@maka/maka-cli 5.180.0 → 5.182.0

package/bundle/typescript/package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@maka/maka-cli",
-  "version": "5.180.0",
+  "version": "5.182.0",
   "type": "module",
   "summary": "A command line tool for scaffolding Meteor 3.x applications using either React.",
   "description": "A command line tool for scaffolding Meteor 3.x applications using React.",

package/bundle/typescript/src/commands/game/sideQuest/commands/attack.js

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import { spotOf, ensureAtSpot, ensureAtExit, canReach, spotDistanceMeters, OPEN_
 import { distanceMeters } from '../utilities/room-grid.js';
 import { resolveBarrierStrike } from '../utilities/barrier-combat.js';
 import { billAction, notYourPhase, phaseHint } from '../utilities/action-cost.js';
+import { arenaOf, inArena } from '../utilities/combat-turn.js';
 import { spendMovementMeters } from '../utilities/movement-cost.js';
 /**
  * Shadowrun-style dice-pool combat, one full exchange per command:
@@ -224,11 +225,12 @@ export class AttackCommand extends Command {
             return `Click -- the ${weaponItem.name} is dry. "reload" (needs ammunition), or go in swinging with something else.`;
         }
         // THE COMBAT TURN (utilities/combat-turn.ts): on the physical planes
-        // a fight is a turn/pass loop and this attack is ONE action in the
-        // actor's own Action Phase. The Matrix and the astral keep the older
-        // exchange below -- the Matrix has its own initiative structure
-        // (utilities/ic.ts) and astral combat has not been swept yet.
-        if (this.actor.plane === 'meat' || this.actor.plane === 'drone') {
+        // and the Matrix a fight is a turn/pass loop and this attack is ONE
+        // action in the actor's own Action Phase. The Matrix joined it on
+        // 2026-09-13 (utilities/host-combat.ts): a Data Spike used to roll a
+        // fresh two-actor initiative per command and print "FREEZES" every
+        // time. Only the astral still rides the older exchange below.
+        if (this.actor.plane === 'meat' || this.actor.plane === 'drone' || this.actor.plane === 'matrix') {
             return await this.executeInEncounter(target, room, weaponItem ?? undefined, ambush);
         }
         const report = [];
@@ -340,8 +342,9 @@ export class AttackCommand extends Command {
         const actor = this.actor;
         const human = this.scene.isHumanControlled(actor);
         let enc = this.scene.encounterFor?.(actor);
+        const arena = arenaOf(actor);
         if (!enc) {
-            enc = await this.scene.startEncounter(room, { aggressor: actor, target, ambush });
+            enc = await this.scene.startEncounter(arena, { aggressor: actor, target, ambush });
             if (enc.ended) {
                 return human ? `` : `The fight was over before ${actor.name} got to act.`;
             }
@@ -356,7 +359,7 @@ export class AttackCommand extends Command {
                     ? `Initiative rolled -- ${who} ${enc.phaseActor ? 'acts' : 'act'} first. Your ${this.actionVerb() === 'attacks' ? 'attack' : 'move'} waits for your Action Phase.${hint(` ("initiative" shows the order.)`)}`
                     : `${actor.name} squares up -- initiative rolled; ${who} first.`;
             }
-            if (target.isIncapacitated() || target.currentLocation !== room) {
+            if (target.isIncapacitated() || !inArena(arena, target)) {
                 return human ? `${target.name} is no longer standing in front of you.` : `${target.name} is no longer a target.`;
             }
         }
@@ -372,7 +375,10 @@ export class AttackCommand extends Command {
         // shoot or swing the blade instead? READY WEAPON (p.165) is its own
         // Simple Action -- "draw" first (2jbprbSYqF7EPXrkR).
         const activeWeapon = this.usesEquippedWeapon() && actor.weaponDrawn ? weaponItem : undefined;
-        const isMelee = !activeWeapon || !activeWeapon.isFirearm();
+        // A DATA SPIKE (p.239) is neither a swing nor a shot: no ground to
+        // close, no recoil, a Complex Action. The grid sees no distance.
+        const onGrid = actor.plane === 'matrix';
+        const isMelee = !onGrid && (!activeWeapon || !activeWeapon.isFirearm());
         const report = [];
         // MELEE REACH: ground costs (p.161-162).
         if (isMelee) {
@@ -428,8 +434,8 @@ export class AttackCommand extends Command {
             }
         }
         // THE ACTION.
-        const label = isMelee ? (this.usesEquippedWeapon() ? 'Melee Attack' : 'Subdue') : 'Fire Weapon';
-        const bill = billAction(this.scene, actor, isMelee ? 'complex' : 'simple', label, { attack: true });
+        const label = onGrid ? 'Data Spike' : isMelee ? (this.usesEquippedWeapon() ? 'Melee Attack' : 'Subdue') : 'Fire Weapon';
+        const bill = billAction(this.scene, actor, onGrid || isMelee ? 'complex' : 'simple', label, { attack: true });
         if (bill)
             return bill;
         const exchange = new CombatExchange(this.scene, this.logger, actor);
@@ -442,7 +448,7 @@ export class AttackCommand extends Command {
         target.combatOpponent = target.combatOpponent ?? actor;
         target.lastExchangeAt = now;
         actor.surrendered = false;
-        if (!isMelee) {
+        if (!isMelee && !onGrid) {
             actor.firedThisPhase = true;
             actor.recoilRoundsFired += 1;
         }

