diff --git a/.claude/blackboard.md b/.claude/blackboard.md
index 80e4d85c..ca00ed07 100644
--- a/.claude/blackboard.md
+++ b/.claude/blackboard.md
@@ -1,5 +1,48 @@
+# Current epoch (2026-05-26) — splat / palette / pillar / 3DGS
+
+> **Read this first.** The "Polyglot Notebook" architecture below is a
+> separate/older program, not the current epoch.
+
+## Evidence model (binding — from PR #200)
+- **L0** = source · passing tests · ratified standards (ground truth).
+- **L1** = `.claude/PR-X12-docs-audit.md` (#200) + `.claude/knowledge/plans-alignment-triage.md` — claims-about-source; **spot-check, never inherit**.
+- **L2** = `.claude/plans/*` + `pr-x12-*` perspective docs = **inspiration, NOT evidence**.
+- **Whole-file reads only** — no `grep`/`sed`/`head`/`tail` (`ls` to locate).
+- Build/bench locally at `target-cpu=x86-64-v4`; committed `.cargo/config.toml` stays **v3** (GitHub/CI).
+
+## Settled architecture (grounded this epoch, whole-read)
+- **Cognitive similarity/cosine = Palette256 + Fisher-z**, integer: `hpc::cam_pq`
+  squared-L2 ADC (u8 codebook indices) gated by θ = `distance::similarity_z` (atanh).
+  Validated 10k×10k @ θ≈cos-0.90. **No float MAC in the distance kernel.**
+- The cognitive **"splat"** = `lance-graph-contract::splat::CamPlaneSplat` (q8) →
+  `AwarenessPlane16K` (16 384-bit OR deposition). **Sibling of, not the same as,** the
+  graphics `splat3d` EWA renderer (per `splat3d/mod.rs`).
+- EWA float-Σ sandwich (`splat3d::spd3`, Pillar 6/7) = uncertainty propagation +
+  certification, **not** similarity. Pillar suite (6–17) certifies the substrate;
+  **Pflug-10 certifies the CAM-PQ palette**.
+- Typed distance (`cognitive-distance-typing.md`): one named fn per metric, newtype
+  outputs, **no `fn distance<T>` umbrella**, conversions explicit. `palette→fisher→
+  cosine→hamming` roundtrip is the named anti-pattern.
+
+## Outstanding (per triage + #200)
+- **#4** pr-x12 doc-fixes + evidence-policy + archive fabrication-heavy plans (Geo/Gov).
+- **#5** ASG-leaf canon spec (Gov) — prerequisite for #7.
+- **#7** ASG-leaf impl (Kernel) — must **extend `CamPlaneSplat`**, not reinvent; trails #5.
+- `cam-pq-production-wiring` (UNOWNED, lance-graph) — route `cam_pq` through `CamCodecContract`.
+- `UNUSED_INVENTORY_1.95` A1–A9 dead-code (phantom `SimdTier::{Sse2,WasmSimd128}`, stale 1.64 imports).
+
+## Merged / closed this epoch
+- ✅ #201 triage · #205 `3dgs-tiles` (cesium tileset) · #206 + #208 render-depth cert.
+- ❌ #207 EWA-SYRK bench **closed** (wrong regime — category error).
+- 🗑 `phi_spiral.rs` abandoned (float, wrong manifold). Net new usable code this
+  session = 0 (see `board/EPIPHANIES.md` grounding-discipline entry).
+
+---
+
 # Polyglot Notebook — Single Binary Architecture
 
+> Separate/older program — NOT the current epoch (see top of file).
+
 ## The Binary
 
 One `cargo build`. Ships as one executable. Contains:
diff --git a/.claude/board/EPIPHANIES.md b/.claude/board/EPIPHANIES.md
index 901e49f9..b645f3f3 100644
--- a/.claude/board/EPIPHANIES.md
+++ b/.claude/board/EPIPHANIES.md
@@ -45,3 +45,82 @@ needed (Knowledge Activation trigger), so the routine cost is 0.
 
