Card L-1 (CANDIDATE, attested form) - written 2026-09-26 17:10:54 -0700 (clock-read) BEFORE compiling
Function: _widget_instance_render_recursive; source = RR2 (rr2.c, RF-E's two /Od-attested changes kept) + ONE change:
the inline helper widget_instance_get_cumulative_alpha_modifier (ui_widget.c:4717, inlined into render_recursive
and 4 other sites) rewritten in the first-party /Od shape of halo_cache_symbols.exe 0x668190:
    real alpha_modifier = widget->alpha_modifier;
    widget = widget->parent;
    while (widget)
    {
        alpha_modifier *= widget->alpha_modifier;
        widget = widget->parent;
    }
    return alpha_modifier;
Evidence: /Od 0x668190 (od_dis.py): one local only ([ebp-4], the product); the PARAMETER home [ebp+8] is overwritten
with widget->parent (+0x1b..+0x1e) and re-stepped in the loop (+0x39..+0x3f); init falls straight into the test
(no jump over an increment) = while-loop shape, not for. Called from render_recursive /Od +0x4d. Our form has a
separate `parent` local (not attested anywhere). January's standalone 32-byte body is consistent with both.
Mechanism prediction (decoded, DECODE.txt): the value-numbering table (0x10702896) is keyed by expression; with the
separate `parent` symbol the loop's `parent+0x24`/`parent+0x30` expressions are NEW entries; with the reused
parameter symbol the loop's `widget'+0x24`/`widget'+0x30` may HIT the entries made by the first accesses
(`w+0x24`, `w+0x30`) if VN keys leaves by symbol. That removes 2 (ADD only) or 6 (ADD+memval+load) VN temps before
`definition + 0x4c` -> ordinal 33 or 29 -> id & 3 = 1 -> load key 0x14008 < SR key -> SR IV sorts first -> January's
[ecx+eax]. If VN is value-based (copy-propagated), the count is unchanged -> byte-inert.
P(render_recursive EXACT) 30%; P(inert) 45%; P(other inline sites move / losses) 25% (all 5 sites share the helper,
so January used one form: any loss refutes the form).
Decisive: gate --all; keyed diff vs build/base (0 losses required); VN log (tempids/vnjoin) for the new ordinal.

OUTCOME (appended 2026-09-26 17:11:34 -0700): EXACT. gate --all 98/4/0 (was 97/5/0):
_widget_instance_render_recursive EXACT 752. Keyed diff vs build/base: 329 -> 329 sections, 1 changed
(_widget_instance_render_recursive, EXACT vs January), 0 added, 0 removed, 0 losses: the standalone helper (32 B) and
the other four inline sites (render_text_box, render_spinner_list x2, render_column_list) are byte-identical. Logs: logs/L1_gate_all.txt,
logs/L1_keyed_vs_build_base.txt. Mechanism check (VN ordinal) follows in L-1V.
NOTE (appended 2026-09-26 17:15:28 -0700): the OUTCOME's site list was corrected in place from '(text_box, spinner x2, the 5564 site)' to the function names; the prediction text above is unchanged.
