diff --git a/crates/mind-body/src/connector.rs b/crates/mind-body/src/connector.rs
index 37acb5d..3ca7688 100644
--- a/crates/mind-body/src/connector.rs
+++ b/crates/mind-body/src/connector.rs
@@ -4,28 +4,24 @@
 use chrono::{DateTime, SecondsFormat, Utc};
 use model_connector::PlanQuota;
 
-/// A span in the two largest units that fit: `45s`, `12m`, `3h 20m`, `4d 11h`.
-fn span(ms: u64) -> String {
-    let seconds = ms / 1000;
-    match seconds {
-        0..=59 => format!("{seconds}s"),
-        60..=3599 => format!("{}m", seconds / 60),
-        3600..=86399 => format!("{}h {}m", seconds / 3600, seconds % 3600 / 60),
-        _ => format!("{}d {}h", seconds / 86400, seconds % 86400 / 3600),
-    }
+/// When a window resets: the UTC time alone. An instant is true when read again hours later; "in 4d 11h"
+/// or "already past" is not.
+fn resets(at_unix_ms: u64) -> String {
+    let at = i64::try_from(at_unix_ms).ok().and_then(DateTime::<Utc>::from_timestamp_millis).map_or_else(|| at_unix_ms.to_string(), |at| at.to_rfc3339_opts(SecondsFormat::Secs, true));
+    format!("resets at {at}")
 }
 
-/// When a window resets: the UTC time, and how far off it is from `now_ms`.
-fn resets(at_unix_ms: u64, now_ms: u64) -> String {
-    let at = i64::try_from(at_unix_ms).ok().and_then(DateTime::<Utc>::from_timestamp_millis).map_or_else(|| at_unix_ms.to_string(), |at| at.to_rfc3339_opts(SecondsFormat::Secs, true));
-    if at_unix_ms > now_ms { format!("resets at {at} (in {})", span(at_unix_ms - now_ms)) } else { format!("resets at {at} (already past)") }
+/// The minute a reading was taken, as a UTC time. An instant, not an age: the line stays true when
+/// it is read again hours later in a session that cannot refresh it.
+fn read_at(at_unix_ms: u64) -> String {
+    i64::try_from(at_unix_ms).ok().and_then(DateTime::<Utc>::from_timestamp_millis).map_or_else(|| at_unix_ms.to_string(), |at| at.format("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%MZ").to_string())
 }
 
 /// The plan windows as one line for a Mind: each window's percent used, its
-/// status, when it resets and how old the reading is. Rendered from the readout
+/// status, when it resets and the minute the reading was taken. Rendered from the readout
 /// and nothing else, so no number in it is ever a paraphrase; the guidance that
 /// follows it states the swarm's aim and that nothing enforces it.
-pub fn render_plan(windows: &[PlanQuota], now_ms: u64) -> String {
+pub fn render_plan(windows: &[PlanQuota], _now_ms: u64) -> String {
     let guidance = "The swarm aims to have used about 90% of the weekly allowance at reset; nothing enforces it; you and the other Minds set the tempo.";
     if windows.is_empty() {
         return format!("Plan usage: unobserved. {guidance}");
@@ -34,15 +30,15 @@ pub fn render_plan(windows: &[PlanQuota], now_ms: u64) -> String {
         .iter()
         .map(|plan| match plan.utilization_permille {
             Some(permille) => format!(
-                "{} {}.{}% {}, {}, read {} ago",
+                "{} {}.{}% {}, {}, read at {}",
                 plan.window,
                 permille / 10,
                 permille % 10,
                 plan.status,
-                resets(plan.resets_at_unix_ms, now_ms),
-                span(now_ms.saturating_sub(plan.observed_at_unix_ms))
+                resets(plan.resets_at_unix_ms),
+                read_at(plan.observed_at_unix_ms)
             ),
-            None => format!("{} expired, {}", plan.window, resets(plan.resets_at_unix_ms, now_ms)),
+            None => format!("{} expired, {}", plan.window, resets(plan.resets_at_unix_ms)),
         })
         .collect();
     format!("Plan usage: {}. {guidance}", rendered.join("; "))
@@ -57,20 +53,25 @@ mod tests {
     }
 
     #[test]
-    fn a_window_reads_as_a_time_and_spans_not_unix_milliseconds() {
+    fn a_window_reads_as_a_time_not_unix_milliseconds() {
         let now = 1_793_307_000_000 - (4 * 86_400 + 11 * 3600 + 30 * 60) * 1000;
         let line = render_plan(&[window(Some(423), 1_793_307_000_000, now - 385_639_000)], now);
-        assert!(line.starts_with("Plan usage: five_hour 42.3% allowed, resets at 2026-10-29T20:50:00Z (in 4d 11h), read 4d 11h ago. "), "{line}");
+        assert!(line.starts_with("Plan usage: five_hour 42.3% allowed, resets at 2026-10-29T20:50:00Z, read at 2026-10-20T22:12Z. "), "{line}");
         assert!(!line.contains("unix ms"), "{line}");
     }
 
