diff --git a/FABRIC-3.md b/FABRIC-3.md
index 033029e..c559263 100644
--- a/FABRIC-3.md
+++ b/FABRIC-3.md
@@ -1528,3 +1528,70 @@ partial write (READ10's PASS/FAILED logic likely transfers unchanged, not indepe
 verified); whether a write needs a follow-up `TEST UNIT READY` or cache-flush SCSI command
 before the transfer is considered durable on real media (QEMU's `usb-storage` backend may mask
 this — a real-hardware-only question, revisit at Milestone 8).
+
+### F.2 — `ACLKEY` (the "bumps and holes" comparison semantics)
+
+Traced against the actual code before asking anything: `acl_mode`/`acl_allow`/`acl_pinned`
+(`include/vm.h:343-346`, `src/word_source/acl_words.c`) are **`DictEntry` fields — per word,
+not per VM.** There is no VM-level ACL structure anywhere today. So D.3/D.4's "reuse the
+existing ACL primitive" resolution can only ever have meant reuse the *pattern* (a cached
+decision plus a C-enforced one-way ratchet — `if (e->acl_pinned) return;` at every mutating
+primitive) — the actual data has to live somewhere new. `sk_repl_set_active_vm()`
+(`starkernel/repl.c:64`) is confirmed to be exactly what its own doc comment says: an
+unguarded raw pointer swap, no credential concept at all.
+
+**Decisions made 2026-08-27 (iterative Q&A pass):**
+
+1. **Where the lock lives.** A new dedicated type in its own header —
+   `include/starkernel/vm_identity.h`, a `VMIdentity { uint8_t owner_pubkey[32]; uint8_t
+   installed; }` — embedded by value as a field on `struct VM`, exactly the way `VMUuid
+   stadium_vm_id` (`vm_uuid.h`, its own header, embedded field) already does. **Explicit
+   standing instruction from Captain Bob**: don't grow `struct VM`/`vm.h` feature-by-feature
+   with more inline fields — when a feature's data has real shape, it gets its own header and
+   gets *integrated* as a field, not inlined ad hoc. `VMUuid` was already the right precedent;
+   `VMIdentity` follows it. Deliberately holds only the public key, not a seed — unlike
+   Zuse's own `zuse_cert_seed`/`zuse_cert_pubkey` pair, a regular VM's lock never needs to
+   sign anything itself, so no private material belongs on it at all.
+2. **Zuse override.** Zuse keeps an always-allowed override to attach to any VM (consistent
+   with the existing `emergency_console`/`zuse_session` bypass precedent, and avoids the
+   bricking risk of Zuse ever being locked out of a VM by its own cert state) — **but the
+   override must be a distinct, explicit call path** (e.g. a separate function/word, not a
+   silently-taken branch inside the normal bind check), so invoking it requires a deliberate
+   acknowledgment rather than happening as a side effect of an ordinary bind attempt. Exact
+   acknowledgment UX (a confirm prompt? a two-step word?) is not designed yet — the
+   architectural commitment is only that it can't be silent.
+3. **Binding pin.** No pin. `sk_repl_set_active_vm()` stays freely retargetable — matches
+   today's Tripod-fleet `USE`-word behavior, and is needed for real cases where a single
+   console legitimately moves between VMs mid-session (Zuse doing maintenance work in another
+   service VM; a user's console retargeting to update something in a second VM they own). The
+   credential check runs at each bind call, not just once at first attach.
+
+**Not yet scoped (deferred within this node):** the exact acknowledgment UX for the Zuse
+override path; whether `VMIdentity.installed` needs its own one-way fuse semantics (probably
+yes — the *lock itself* being immutable once set at a VM's birth is a different axis from
+"binding stays retargetable," and shouldn't be conflated with decision 3 above) — worth a
+dedicated look when this is actually built, not decided in this pass.
+
+### D.5 — Scope expansion (2026-08-27): identity is common to every VM, not just users
+
+Surfaced while scoping `ACLKEY`, stated directly: *"the whole object is to deliver a
+functional Tripod plus identities common to all VM's... this means now that we have to
+create certificates for Hermes, Artemis and Console along with Zuse and CaptBob's
+'thumbdrives.'"* This reframes `VMIdentity` (F.2 above) from a user-VM-specific mechanism into
+the **general per-VM identity primitive** — every node in the pentagon (Hera, Hermes,
+Artemis, a user's own VM, the Console) is expected to eventually carry one, not only VMs born
+from an attached thumbdrive. Doesn't change F.2's design, just its intended reach — worth
+remembering when `VMIdentity` actually gets built, so it isn't accidentally scoped narrower
+than this.
+
+**Two new standing items that came with this, both explicitly deferred (not part of the
+current iterative pass, recorded so they aren't lost):**
+- **A full codebase audit pass**, using this same iterative Q&A workflow, to scavenge for more
+  "same gap hiding in two places" opportunities the way `ACLKEY` turned out to be one gap
+  wearing two names (Milestone 5's "key/lock shape" and D.4's "bumps and holes"), and the way
+  `WRITE(10)` turned out to gate four separate-looking fronts at once. Not scoped, not
+  started — a future pass of its own.
+- **v2.0.0 release target**: once Tripod is functional end to end, every VM has its identity
+  mechanism, and the codebase/documentation are clean per the above audit, tag a v2.0.0
+  release. Stated as the destination this whole planning arc is walking toward, not an
+  immediate next step.