ran 136 tests, ALL PASS (242 checks) -- at be363f5 the same gate is rc 1 with zero cells run (ImportError: test_topo_sort imported from /root/.hermes/wizard-outputs/beam). Mutant grading and control cells: wizard-work/volt/q68-2026-10-25.md.