diff --git a/scripts/run-qwen38-bf16.sh b/scripts/run-qwen38-bf16.sh
index ca64cb9..076c624 100755
--- a/scripts/run-qwen38-bf16.sh
+++ b/scripts/run-qwen38-bf16.sh
@@ -94,9 +94,10 @@
 #        bf16 container, kldref only), FRANK_QWEN38_CAMPAIGN (holds kld-ref/ and
 #        calib/), FRANK_QWEN38_KLD_CORPUS, FRANK_QWEN38_TPL (the template copy
 #        the container reads through /models), FRANK_QWEN38_LOG_DIR, and
-#        FRANK_QWEN38_MNBT — the step size shared by kldref and score (default
+#        FRANK_QWEN38_MNBT — the step size every mode boots at (default
 #        1,024: the file tier's ceiling is 2,048 and production runs there, but on
 #        this payload the arena charged for a wider step is taken from the cache),
+#        the slot count inherited as FRANK_ARCHON_MAX_SEQS — no per-mode literals —
 #        and FRANK_QWEN38_MAX_MODEL_LEN — the window every mode boots at (32,768;
 #        see the corpus census above, and raise it together with the corpus).
 # kldref refuses (exit 2) when the longest record of the corpus it is about to
@@ -162,6 +163,15 @@ SERVICE=frank-archon
 # here once starved the recorder. The `:?` guards keep an empty env fatal.
 HOST_POOL_MIB="${FRANK_ARCHON_HOST_POOL_MIB:?FRANK_ARCHON_HOST_POOL_MIB must be set}"
 GPU_HEADROOM_MIB="${FRANK_ARCHON_GPU_HEADROOM_MIB:?FRANK_ARCHON_GPU_HEADROOM_MIB must be set}"
+# The slot count, from the same file that owns the card split: production runs
+# four slots and every mode measures at production's geometry. A per-mode
+# literal here is what let calib ask for eight slots and then starve its own
+# cache. The `:?` guard keeps an empty env fatal, as for the card split.
+MAX_SEQS="${FRANK_ARCHON_MAX_SEQS:?FRANK_ARCHON_MAX_SEQS must be set}"
+if ! [[ "$MAX_SEQS" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]]; then
+    echo "REFUSED: FRANK_ARCHON_MAX_SEQS must be a slot count (got: $MAX_SEQS)" >&2
+    exit 2
+fi
 
 # ONE step size for both logits modes. The file tier streams only at <=2,048 and
 # the gate scores file-tier payloads (the served iq4r, the arms) against the
@@ -232,7 +242,7 @@ case "$MODE" in
     # room the corpus needs. Corpus read-only, record dir rw.
     ARGS+=(--model "$MODEL_IN"
            --kld-record /data/kld-ref --kld-corpus /data/kld.jsonl
-           --max-num-seqs 4 --max-num-batched-tokens "$MNBT")
+           --max-num-seqs "$MAX_SEQS" --max-num-batched-tokens "$MNBT")
     MOUNTS+=(-v "$KLD_CORPUS:/data/kld.jsonl:ro"
              -v "$KLD_REF_DIR:/data/kld-ref")
     ;;
@@ -247,17 +257,26 @@ case "$MODE" in
     fi
     ARGS+=(--model "$MODEL_IN"
            --kld-ref /data/kld-ref --kld-out "/data/out/$(basename "$SCORE_OUT")"
-           --max-num-seqs 4 --max-num-batched-tokens "$MNBT")
+           --max-num-seqs "$MAX_SEQS" --max-num-batched-tokens "$MNBT")
     MOUNTS+=(-v "$KLD_REF_DIR:/data/kld-ref:ro"
              -v "$OUT_DIR:/data/out")
     ;;
   calib)
-    # Calibration is exempt from the shared step: the tap counts pooled
-    # positions and nothing downstream is compared against a step size, so the
-    # wide step is free throughput (a disk-tier step costs the same at 1 token
-    # as at 64k).
