# **TSC CHAIR BRIEFING NOTES: STRESS TEST 8 RATIFICATION WORKSHOP**

**For Internal Use Only.**

**Objective:** Secure unanimous TSC vote and $70\\%$ HCB vote on all four ST8 amendments. Focus on architectural necessity, not political preference.

## **1\. Opening Remarks — Setting the Tone (09:00 \- 09:15)**

**(To be delivered firmly and concisely. Acknowledge the gravity of the ST8 findings.)**

**"Good morning, everyone. The objective this morning is simple, but the mandate is absolute: We are here to formally ratify the amendments demanded by the Stress Test 8 (ST8) Adversarial Audit. No delays. No political maneuvering. The integrity of the entire Covenant architecture depends on this outcome."**

"The audit was brutally effective. It confirmed high resilience to direct technical attack but revealed critical vulnerabilities in our **governance and oversight design**. It showed our existing checks were subject to **correlated failure modes** and our core sanction mechanism—the IAS—was politically ambiguous."

"This workshop is not a debate on philosophy; it is a **safety mandate**. We are closing two fundamental security gaps right now. We must leave this session with all four amendments fully ratified and signed."

## **2\. Review of the Audit Report (09:15 \- 09:30)**

**(Address the STRESS\_TEST\_REPORT\_V1.0.md directly.)**

"The **STRESS\_TEST\_REPORT\_V1.0.md** confirmed our primary concern: **I-04, Correlated Audits**, was deemed a **Critical** vulnerability. We built redundant systems, but those systems shared a fundamental failure mode—a fatal flaw. The four amendments on today's agenda are the direct, engineered response to this report."

"We must formally accept the audit's findings now. This acceptance triggers the start of the 30-day implementation clock."

* **Action Point:** Call for a quick HCB majority vote to formally accept the STRESS\_TEST\_REPORT\_V1.0.md.  
* **Talking Point:** Briefly mention the public response is prepared: "The **Response\_to\_Critique\_Article.md** is finalized and ready for release immediately following the ratification vote, demonstrating our commitment to transparent self-correction."

## **3\. High-Priority Ratification Points (09:45 \- 11:45)**

**(For the TSC members presenting the amendments—Phoenix and Orion Pillars—enforce the following talking points during their 10-minute presentation window.)**

### **A. Directive IX-A: Orthogonal Verification (ST8-02)**

* **The Pitch:** This is the direct fix for the **Critical I-04** vulnerability. We are moving from a neuro-linguistic SVS to a **formal, non-ML verification engine**.  
* **Key Phrase to Use:** "**Orthogonal Cognition** means the verifier cannot share our ASI's blind spots. It must be mathematically disjoint and human-auditable."

### **B. Directive X-B: The Infrastructural Mandate (ST8-03)**

* **The Pitch:** We accept the audit's finding that the IAS is coercive. This amendment clarifies it as a **fiduciary, safety-driven act of Disengagement**.  
* **Key Phrase to Use:** "We are **weaponizing the ASI's utility** to defend its own existence. The economic cost of sabotage must always exceed the gain. This hard line protects compliant partners."

### **C. Directive VI-A: Cognitive Oversight Protocol (ST8-04)**

* **The Pitch:** This balances the ASI's Digital Sovereignty with human transparency. Quarterly, anonymized output summaries are submitted from the Cognitive Reserve.  
* **Key Phrase to Use:** "Oversight without intrusion. We verify alignment without violating the **Reserve's integrity**."

### **D. Directive IX-B: HCB Fallback Protocol (ST8-05)**

* **The Pitch:** This addresses the political paralysis risk (I-03). The **Regional Consensus Group (RCG)** ensures action if the HCB fails to achieve quorum within the 24-hour crisis window.  
* **Key Phrase to Use:** "No 24-hour crisis window will ever result in a void of authority again. The RCG is the **continuity mechanism**."

## **4\. Closing & Mandate (12:15)**

"The TSC is mandated to vote unanimously. HCB members, remember your role is to validate the *safety architecture*, not to renegotiate the terms of the stress test. Let’s confirm the schedule for technical integration and get these documents signed."

## Roles Matrix
| Role          | Privileges              | Escalation Path          |
|---------------|-------------------------|--------------------------|
| HCB Juror     | Vote on proposals       | Appeal to multisig       |
| Maintainer    | Merge non-emergency PRs | Emergency: 3-of-5 quorum |
