Settlement Aftershock Ledger / 和解反震账本机制

Settlement Aftershock Ledger is the mechanism that keeps a successful settlement from becoming a free erase button.

When a claimant collision, drift audit, memorial rights case, oxygen exchange, or audience-stability triage produces relief and debt at the same time, the relief may hold immediately but the debt must remain portable. This mechanism converts that leftover pressure into a ledger that later rites can assign, discharge, convert, breach, or harden.

Primary design problem

Storyteller already has strong branch-level pressure surfaces. The missing mechanism is longitudinal settlement memory: a route can look solved in one session while its fan, sponsor, inspector, editor, archive, and broadcast-reality consequences are still alive.

This mechanism makes those consequences playable without using fixed turn timers or adding filler events.

Mechanism entry

Create or update an aftershock ledger when:

1. a resolved branch changes at least two pressure surfaces;
2. at least one relief and one debt remain visible;
3. the result changes future route access, cost, legitimacy, custody, or broadcast reality;
4. another faction can plausibly reopen, review, exploit, or inherit the unresolved debt.

Valid source outcomes include sponsor_priority_settlement, editorial_priority_cut, inspector_priority_seal, route_copies_split, public_receipt_realign, sponsor_containment_version, shared_public_memorial, sponsor_memorial_capture, fan_vigil_contempt, refusal_first_delay, audit_shield_converted, quarantined_split_version, settlement_deferred, or equivalent.

Core objects

• 和解反震账本 stores source resolution, relief, debt, live aftershock surfaces, and assignment state.
• 和解反震复核 stress-tests the ledger through handler, opposing proof, and cost slots.
• 和解反震破口 fires when unpaid debt becomes public, legal, sponsor, edit, archive, fan, or route pressure.

Ledger state machine

State	Meaning	Required consequence
unreviewed	A prior branch left relief and debt.	The ledger can be assigned, ignored, or reopened.
under_review	A handler is testing the debt against opposing proof.	At least two pressure surfaces move.
converted	Debt becomes a new route asset, public receipt, audit shield, edit patch, or sponsor claim.	One future path unlocks while one cost persists.
discharged	The debt is paid enough to stop recurring pressure.	Relief is durable but a spent cost/favor/scar remains.
deferred	The player buys time without resolving the aftershock.	Immediate pressure falls while future breach probability or cost rises.
breached	The debt breaks into a visible event.	A breach event mutates counters, route access, or claimant hostility.
hardened	The player ignores or hides the ledger until debt becomes route law.	Recovery requires stronger proof, appeal, sacrifice, or hostile-route work.
false_settlement_owner	A wrong claimant becomes owner of the settlement story.	Later clean success becomes harder or impossible until countered.

Aftershock surfaces

At least two surfaces should remain live whenever the mechanism is active:

• fan_public: fan oxygen ledger, public receipt, unauthorized historian, public apology, witness queue;
• sponsor_desk: stop-loss order, relief escrow, naming right, clean ending, private capture;
• inspector_archive: audit docket, white-glove seal, admissible copy, custody clarity, bureau favor;
• editor_blackbox: final cut, checksum, redaction, source tape, edit debt;
• broadcast_reality: aired version, drift docket, black-screen risk, contradiction, schedule scar;
• route_asset: recruited asset, split copy, captured proof, false owner, hostile witness, protected handler.

Branch contract

A satisfying implementation must support at least four of these branches:

1. Sponsor reconciliation — immediate stop-loss relief with contract capture or public/fan/inspection debt.
2. Fan/public refund — legitimacy or fan balance improves while sponsor, inspection, archive, or drift pressure rises.
3. Inspector compliance — custody/fraud improves while inspection heat, bureau debt, sponsor pressure, or schedule cost rises.
4. Editorial stabilization — continuity improves while edit debt, archive debt, public distrust, or future fraud rises.
5. Quarantine/split carry-forward — unsafe settlement is contained or made plural with visible cost.
6. Silent breach/hardening — failure creates hostile, captured, false-owner, black-screen, or costlier route state.

Counter contract

Every resolution, breach, or hardening must move at least three counters or durable states, including at least one relief and one cost.

Relevant states include:

• audience_stability
• audience_churn
• sponsor_stop_loss_pressure
• contract_capture
• inspection_heat
• bureau_favor_debt
• edit_debt
• archive_debt
• archive_fraud
• custody_clarity
• public_receipt_legitimacy
• public_receipt_distrust
• fan_oxygen_balance
• fan_oxygen_resentment
• reality_drift
• continuity_hazard
• black_screen_slots
• route_asset_pressure
• false_owner_hardened

Evidence contract

A replay or dashboard projection must be able to show:

mechanic: storyteller.mechanic.settlement_aftershock_ledger.v1
source_resolution:
  source_session_id: <prior session>
  source_seed: <prior seed>
  source_storyline: <claimant_collision | drift_audit | audience_floor | oxygen_exchange | memorial_contempt | equivalent>
  outcome_state: <prior state>
ledger:
  state_before: unreviewed | deferred | converted | equivalent
  relief_recorded: []
  debt_recorded: []
review:
  handler: <assigned or absent>
  opposing_proof: <assigned or absent>
  cost_or_bridge: <assigned or absent>
result:
  ledger_state_after: discharged | converted | breached | hardened | false_settlement_owner | equivalent
  counter_deltas: {}
  future_route_effects:
    unlocked: []
    blocked_or_costlier: []

Non-goals

• Not a generic cooldown.
• Not a hidden timer.
• Not a passive archive note.
• Not a governance/dashboard page.
• Not a clean resolution layer.
• Not a fixed-turn escalation mechanism.
• Not a way to invalidate earlier branch success; the prior relief remains historical even when debt breaches later.