diff --git a/components/reasoning-workspace.jsx b/components/reasoning-workspace.jsx
index c3f0c4d..c7475ae 100644
--- a/components/reasoning-workspace.jsx
+++ b/components/reasoning-workspace.jsx
@@ -310,6 +310,157 @@ function EvidenceLimitCard({ summary }) {
   );
 }
 
+// ── Quiet facilitator state (experiment mode) ─────────────────────
+
+function QuietStateCard() {
+  return (
+    <div className="rounded-lg border border-gray-200/60 bg-gray-50/40 px-5 py-5 text-center">
+      <p className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-500 mb-1">
+        Nothing more to add here right now
+      </p>
+      <p className="text-xs leading-relaxed text-gray-400">
+        You can continue with another question, switch branches, or return when
+        you have more information.
+      </p>
+    </div>
+  );
+}
+
+// ── New connection / late-result indicator ────────────────────────
+
+function UpdatedConnectionCard({ update }) {
+  return (
+    <div className="space-y-2">
+      <h2 className="text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">
+        New update
+      </h2>
+      <div className="rounded-lg border border-blue-200/60 bg-blue-50/40 px-4 py-3">
+        <p className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-blue-800/80">{update.text}</p>
+      </div>
+    </div>
+  );
+}
+
+// ── Branch notebook content (RTO.27A) ────────────────────────────
+// Smallest useful branch-scoped composition from fixture data.
+// Only renders sections grounded in existing records.
+
+function BranchNotebookContent({
+  branchContext,
+  contributions,
+  openQuestions,
+  lateResults,
+  inactiveBranchNewResults,
+}) {
+  const hasOpenItems = openQuestions && openQuestions.length > 0;
+  const hasContributions = contributions && contributions.length > 0;
+
+  return (
+    <div className="space-y-6">
+      {/* Why this branch exists */}
+      {branchContext && (
+        <div className="rounded-lg border border-blue-200/60 bg-blue-50/40 px-5 py-4">
+          <h2 className="mb-1 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">
+            Current branch
+          </h2>
+          <p className="text-base font-medium leading-tight text-gray-900">{branchContext.label}</p>
+          {branchContext.origin && (
+            <p className="mt-2 text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-600">
+              Trying to understand: {branchContext.origin}
+            </p>
+          )}
+        </div>
+      )}
+
+      {/* What we know here */}
+      {hasContributions && (
+        <div className="space-y-2">
+          <h2 className="text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">
+            What we know here
+          </h2>
+          <div className="space-y-2">
+            {contributions.map((c, i) => (
+              <div key={i} className="rounded-lg border border-gray-200/80 bg-gray-50/60 px-4 py-3">
+                <p className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-700">{c.text}</p>
+              </div>
+            ))}
+          </div>
+        </div>
+      )}
+
+      {/* Still uncertain here */}
+      {hasOpenItems && (
+        <div className="space-y-2">
+          <h2 className="text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">
+            Still uncertain / open questions
+          </h2>
+          <div className="space-y-1">
+            {openQuestions.map((q, i) => (
+              <QuestionRow key={q.id} question={q} />
+            ))}
+          </div>
+        </div>
+      )}
+
+      {/* New connection / updates (active branch) */}
+      {lateResults && lateResults.length > 0 && (
+        <UpdatedConnectionCard update={lateResults[0]} />
+      )}
+
+      {/* Quiet state — only when there are no open items and no updates */}
+      {!hasOpenItems && !lateResults?.length && (
+        <QuietStateCard />
+      )}
+    </div>
+  );
+}
+
+// ── Question row (renders clickable card with optional focused content) ─
+
+function QuestionRow({ question }) {
+  const [isFocused, setIsFocused] = useState(false);
+
+  if (!isFocused) {
+    return (
+      <button
+        onClick={() => setIsFocused(true)}
+        style={{ cursor: "pointer" }}
+        className="w-full text-left rounded-lg border border-gray-200 px-4 py-3 transition hover:border-gray-300 hover:bg-white"
+      >
+        <p className="text-sm leading-snug text-gray-600">{question.label}</p>
+      </button>
+    );
+  }
+
+  return (
+    <div className="rounded-lg border border-gray-200 bg-white px-4 py-4 space-y-3">
+      <p className="text-sm font-medium text-gray-900 leading-snug">{question.label}</p>
+      <div className="space-y-2">
+        <p className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-500">
+          We have not explored this yet. Do you want to work through it?