package/bundle/typescript/src/commands/game/sideQuest/commands/enter-host.js

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { movePersonaWith } from '../utilities/matrix-roster.js';
 import { resolveHostInReach, hostsInReach, gridVicinity, hostOver } from '../utilities/grid-reach.js';
 import { hint } from '../utilities/hints.js';
 import { hostLabel } from '../utilities/grid-names.js';
+import { billAction } from '../utilities/action-cost.js';
 /**
  * ENTER/EXIT HOST (SR5 p.239, Complex Action).
  *
@@ -67,6 +68,12 @@ export class EnterHostCommand extends Command {
                 hint(`A host opens to anyone holding a MARK on it (p.239) -- "mark ${target.name}" softens it, or "hack" takes one by force.`),
             ].join('\n');
         }
+        // A Complex Action (p.239) -- billed only inside a Combat Turn.
+        const bill = billAction(this.scene, actor, 'complex', 'Enter Host');
+        if (bill)
+            return bill;
+        // Crossing the wall leaves whatever fight was on this side of it.
+        this.scene.encounterFor?.(actor)?.leave(actor);
         // THE PERSONA CROSSES, THE BODY STAYS (increment 2): position becomes
         // the host, remembering the grid it came from (p.239: exit returns
         // you there). currentLocation is never written -- it is the body's.
@@ -130,6 +137,13 @@ export class ExitHostCommand extends Command {
             const by = [...actor.linkLockedBy].join(', ');
             return `{red-fg}You reach for the door and it isn't there. LINK-LOCKED by ${by}: the connection is held open and Enter/Exit Host is closed to you (p.229). "jack out" still works -- it just costs you dumpshock.{/red-fg}`;
         }
+        // A Complex Action (p.239), and the way out of the host's fight
+        // (utilities/host-combat.ts): a persona back on the grid is beyond
+        // the ice, which "does not operate out on the grid".
+        const bill = billAction(this.scene, actor, 'complex', 'Exit Host');
+        if (bill)
+            return bill;
+        this.scene.encounterFor?.(actor)?.leave(actor);
         const host = actor.insideHost;
         const from = actor.matrixPosition?.kind === 'host' ? actor.matrixPosition.from : undefined;
         actor.matrixPosition = { kind: 'grid', grid: from };

package/bundle/typescript/src/commands/game/sideQuest/commands/hack.js

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import { matchesCameraName, hostLabel } from '../utilities/grid-names.js';
 import { TapCommand } from './tap.js';
 import { sameHostSide } from '../models/player.js';
 import { MAX_MARKS } from '../utilities/marks.js';
+import { billAction } from '../utilities/action-cost.js';
 import { declarationPenalty, parseMarkDeclaration, hostDefensePool, wanDefensePool, freeMatrixPerceptionHits, bruteForceMatrixDv, overwatchFromDefense, GO_BIG_QUALITY, deviceDefensePool } from '../utilities/matrix-intrusion.js';
 /**
  * MARKS A PAN INTRUSION MUST ALREADY HOLD before it can command the
@@ -74,6 +75,12 @@ export class HackCommand extends BypassCommand {
         // here so a declaration never lands in a target name, the same way
         // the mode words are.
         const { marks: declaredMarks, rest } = parseMarkDeclaration(afterMode);
+        // BRUTE FORCE and HACK ON THE FLY are Complex Actions (p.238, p.240)
+        // -- billed only inside a Combat Turn, where one intrusion is the
+        // whole Action Phase.
+        const bill = billAction(this.scene, this.actor, 'complex', mode === 'sleaze' ? 'Hack on the Fly' : 'Brute Force');
+        if (bill)
+            return bill;
         // PAN warfare: "hack <name>" cracks a meat actor's personal area
         // network -- from inside the Matrix, or right here in AR with a
         // working deck in hand (which is also how enemy deckers get YOU).

