diff --git a/docs/re/mission-freeze-heap-exhaustion.md b/docs/re/mission-freeze-heap-exhaustion.md
index 92f8cbe5..052158c1 100644
--- a/docs/re/mission-freeze-heap-exhaustion.md
+++ b/docs/re/mission-freeze-heap-exhaustion.md
@@ -512,3 +512,59 @@ this session has used goes EXTRAS → MISSION SELECT. The 2026-08-10 run that fl
 for 500 s did not necessarily; `newgame_path.sh` and `tutorial_launch.sh` reach a
 mission by other menus. Testing a non-MISSION-SELECT route is the next
 experiment, and it is now the most promising one available.
+
+---
+
+# 🔴 MISSION SELECT is **not** special — corrected the same day
+
+The section above concluded the freeze is "entering MISSION SELECT" and made
+avoiding that screen the next experiment. Ran it, and **that conclusion is too
+narrow.**
+
+## A liveness metric that actually separates the two states
+
+`tools/re-capture/route_liveness_probe.sh`. Two frames five seconds apart, report
+the percentage of pixels that changed. The menu animates, so the separation is
+not marginal:
+
+| state | pixels changed in 5 s |
+|---|---|
+| main menu, healthy | **99.80 – 99.97 %** |
+| frozen | **0.00 %** |
+
+This is the measurement that should have been used from the first run. It needs
+no navigation script to be honest about where it is.
+
+## The NEW GAME route freezes too
+
+Walking the menu's **first** item — NEW GAME, which never touches MISSION SELECT:
+
+| step | liveness | `screen_id` says |
+|---|---|---|
+| main menu | **99.80 %** | menu |
+| after Ⓐ on NEW GAME | 7.33 % | title |
+| after the next Ⓐ | **0.00 %** | *"flight"* |
+
+Frozen two presses off the main menu, with the same
+`AllocRange unable ... 134217728 bytes` in the log.
+
+## So the correct statement is broader
+
+**The game freezes on the first content load after the main menu, whichever menu
+item is taken.** MISSION SELECT was simply the route every earlier run happened
+to use. The previous section's "avoid MISSION SELECT" recommendation is
+withdrawn — there is nothing to avoid.
+
+That puts the memory account back at the centre: if ~379 MB is already live and
+a content load wants 128 MB, *any* content load fails, which is exactly what two
+different routes now show.
+
+⚠️ Note also how badly `screen_id.py` misleads here: it called a frozen frame
+`flight` on a run that never left the menus. **Liveness first, classification
+second** — a classifier's answer is meaningless until the frame is known to be
+moving.
+
+❔ Still open: whether the ~171 MB allocated at boot (112.88 MB at `B50C0000`,
+58.50 MB at `BC220000`, both before any menu) is avoidable, since that plus a
+128 MB content load is most of the console. That is the last untested lever, and
+it is a question about what those two blocks are.
diff --git a/tools/re-capture/route_liveness_probe.sh b/tools/re-capture/route_liveness_probe.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..0002079d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/re-capture/route_liveness_probe.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Boot to the main menu, then walk menu steps, measuring LIVENESS after each by
+# comparing two frames a few seconds apart.  Never trusts a progress log.
+set -u
+export HOME=/sylph-home/re SDL_AUDIODRIVER=dummy DISPLAY=:98 XENIA_PAD_FILE=/tmp/xenia_pad.txt
+export PYTHONPATH=/sylph-home/.local/lib/python3.12/site-packages
+SD=/tmp/claude-1000/-home-fabi-RE-Project-Sylpheed/b113cc12-4769-4ed8-ad66-c2b48f800773/scratchpad/wt-root/Syplheed-Reborn/tools/re-capture
+export PATH="$SD/bin:$PATH"
+OUT=/tmp/route; rm -rf $OUT; mkdir -p $OUT
+pad(){ python3 "$SD/pad.py" "$@"; }
+shot(){ screenshot "$OUT/$1.png" >/dev/null 2>&1; }
+live(){  # two frames 5s apart -> % pixels changed
+  screenshot "$OUT/_a.png" >/dev/null 2>&1; sleep 5; screenshot "$OUT/_b.png" >/dev/null 2>&1
+  python3 - "$OUT/_a.png" "$OUT/_b.png" <<'PY'
+from PIL import Image; import numpy as np, sys
+a=np.asarray(Image.open(sys.argv[1]).convert('RGB'),dtype=float)
+b=np.asarray(Image.open(sys.argv[2]).convert('RGB'),dtype=float)
+d=np.abs(b-a); print(f"{(d.max(2)>4).mean()*100:.2f}")
+PY
+}
+say(){ echo "[$(date +%T)] $*"; }
+
+say "waiting for the title, then one A"
+for i in $(seq 1 240); do
+  shot probe; s=$(python3 "$SD/screen_id.py" "$OUT/probe.png" | awk '{print $1}')
+  [ "$s" = title ] && break
+  [ "$s" = menu ] && break
+  sleep 2
+done
+say "screen=$s ; liveness here = $(live)%"
+if [ "$s" = title ]; then pad tap A; sleep 6; fi
+for i in $(seq 1 60); do
+  shot probe; s=$(python3 "$SD/screen_id.py" "$OUT/probe.png" | awk '{print $1}')
+  [ "$s" = menu ] && break; sleep 2
+done
+say "MAIN MENU (screen=$s)  liveness = $(live)%"
+shot 00-mainmenu