# Counter-Strip Audit - Chapter 17

id: counter_strip | owner: codex | target: `output/chapters/chapter_17.md`

- `CHECKED — mechanical dash repairs` — removed or converted four dash constructions while preserving the catalog discovery and confrontation flow.
- `CHECKED — bold removal` — `**ACKNOWLEDGMENTS**` became `ACKNOWLEDGMENTS`; document insert still reads as back matter.
- `CHECKED — one-line paragraph cap repair` — combined "She opened to it" and "There was no error" with adjacent procedural paragraphs; discovery pacing remains legible.
- `CHECKED — echo repair` — `"She checked the colophon again. She checked the acknowledgment again."` became `"She checked the colophon and the acknowledgment again."`; measurement shock remains.
- `CHECKED — tag repair` — `"said finally"` became `"said"`; dialogue beat still turns to the joint piece.
- `CHECKED — Dialogue/Comedy/Plain-Translation repairs` — cut portable aphorisms, delivery diagnosis, publicist certification, a capped filing figure, and excess "the way" scaffolds while preserving the one-catalog return, the one-sentence asymmetry grievance, Theo's task-offer spiral, and June's refusal to attend.
- `NO-OVERSTRIP — voice retained` — June's exact pressure lines and Theo's over-explaining remain intact; repairs did not flatten the scene into generic clarity.

Chapter verdict: `NO-OVERSTRIP`.

REVISION ORDERS: none.