+    # Calibration rides the shared step like every other mode. The old
+    # exemption — eight slots at MNBT 65,536 for "free throughput", because
+    # "a disk-tier step costs the same at 1 token as at 64k" — is false: the
+    # step's activation arena is billed on the card, not on the disk. The
+    # engine's own ledger for this container: at MNBT 1,024 the arena is
+    # 504 MiB and the card claims 30.87 GiB (weights 28.90 GiB of it); at
+    # 65,536 the arena is 10.65 GiB (fixed region 1.25 GiB), the claim falls
+    # to 16.85 GiB, the experts shrink to 10.98 GiB and the KV to 271 MiB —
+    # one slot's worth of cache for eight slots, and the boot dies at
+    # "startup stopped: out of memory" (measured 2026-10-29). A wide step
+    # buys throughput with the expert slab, so price it like any other
+    # VRAM knob. The slots follow frank-archon.env's FRANK_ARCHON_MAX_SEQS
+    # through MAX_SEQS, exactly as kldref and score do.
     ARGS+=(--model "$MODEL_IN" --port 7770
-           --max-num-seqs 8 --max-num-batched-tokens 65536)
+           --max-num-seqs "$MAX_SEQS" --max-num-batched-tokens "$MNBT")
     MOUNTS+=(-v "$CALIB_DIR:/data/calib")
     TAPENV=(-e RADIANCE_CALIB_DIR=/data/calib
             -e RADIANCE_CALIB_TOKENS=12000000)
diff --git a/tests/qwen38_reference.bats b/tests/qwen38_reference.bats
index d60f138..57cf34e 100755
--- a/tests/qwen38_reference.bats
+++ b/tests/qwen38_reference.bats
@@ -247,16 +247,19 @@ flag_value() {
     [ ! -d "$L" ]
 }
 
-@test "the reference and a score pass ride ONE step size, legal on the file tier" {
+@test "every mode rides ONE step size and ONE seat count, legal on the file tier" {
     # The gate's claim is one shape; that shape's ceiling is set by the tightest
     # payload it boots, and the served iq4r and every arm are file-tier
     # containers, which stream only at <=2048. A reference recorded above that is
-    # a KL between two shapes, not two weights.
+    # a KL between two shapes, not two weights. Calib used to exempt itself from
+    # the shared step; the exemption cost the container its own cache, so the
+    # test now holds every mode to the same two numbers.
     M="$BATS_TEST_TMPDIR/models"
     C="$BATS_TEST_TMPDIR/campaign"
     run env FRANK_QWEN38_MODELS="$M" FRANK_QWEN38_CAMPAIGN="$C" bash "$RUNNER" kldref --dry-run
     [ "$status" -eq 0 ]
     ref_step="$(flag_value --max-num-batched-tokens <<< "$output")"
+    ref_seats="$(flag_value --max-num-seqs <<< "$output")"
     [ -n "$ref_step" ]
     [ "$ref_step" -le 2048 ]
     run env FRANK_QWEN38_MODELS="$M" FRANK_QWEN38_CAMPAIGN="$C" \
@@ -271,10 +274,16 @@ flag_value() {
     run env FRANK_QWEN38_MODELS="$M" FRANK_QWEN38_CAMPAIGN="$C" FRANK_QWEN38_MNBT=1024 \
         bash "$RUNNER" score "$M/rad/arm-w5nl64.rad" "$C/scores/arm1.json" --dry-run
     [ "$(flag_value --max-num-batched-tokens <<< "$output")" = "1024" ]
-    # calibration is exempt: grams are not logits, so the tap keeps the wide step
+    # calibration rides the shared step too. Its old exemption (8 seats at
+    # MNBT 65,536, "free throughput") is what made the container refuse to
+    # boot: at that step the engine charges a 10.65 GiB activation arena to
+    # the card, the experts fall to 10.98 GiB and the KV to 271 MiB —
+    # "0.0 full-length sessions", "startup stopped: out of memory", measured
+    # 2026-10-29 while kldref on the shared step ran 16 hours without fault.
     run env FRANK_QWEN38_MODELS="$M" FRANK_QWEN38_CAMPAIGN="$C" FRANK_QWEN38_MNBT=1024 \
         bash "$RUNNER" calib --dry-run
-    [ "$(flag_value --max-num-batched-tokens <<< "$output")" = "65536" ]
+    [ "$(flag_value --max-num-batched-tokens <<< "$output")" = "1024" ]
+    [ "$(flag_value --max-num-seqs <<< "$output")" = "$ref_seats" ]
     # a step size that is not a token count is refused, never handed to the engine
     run env FRANK_QWEN38_MNBT=broad bash "$RUNNER" kldref --dry-run
     [ "$status" -eq 2 ]