+        </p>
+        <button
+          onClick={(e) => {
+            e.stopPropagation();
+            // Placeholder — production would call API for focused investigation
+          }}
+          style={{ cursor: "pointer" }}
+          className="rounded-lg border border-blue-600 bg-white px-4 py-2 text-sm font-medium text-blue-700 hover:bg-blue-50 transition"
+        >
+          Work through this
+        </button>
+      </div>
+      <button
+        onClick={() => setIsFocused(false)}
+        style={{ cursor: "pointer" }}
+        className="text-xs text-gray-400 underline hover:text-gray-600 transition"
+      >
+        Back to open questions
+      </button>
+    </div>
+  );
+}
+
 // ── Current understanding card ────────────────────────────────
 function CurrentUnderstandingCard({ currentSummary, plainLanguage }) {
   if (plainLanguage) return <PlainLanguageCard summary={plainLanguage} />;
@@ -510,6 +661,132 @@ function getErrorType(errorStr, stage, hasGraph) {
   return null;
 }
 
+// ── Open questions panel (production, non-experiment mode) ────────
+
+function OpenQuestionsPanel({
+  graph, selectedPresentationItemId, focusedPresentationItemId, hasFocusedContent,
+  focused, formulationStep, formulateMsg, processingStep, deconstructMsg, doneForNowIds,
+  startFocused, handleDeconstructSubmit, retryFormulation, setSelectedPresentationItemId,
+  setFocusedPresentationItemId, setFocusedAnswer, focusedAnswer, setDoneForNowIds,
+}) {
+  const openNodes = (graph?.nodes || []).filter(
+    (n) => n.kind === "unknown" && n.status !== "resolved" && !doneForNowIds.includes(n.id),
+  );
+  if (openNodes.length <= 1) return null;
+
+  return (
+    <div className="space-y-4">
+      <h2 className="text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">
+        Open questions
+      </h2>
+      <div className="space-y-1">
+        {openNodes.map((node) => {
+          const isSelected = selectedPresentationItemId === node.id;
+          const isFocused = focusedPresentationItemId === node.id;
+
+          return (
+            <div key={node.id}>
+              <div
+                onClick={() => {
+                  if (!focused?.question?.trim() || (focused && !hasFocusedContent())) {
+                    setSelectedPresentationItemId(
+                      selectedPresentationItemId === node.id ? null : node.id,
+                    );
+                  }
+                }}
+                style={{ cursor: "pointer" }}
+                className="w-full text-left rounded-lg border border-gray-200 px-4 py-3 transition hover:border-gray-300 hover:bg-white"
+              >
+                <p className={`leading-snug ${isSelected ? "text-sm font-medium text-gray-900" : "text-sm text-gray-600"}`}>
+                  {node.label}
+                </p>
+
+                {isSelected && !hasFocusedContent() && (
+                  <div className="mt-3 space-y-3">
+                    <p className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-500">
+                      We have not explored this yet. Do you want to work through it?