package/bundle/typescript/src/commands/game/sideQuest/commands/jack.js

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { gridVicinity } from '../utilities/grid-reach.js';
 import { enterMatrix, leaveMatrix } from '../utilities/planes.js';
 import { hint } from '../utilities/hints.js';
 import { rollPool, formatRoll } from '../utilities/dice.js';
+import { billAction } from '../utilities/action-cost.js';
 /**
  * The Matrix door, both directions: "jack in [hot|cold]" and "jack out".
  * Needs a working CYBERDECK carried (a commlink is calls and AR only) --
@@ -97,6 +98,11 @@ export class JackCommand extends Command {
             if (actor.inExchange) {
                 return `The ice has your persona locked in the exchange -- survive it first, then jack out in the lull.`;
             }
+            // JACK OUT is a Simple Action (p.240) -- billed inside a Combat
+            // Turn; leaving the Matrix then leaves the fight (planes.ts).
+            const bill = billAction(this.scene, actor, 'simple', 'Jack Out');
+            if (bill)
+                return bill;
             // LINK-LOCKED: leaving stops being a decision and becomes a test
             // (p.229/p.240). Everything below is the Jack Out action.
             if (actor.linkLockedBy.size > 0) {

package/bundle/typescript/src/commands/game/sideQuest/commands/look.js

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import { BULLET } from '../utilities/log-style.js';
 import { spotsActive, whoIsWhereLine, highlightSpots, highlightActors, canReach, sealedRouteTo } from '../utilities/spots.js';
 import { rollPool, formatRoll } from '../utilities/dice.js';
 import { findCatalogItem, describeEffect } from '../utilities/catalog.js';
+import { billAction } from '../utilities/action-cost.js';
 export class LookCommand extends Command {
     static verb = 'look';
     static description = 'Examine your surroundings';
@@ -301,6 +302,11 @@ export class LookCommand extends Command {
      * match the grid map: ● host, ◆ persona, ▣ PAN, ◇ data.
      */
     gridLook(room) {
+        // MATRIX PERCEPTION is a Complex Action (p.241) -- billed only inside
+        // a Combat Turn, where a look at the room costs the phase.
+        const bill = billAction(this.scene, this.actor, 'complex', 'Matrix Perception');
+        if (bill)
+            return bill;
         // NO MEAT PROSE AT ALL (player ruling 2026-08-26: "looking in the
         // matrix shouldn't show the meatworld"). The room's own description
         // used to open this view "for orientation" -- but that description

package/bundle/typescript/src/commands/game/sideQuest/commands/search.js

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import { rollPool, formatRoll } from '../utilities/dice.js';
 import { perceptionTest } from '../utilities/perception.js';
 import { canReach, exitSpot, spotsActive, revealWithPerception, theSpot, sealedRouteTo, } from '../utilities/spots.js';
 import { placeName } from '../utilities/log-style.js';
-import { billAction } from '../utilities/action-cost.js';
+import { billAction, encounterOf } from '../utilities/action-cost.js';
 /**
  * Barrier rendering (2026-08-24 playtest: "I don't see THE THING I'm
  * supposed to act on -- just a description... and I still see the
@@ -137,6 +137,13 @@ export class SearchCommand extends Command {
     static description = 'Search for items in your area';
     async execute(_args) {
         const room = this.actor.currentLocation;
+        // A MATRIX SEARCH IS MEASURED IN MINUTES (p.241: base time one
+        // minute inside a host), not in Action Phases -- there is no cost to
+        // bill inside a Combat Turn, so it is refused there rather than
+        // priced by invention.
+        if (this.actor.plane === 'matrix' && encounterOf(this.scene, this.actor)) {
+            return `Not with the ice on you -- a Matrix Search takes minutes (p.241), and a Combat Turn is three seconds. Crash the ice or get out first.`;
+        }
         // OBSERVE IN DETAIL (SR5 p.165): the Perception Test below is the
         // Simple Action the book names, inside a Combat Turn.
         const bill = billAction(this.scene, this.actor, 'simple', 'Observe in Detail');

