The ring never retreats into depth—it only walks sideways. A mid-screen string with triangular anchors fires only on a short lateral flick. A tiny slide is an empty pluck: no seed, no instant tension loss, yet the quiet clock keeps ticking. Landing follows how far the pluck sits from string center; faster flicks fly sooner. Only the magenta hot arc pays and climbs a chain; the lilac body zeros that shot and resets the chain, while a total miss keeps the chain. Letting the quiet window expire peels one tension; three peels close the cast. Later the hot arc shortens, the ring hurries, and the window shrinks. The gate stacks ring preview, string, then start; totals hang under the ring, and anchor brightness shows tension left.
Flick the mid string. Only the hot arc pays; silence peels tension away.