+                    </p>
+                    <button
+                      onClick={(e) => { e.stopPropagation(); startFocused(node.id); }}
+                      style={{ cursor: "pointer" }}
+                      className="rounded-lg border border-blue-600 bg-white px-4 py-2 text-sm font-medium text-blue-700 hover:bg-blue-50 transition"
+                    >
+                      Work through this
+                    </button>
+                  </div>
+                )}
+
+                {isFocused && (() => {
+                  const focusedNode = graph?.nodes.find((n) => n.id === node.id);
+                  return (
+                    <div className="mt-4 space-y-4">
+                      {hasFocusedContent() && (
+                        <div className="space-y-4 rounded-lg border border-gray-200 bg-white p-5">
+                          {focused?.question?.trim() ? (
+                            <div>
+                              <h3 className="mb-1 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">Question</h3>
+                              <p className="text-base font-medium leading-relaxed text-gray-900">{focused.question}</p>
+                            </div>
+                          ) : formulationStep === "active" ? (
+                            <p className="text-sm text-blue-600/70">{formulateMsg}</p>
+                          ) : null}
+
+                          {focused?.question?.trim() && processingStep !== "active" && focused.status === "formulated" && (
+                            <div>
+                              <label htmlFor={`rw-answer-${node.id}`} className="mb-2 block text-sm font-medium text-gray-700">Your response</label>
+                              <textarea id={`rw-answer-${node.id}`} value={focusedAnswer} onChange={(e) => setFocusedAnswer(e.target.value)} rows={4} data-testid="response-textarea" className="w-full rounded-lg border border-gray-300 px-4 py-3 text-sm focus:border-gray-500 focus:outline-none focus:ring-2 focus:ring-gray-400 disabled:cursor-not-allowed disabled:opacity-60" placeholder="What do you know about this?" />
+                              <button onClick={(e) => { e.stopPropagation(); handleDeconstructSubmit(focusedPresentationItemId, focusedAnswer); }} disabled={!focusedAnswer.trim() || processingStep === "active"} style={{ cursor: !focusedAnswer.trim() || processingStep === "active" ? "not-allowed" : "pointer" }} className="mt-3 rounded-lg border border-green-600 bg-white px-4 py-2 text-sm font-medium text-green-700 hover:bg-green-50 transition disabled:opacity-50">Submit response</button>
+                            </div>
+                          )}
+
+                          {processingStep === "active" && <p className="text-sm text-blue-600/70">{deconstructMsg}</p>}
+
+                          {focused?.result && (
+                            <>
+                              <div><h3 className="mb-1 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">What we learned</h3><ul className="list-disc pl-5 space-y-1">{focused.result.observations.map((o, i) => (<li key={i} className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-700">{o}</li>))}</ul></div>
+                              <div><h3 className="mb-1 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">Still unclear</h3><ul className="list-disc pl-5 space-y-1">{focused.result.uncertainties.map((u, i) => (<li key={i} className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-700">{u}</li>))}</ul></div>
+                              {focused.result.assumptions?.length > 0 && <div><h3 className="mb-1 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">Assumptions in this response</h3><ul className="list-disc pl-5 space-y-1">{focused.result.assumptions.map((a, i) => (<li key={i} className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-700">{a}</li>))}</ul></div>}
+                              {focused.result.relationships?.length > 0 && <div><h3 className="mb-1 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">Connections</h3><ul className="list-disc pl-5 space-y-1">{focused.result.relationships.map((r, i) => (<li key={i} className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-700">{r.from} → {r.to} ({r.type})</li>))}</ul></div>}
+                              {focused.result.possibleFollowUpQuestions?.length > 0 && <div><h3 className="mb-1 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">Questions this raises</h3><ul className="list-disc pl-5 space-y-1">{focused.result.possibleFollowUpQuestions.map((q, i) => (<li key={i} className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-700">{q}</li>))}</ul></div>}
+                            </>
+                          )}
+
+                          {focused?.error && processingStep !== "active" && (
+                            <div className="rounded-md border border-amber-200 bg-amber-50 px-4 py-3 text-sm text-amber-800">We were unable to process your request right now. Please try again later.<button onClick={(e) => { e.stopPropagation(); retryFormulation(); }} className="ml-2 font-medium underline">Retry</button></div>
+                          )}
+                        </div>
+                      )}
+
+                      <div className="mt-4 mb-3 flex items-center justify-between gap-4">
+                        <button onClick={(e) => { e.stopPropagation(); setFocusedPresentationItemId(null); }} style={{ cursor: "pointer" }} className="text-sm text-gray-400 underline hover:text-gray-600 transition whitespace-nowrap">Back to open questions</button>
+                        <button onClick={(e) => { e.stopPropagation(); setFocusedPresentationItemId(null); setDoneForNowIds((prev) => [...prev, node.id]); }} style={{ cursor: "pointer" }} className="rounded-lg border border-gray-300 bg-white px-4 py-2 text-sm font-medium text-gray-600 hover:bg-gray-50 transition whitespace-nowrap">Done for now</button>