package/bundle/typescript/src/commands/game/sideQuest/engine-version.js

@@ -440,5 +440,14 @@
 // 1.52.0 (2026-09-12): THE EMBEDDED HUB SEED IS GONE FROM SAVES. The one
 //   release of dual-writing is over: a save carries hubSeedRef only, and
 //   the site (sheet fallback) reads hubSeed on older docs alone.
-export const ENGINE_VERSION = '1.52.0';
+// 1.53.0 (2026-09-13): THE MATRIX JOINS THE COMBAT TURN. A host fight is a
+//   CombatEncounter in a host arena (encounters are keyed by arena: room,
+//   host, or the open grid); the host launches one IC per Combat Turn at
+//   the turn's start, each program is a participant with 4D6 whose phase
+//   the ice brain plays, a Data Spike is the phase's Complex attack, and
+//   hack/enter/exit/look/jack out bill their canon action cost inside a
+//   Combat Turn. IC no longer act once per player command, never speak,
+//   and a failed IC attack damages the program (p.247). Ice NPCs are no
+//   longer generated; the vault host's rating is its guard.
+export const ENGINE_VERSION = '1.53.0';
 //# sourceMappingURL=engine-version.js.map

package/bundle/typescript/src/commands/game/sideQuest/factories/scene-chunks.js

@@ -267,10 +267,13 @@ take ground. Build it accordingly:
   Matrix presence, whose files open only to a runner whose BODY is in that room). Pick one
   and commit to it -- the offline server is the harder, more interesting shape when the
   fiction wants a vault you must walk into.
-- THE OPPOSITION IS ICE, not muscle. Every NPC besides the client is "matrix"-plane and
-  stationed in the host. No guards patrolling meat corridors, no gunfight in the lobby: a
-  data run that ends in a firefight is a smash-and-grab wearing the wrong name. A site can
-  still be WATCHED (cameras) -- surveillance is pressure without being a gun.
+- THE OPPOSITION IS THE HOST'S OWN ICE, not muscle. Give the vault host a "hostRating" of
+  5-8: the host launches its own intrusion countermeasures (Patrol, Probe, Killer...) at
+  that rating, so DO NOT write an NPC for the ice -- no "matrix"-plane npcs[] at all. The
+  NPCs are the client and the people who work the site. No guards patrolling meat
+  corridors, no gunfight in the lobby: a data run that ends in a firefight is a
+  smash-and-grab wearing the wrong name. A site can still be WATCHED (cameras) --
+  surveillance is pressure without being a gun.
 - Keep it SHORT and tight. One site, one host, one file.
 - It pays LESS than a full run of the same tier -- roughly half. The runner is trading pay
   for a job that never puts a gun in their face, and the fixer prices it that way. Say so
@@ -407,8 +410,9 @@ ${JSON_ONLY}
   // its description reads.
   "npcs": [{
     "name": string, "concept": string, "startLocation": string,
-    "plane"?: "meat"|"matrix"|"astral", // "matrix" = ICE guarding a hasNode room;
-                                        // "astral" = a spirit. Default meat.
+    "plane"?: "meat"|"astral", // "astral" = a spirit. Default meat. NEVER "matrix": a host's
+                                // ice is not a person -- the host launches its own programs
+                                // at its "hostRating", and an NPC written as ice is dropped.
     "hostile"?: boolean // OPPOSITION: this one KNOWS the runner does not belong and will
                         // act on it -- a posted guard, a patrolling enforcer, a gang
                         // holding the room. Default false, and LEAVE IT FALSE unless the
@@ -418,9 +422,6 @@ ${JSON_ONLY}
                         // building, and marking them turns an ordinary scene into a
                         // brawl. If in doubt, leave it out -- a guard who stays calm is
                         // a missed beat, a hostile bartender is a broken scene.
-                        // ICE NEEDS NO FLAG: a "matrix" NPC is intrusion countermeasures
-                        // and is treated as opposition automatically. Write it only to
-                        // say FALSE, for the rare tame construct.
   }],
   "devices": [{
     "name": string, "concept": string, // what it physically IS (a maglock, a keypad, a
@@ -520,9 +521,10 @@ Hard structural rules (validated mechanically -- a violation is rejected):
   skill can still take the shortcut -- pick the lock, hack the panel -- but the found way
   must exist for a runner who has neither.
 - The winCondition item must not be heldBy winCondition.toNpc. If a matrix-plane item is the
-  winCondition item, its room has hasNode true AND a "matrix"-plane NPC stationed there. If
-  the runner can jack in, a Datachip/Document winCondition item MUST be that matrix-plane
-  item -- data for a hacker lives on a host, never on a desk.
+  winCondition item, its room has hasNode true AND a "hostRating" of at least 4 -- the host
+  defends its own files with its own ice; never write an NPC for that. If the runner can
+  jack in, a Datachip/Document winCondition item MUST be that matrix-plane item -- data for
+  a hacker lives on a host, never on a desk.
 - ${isContinuation
         ? 'ZERO "starting"-role items -- the runner arrives with everything they own. 4-6'
         : '3-5 "starting"-role items (basics the runner doesn\'t already own -- see the dossier), 4-6'}
@@ -652,8 +654,8 @@ For EVERY npc in the skeleton, expand its "concept":
                  "hacking"?, "cybercombat"?, "electronic-warfare"?, "hardware"?, "locksmith"?, "computer"?,
                  "negotiation"?, "con"?, "intimidation"?, "etiquette"?, "leadership"?, "performance"?, "disguise"?,
                  "medicine"?, "assensing"?, "counterspelling"?, "conjuring"?, "gunnery"? } }
-  "magic" 3-6 ONLY for a genuinely Awakened concept; "plane":"matrix" ice fights with
-  logic 4-7; give combat blocks to anyone the story expects in a firefight. "skills" is
+  "magic" 3-6 ONLY for a genuinely Awakened concept; give combat blocks to anyone the story
+  expects in a firefight. "skills" is
   optional flavor for defined concepts (a sharpshooter's "firearms": 6).
 
