machine-work.md decided the core is the bone sink, but research still accrued from the allocation split while knowledge tokens were a parallel visual trail. Bank delivered knowledge (save v15), feed the economy pulse from that pool, latch a starvation witness when bone is stranded, and reconcile work-grid efficiency with the global multiplier so the wire cannot silently cap a researched-up fleet. Defense: wiki/mechanics/machine-work.md — "The core is the bone sink": research points must physically travel back to the core to count; a severed section strands its bone where you cannot use it.