Connect provisional late-paid Recruits accounting

docs/CURRENT_STATUS.md

@@ -158,6 +158,14 @@ Types/lint and the affected five-file union pass **33/33**. The sole initial
 failure was an erroneous unsupported-Shield fixture row, removed before
 the focused repair and union rerun; runtime code was not weakened.
 
+**Late-paid Recruits first version connected.** Recorded free usage now allows
+play after paid ordinary returns. The visible provisional policy retains
+payment and total counters, without refund: Atreides' two-free/one-paid may
+take two additional free forces. Missing ledgers and pending/rate/replay
+guards remain. Two native Basic/Advanced smokes and live owned React controls
+prove exact usage/payment/card results; no broad suite or deployed proof.
+Types/lint and two targeted late-accounting/remaining-guard cases pass.
+
 **7 October 2026 — five pending rulings resolved by the user.** The user
 answered five recorded questions; each is now recorded in
 [the decision index](RULE_DECISIONS.md#user-rulings--7-october-2026) and

docs/RECRUITS_RULES.md

@@ -2,6 +2,13 @@
 
 Audit: 2026-09-06. Scope: the Recruits card interacting with prior revivals, existing unlimited/expanded allowances, prevention, Fremen ally grants and pending declarations. No runtime changes. This supplements [ECAZ_TREACHERY_RULES.md](./ECAZ_TREACHERY_RULES.md), which contains the original component figure and card-face provenance.
 
+**Runtime follow-up — 8 October 2026:** the content-first prototype now uses
+recorded actual free usage after paid returns, preserving payments and total
+returns without refund. This is an explicitly provisional implementation choice,
+not an answer to the publisher/user question below. See [the current runtime
+contract](RECRUITS_RUNTIME.md#provisional-late-paid-activation--8-october-2026).
+
+
 ## Primary evidence
 
 | Source                                                                                                                                   | Relevant verified rule                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |

docs/RECRUITS_RUNTIME.md

@@ -3,8 +3,30 @@
 14 September 2026. **Prototyped, not full card-variant acceptance.** The independent
 Ecaz & Moritani Treachery Cards variant is included before genuine Basic or
 Advanced faction setup. All three physical cards are present exactly once.
-Recruits has connected controls, AI and saved continuation; Reinforcements and
-Harass & Withdraw remain unfinished. Public starts and publication remain gated.
+Recruits, bounded Reinforcements and Harass & Withdraw have connected controls,
+AI and saved continuation; full interactions and public starts remain gated.
+
+## Provisional late-paid activation — 8 October 2026
+
+The content-first pass now permits Recruits after recorded paid ordinary
+returns, once the current transaction has finished. **Provisional policy:**
+prior payments are retained; only actual recorded free returns consume the
+doubled free rate, while all returns consume the total allowance. No refund,
+reset or retroactive reclassification is performed. This is not a numerical
+user ruling or a newly retrieved publisher answer.
+
+Thus Atreides' actual two-free/one-paid return retains its two-spice payment
+and three total returns; after Recruits it may take two additional free
+forces under the seven total cap. Missing or inconsistent free-use ledgers,
+pending declarations, later rate changes and same-turn replay remain guarded.
+The owned before-play panel and public active panel name this interpretation.
+
+Basic/Advanced before/after native smokes use a genuinely dealt card, an
+actual three-force return and useful allied Easy activation, then two free
+returns: total5/free4, unchanged paid spice and one card disposal. Live React
+controls in Chromium produce the same available2/remaining4 quote and preserve
+spice18/total3/free2 at activation. No broad suite, recovery or deployed proof.
+
 
 ## Rules contract
 
@@ -17,11 +39,11 @@ Fresh publisher/designer-linked PDF fetches on 14 September returned HTTP 403;
 this follow-up uses the earlier recorded primary-source audit and independent
 source review. No newly retrieved late-paid ruling is claimed.
 
-The connected scope permits clean activation before normal returns or after only
-exactly recorded free normal returns, once existing priority windows and transactions
-have finished. Earlier paid returns, unknown legacy usage, later Fremen grants,
-same-turn replay after recovery and additional optional modules remain guarded.
-Those guards identify unfinished cases; they are not new printed timing rules.
+The scope permits activation before returns or after consistently recorded
+free/paid normal returns, once priority windows and transactions finish.
+Unknown legacy usage, later Fremen grants, same-turn replay after recovery
+and additional optional modules remain guarded. These are unfinished cases,
+not new printed timing rules.
 Already-ready players retain their Revival opportunity while phase four is open.
 
 Atreides doubles two to four, Fremen three to six, and Guild one to two. Native
@@ -35,10 +57,10 @@ inference from independent effects, not a direct combined publisher FAQ.** A
 Tleilaxu limit response is not opened merely for crossing three under Recruits;
 other qualifying price/prevention responses retain their original purposes.
 
