diff --git a/docs/shield-presentation-contract.md b/docs/shield-presentation-contract.md
index 2edd0c602..7a784659c 100644
--- a/docs/shield-presentation-contract.md
+++ b/docs/shield-presentation-contract.md
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ equipped.
   shield transform, not authored twice (`docs/shield-panel-cut.md` R6).
 - **Presentation may anticipate.** Operator: "anticipatory is great, and we'll
   want it for other one too". A presentation may begin reacting before a shot
-  lands, and may be wrong when it does.
+  lands, performing an outcome the simulation has already committed (below).
 - **One presentation may serve several capabilities.** Operator: "the Lariat
   would be a presentation for both pickup and shielding capabilities."
 - **The hits a presentation shows are cosmetic.** Fire control decides what
diff --git a/docs/three-gates-scope.md b/docs/three-gates-scope.md
index b87f1e64e..85912b862 100644
--- a/docs/three-gates-scope.md
+++ b/docs/three-gates-scope.md
@@ -88,6 +88,13 @@ gathered enough target data to reveal those subsystems".
   `Physics.*` queries no longer decide damage.
 - **Projectiles still fly** toward the predicted intercept; the hit is resolved
   on arrival against how far the target deviated, so maneuvering is evasion.
+- **The outcome commits a short fixed time before impact** (operator,
+  2026-09-18: "That hybrid is the way"). Deviation feeds the roll up to that
+  horizon; after it the result stands and the rest of the flight is
+  choreography. The commit is what lets a presentation act before the hit —
+  a panel materialising, a whip snapping — and it is authoritative, not a
+  guess. Fire control owns the horizon, one authored setting. The rules that
+  bind presentations to it are `docs/shield-presentation-contract.md`.
 - **Deferred Unity-physics surfaces:** ship collision (`HullCollider`), loot
   pickup (`ShieldManager`), `TractorBeam`, `Mine`. Not blockers.