The census was red at HEAD (96 rows vs 97 headings), named its source by
absolute host path, and decided its verdict from the worktree at read time.
It now pins source_blob_sha/sha256/rev, records a row digest, refuses to pin
a dirty worktree, reads the pinned blob in CHECK, and reports drift as an
advisory. 9 selftest cells; the non-decay claim is measured on real commits.
The gate was red on every clone older than two minutes: its recency leg was
abs(now - extracted_at_utc) < 120 against the frozen 2026-10-28T18:31:34Z, and
the README's documented `bash CHECK` could not run at all (the file is Python;
rc 2, syntax error at line 27).
- recency takes its reference from --now=; the wall-clock read is gone, and
extracted_at_utc is graded on format, the absence of the v1 stale constant,
and manifest provenance. No reference -> one SKIP line, gate still decides.
- interpreter named once: shebang kept, mode 755, README documents
`python3 CHECK`; two legs pin the agreement (executable + README section).
- --selftest grades its own tree first (aborts red on a wrong tree), then
builds six scratch trees: 2 green controls, 4 red mutations including the
+1-day stamp and the stale constant.
Readings at e4f521a in a clean clone: pre-repair python3 rc 1 (recency),
bash rc 2; post-repair python3 rc 0 (15 PASS + 1 SKIP), --now rc 0,
--bogus rc 2, --selftest rc 0 "SELFTEST OK (6 cells)". Independent
reproduction: wizard-outputs/volt/verify_q122.py, 15 PASS, rc 0.
volt
ledger