 ${JSON_ONLY}
@@ -886,6 +888,14 @@ const GENERIC_LOCK_WORDS = new Set([
     'lock', 'maglock', 'door', 'gate', 'grate', 'hatch', 'safe', 'vault', 'cage', 'shutter', 'padlock', 'cabinet', 'locker',
     'keycard', 'card', 'passkey', 'access', 'security', 'back', 'front', 'side', 'room', 'office', 'main', 'inner', 'outer',
 ]);
+/**
+ * THE LEAST A VAULT HOST RATES. A host launches its own IC at its rating
+ * (p.247, one per Combat Turn up to the rating), so the rating is the
+ * whole defence of the paydata inside it; below this the run is a free
+ * walk. Four is the floor: a rating-3 default host fields three thin
+ * programs and no Killer.
+ */
+export const VAULT_HOST_RATING = 4;
 export function validateSkeleton(skeleton, player, crew) {
     const fail = (msg) => { throw new Error(`Skeleton invalid: ${msg}`); };
     if (!Array.isArray(skeleton?.rooms) || skeleton.rooms.length === 0)
@@ -1107,11 +1117,18 @@ export function validateSkeleton(skeleton, player, crew) {
     // Worded to route to 'skeleton' (no "items[", no "Win condition item").
     const winItem = skeleton.items.find(i => i.name === skeleton.winCondition.item);
     if (winItem && isDataShaped(winItem.category) && winItem.plane !== 'matrix' && partyCanDeck(player)) {
-        fail(`the winCondition item "${winItem.name}" is a ${winItem.category} on the meat plane, and this runner can jack in -- for a decker or technomancer, data is PAYDATA: give it "plane": "matrix", place it in a hasNode room (not heldBy anyone), and station a "matrix"-plane NPC (ice) there. A chip lying on a desk is no job for a hacker.`);
+        fail(`the winCondition item "${winItem.name}" is a ${winItem.category} on the meat plane, and this runner can jack in -- for a decker or technomancer, data is PAYDATA: give it "plane": "matrix", place it in a hasNode room (not heldBy anyone) with a hostRating of ${VAULT_HOST_RATING} or more. A chip lying on a desk is no job for a hacker.`);
     }
     // The other half of the same rule, for ANY matrix-plane objective: the
-    // schema says its room has hasNode and an ice NPC stationed there, and
+    // schema says its room has hasNode and a rating that fields ice, and
     // until now nothing at the skeleton checked it.
+    //
+    // THE HOST IS ITS OWN GUARD (player ruling 2026-09-13, "mute all
+    // ice"): a vault used to demand a "matrix"-plane NPC -- a person
+    // wearing an ice costume, with dialogue lines and a model behind it,
+    // which is how four programs ended up bargaining over a chip in Vex's
+    // log. Canon has none of that: the host launches its own IC at its
+    // rating (p.247), so what a vault needs is a rating worth the name.
     if (winItem?.plane === 'matrix') {
         if (!winItem.room) {
             fail(`the winCondition item "${winItem.name}" is matrix-plane paydata but has no "room" -- data lives on a host, never in a pocket. Place it in a hasNode room.`);
@@ -1120,9 +1137,17 @@ export function validateSkeleton(skeleton, player, crew) {
         if (!vault?.hasNode) {
             fail(`the winCondition item "${winItem.name}" is matrix-plane paydata in "${winItem.room}", which has no "hasNode": true -- a matrix file can only exist on a host. Mark that room hasNode.`);
         }
-        const ice = skeleton.npcs.some(n => n.plane === 'matrix' && n.startLocation === winItem.room);
-        if (!ice) {
-            fail(`the winCondition item "${winItem.name}" is matrix-plane paydata in hasNode room "${winItem.room}" with no ice guarding it -- station a "matrix"-plane NPC there. An undefended vault is a free win.`);
+        else if ((vault.hostRating ?? 0) < VAULT_HOST_RATING) {
+            fail(`the winCondition item "${winItem.name}" is matrix-plane paydata in hasNode room "${winItem.room}" whose hostRating is ${vault.hostRating ?? 'unset'} -- a vault defends itself with its own ice, so give that room a hostRating of ${VAULT_HOST_RATING} or more. An undefended vault is a free win.`);
