The aurora was never missing data — it was a missing mechanism plus a
misread. New decompile evidence closes the April-2026 contradiction:
retail plays the sky carriers' PES through the Setup's own DefaultScript
(GameSky::MakeObject @0x00506EE0 -> CPhysicsObj::makeObject @0x00513970
sets state|=0x80000; animate_static_object @0x00513DF0 ticks
ScriptManager + ParticleManager). The pes_id column stays dead — that
half of the April finding stands; the ids are byte-equal mirrors.
- SkyPesFrameController is now the production owner (ACDREAM_ENABLE_SKY_PES
deleted): script ids resolve from the Setup DefaultScript
(SkyObjectData.DefaultScriptId; the pes_id column is a one-time-logged
cross-check), slots persist by (index, gfx id, properties) per
CreateDeletePhysicsObjects @0x005073C0 — a day-group swap keeping the
carrier no longer restarts its emitters — and stale slots stop before
replacements claim the slot-derived owner id.
- RetailParticleFacing ports calc_draw_frame @0x0050DFA0: degrade mode 2
faces the viewer roll-free (set_vector_heading) instead of the camera
plane; modes 3/4/5 spin the authored frame around one local axis
(rotate_around_axis_to_vector) — Dereth authors 54 mode-5 emitters that
previously got no facing at all; 1,583 mode-2 emitters get the exact
law; authored/mode-1 paths are unchanged.
- The 2026-08-23 'whole-sky tint' was the Rainy-group lightning/thunder
PES playing at the debug anchor inside their 0.03-0.19 window, not the
aurora: the aurora is nine faint viewer-facing glows pulsing on
6.7/15/55-minute rebirth cycles, in every day group, all day.
Research: docs/research/2026-08-23-sky-default-script-port.md.
Register: AD-112 filed (camera-anchored synthetic owners vs sky-cell
physics objects). ISSUES #2 corrected (the playback ban is lifted by the
new evidence); #28 fix landed pending the connected night gate.
Tests: RetailParticleFacingTests (16), SkyPesFrameControllerTests (6);
hermetic suites App 6,076/0, Core 4,905/0.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>