Encounter Window Arbitration / 遇见窗口仲裁

Encounter Window Arbitration is the assignable rite for choosing how a route-critical person can still be reached when schedule, law, facility, sponsor, editor, fan, ward, floor, or broadcast-reality gates conflict.

The rite exists because an encounter is a production asset. Meeting someone privately can close public testimony. Seating someone lawfully can make them unavailable to the fan route. Pulling someone off the floor can keep a confession but arm blackout. Letting sponsor arrange access can save a slot while capturing the future route.

The rite is offered only from state pressure recorded by 遇见可用性账本. It must never be offered from a fixed turn number, day count, chapter quota, raw content target, or lens-health state.

Entry contract

entry_state:
  trigger_kind: state_pressure
  ledger_present: storyteller.card.encounter_availability_ledger.v1
  route_critical_target_present: true
  access_gate_count_min: 2
  rival_or_lost_encounter_present: true
  future_reader_or_route_consumes_result: true
  player_response_available: true
  no_fixed_turn_trigger: true
  no_fixed_day_or_week_trigger: true
  no_raw_count_trigger: true

Valid source pressures include schedule contract slot conflict, broadcast-reality drift, facility lockdown, recovery ward discharge pressure, fan delegate mandate split, live floor crew load, proxy posture dispute, sponsor capture, archive custody, or equivalent.

Required assignment slots

assignment:
  ledger: storyteller.card.encounter_availability_ledger.v1
  selected_row: <row id>
  target_entity: <character npc role or explicit_absence>
  encounter_need: recruit | interview | testimony | custody_handoff | apology | counterproof | route_unlock | safety_signoff | discharge_hold | correction_slot | equivalent
  source_pressure_id: <stable source pressure id>
  access_gates:
    primary_gate: schedule | legal | facility | public | handler | sponsor | editor | ward | floor | relay | equivalent
    secondary_gate: schedule | legal | facility | public | handler | sponsor | editor | ward | floor | relay | equivalent
  availability_before: available | contested | private_only | lawful_only | public_only | sponsor_only | relay_only | ward_held | floor_locked | hostile | substitute_only | missed | recovery_only
  rival_or_lost_encounter: <target route or explicit_absence>
  handler_or_absence: yu_lan | shen_luo | han_yanshuang | baiya | ai_sheng | du_mian | production | explicit_absence | equivalent
  state_boundary: before_air | before_discharge_signoff | before_route_asset_spent | before_witness_exposed | before_slot_reassigned | before_default_narrator | equivalent
  future_reader_or_route: <stable id>

The rite fails design intent if it can be completed by meet character, call them, legal approves, sponsor handles access, or editor hides them without recording the gates and the lost or narrowed encounter.

Branches

A — Reserve private meeting

The player reserves the target away from public, sponsor, lawful, or floor exposure.

Expected result:

selected_branch: reserve_private_meeting
availability_after_any: [private_only, available, contested]
relief_any: [witness_exposure_down, route_asset_access_up, source_ambiguity_down, ward_custody_integrity_up]
cost_any: [public_receipt_distrust_up, sponsor_stop_loss_pressure_up, handler_fatigue_up, lawful_access_costlier]
future_effect_any: [private_route_open_with_public_cost, public_route_costlier, follow_up_disclosure_required]

B — Seat lawful interview

The player routes access through inspector, archive, lawful discharge, or formal testimony.

Expected result:

selected_branch: seat_lawful_interview
availability_after_any: [lawful_only, available, recovery_only]
relief_any: [legal_admissibility_up, inspection_contradiction_down, archive_legibility_up]
cost_any: [bureau_favor_debt_up, public_addendum_pressure_up, fan_mandate_fracture_up, schedule_pressure_up]
future_effect_any: [lawful_route_open, public_route_requires_addendum, sponsor_route_costlier]

C — Broadcast public call

The player reaches the target by public slot, fan delegate, pirate relay, public receipt, or broadcast exposure.

