re(flight): the afterburner is not on A/B/X/LB/LS/RS — bounded negative, with a cheap HUD oracle

The definition describes the burner (AB_ConsumeShield_Begin 50, AB_ConsumeShield 10,
AB_AV_* turn caps well below normal) but names no input, and carries no AB velocity
field.

Three probes, all negative for A, B, X, LB (plus LS/RS on the first):
- ab_probe.py: hold RT for a max-speed baseline, then each candidate — speed stayed
  inside the baseline's own noise band every time.
- ab_state_probe.py: sample a window of the player object during each hold and
  report any float that falls — nothing fell.
- HUD oracle needing no offsets: count green pixels of the SHIELD bar on a freshly
  spawned craft. AB_ConsumeShield_Begin 50 should take a visible bite; the bar read
  156/156/156/157/157 across baseline and all four buttons.

So the burner needs a chord, an input this pad cannot reach, or belongs to another
craft/the AI. Recorded so the obvious buttons are not re-probed.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NptfmpjdpNCKEez6d2xvA9

tools/re-capture/ab_state_probe.py

@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Find the afterburner by what it COSTS, not by what it speeds up.
+
+`ab_probe.py` held A/B/X/LB at full throttle and none of them moved the speed —
+so either the burner is a different input or it does not raise the speed target
+(the definition has no `AB_*Velocity`, only `AB_AV_*` turn caps and
+`AB_ConsumeShield{,_Begin}` 10 / 50). This looks for the cost instead: sample a
+window of the player object while each candidate is held, and report any float
+that FALLS during the hold and not before it — `AB_ConsumeShield_Begin 50` should
+be a visible step.
+
+Usage: ab_state_probe.py [hold_s]
+"""
+import os, struct, subprocess, sys, time
+sys.path.insert(0, os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
+import speed_law
+
+WIN_LO, WIN_HI = 0x100, 0x220          # object window, relative to the position triple
+
+def pad(*a):
+    subprocess.run(["vgamepad", *a], capture_output=True)
+
+def snap(fd, off):
+    b = os.pread(fd, WIN_HI - WIN_LO, off + WIN_LO)
+    return [struct.unpack_from(">f", b, i)[0] for i in range(0, len(b) - 3, 4)]
+
+def main():
+    hold = float(sys.argv[1]) if len(sys.argv) > 1 else 4.0
+    w, off, nm = speed_law.find_player()
+    if not w:
+        sys.exit("player entity not found after retries")
+    print(f"# locked on {nm}; window {WIN_LO:#x}..{WIN_HI:#x}")
+    pad("trig", "RT", "1.0")
+    time.sleep(1.5)
+    for btn in ("LS", "RS", "A", "B", "X", "LB"):
+        before = snap(w.fd, off)
+        pad("press", btn)
+        time.sleep(hold)
+        during = snap(w.fd, off)
+        pad("release", btn)
+        time.sleep(1.0)
+        after = snap(w.fd, off)
+        drops = []
+        for i, (b, d, a) in enumerate(zip(before, during, after)):
+            # a float that fell while held and did not fall further after release
+            if b - d > 1.0 and (a - d) > -1.0 and abs(b) < 1e6:
+                drops.append((WIN_LO + i * 4, round(b, 1), round(d, 1), round(a, 1)))
+        tag = ", ".join(f"{o:#05x}: {b}->{d}->{a}" for o, b, d, a in drops[:4]) or "nothing fell"
+        print(f"# {btn:<3} {tag}")
+    pad("trig", "RT", "0.0"); pad("reset")
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()