+                      </div>
+                    </div>
+                  );
+                })()}
+              </div>
+            </div>
+          );
+        })}
+      </div>
+
+      {doneForNowIds.length > 0 && (
+        <div className="pt-3 border-t border-gray-200">
+          <h3 className="mb-2 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">Done for now</h3>
+          <div className="space-y-1">
+            {graph.nodes.filter((n) => doneForNowIds.includes(n.id)).map((node) => (
+              <div key={node.id} className="rounded-lg border border-gray-200/60 bg-gray-50/40 px-4 py-3">
+                <p className="text-sm text-gray-500 leading-snug">{node.label}</p>
+                <button onClick={() => setDoneForNowIds(doneForNowIds.filter(id => id !== node.id))} style={{ cursor: "pointer" }} className="mt-2 rounded border border-gray-300 px-3 py-1 text-xs font-medium text-gray-500 hover:bg-white transition">Reopen</button>
+              </div>
+            ))}
+          </div>
+        </div>
+      )}
+    </div>
+  );
+}
+
 export default function ReasoningWorkspace({
   scenario,
   status,
@@ -526,6 +803,7 @@ export default function ReasoningWorkspace({
   experimentalBranches,
   branchLocalQuestions,
   branchLocalContributions,
+  branchLocalLateResults,
   inactiveBranchNewResults,
 }) {
   const [investigationHistory, setInvestigationHistory] = useState([]);
@@ -829,313 +1107,41 @@ export default function ReasoningWorkspace({
             <div className="grid grid-cols-1 gap-6 lg:grid-cols-3">
               {/* ── Left lane: active conversation & notebook ───────── */}
               <div className={`space-y-6 ${hasGraph ? 'lg:col-span-2' : 'lg:col-span-full'}`}>
-                {/* RTO.26B — experiment header when using branch-scoped fixture */}
+                {/* RTO.27A — branch notebook content (replaces question-queue when in experiment mode) */}
                 {experimentalBranches && experimentalBranches.length > 0 && (
-                  <div className="rounded-lg border border-purple-300/60 bg-purple-50/30 px-4 py-2">
-                    <p className="text-[10px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-purple-400/70">
-                      RTO.26B — branch-scoped reasoning (experimental fixture)
-                    </p>
-                  </div>
-                )}
-
-                {/* Active branch context (experiment RTO.25D) */}
-                {branchContext && (hasGraph || experimentalBranches) && (
-                  <div className="rounded-lg border border-blue-200/60 bg-blue-50/40 px-5 py-4">
-                    <h2 className="mb-1 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">
-                      Current branch
-                    </h2>
-                    <p className="text-base font-medium leading-tight text-gray-900">{branchContext.label}</p>
-                    {branchContext.origin && (
-                      <p className="mt-2 text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-600">
-                        Trying to understand: {branchContext.origin}
-                      </p>
-                    )}
-                  </div>
+                  <BranchNotebookContent
+                    branchContext={branchContext}
+                    contributions={branchLocalContributions || []}
+                    openQuestions={branchLocalQuestions || []}
+                    lateResults={branchLocalLateResults || []}
+                    inactiveBranchNewResults={inactiveBranchNewResults || {}}
+                  />
                 )}
 
                 {/* ── Open questions (case workspace) — no ranking bias ── */}
-                {(() => {
-                  /* RTO.26B: when experimental branch-scoped data is present, use it as the source of truth */
-                  const openNodes = experimentalBranches && branchLocalQuestions && branchLocalQuestions.length > 0
-                    ? branchLocalQuestions
-                    : ((graph?.nodes || []).filter(
-                        (n) => n.kind === "unknown" && n.status !== "resolved" && !doneForNowIds.includes(n.id),
-                      ));
-                  if (openNodes.length <= 1) return null;
-
-                  return (
-                    <div className="space-y-4">
-                      <h2 className="text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">
-                        In this branch — Open questions
-                      </h2>
-                      <div className="space-y-1">
-                        {openNodes.map((node) => {
-                          const isSelected = selectedPresentationItemId === node.id;
-                          const isFocused = focusedPresentationItemId === node.id;
-                          const hasReasoningSupport = result?.selectedQuestion?.nodeId === node.id && node.id === focusedPresentationItemId;
-
-                          return (
-                            <div key={node.id}>
-                              {/* One invariant outer shell — same border/padding/position across all states */}
-                              <div
-                                onClick={() => {
-                                  if (result?.selectedQuestion?.nodeId !== node.id) {
-                                    setSelectedPresentationItemId(
-                                      selectedPresentationItemId === node.id
-                                        ? null
-                                        : node.id,
-                                    );
-                                  }
-                                }}
-                                style={{ cursor: "pointer" }}
-                                className="w-full text-left rounded-lg border border-gray-200 px-4 py-3 transition hover:border-gray-300 hover:bg-white"
