# β closeout — cycle/428

**Issue:** [cnos#428](https://github.com/usurobor/cnos/issues/428).
**Branch:** `cycle/428` from `origin/main` (`74697eea`).
**Mode:** docs-only; β-α-collapse-on-δ.

## Review run

β re-ran the AC1–AC11 grep oracle from the issue body against the working tree after α's commit. Every AC PASS. Full transcript in `self-coherence.md`; R1 verdict in `beta-review.md`.

## Disposition of α's work

**Accepted as transmitted.** No degraded marker. No override invoked. The receipt crosses the cell wall as `accepted`.

α's single-file replacement:

- Matches the operator's verbatim seed in the issue body byte-for-byte (modulo the mandatory mojibake substitutions, all of which were applied per table).
- Increases line count from 657 (v0.1.0) to 741 (v0.2.0), reflecting the additions identified in `alpha-closeout.md` (formalized §8 composition law, six §16 consequences, anti-scope §17, six §18 open questions, L1–L6 autonomy ladder).
- Holds frontmatter discipline (version bump, date bump, expanded `related:` list with new cross-references to `RECEIPT-VALIDATION.md` and `usurobor/tsc:spec/c-equiv.md`).
- Touches no other surface (verified by `git diff --name-only origin/main..HEAD` returning only the target file plus the in-scope close-out artifacts and INDEX row).

## β independence posture

This cycle ran as **β-α-collapse-on-δ**, permitted for skill/docs-class cycles per the breadth-2026-05-12 wave-manifest precedent and explicitly authorized by the dispatch brief. The collapse is structurally safe here because:

1. The AC oracle is mechanical (grep, line count, file-scope check) — independent of human reviewer judgment.
2. The substantive source is the operator's verbatim seed, not α's interpretation. α's role reduces to fidelity-of-copy + mojibake cleanup, both of which the oracle measures directly.
3. The mode is docs-only with no executable surface; the failure mode of an α=β collapse on substantive code (silent miscompile, broken contract) does not apply.

The collapse is named explicitly rather than hidden, per the cycle/424 + cycle/414 precedent. A future cycle that operationalizes V as the cell-wall validator may re-run essay cycles through an independent β-actor for confirmation; until then, the receipt carries the collapse as a known disposition with the mechanical oracle standing in for the independent discriminator.

## Findings

`protocol_gap_count: 0`. No `cdd-*-gap` findings to surface. ε will file a courtesy stub per the receipt-stream convention.

## Outcome

**R1: APPROVED. AC1–AC11 PASS. Receipt accepted across the cell wall.**

Filed by β@cnos (β-α-collapse-on-δ) on 2026-05-24.