+        }
+    }
+    // NO NPC IS ICE. The same ruling from the other side: a model that
+    // still writes a "matrix"-plane person is writing a voice for a
+    // program. normalizeSkeleton drops them with a note; this holds the
+    // line for anything that reaches the validator by another road.
+    for (const npc of skeleton.npcs) {
+        if (npc.plane === 'matrix') {
+            fail(`npc "${npc.name}" is "matrix"-plane -- ice is not a person. Remove it; the host over its room fields its own countermeasures at its hostRating.`);
         }
     }
     // EVERY HOST HAS A PURPOSE AND HOLDS SOMETHING (N4erz3f63MiCZLkDE,
@@ -1153,10 +1178,9 @@ export function validateSkeleton(skeleton, player, crew) {
         if (!holds) {
             fail(`room "${room.name}" is a host (${room.hostPurpose}) with NOTHING inside it -- no "matrix"-plane item placed in that room. A host holds what its business protects: put at least one matrix-plane item there (the ledger, the client list, the camera archive), or drop hasNode.`);
         }
-        const guarded = skeleton.npcs.some(n => n.plane === 'matrix' && n.startLocation === room.name);
-        if (!guarded) {
-            fail(`room "${room.name}" is a host holding matrix-plane files with no ice on it -- station a "matrix"-plane NPC in that room. A host worth entering is a host that defends itself.`);
-        }
+        // "Ice stationed on it" used to be the third requirement. It is
+        // now the host's own rating (see the vault rule above): a host
+        // defends itself, and a person written as its ice is refused.
     }
     // Lock-and-key reachability. CRITICAL: edges are BIDIRECTIONAL -- the
     // engine mirrors every declared exit into a shared two-way Door
@@ -1568,6 +1592,28 @@ export function normalizeSkeleton(skeleton) {
         delete room.nodeAccess;
         notes.push(`dropped the host over "${room.name}" -- it held no matrix-plane file, and a host with nothing in it should not be there.`);
     }
+    // ICE IS NOT A PERSON (player ruling 2026-09-13, "mute all ice"). The
+    // prompt no longer asks for a "matrix"-plane NPC and validateSkeleton
+    // refuses one; a model that writes one anyway is writing a voice for
+    // a program, and the cheap repair is to drop it and let the host's
+    // own rating do the guarding. The vault host gets that rating here
+    // when the model forgot it -- clamp, don't burn a regeneration.
+    const constructs = (skeleton.npcs ?? []).filter(n => n.plane === 'matrix');
+    if (constructs.length > 0) {
+        skeleton.npcs = skeleton.npcs.filter(n => n.plane !== 'matrix');
+        for (const n of constructs) {
+            notes.push(`normalized: dropped npc "${n.name}" -- it was "matrix"-plane ice, and a host fields its own countermeasures at its hostRating rather than a person in a costume.`);
+        }
+    }
+    const winItem = (skeleton.items ?? []).find(i => i.name === skeleton.winCondition?.item);
+    if (winItem?.plane === 'matrix' && winItem.room) {
+        const vault = (skeleton.rooms ?? []).find(r => r.name === winItem.room);
+        if (vault?.hasNode && (vault.hostRating ?? 0) < VAULT_HOST_RATING) {
+            const was = vault.hostRating === undefined ? 'no hostRating' : `hostRating ${vault.hostRating}`;
+            vault.hostRating = VAULT_HOST_RATING;
+            notes.push(`normalized: the vault host over "${vault.name}" had ${was}; raised it to ${VAULT_HOST_RATING} so it fields ice worth the paydata.`);
+        }
+    }
     // NOBODY MINDING THE STORE (playtest 2026-08-25: "the flooded
     // undermarket could use some details -- it's just blank"). It was the
     // district's only commerce room with neither a vendor nor stock: a

