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+# DIALOGUE-PROLOGUE-0004
+## The Warehouse Rat Panic — Canonical Draft
+### Status: Canonical Dialogue Draft
+### Layer: OTIVM (Roman Merchant)
+### Purpose: Prologue scenario teaching spoilage risk, rumor manipulation, storage trust, and food-price sensitivity.
+
+---
+
+## 0. Design Intent
+
+A rumor spreads through Ostia that rats have broken into a grain warehouse.
+
+Known facts are uncertain:
+
+- infestation real or exaggerated
+- one warehouse or several
+- spoilage limited or widespread
+- owner hiding losses
+- rival spreading panic
+- officials about to inspect
+
+The participant must choose whose reading of the situation to trust.
+
+---
+
+## 1. Opening Scene Draft
+
+The street outside the HORREA smelled of dust, rope, damp grain, and alarm.
+
+Men who had no business near warehouses had found business there. Porters stood idle while clerks argued. Two boys carried a dead rat by the tail as if it were proof of anything.
+
+Marcus Atilius Varro stood beside the gate, watching carts arrive faster than carts departed.
+
+Lucius Fabius Felix slipped through the crowd smiling at everyone and trusted by none.
+
+“A cheerful gathering,” Felix said. “Nothing draws citizens like another man’s shortage.”
+
+Varro kept his eyes on the gate.
+
+“Three carts entered. One left half-loaded.”
+
+“So you admit excitement.”
+
+“I admit blockage.”
+
+Felix nodded toward the boys.
+
+“There is your culprit.”
+
+“There is a rat. Not a cause.”
+
+Gaius Licinius Crispus approached with visible reluctance to stand among sweating laborers.
+
+“What is sealed?” he asked.
+
+Felix answered first.
+
+“Common sense.”
+
+Crispus ignored him.
+
+Varro said, “North store closed. Scribes inside. Guards posted after dawn.”
+
+“Then either inventory or concealment,” Crispus said.
+
+“Those are cousins,” Felix replied.
+
+Quintus Cornelius Lentulus Minor arrived under a clean cloak that had never met warehouse dust willingly.
+
+“If grain is spoiled,” Lentulus said, “someone of standing will be embarrassed.”
+
+Felix laughed.
+
+“You hear rats and think first of pedigree.”
+
+“One should always think first of ownership.”
+
+Titus Varenus Secundus came from the rear lane carrying a splintered scoop handle.
+
+“I think first of flooring,” he said.
+
+No one had seen him arrive.
+
+“The rear bins were stacked badly. Gaps under planks. Feed enough for a legion of rats.”
+
+Felix pointed.
+
+“There. A man hears scandal and brings carpentry.”
+
+“A man who ignores carpentry buys scandal later.”
+
+A quiet voice entered from the gate ledger desk.
+
+“Three months later, by these accounts.”
+
+Publius Terentius Chresimus held a wax tablet under one arm.
+
+Felix sighed.
+
+“And now numbers begin to spoil the fun.”
+
+Chresimus glanced at the closed store.
+
+“Purchases of sweepers rose. Cat keepers were paid twice. Damaged sack losses increased last month.”
+
+Crispus turned sharply.
+
+“You saw the accounts?”
+
+“I saw what men recorded while assuming no one cared.”
+
+Varro said, “If losses rose for a month, why panic today?”
+
+Secundus answered first.
+
+“Visible breach.”
+
+He held up the broken scoop handle.
+
+“Gnawed.”
+
+Felix spread his hands.
+
+“Excellent. A month of neglect becomes a morning of opportunity.”
+
+Lentulus frowned.
+
+“You speak of spoiled grain.”
+
+“I speak of discounted grain.”
+
+Crispus said, “Spoiled grain sold knowingly is actionable.”
+
+Felix bowed slightly.
+
+“Then let us pray ignorance remains abundant.”
+
+The gate opened briefly. A clerk emerged pale, then returned inside with two guards.
+
+The crowd leaned forward as one body.
+
+Varro said, “Fear spreads faster than grain.”
+
+Chresimus corrected him softly.
+
+“Faster than grain moves. Slower than grain prices.”
+
+Secundus looked toward the street market.
+
+“Bakers buy elsewhere by noon.”
+
+“And pay more,” Felix said.
+
+“And charge more,” Lentulus added.
+
+“And petition for relief,” Crispus said.
+
+“And use worse flour tomorrow,” Chresimus said.
+
+Varro finally turned to Felix.
+
+“What are you buying?”
+
+“Sound sacks from men too frightened to wait.”
+
+“Where?”
+
+“Now it becomes expensive.”
+
+Lentulus looked toward the upper offices.
+
+“I know the family leasing this block.”
+
+Felix smiled.
+
+“Of course you do.”
+
+“If rumor exceeds truth, reassurance has value.”
+
+Crispus folded his hands.
+
+“If truth exceeds rumor, seizure has value.”
+
+Secundus pointed toward the rear alley.
+
+“Neither matters first. Replacement sacks matter first. Men cannot move loose grain in speeches.”
+
+Chresimus added:
+
+“And credit for tomorrow’s purchases matters more than today’s shouting.”
+
+A woman from the market end of the street cried that bread had already risen.
+
+Half the crowd moved instantly.
+
+Felix watched them go.
+
+“There. Real rats.”
+
+Varro stepped toward the rear lane.
+
+“Rear bins.”
+
+Secundus moved with him.
+
+“I’ll inspect flooring.”
+
+Felix turned toward the market.
+
+“I’ll buy courage cheaply.”
+
+Crispus adjusted his garment.
+
+“I will discover who is liable.”
+
+Lentulus lifted his chin.
+
+“I will discover whose name must be protected.”
+
+Chresimus tucked away his tablet.
+
+“I will discover who knew last month.”
+
+Felix looked back once.
+
+“Six men. One rat. None of us interested in the animal.”
+
+Varro answered without turning.
+
+“We are interested in what it has eaten.”
+
+---
+
+## 2. Choice Presentation
+
+> The warehouse gate is closed. Bread may rise before sunset. Whose reading of the panic do you trust?
+
+| Choice | Background |
+|---|---|
+| Follow Varro to identify movement failure and blocked supply. |
+| Follow Felix to buy fear before prices settle. |
+| Follow Lentulus to learn which families are exposed. |
+| Follow Crispus to pursue liability, fines, and claims. |
+| Follow Secundus to inspect storage faults and replacement logistics. |
+| Follow Chresimus to trace prior losses and hidden insolvency. |
+
+---
+
+## 3. What This Scene Teaches
+
+- Spoilage risk can move prices before confirmation.
+- Storage quality matters economically.
+- Rumor may be exploited by rivals or traders.
+- Food chains react immediately.
+- Liability and reputation matter as much as grain.
+
+---
+
+## 4. Canonical Success Condition
+
+If the participant stops asking:
+
+“What about the rat?”
+
+and starts asking:
+
+“What does closed grain storage change by noon?”