diff --git a/docs/re/stage-drift-is-navigation-not-save.md b/docs/re/stage-drift-is-navigation-not-save.md
index 83fea9a4..867875e7 100644
--- a/docs/re/stage-drift-is-navigation-not-save.md
+++ b/docs/re/stage-drift-is-navigation-not-save.md
@@ -39,15 +39,44 @@ fields. Three independent readings agree on what that means:
    [`structures/weapon-datasheet-runtime.md`](structures/weapon-datasheet-runtime.md),
    whose capture session is recorded as *"Stage 02, 'At Standby', 5 % clear,
    **4101 P**"* — the same save, already described in the corpus.
-3. Reading the `GHAD` field block at tag+8 (i.e. past the tag and its length word)
-   gives `+52` = **2**, the documented 1-based `Stage` field.
+3. Reading the `GHAD` field block at **tag+4** gives `+52` = **2**, the
+   documented 1-based `Stage` field.
 
 So `LOAD GAME → slot 01` restores **Stage 02** every time. It is deterministic.
 
-🟡 One caveat, stated rather than smoothed over: brute-forcing the `GHAD` field
-base gives **seven** candidate offsets whose `+52` is a plausible stage, three of
-them yielding 2. I picked tag+8 because it is the natural layout and it agrees
-with the two independent readings above — not because the search isolated it.
+> ### ✅ The base is pinned — and it was not tag+8
+>
+> The caveat here originally said brute force gave seven candidate offsets and
+> that I had picked **tag+8** because it agreed with the other readings rather
+> than because the search isolated it. The authoritative parser settles it:
+> `crates/sylpheed-formats/src/savegame.rs` documents the chunk stream, read off
+> the title's own serializer at `0x822C00E8`, as
+>
+> ```text
+> 'GDAA'                            payload magic
+> u32 len, char[len]                current game phase, e.g. "GP_BUNK"
+> 'GHAD' + 122 bytes                the progress block
+> u32 16, 16 x ('SHAB' + 5 x u32)   the per-stage record table
+> ```
+>
+> and `FieldSpec.offset` is "Offset within the 122-byte GHAD block" — so the base
+> is **tag+4**, where the block begins. Reading there gives three fields at once,
+> two of which match values documented independently elsewhere in the corpus:
+>
+> | field | GHAD offset | value | corroboration |
+> |---|---|---|---|
+> | `Stage` | +52 | **2** | Stage 02 = the Acropolis escort mission |
+> | `Points` | +24 | **4101** | `weapon-datasheet-runtime.md`: "4101 P" |
+> | `FlightTime` | +4 | **324773** | the 05:24.77 Stage-01 best time |
+>
+> Two independently-documented values landing at once is what a correct base
+> looks like; tag+8 reproduced only the stage. The phase string in the same
+> payload reads **`GP_BUNK`** — the save sits in the bunk between missions.
+>
+> ❔ The `.header` **mirror** did not reproduce: `savegame.rs` lists `Stage` at
+> header offset `0x14`, but reading a big-endian u32 there gives `2097200`
+> (`00 20 00 30`), which looks like UTF-16 text rather than a mirrored word. Not
+> chased — the payload reading is confirmed and does not depend on it.
 
 ❌ And "stage = filled `SHAB` count + 1" must not be used: all 16 records are
 *present*, and the corpus already lists that rule as **refuted**. Presence is not