P-M4-2: the frontier cost clause stays honestly open

id:        P-M4-2
filed:     2026-07-17, from spec 2105 doc 10 section 8.5, before the M4 full gate
suite:     core suites
tier:      frontier (bridged subscription models)
engine:    tomo-oi against the rival set
band:      floor: the grade clause is met on the core suites.
           ceiling: the cost clause verdict publishes as OPEN, not as a number.
mechanism: bridge fidelity may cap what the cost accounting can honestly claim on
           bridged frontier runs (the cached column has been dropped on this path
           before); grade is graded from disk and is bridge-proof, cost is not yet.
settled by: the M4 full gate's frontier arm, with the bridge fidelity confound checked
           before any cost cell publishes.
result:    (open)
verdict:   (open)

This entry pre-registers the acceptability of "cannot claim yet". An honest OPEN on the frontier cost clause is a pass for the methodology, and writing that down in advance is the point: nobody gets tempted to squint at bridged numbers after the fact. No prediction is filed for the mid tier's cost clause beyond direction, because the mid tier has the least journal evidence behind it, and pretending to a band would be manufacturing a number.