-                              >
-                                <p className={`leading-snug ${isSelected ? "text-sm font-medium text-gray-900" : "text-sm text-gray-600"}`}>
-                                  {node.label}
-                                </p>
-
-                                {/* Invitation — shows when selected but no content yet */}
-                                {isSelected && !hasFocusedContent() && (
-                                  <div className="mt-3 space-y-3">
-                                    {/* Branch-local contribution scoped to this question */}
-                                    {(experimentalBranchContributions?.length ?? 0) > 0 && (
-                                      (() => {
-                                        const qContribs = experimentalBranchContributions.filter(
-                                          c => node.id === c.questionId,
-                                        );
-                                        if (!qContribs.length) return null;
-                                        return (
-                                          <div className="rounded-lg border border-gray-200/80 bg-gray-50/60 px-4 py-3">
-                                            <h3 className="mb-1 text-[10px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-400">
-                                              Contribution
-                                            </h3>
-                                            <p className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-700">{qContribs[0].text}</p>
-                                          </div>
-                                        );
-                                      })()
-                                    )}
-                                    <p className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-500">
-                                      We have not explored this yet. Do you want to work through it?
-                                    </p>
-                                    <button
-                                      onClick={(e) => {
-                                        e.stopPropagation();
-                                        startFocused(node.id);
-                                      }}
-                                      style={{ cursor: "pointer" }}
-                                      className="rounded-lg border border-blue-600 bg-white px-4 py-2 text-sm font-medium text-blue-700 hover:bg-blue-50 transition"
-                                    >
-                                      Work through this
-                                    </button>
-                                  </div>
-                                )}
-
-                                {/* Focused state (Work through this clicked) */}
-                                {isFocused && (() => {
-                                  const focusedNode = graph?.nodes.find((n) => n.id === node.id);
-                                  return (
-                                    <div className="mt-4 space-y-4">
-                                      {/* Real focused investigation content */}
-                                      {hasFocusedContent() && (() => {
-                                        return null;
-                                      })()}
-                                      {hasFocusedContent() && (
-                                        <div className="space-y-4 rounded-lg border border-gray-200 bg-white p-5">
-                                          {/* Formulated question */}
-                                          {focused?.question?.trim() ? (
-                                            <div>
-                                              <h3 className="mb-1 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">
-                                                Question
-                                              </h3>
-                                              <p className="text-base font-medium leading-relaxed text-gray-900">
-                                                {focused.question}
-                                              </p>
-                                            </div>
-                                          ) : formulationStep === "active" ? (
-                                            <p className="text-sm text-blue-600/70">{formulateMsg}</p>
-                                          ) : null}
-
-                                          {/* Answer textarea (hidden while processing) */}
-                                          {focused?.question?.trim() && processingStep !== "active" && focused.status === "formulated" && (
-                                            <div>
-                                              <label htmlFor={`rw-answer-${node.id}`} className="mb-2 block text-sm font-medium text-gray-700">
-                                                Your response
-                                              </label>
-                                              <textarea
-                                                id={`rw-answer-${node.id}`}
-                                                value={focusedAnswer}
-                                                onChange={(e) => setFocusedAnswer(e.target.value)}
-                                                rows={4}
-                                                data-testid="response-textarea"
-                                                className="w-full rounded-lg border border-gray-300 px-4 py-3 text-sm focus:border-gray-500 focus:outline-none focus:ring-2 focus:ring-gray-400 disabled:cursor-not-allowed disabled:opacity-60"
-                                                placeholder="What do you know about this?"