package/bundle/typescript/src/commands/game/sideQuest/factories/scene-seed-generator.js

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import { clampDeviceKind } from '../utilities/affordances.js';
 import { GenerationCapture } from '../utilities/generation-capture.js';
 import { fetchCanonContext } from '../utilities/canon-lore.js';
 import { SceneSynthesizer } from './scene-factory.js';
-import { buildSkeletonPrompt, buildRoomsPrompt, buildNpcsPrompt, buildDevicesPrompt, buildItemsPrompt, pickRunType, parseJsonReply, validateSkeleton, normalizeSkeleton, assembleScene, classifyRepair, } from './scene-chunks.js';
+import { buildSkeletonPrompt, buildRoomsPrompt, buildNpcsPrompt, buildDevicesPrompt, buildItemsPrompt, pickRunType, parseJsonReply, validateSkeleton, normalizeSkeleton, assembleScene, classifyRepair, VAULT_HOST_RATING, } from './scene-chunks.js';
 // The fixer name convention and the player dossier live with the prompt
 // builders now (see scene-chunks.ts); re-exported so the existing
 // import sites (call.ts, game.ts) keep working unchanged.
@@ -751,9 +751,11 @@ export class SceneSeedGenerator {
         if (!room?.hasNode) {
             throw new Error(`Matrix-plane win condition item "${wc.item}" is in room "${item.room}", which has no "hasNode": true -- matrix files can only exist on a host. Mark that room hasNode.`);
         }
-        const iceGuard = (candidate.npcs ?? []).some(n => n.plane === 'matrix' && n.player.startLocation === item.room);
-        if (!iceGuard) {
-            throw new Error(`Matrix-plane win condition item "${wc.item}" sits in hasNode room "${item.room}" with NO ice guarding it -- add an npc with "plane": "matrix", "startLocation": "${item.room}", and a combat block (logic 4-7). An undefended data vault makes the run a free win.`);
+        // THE HOST GUARDS ITSELF (2026-09-13): this used to demand an ice
+        // NPC; a host's countermeasures are its own programs at its rating
+        // (p.247), and normalizeSkeleton raises a vault to the floor.
+        if ((room.hostRating ?? 0) < VAULT_HOST_RATING) {
+            throw new Error(`Matrix-plane win condition item "${wc.item}" sits in hasNode room "${item.room}" whose hostRating is ${room.hostRating ?? 'unset'} -- a vault defends itself with its own ice; give that room a hostRating of ${VAULT_HOST_RATING} or more. An undefended data vault makes the run a free win.`);
         }
     }
     /**