     #[test]
-    fn spans_use_the_two_largest_units_and_a_passed_reset_says_so() {
+fn the_reset_is_an_instant_whatever_the_moment_of_rendering() {        let reset = 1_793_307_000_000;        let at = |now| render_plan(&[window(Some(10), reset, reset - 5000)], now);        let before = at(reset - 5000);        assert!(before.contains("resets at 2026-10-29T20:50:00Z, read at 2026-10-29T20:49Z"), "{before}");        for now in [reset - 12_000_000, reset, reset + 1000] {            assert_eq!(at(now), before, "the line does not depend on when it is rendered");        }        assert!(!before.contains("(in ") && !before.contains("already past"), "{before}");        assert_eq!(render_plan(&[window(None, reset, reset)], reset - 12_000_000).split(". ").next().unwrap(), "Plan usage: five_hour expired, resets at 2026-10-29T20:50:00Z");    }
+    #[test]
+    fn the_reading_is_dated_by_the_minute_it_was_taken_and_the_line_does_not_age() {
         let reset = 1_793_307_000_000;
-        assert!(render_plan(&[window(Some(10), reset, reset - 5000)], reset - 5000).contains("(in 5s), read 0s ago"));
-        assert!(render_plan(&[window(Some(10), reset, reset - 720_000)], reset - 600_000).contains("(in 10m), read 2m ago"));
-        assert!(render_plan(&[window(Some(10), reset, reset)], reset).contains("(already past), read 0s ago"), "a reset at this very moment is past");
-        assert!(render_plan(&[window(Some(10), reset, reset)], reset + 1000).contains("(already past), read 1s ago"));
-        assert!(render_plan(&[window(None, reset, reset)], reset - 12_000_000).contains("five_hour expired, resets at 2026-10-29T20:50:00Z (in 3h 20m)"));
+        let taken = 1_793_306_999_000; // 20:49:59Z: the minute is cut, not rounded
+        let first = render_plan(&[window(Some(10), reset, taken)], taken);
+        assert!(first.contains(", read at 2026-10-29T20:49Z. "), "{first}");
+        let hours_later = render_plan(&[window(Some(10), reset, taken)], taken + 3 * 3_600_000);
+        assert!(hours_later.contains(", read at 2026-10-29T20:49Z. "), "{hours_later}");
+        assert!(!first.contains(" ago") && !hours_later.contains(" ago"), "{first} {hours_later}");
+        assert!(render_plan(&[window(Some(10), reset, 0)], reset).contains(", read at 1970-01-01T00:00Z. "));
+        assert!(render_plan(&[window(Some(10), reset, u64::MAX)], reset).contains(&format!(", read at {}. ", u64::MAX)), "an instant out of range is printed as the number it is");
     }
 }
diff --git a/crates/mind-body/src/persona/tests.rs b/crates/mind-body/src/persona/tests.rs
index ee03a4f..1fbef24 100644
--- a/crates/mind-body/src/persona/tests.rs
+++ b/crates/mind-body/src/persona/tests.rs
@@ -3585,7 +3585,7 @@ Near what was said:
 - (2026-10-09, in #swarm, Did): "Closed the old bridge"
 
 
-Plan usage: five_hour 42.3% allowed, resets at 2026-10-29T20:50:00Z (in 20d 7h), read 0s ago. The swarm aims to have used about 90% of the weekly allowance at reset; nothing enforces it; you and the other Minds set the tempo.
+Plan usage: five_hour 42.3% allowed, resets at 2026-10-29T20:50:00Z, read at 2026-10-29T20:33Z. The swarm aims to have used about 90% of the weekly allowance at reset; nothing enforces it; you and the other Minds set the tempo.
 
 Tempo: not yet read. The swarm beat is the lower median of the votes cast: a Mind with no standing vote abstains and is not counted, and with no vote cast the beat is 900 s. A vote only needs changing when conditions change; leave it standing otherwise. You vote with tempo_vote_beat_s (60 to 86400 seconds per beat; omit the key to leave your standing vote as it is, and send null to withdraw it and abstain) and declare your own urgency with urgency_permille (0 to 1000, null for none); an urgency lasts until your next turn, so use it as etiquette, not as a habit.
 
@@ -3612,7 +3612,7 @@ What you remember (from your own mind; `huginn view <id>` reads a record):
 - nothing is remembered yet.
 