-                                              />
-                                              <button
-                                                onClick={(e) => {
-                                                  e.stopPropagation();
-                                                  const targetNodeId = focusedPresentationItemId;
-                                                  handleDeconstructSubmit(targetNodeId, focusedAnswer);
-                                                }}
-                                                disabled={!focusedAnswer.trim() || processingStep === "active"}
-                                                style={{ cursor: !focusedAnswer.trim() || processingStep === "active" ? "not-allowed" : "pointer" }}
-                                                className="mt-3 rounded-lg border border-green-600 bg-white px-4 py-2 text-sm font-medium text-green-700 hover:bg-green-50 transition disabled:opacity-50"
-                                              >
-                                                Submit response
-                                              </button>
-                                            </div>
-                                          )}
-
-                                          {/* Deconstruction loading */}
-                                          {processingStep === "active" && (
-                                            <p className="text-sm text-blue-600/70">{deconstructMsg}</p>
-                                          )}
-
-                                          {/* Focused result — structured response */}
-                                          {focused?.result && (
-                                            <>
-                                              <div>
-                                                <h3 className="mb-1 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">
-                                                  What we learned
-                                                </h3>
-                                                <ul className="list-disc pl-5 space-y-1">
-                                                  {focused.result.observations.map((o, i) => (
-                                                    <li key={i} className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-700">{o}</li>
-                                                  ))}
-                                                </ul>
-                                              </div>
-
-                                              <div>
-                                                <h3 className="mb-1 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">
-                                                  Still unclear
-                                                </h3>
-                                                <ul className="list-disc pl-5 space-y-1">
-                                                  {focused.result.uncertainties.map((u, i) => (
-                                                    <li key={i} className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-700">{u}</li>
-                                                  ))}
-                                                </ul>
-                                              </div>
-
-                                              {focused.result.assumptions && focused.result.assumptions.length > 0 && (
-                                                <div>
-                                                  <h3 className="mb-1 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">
-                                                    Assumptions in this response
-                                                  </h3>
-                                                  <ul className="list-disc pl-5 space-y-1">
-                                                    {focused.result.assumptions.map((a, i) => (
-                                                      <li key={i} className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-700">{a}</li>
-                                                    ))}
-                                                  </ul>
-                                                </div>
-                                              )}
-
-                                              {focused.result.relationships && focused.result.relationships.length > 0 && (
-                                                <div>
-                                                  <h3 className="mb-1 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">
-                                                    Connections
-                                                  </h3>
-                                                  <ul className="list-disc pl-5 space-y-1">
-                                                    {focused.result.relationships.map((r, i) => (
-                                                      <li key={i} className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-700">{r.from} → {r.to} ({r.type})</li>
-                                                    ))}
-                                                  </ul>
-                                                </div>
-                                              )}
-
-                                              {focused.result.possibleFollowUpQuestions && focused.result.possibleFollowUpQuestions.length > 0 && (
-                                                <div>
-                                                  <h3 className="mb-1 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">
-                                                    Questions this raises
-                                                  </h3>
-                                                  <ul className="list-disc pl-5 space-y-1">
-                                                    {focused.result.possibleFollowUpQuestions.map((q, i) => (
-                                                      <li key={i} className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-700">{q}</li>
-                                                    ))}
-                                                  </ul>
-                                                </div>
-                                              )}
-                                            </>
-                                          )}
-
-                                          {/* Formulation or deconstruction failure */}
-                                          {focused?.error && processingStep !== "active" && (
-                                            <div className="rounded-md border border-amber-200 bg-amber-50 px-4 py-3 text-sm text-amber-800">
-                                              We were unable to process your request right now. Please try again later.