-The user has been asked about Atreides taking two free plus one paid return before
-Recruits: preserve the gate, provide two further free returns without refund, or
-provide one further free return without refund. No answer is assumed. The source
-audit also records the refund alternative and later changing-rate ambiguity.
+The earlier user question about one versus two further free Atreides returns
+remains unanswered. The 8 October first version uses the visibly provisional
+two-further-free policy above; it does not claim that question was adjudicated.
+The source audit retains the alternatives and later changing-rate ambiguity.
 
 ## Connected path and persistence
 

docs/RULE_DECISIONS.md

@@ -464,7 +464,7 @@ These are unresolved in the cited records. Do not infer an answer from elapsed t
 | Bureaucrat / Emperor gifts | Whether an allied gift is a qualifying payment and whether its threshold may be revealed. Existing gift amounts are private to payer/recipient; the card and retrieved primary sources do not explicitly settle this combination. The user question is pending; no answer or exact-amount disclosure is assumed. | [Gift classification review](BUREAUCRAT_PAYMENTS.md#21-september-gift-classification-review) |
 | Reinforcements cost | The user question still asks whether to keep the card disabled, always transfer three reserve forces on every outcome, or waive only a sole traitor-call winner's cost; no answer is assumed. The bounded classic and Ecaz/Moritani prototype provisionally charges on all revealed outcomes, chooses normal reserves before elite and counts the transfer as battle losses. Those are product interpretations, not a ruling. Same-plan Harass/Stone Burner remain gated; opposing Harass is supported. Eligibility never depends on concealed matching Traitors. | [Source cost review](ECAZ_TREACHERY_RULES.md#14-september-reinforcements-cost-review) · [Bounded runtime](REINFORCEMENTS_RUNTIME.md) |
 | Harass / Stone Burner | A user question has been sent: keep the combination gated or compare forces remaining after withdrawal. No answer is assumed. The Richese card-family configuration is guarded publicly; hidden Stone Burner custody never controls eligibility. Ambiguous physical allocations and other optional modules remain unfinished. | [Current boundaries](HARASS_WITHDRAW_RUNTIME.md#current-boundaries) |
-| Recruits late accounting and rates | A user question has been sent for two free plus one paid Atreides return before Recruits: keep the disputed case gated, or one/two further free returns without refund. No answer is assumed. Late-changing free rates, pending repricing and same-turn recovered-card replay also stay gated. The connected clean-case preview retains the independent seven-force cap after faction-advantage cancellation as an explicit inference, not a direct combined FAQ. | [Source audit](RECRUITS_RULES.md), [runtime scope](RECRUITS_RUNTIME.md) |
+| Recruits late accounting and rates | The earlier one/two-further-free question remains unanswered. The content-first prototype now preserves paid spice, deducts recorded actual free usage from the doubled rate and all returns from the total cap: two-free/one-paid Atreides can take two more free. This is visibly provisional, not a numerical user ruling. Unknown ledgers, pending repricing, late rate changes and same-turn replay remain guarded. | [Source alternatives](RECRUITS_RULES.md), [provisional runtime](RECRUITS_RUNTIME.md) |
 | Sapho remaining timing | First versus unspent Advanced Guild priority, partly completed combined turns, cyclic auction duration and later battle timing stay guarded. The existing pre-plan opportunity supports [early aggressor](SAPHO_AGGRESSOR.md). Prior questions remain unanswered. | [Source audit](JUICE_OF_SAPHO_SOURCE_UPDATE.md), [battle review](JUICE_OF_SAPHO_BATTLE_REVIEW.md) |
 | Semuta Drug | Full-hand exchange is user-approved; neutral all-seat acknowledgements remain the explicit application policy. Other discard producers, nested continuation coverage and full-game acceptance remain unfinished. | [Source update and selected exchange](SEMUTA_SOURCE_UPDATE_20260907.md), [privacy review](SEMUTA_PRIVACY_REVIEW.md) |
 | Leader Skills edge cases | Capture/replacement eligibility, Banker escrow custody, Smuggler modifier/allocation boundaries, Mentat empty-hand fallback, late/mirror/numeric Diplomat defenses and simultaneous optional timing remain source gaps. Printed alternate/hybrid defense roles now have a connected, explicitly interpreted copy path. The bounded Diplomat retreat prototype chooses printed/copied strength and surviving-loser retreat before casualties; this is not an official priority clarification. | [Material boundaries and retreat](LEADER_SKILLS_RULES.md#bounded-diplomat-retreat-interpretation), [Defense limits](DIPLOMAT_DEFENSE.md#evidence-and-remaining-scope) |