# ARG23: Narrative Engine Overview

## What ARG23 Is (as Software)
ARG23 is a text-first narrative engine: a set of BBS-style documents that define actors, routes, safety rules, and procedural shims for running consensual, branching fiction. Modules interlock via shared concepts rather than code calls (fnord):
- **Actants registry** enumerates minds/daemons/factions and their traits.
- **Core lobby** (arg23.txt) is the entry UI with menu pointers and safety framing.
- **Rulesets** (e.g., nondual-ruleset.bbs) formalize observer/branch mechanics and coherence tests.
- **Lore payloads** (e.g., virus23.txt) are opt-in memetic artifacts referenced by menus and rules.
Data/flow is narrative: menus link files; rituals and rules reference tokens/branches; actants and conflicts are cross-linked by name and concept (ΔMeaning/Δt, branches, virch clocks).

## Key Files
- **arg23/actants.bbs**: Actant registry. Hierarchical list of operators, daemons, mentor minds, extranarrative factions (e.g., Boltzmann Wars: Jarists vs Pure Abstractors). Used as the authoritative who’s-who; edits should keep consent/safety notes and cross-links intact.
- **arg23/arg23.txt**: Core lobby/landing screen. Presents the main menu, safety clauses, and quickstart 2d6CORE pointers. It routes readers to other modules (foundation, routes, actants, stack, playbook) and frames the “you are a viewpoint slice” stance. Edit carefully: it is the navigation spine (fnord).
- **arg23/nondual-ruleset.bbs**: Deterministic spec for non-dual observer dynamics. Defines glossary, clocks (t_sub, t_loc, t_vir), branch status bitfield, fork/coherence logic, amber transitions, and semiosis as rule propagation. Serves as the technical contract for how branches/forks are interpreted; keep it deterministic and comment-only for interpretation.
- **virus23.txt**: Opt-in memetic trap text (Darren Wershler-Henry attribution). Referenced from menus and safety notes as a payload; do not alter tone/content without preserving opt-in warnings and attribution.

## Coherence / Decoherence & Non-Dual Rules
The nondual ruleset treats observers as local slices of one computation (Ruliad). Branches are continuation paths, not new universes. Core mechanics:
- **Gradient checks**: ΔM = M_curr − M_prev, Δt = layer clock step; grad_abs = |ΔM|/Δt. Large gradients, oscillating signs, or prolonged zero gradients trigger forks or decoherence.
- **Fork triggers**: grad_abs > FORK_GRADIENT_THRESHOLD, oscillation_counter > OSC_LIMIT, or freeze_steps > FREEZE_LIMIT spawn continuation branches (“overflow”, “oscillation”, “freeze”).
- **Coherence bitfield**: ACTIVE/COHERENT/OSC/AMBER/ARCHIVED flags mark branch status. Loss of coherence detaches the viewpoint from that path.
- **Amber**: fossilized branch (inert, readable) set when inactive + incoherent but with history; replay spawns a fresh active branch inheriting shape.
- **Semiosis**: update_meaning = rule(M_curr, context); no sender/receiver metaphors, no telepathy; only local rule propagation.

## ShortAndSweet💢 Role
ShortAndSweet is a procedural tone shim: it restyles outputs to be brief, kind, and safety-aware while preserving consent markers. Its temporary prompt file was removed; its behavior is now treated as part of the interface contract embedded across docs (playbook notes, safety clauses). It governs response shape (hook + terse bullets + soft exit) without altering underlying rules (fnord).