package/bundle/typescript/src/commands/game/sideQuest/game.js

@@ -41,8 +41,9 @@ import { getPref } from './utilities/prefs.js';
 import { rollPool, formatRoll } from './utilities/dice.js';
 import { Direction } from './types/shared/direction-enum.js';
 import { Logger } from './utilities/logger.js';
-import { runHostTurn } from './utilities/ic.js';
-import { leaveMatrix, endPersona } from './utilities/planes.js';
+import { hostIsHunting, ambientPatrol } from './utilities/ic.js';
+import { hostContactBeat } from './utilities/host-combat.js';
+import { endPersona } from './utilities/planes.js';
 import { CommandQueue } from './utilities/command-queue.js';
 import { currentSession } from './utilities/session-context.js';
 import { PlayersCommand } from './commands/players.js';
@@ -2482,7 +2483,9 @@ ${client.name} won't be remembering anything. Dead Johnsons pay nothing -- and t
                 isParty: a => a !== player && this.scene.isHumanControlled(a),
                 // Whose Action Phase is live in the viewer's room
                 // (PYK6zCKhQcjRFwLSQ); undefined between phases and out of a fight.
-                phaseActor: () => this.scene.encounterIn(player.currentLocation)?.phaseActor?.name,
+                // The viewer's own fight first -- a persona's is inside its host,
+                // not in the room its body sits in.
+                phaseActor: () => (this.scene.encounterFor(player) ?? this.scene.encounterIn(player.currentLocation))?.phaseActor?.name,
             }))
                 .catch(() => undefined);
         };
@@ -6044,7 +6047,8 @@ ${client.name} won't be remembering anything. Dead Johnsons pay nothing -- and t
             if (this.scene.isHumanControlled(actor))
                 this.scene.beat += 1;
             const result = await command.execute(args);
-            const wrapped = await this.withHostileContact(actor, this.withEphemeralTurn(actor, this.withAlarmTurn(actor, this.withICTurn(actor, result))));
+            const hosted = await this.withHostTurn(actor, result);
+            const wrapped = await this.withHostileContact(actor, this.withEphemeralTurn(actor, this.withAlarmTurn(actor, hosted)));
             // The IC turn above may have filled a track -- settle it now, not
             // on the next keystroke.
             const settled = await settleUnresolvedHarm(this.scene, actor);
@@ -6178,19 +6182,43 @@ ${client.name} won't be remembering anything. Dead Johnsons pay nothing -- and t
         const lines = await hostileContactBeat(this.scene, actor, this.scene.beat);
         return lines.length === 0 ? result : `${result}\n\n${lines.join('\n')}`;
     }
-    withICTurn(actor, result) {
+    /**
+     * THE HOST'S BEAT after every command a persona types inside one
+     * (p.246-247: the ice acts on what is in the host).
+     *
+     * Before the host has made you, this is ambient Patrol on its clock
+     * (utilities/ic.ts ambientPatrol) -- the per-command tick of that
+     * clock is an engine mapping and its own comment says so. Once the
+     * host is hunting, the fight is a Combat Turn in the host's arena
+     * (utilities/host-combat.ts): the first beat opens it, and after
+     * that the programs act in their OWN Action Phases, not on every
+     * keystroke. The old shape -- every running program taking a swing
+     * per player command, with its dice and lines appended to whatever
+     * the command printed -- is gone; Vex's log had four programs and
+     * twelve lines answering "look".
+     */
+    async withHostTurn(actor, result) {
         if (result === null)
             return null;
-        // The host's turn happens INSIDE it (p.246-247): the ice acts on what
-        // is in the host, and the persona's position says whether it is.
         const host = actor.hostInside;
         if (!host || actor.plane !== 'matrix')
             return result;
-        const turn = runHostTurn(host.over, actor, this.scene);
+        if (hostIsHunting(host.over, actor)) {
+            if (this.scene.encounterInHost(host)?.has(actor))
+                return result;
+            // THE COMMAND'S OWN REPLY PRINTS FIRST. The encounter announces
+            // itself while it opens (the aggressor, Surprise, the order), so
+            // a result returned afterwards would land under all of that,
+            // out of order -- the same trick hostile-contact.ts uses.
+            if (result.length > 0 && this.scene.isHumanControlled(actor)) {
+                Logger.getInstance().log(result, { actor: actor.name });
+            }
+            await hostContactBeat(this.scene, actor);
+            return '';
+        }
+        const turn = ambientPatrol(host.over, actor);
         if (turn.lines.length === 0 && turn.meta.length === 0)
             return result;
-        // Dice to the Mechanics pane, and only for a human -- the same gate
-        // every other roll in this engine uses.
         if (this.scene.isHumanControlled(actor)) {
             const logger = Logger.getInstance();
             for (const m of turn.meta)
@@ -6198,36 +6226,16 @@ ${client.name} won't be remembering anything. Dead Johnsons pay nothing -- and t
         }
         for (const w of turn.world)
             this.scene.addWorldEvent(w);
-        // A deck bricked by IC owes the same forced dump a convergence does.
-        // ic.ts reports it rather than performing it -- leaveMatrix needs the
-        // Scene and that module deliberately takes none, exactly as hack.ts
-        // splits the convergence hammer from the dump that follows it.
-        if (turn.bricked) {
-            turn.lines.push(...leaveMatrix(this.scene, actor, {
-                forced: true,
-                reason: `The host's ice burns your deck out from under you.`,
-            }));
-        }
-        else if (turn.scrambled) {
-            // SCRAMBLE IC (p.248): "you reboot immediately, taking dumpshock if
-            // you were in VR." A forced exit through the same door, which is
-            // what makes it a reboot rather than a graceful drop -- and the
-            // reboot is also what hands the reducers' damage back.
-            //
-            // `else if` on purpose: a deck already bricked this turn has been
-            // dumped, and dumping a persona twice would bill dumpshock twice.
-            turn.lines.push(...leaveMatrix(this.scene, actor, {
-                forced: true,
-                reason: `Scramble IC rips the connection out at the root --`,
-            }));
-        }
-        if (turn.traced) {
-            // TRACK IC (p.249): the location goes to the authorities. Routed
-            // into the heat the game already keeps for being made in the meat
-            // world, rather than a second parallel notion of "they know".
-            this.addHeat(4, `Track IC reported ${actor.name}'s location`);
-        }
         const body = turn.lines.join('\n');
+        // Made on this very sweep: the fight opens on the same beat, after
+        // the sighting has been read.
+        if (hostIsHunting(host.over, actor)) {
+            if (this.scene.isHumanControlled(actor)) {
+                Logger.getInstance().log(result.length > 0 ? `${result}\n${body}` : body, { actor: actor.name });
+            }
+            await hostContactBeat(this.scene, actor);
+            return '';
+        }
         return result.length > 0 ? `${result}\n${body}` : body;
     }
     /**