 Cross-ref: PR #110 (ndarray ledger), PR #213 (lance-graph ledger).
 EPIPHANIES.md 10⁷× finding above.
+
+## 2026-05-26 — Palette256 + Fisher-z IS the exact cosine replacement (integer, no float)
+**Status:** VALIDATED (per user: 10 000×10 000 splat, θ ≈ 1.45–1.6 Fisher-z ≈ cos 0.90–0.92)
+**Scope:** @cognitive-substrate domain:distance
+
+Cosine similarity in the cognitive substrate is **not** a float dot/norm. It is
+replaced — *ranking-exact* — by Palette256 (`hpc::cam_pq` 256-centroid ADC, integer
+table lookup) gated by a Fisher-z aperture θ (`lance-graph-contract::distance::
+similarity_z = atanh`). "No float at all" = no float MAC in the O(D) distance
+kernel; the only floats are the θ scalar + the ADC table values, and θ lands as
+`theta_accept_q8` (u8) on the splat (`effective_amplitude = amplitude_q8 −
+theta_accept_q8`).
+
+Grounded (whole-read this session): `cam_pq.rs` (847 L, squared-L2 ADC),
+`distance.rs` (`Distance` trait + `similarity_z`/`fisher_z_inverse`),
+`cognitive-distance-typing.md` (popcount IS the cosine replacement *by topology,
+not value*; Fisher-z is a palette-output normalization, **not** a cosine
+reconstruction — `palette→fisher→cosine→hamming` is the named anti-pattern).
+
+**DEBT:** validated-but-unwritten as canon → #5 ASG-leaf spec (Gov, outstanding).
+
+## 2026-05-26 — Two lanes: SELECT (integer) vs uncertainty-Σ (float), co-certified
+**Status:** FINDING
+**Scope:** @cognitive-substrate domain:architecture
+
+- **SELECT / similarity** = HDR-popcount (cascade L1, the cosine replacement) →
+  Base17-L1 (L2) → Palette256 ADC (L3). Integer, bulk hot path.
+- **Uncertainty** = EWA sandwich `Σ'=M·Σ·Mᵀ` (Pillar 6/7), a *tiny 2×2/3×3 float Σ*
+  per edge — certified PSD metadata, **not** bulk arithmetic.
+
+Co-certified sibling pillars (suite 6–17), not competitors. **Pflug-10 certifies the
+CAM-PQ palette quantization** in the same suite (`pillar/mod.rs`). `cognitive-distance-
+typing.md` binds: one named fn per metric, newtype outputs, no `fn distance<T>` umbrella.
+
+## 2026-05-26 — "EWA-SYRK BLAS backend" is a category error (PR #207 closed)
+**Status:** FINDING (kill)
+**Scope:** @splat3d domain:perf
+
+`3DGS-EWA-SYRK-BLAS-MKL`'s "projection is a BLAS workload → MKL/OpenBLAS backend"
+conflates the **graphics** float covariance sandwich (`spd3`/`project`, renders
+pixels) with the **cognitive splat**. There is no float SYRK in the substrate to
+accelerate: the cognitive "splat" is `lance-graph-contract::splat::CamPlaneSplat`
+(q8) deposited into 16 384-bit `AwarenessPlane16K` (SPLAT-1, **integer**, OR-accumulate).
+PR #207's bench also measured `simd_x16` ≈2× over scalar AND the dense-3×3 "BLAS-shape"
+at 1k–1M (no crossover) — but the premise itself was incoherent. **Closed, not merged.**
+
+`splat3d` (graphics EWA) and `lance-graph-contract::splat` (cognitive) are
+**siblings, not parent/child** (per `splat3d/mod.rs`).
+
+## 2026-05-26 — C/HLOD = Cesium HLOD (shipped) + certificate + query-relevance
+**Status:** FINDING
+**Scope:** @3dgs domain:geospatial
+
+`KHR_gaussian_splatting` (RC) + Cesium HLOD-for-splats (Apr 2026:
+`GaussianSplat3DTileContent`, back-to-front radix `GaussianSplatSorter`) are
+ratified/shipped. Our contribution is the **certified/queryable overlay** (SSE +
+Pillar-7 cert), mapping onto `tile.rs` radix-sort + `project.rs` conic + `raster.rs`
+alpha-blend ndarray already has. Render-depth cert **shipped** (#206 + #208).
+Geospatial = product manifold: tileset-tree (LOD — Poincaré belongs *only* here) ×
+per-splat spherical SH/ASG (KHR ships `SH_DEGREE_n_COEF_i`; directional lane is the
+sphere, never the Poincaré disk).
+
+## 2026-05-26 — Grounding-discipline (meta — the expensive one)
+**Status:** FINDING
+**Scope:** @workspace-primer domain:process
+
+One session of code — `phi_spiral.rs` (555 L float), `ewa_syrk_crossover` (257 L
+float) — was **net-zero-usable**: built in the FLOAT regime from ChatGPT
+"inspiration" plans without first grounding against the integer/palette substrate
+(`cam_pq`, the `Distance` contract, `cognitive-distance-typing`) sitting in the same
+repo. The fix, now binding: **whole-file reads only (no grep/sed/head/tail)**, and the
+#200 evidence model — **L0** source/tests/standards · **L1** audit + triage
+(spot-check, never inherit) · **L2** plans/perspective-docs (NOT evidence). Plans are
+inspiration, never authority.
+
+**DEBT carried forward (not in code, recorded here):** #4 pr-x12 doc-fixes (the #200
+fabrications still on master) · #5 ASG canon spec · #7 ASG-leaf impl (extend
+`CamPlaneSplat`, don't reinvent) · `cam-pq-production-wiring` (cam_pq shipped, unrouted
+through `CamCodecContract`) · `UNUSED_INVENTORY_1.95` A1–A9 dead-code.