Expected result:

selected_branch: broadcast_public_call
availability_after_any: [public_only, relay_only, contested]
relief_any: [public_receipt_legitimacy_up, private_capture_down, fan_delegate_visibility_up]
cost_any: [witness_exposure_up, inspection_heat_up, pirate_exposure_up, sponsor_stop_loss_pressure_up]
future_effect_any: [public_route_open_with_retaliation, lawful_appeal_required, relay_protection_required]

D — Trade sponsor access

The player lets sponsor, management, or a stop-loss desk arrange the meeting.

Expected result:

selected_branch: trade_sponsor_access
availability_after_any: [sponsor_only, available, substitute_only]
relief_any: [sponsor_stop_loss_pressure_down, immediate_slot_pressure_down, schedule_pressure_down]
cost_any: [contract_capture_up, public_receipt_distrust_up, route_asset_capture_up, future_recovery_cost_up]
future_effect_any: [sponsor_route_open_with_capture, public_route_costlier, default_event_armed]

E — Route through editor or relay

The player uses cutroom custody, source masking, pirate relay, off-channel handoff, or black-box continuity to reach the target.

Expected result:

selected_branch: route_through_editor_or_relay
availability_after_any: [relay_only, private_only, contested]
relief_any: [retaliation_risk_down, route_asset_access_up, immediate_exposure_down]
cost_any: [edit_debt_up, source_ambiguity_up, relay_custody_risk_up, inspection_heat_up]
future_effect_any: [source_disclosure_required, split_public_lawful_routes, contradiction_pending]

F — Force or overload access

The player pulls the person through an unsafe floor, ward, facility, handler, or schedule gate.

Expected result:

selected_branch: force_or_overload_access
availability_after_any: [available, hostile, recovery_only]
relief_any: [immediate_route_unblocked, slot_saved, proof_contact_made]
cost_any: [crew_load_up, blackout_risk_up, ward_custody_integrity_down, handler_fatigue_up, proxy_hostility_up]
future_effect_any: [skeleton_access_scar, hostile_followup_armed, recovery_route_required]

G — Defer, substitute, or default

The player cannot or will not preserve the encounter and accepts delay, substitute carrier, or default narrator.

Expected result:

selected_branch: defer_substitute_or_default
availability_after_any: [substitute_only, missed, recovery_only, hostile]
event_seen_or_armed: storyteller.event.missed_encounter_default.v1
relief_any: [immediate_overload_down, legal_exposure_down, sponsor_noise_down]
cost_any: [missed_encounter_risk_up, route_asset_access_down, future_recovery_cost_up, public_contradiction_risk_up]
future_effect_any: [route_blocked_until_substitute, recovery_only, hostile_encounter_armed]

Resolution contract

Every branch must output:

resolution:
  availability_before: <state>
  availability_after: <state>
  opened_encounter: <target or explicit_absence>
  narrowed_or_lost_encounter: <target route or explicit_absence>
  handler_state_after: <state>
  future_reader_or_route_effect: <effect>
  event_seen_or_armed: storyteller.event.missed_encounter_default.v1 | none
  counter_deltas:
    relief:
      - <at least one relief for successful branches>
    cost:
      - <at least one cost>
    durable_state:
      - <availability route or posture state>

At least three counters or durable states must change. A branch that opens every target, cleans every gate, or preserves every future route for free is invalid.

Failure/default handoff

A missed or falsely clean encounter must arm a durable default. The default actor can be sponsor, inspector, floor crew, ward, facility lock, fan public, editor mask, pirate relay, blackout system, or absent handler.

The default is not punishment for delay alone. It fires when the game would otherwise pretend the route-critical person was still reachable after the player’s choices made them unavailable, hostile, substitute-only, or recovery-only.

Non-goals

• Not a social hub picker.
• Not a romance or friendship meter.
• Not a fixed clock encounter timer.
• Not a rule that every target can be recovered.
• Not valid if one legal, sponsor, schedule, editor, or public branch makes all encounters available without cost.