# Cold-vs-cold result — Phase C+13 (2026-05-14)

| canary_tid | ours_tid | matched | first_divergence | event-kind at divergence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6  | 1  | **104574** | 104574 | `import.call`: canary=RtlEnterCriticalSection (ord 293) / ours=RtlLeaveCriticalSection (ord 304) — NEW divergence, surfaced by C+13 fix |
| 4  | 11 | 9      | —      | no divergence in 9 events — unchanged from C+12 |
| 7  | 2  | 29     | —      | no divergence in 29 events — unchanged from C+12 |
| 12 | 7  | 2      | 2      | pre-existing KeWaitForSingleObject TIMEOUT/SUCCESS — unchanged |
| 14 | 9  | 39     | 39     | pre-existing XAudio init — unchanged |
| 15 | 10 | 15     | —      | no divergence in 15 events — unchanged |

Main matched-prefix advance: **+712 events** (103,862 → 104,574).

## New cold digest baseline

`e1dfcb1559f987b35012a7f2dc6d93f5` (was `ad4f74ee324fdedb0bfdd4cc4c6468e9`).

Stable-counter delta vs C+12 (digest-cold-stable-1.json):
```
instructions: 50000002 → 50000007   (+5)
imports:      40447    → 40390      (-57)
unimpl:       0        → 0
draws:        0        → 0
swaps:        1        → 1
unique_render_targets: 0 → 0
shader_blobs_live:     0 → 0
texture_cache_entries: 0 → 0
```

The `imports` drop is the expected signature of the fix:
where ours previously synth-empty'd missing disc paths
(emitting an extra kernel.call/return pair), it now returns
NOT_FOUND inline. The net `imports` delta (-57) suggests roughly
~57 missing-disc-file probes per cold boot were previously
masked.

## Phase B `image_loaded_sha256`

`ea8d160e9369328a5b922258a92113efb8d7ce3e1a5c12cc521e375985c91c18`
(unchanged from C+12 / C+11.1 / C+11 — the engine fix is observation-
only on the loaded image bytes).

## Verification of the divergence resolution at idx 103862

Ours (post-fix) emission at idx 103862:
```json
{
  "kind": "kernel.return",
  "tid": 1,
  "tid_event_idx": 103862,
  "payload": {
    "name": "NtCreateFile",
    "return_value": 18446744072635809844,
    "status": "0xc0000034",
    "side_effects": []
  }
}
```

Canary (oracle) emission at idx 103862:
```json
{
  "kind": "kernel.return",
  "tid": 6,
  "tid_event_idx": 103862,
  "payload": {
    "name": "NtCreateFile",
    "return_value": 18446744072635809844,
    "status": "0xc0000034",
    "side_effects": []
  }
}
```

Bit-identical match — `STATUS_OBJECT_NAME_NOT_FOUND` (0xC0000034)
on both sides for the missing `game:\dat\files.tbl` open.

## New first divergence (next target)

`tid_event_idx=104574`: ordinal-of-call mismatch in a tight
`RtlEnterCriticalSection` / `RtlLeaveCriticalSection` sequence.

Pre-context (last 5 matching events both engines):
```
[104569] kernel.call RtlLeaveCriticalSection
[104570] kernel.return RtlLeaveCriticalSection
[104571] import.call RtlEnterCriticalSection
[104572] kernel.call RtlEnterCriticalSection
[104573] kernel.return RtlEnterCriticalSection
```

Divergent event:
```
canary: [104574] import.call RtlEnterCriticalSection
ours:   [104574] import.call RtlLeaveCriticalSection
```

Reading: canary does **two** sequential `RtlEnterCriticalSection`
calls (nested-lock pattern around the NOT_FOUND error-handling
path); ours does **one** Enter followed by a Leave (single-lock
pattern). This is downstream code branching differently — likely
an error-handling path in the boot validator that takes a
double-lock when a disc lookup misses. Investigate the function
on whose path Sylpheed is at `pc` 104574 in ours.