-                                              <button
-                                                onClick={(e) => {
-                                                  e.stopPropagation();
-                                                  retryFormulation();
-                                                }}
-                                                className="ml-2 font-medium underline"
-                                              >
-                                                Retry
-                                              </button>
-                                            </div>
-                                          )}
-                                        </div>
-                                      )}
-
-                                      {/* Footer controls — horizontally separated (RTO.26B) */}
-                                      <div className="mt-4 mb-3 flex items-center justify-between gap-4">
-                                        <button
-                                          onClick={(e) => {
-                                            e.stopPropagation();
-                                            setFocusedPresentationItemId(null);
-                                          }}
-                                          style={{ cursor: "pointer" }}
-                                          className="text-sm text-gray-400 underline hover:text-gray-600 transition whitespace-nowrap"
-                                        >
-                                          Back to open questions
-                                        </button>
-
-                                        <button
-                                          onClick={(e) => {
-                                            e.stopPropagation();
-                                            setFocusedPresentationItemId(null);
-                                            setDoneForNowIds((prev) => [...prev, node.id]);
-                                          }}
-                                          style={{ cursor: "pointer" }}
-                                          className="rounded-lg border border-gray-300 bg-white px-4 py-2 text-sm font-medium text-gray-600 hover:bg-gray-50 transition whitespace-nowrap"
-                                        >
-                                          Done for now
-                                        </button>
-                                      </div>
-                                    </div>
-                                  );
-                                })()}
-                              </div>
-                            </div>
-                          );
-                        })}
-                      </div>
-
-
-                      {/* Done for now — separate visual area */}
-                      {doneForNowIds.length > 0 && (
-                        <div className="pt-3 border-t border-gray-200">
-                          <h3 className="mb-2 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">
-                            Done for now
-                          </h3>
-                          <div className="space-y-1">
-                            {graph.nodes.filter(
-                              (n) => doneForNowIds.includes(n.id)
-                            ).map((node) => (
-                              <div key={node.id} className="rounded-lg border border-gray-200/60 bg-gray-50/40 px-4 py-3">
-                                <p className="text-sm text-gray-500 leading-snug">{node.label}</p>
-                                <button
-                                  onClick={() => setDoneForNowIds(doneForNowIds.filter(id => id !== node.id))}
-                                  style={{ cursor: "pointer" }}
-                                  className="mt-2 rounded border border-gray-300 px-3 py-1 text-xs font-medium text-gray-500 hover:bg-white transition"
-                                >
-                                  Reopen
-                                </button>
-                              </div>
-                            ))}
-                          </div>
-                        </div>
-                      )}
-                    </div>
-                  );
-                })()}
+                {/* Only shown when NOT in experiment mode (experiment uses BranchNotebookContent) */}
+                {!experimentalBranches || experimentalBranches.length === 0 ? (
+                  <OpenQuestionsPanel
+                    graph={graph}
+                    selectedPresentationItemId={selectedPresentationItemId}
+                    focusedPresentationItemId={focusedPresentationItemId}
+                    hasFocusedContent={hasFocusedContent}