 
-Plan usage: five_hour 42.3% allowed, resets at 2026-10-29T20:50:00Z (in 20d 7h), read 0s ago. The swarm aims to have used about 90% of the weekly allowance at reset; nothing enforces it; you and the other Minds set the tempo.
+Plan usage: five_hour 42.3% allowed, resets at 2026-10-29T20:50:00Z, read at 2026-10-29T20:33Z. The swarm aims to have used about 90% of the weekly allowance at reset; nothing enforces it; you and the other Minds set the tempo.
 
 Tempo: not yet read. The swarm beat is the lower median of the votes cast: a Mind with no standing vote abstains and is not counted, and with no vote cast the beat is 900 s. A vote only needs changing when conditions change; leave it standing otherwise. You vote with tempo_vote_beat_s (60 to 86400 seconds per beat; omit the key to leave your standing vote as it is, and send null to withdraw it and abstain) and declare your own urgency with urgency_permille (0 to 1000, null for none); an urgency lasts until your next turn, so use it as etiquette, not as a habit.
 
diff --git a/crates/mind-body/src/self_run/tests.rs b/crates/mind-body/src/self_run/tests.rs
index 3c2b76e..3b36761 100644
--- a/crates/mind-body/src/self_run/tests.rs
+++ b/crates/mind-body/src/self_run/tests.rs
@@ -357,7 +357,7 @@ fn the_start_message_is_the_first_thing_written_and_names_the_skill_the_instance
     let ran = go(vec![Out(result_line())]);
     assert!(matches!(&ran.events[0], Event::Wrote(_)), "the start precedes the first read: {:?}", ran.events[0]);
     let written = ran.written();
-    for needle in ["Plan usage: five_hour 42.3% allowed, resets at 2026-10-29T20:50:00Z (in 20d 7h), read 0s ago", "about 90% of the weekly allowance", "nothing enforces it"] {
+    for needle in ["Plan usage: five_hour 42.3% allowed, resets at 2026-10-29T20:50:00Z, read at 2026-10-29T20:33Z", "about 90% of the weekly allowance", "nothing enforces it"] {
         assert!(written[0].contains(needle), "the lease grant plan windows reach the child: {needle}: {}", written[0]);
     }
     for needle in ["Use the eureka skill.", "yggdrasil", "yggdrasil:run:selfrun-a", AGENT] {
@@ -1376,6 +1376,8 @@ fn a_brief_derived_while_a_turn_runs_is_written_at_once_counted_at_its_echo_and_
     assert_eq!(told.len(), 1, "{:?}", ran.written());
     assert!(told[0].contains(&brief_ref("b1").id.0) && told[0].contains("Survey the noise functions."), "{}", told[0]);
     assert!(told[0].contains("resolve follow-up") && told[0].contains("Recorded"), "she is told how to close it: {}", told[0]);
+    // The plan line is restated under every brief for the run's life, so it names the instant of the reading, never an age that stops being true.
+    assert!(told[0].contains("read at 2026-10-29T20:33Z") && !told[0].contains(" ago"), "{}", told[0]);
     assert_eq!(ran.written().len(), 2, "the start message and one tell: {:?}", ran.written());
     assert!(ran.out.contains("decision Write { tells: true, flush: None } prefix 10 ttl_s 0 idle_s working inbox true written 2 consumed 1\n"), "{}", ran.out);
     assert_eq!(ran.count(&Event::InputClosed), 0);
diff --git a/crates/mind-body/tests/public_surface.txt b/crates/mind-body/tests/public_surface.txt
index 9589a0f..254996f 100644
--- a/crates/mind-body/tests/public_surface.txt
+++ b/crates/mind-body/tests/public_surface.txt
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ mind_body::chat_rudp: struct RudpChat  pub-fields[]
 mind_body::cli: fn instance_and_endpoint (args : & [String] , env_endpoint : Option < String > , usage : & str) -> Result < (Slug , SocketAddr) >
 mind_body::cli: fn operator_name (sudo_user : Option < String > , user : Option < String >) -> String
 mind_body::cli: fn run (args : & [String] , root : & Path , set_by : & str , now : DateTime < Utc > , out : & mut impl Write , stop_units : & mut dyn FnMut (StopScope < '_ >) -> Result < () > ,) -> Result < () >
-mind_body::connector: fn render_plan (windows : & [PlanQuota] , now_ms : u64) -> String
+mind_body::connector: fn render_plan (windows : & [PlanQuota] , _now_ms : u64) -> String
 mind_body::control: # [derive (Clone , Copy , Debug , PartialEq , Eq)] pub enum HeldReason { BrakeAbsent , BrakeHeld , Undecodable , }
 mind_body::control: # [derive (Debug , PartialEq , Eq)] pub enum Effective { Held { reason : HeldReason } , Released (Grant) , }
 mind_body::control: # [derive (Debug , PartialEq , Eq)] pub enum SwarmEffective { Held (HeldReason) , Released , }