+                    focused={getFocusedInvestigation()}
+                    formulationStep={formulationStep}
+                    formulateMsg={formulateMsg}
+                    processingStep={processingStep}
+                    deconstructMsg={deconstructMsg}
+                    doneForNowIds={doneForNowIds}
+                    startFocused={startFocused}
+                    handleDeconstructSubmit={handleDeconstructSubmit}
+                    retryFormulation={retryFormulation}
+                    setSelectedPresentationItemId={setSelectedPresentationItemId}
+                    setFocusedPresentationItemId={setFocusedPresentationItemId}
+                    setFocusedAnswer={setFocusedAnswer}
+                    focusedAnswer={focusedAnswer}
+                    setDoneForNowIds={setDoneForNowIds}
+                  />
+                ) : null}
 
                 {/* Terminal state */}
                 {status === "success" && !hasSelectedQuestion && (
@@ -1144,7 +1150,12 @@ export default function ReasoningWorkspace({
                       <CompletionCard summary={resolveCurrentSummary(propUnderstanding || graph?.currentSummary || result?.updatedSituationGraph?.currentSummary)} />
                     )}
                     {!genuineCompletion && (
-                      <EvidenceLimitCard summary={resolveCurrentSummary(propUnderstanding || graph?.currentSummary || result?.updatedSituationGraph?.currentSummary)} />
+                      experimentalBranches && experimentalBranches.length > 0 ? (
+                        // In experiment mode: quiet facilitator state, not evidence limit verdict
+                        <QuietStateCard />
+                      ) : (
+                        <EvidenceLimitCard summary={resolveCurrentSummary(propUnderstanding || graph?.currentSummary || result?.updatedSituationGraph?.currentSummary)} />
+                      )
                     )}
                   </>
                 )}
diff --git a/components/scenario-form.jsx b/components/scenario-form.jsx
index 3be69e2..20e9980 100644
--- a/components/scenario-form.jsx
+++ b/components/scenario-form.jsx
@@ -226,7 +226,8 @@ export default function ScenarioForm() {
   /* ── RTO.25A — passive late-result branch switcher (experimental) ── */
 
   const [activeBranchId, setActiveBranchId] = useState("branch-b");
-  const [branchNewResults, setBranchNewResults] = useState({});
+  // Pre-seed Competitor development with a late result for RTO.27A testing
+  const [branchNewResults, setBranchNewResults] = useState({ "branch-a": true });
 
   /* ── RTO.26B — experimental branch-scoped reasoning fixture ───── */
 
@@ -262,6 +263,12 @@ export default function ScenarioForm() {
     return branchScoped.getBranchContributions(activeBranch.id);
   }, [activeBranch, branchScoped]);
 
+  // RTO.27A — late results for active branch
+  const experimentalBranchLateResults = useMemo(() => {
+    if (!activeBranch) return [];
+    return (branchScoped.getBranchLateResults?.(activeBranch.id) || []).map(lr => ({ text: lr.text }));
+  }, [activeBranch, branchScoped]);
+
   // Determine which non-active branches have new results for passive indicator
   const inactiveBranchNewResults = useMemo(() => {
     const result = {};
@@ -463,6 +470,7 @@ export default function ScenarioForm() {
                     experimentalBranches={BRANCHES.length > 0 ? BRANCHES : undefined}
                     branchLocalQuestions={experimentalBranchQuestions.length > 0 ? experimentalBranchQuestions : undefined}
                     branchLocalContributions={experimentalBranchContributions.length > 0 ? experimentalBranchContributions : undefined}
+                    branchLocalLateResults={experimentalBranchLateResults.length > 0 ? experimentalBranchLateResults : undefined}
                     inactiveBranchNewResults={Object.keys(inactiveBranchNewResults).length > 0 ? inactiveBranchNewResults : undefined}
                     onRestart={() => { setStatus("idle"); setResult(null); setScenario(""); }}
                   />
@@ -659,6 +667,7 @@ export default function ScenarioForm() {
                     experimentalBranches={BRANCHES.length > 0 ? BRANCHES : undefined}
                     branchLocalQuestions={experimentalBranchQuestions.length > 0 ? experimentalBranchQuestions : undefined}
                     branchLocalContributions={experimentalBranchContributions.length > 0 ? experimentalBranchContributions : undefined}
+                    branchLocalLateResults={experimentalBranchLateResults.length > 0 ? experimentalBranchLateResults : undefined}
                     inactiveBranchNewResults={Object.keys(inactiveBranchNewResults).length > 0 ? inactiveBranchNewResults : undefined}
                     onRestart={() => {
                   clearSession();