diff --git a/game/reconstructed/mech.cpp b/game/reconstructed/mech.cpp
index 7942629..5ae9906 100644
--- a/game/reconstructed/mech.cpp
+++ b/game/reconstructed/mech.cpp
@@ -510,8 +510,18 @@ void
 	{
 		return;
 	}
-	duckState = 1;
-	DEBUG_STREAM << "[duck] DuckRequest: duckState -> 1" << std::endl << std::flush;
+	// #142: duckState is the DESIRED POSTURE, and it is what the cockpit's
+	// crouch-symbol animation reads (L4GAUGE.CFG:5001 binds attribute 0x37 to a
+	// 3-frame bduck.pcc strip).  The binary writes a bare 1 here and clears the
+	// cell only in Mech::Reset -- with no per-frame reader anywhere in the
+	// export, so nothing there ever brings it back to 0 for a rise.  A pod
+	// pilot's second press has to un-crouch, and the symbol has to follow, so
+	// the port TOGGLES.  Documented divergence, deliberately minimal: one cell,
+	// same meaning, and the consumer (mech4.cpp) now acts on desired-vs-actual
+	// rather than consuming the cell out from under the gauge.
+	duckState = (duckState != 0) ? 0 : 1;
+	DEBUG_STREAM << "[duck] DuckRequest: duckState -> " << duckState
+		<< (duckState ? "  (crouch)" : "  (rise)") << std::endl << std::flush;
 }
 
 //
diff --git a/game/reconstructed/mech4.cpp b/game/reconstructed/mech4.cpp
index 51be77e..63fda7a 100644
--- a/game/reconstructed/mech4.cpp
+++ b/game/reconstructed/mech4.cpp
@@ -4420,35 +4420,41 @@ void
 			// stability, so peers pose the squat for free) and flip the
 			// stability alarm (ducked = 0, risen = 1).  The request is
 			// consumed whenever both gates passed, hit or miss.
-			// #142 RECEIPT (ungated, 1 Hz).  A pending duck request that produces
-			// no posture change is INVISIBLE today: if squatCapable is 0 the
-			// consumer below is skipped entirely -- no log, and duckState is not
-			// even consumed, so the latch sticks at 1 forever.  The other miss
-			// (posture not 1/2) logs only under BT_DUCK_LOG, which no player
-			// sets.  Field report (Oracle, night 13): "the light next to it
-			// always flashes when pressed, but state does not change" -- the
-			// press reaches the handler and a GATE declines it, exactly the
-			// shape the eject bug had (#108: EvaluateEjectPermission refusing a
-			// healthy mech while the lamp still responded).  Name the gate.
-			if (duckState != 0
-				&& (squatCapable == 0 || (mapPosture != 1 && mapPosture != 2)))
+			// #142 RESTRUCTURE 2026-08-07 -- duckState is the POSTURE, not a
+			// one-shot request, because the COCKPIT ANIMATION reads it.
+			//
+			// L4GAUGE.CFG:5001 authors
+			//     oneOfSeveralPixInt(E,ModeAlwaysActive,bduck.pcc,3,1,DuckState)
+			// -- a 3-frame mech-symbol strip beside the CROUCH button, indexed by
+			// attribute 0x37 (= duckState).  Asset (content/GAUGE/BDUCK.PCC),
+			// element (OneOfSeveralPixInt @004c5204) and factory registration
+			// (btl4grnd.cpp) are all present.  The animation never played because
+			// the old consumer zeroed duckState the frame after the press, in
+			// BOTH directions -- so the strip sat on frame 0 with a one-frame
+			// blip to frame 1.  That is the field report verbatim: "button
+			// flickers sometimes on press ... state does not change".
+			//
+			// The binary does NOT zero it per frame.  Every writer of +0x398 in
+			// the export is: the DuckRequest handler (=1) and Mech::Reset (=0).
+			// The master perf FUN_004a9b5c -- which contains the address the old
+			// comment cited as "the DuckRequest consumer (@0x4aa011)" -- does not
+			// reference 0x398 anywhere, and mech.hpp's own note already said
+			// "duckState has NO code reader anywhere in the decomp ... whatever
+			// consumes it consumes it through DATABINDING".  The databinding
+			// consumer is this gauge strip.  The per-frame zeroing was ours.
+			//
+			// So: drive on DESIRED vs ACTUAL instead of on a latch.  duckState is
+			// the desired posture (the handler now toggles it); the parked leg
+			// alarm is the actual one.  Act only on a mismatch -- no re-fire, and
+			// nothing clears the attribute behind the gauge's back.  A frame
+			// where mapPosture is not ready RETRIES next frame instead of
+			// silently dropping the request, which also retires the old
+			// "request consumed, posture=N" miss.
+			const int duckWant   = (duckState != 0);
+			const int duckActual = ((int)legStateAlarm.GetLevel() == 1);	// parked in 'sqd'
+			if (squatCapable != 0 && duckWant != duckActual)
 			{
-				static int s_duckDrop = 0;
-				if ((s_duckDrop++ % 60) == 0)
-					DEBUG_STREAM << "[duck] REQUEST DROPPED: squatCapable="
-						<< squatCapable << " posture=" << mapPosture
-						<< " mode=" << MovementMode()
-						<< " legLvl=" << (int)legStateAlarm.GetLevel()
-						<< " myo=" << myomerEffectiveness
-						<< (squatCapable == 0
-								? "  <-- no squ/sqd clips: consumer skipped, latch stuck"
-								: "  <-- posture gate")
-						<< "\n" << std::flush;
-			}
-
-			if (duckState != 0 && squatCapable != 0)
-			{
-				if (mapPosture == 1)
+				if (duckWant && mapPosture == 1)
 				{
 					SetLegAnimation(2);					// 'sqd' -- squat down
 					ForceUpdate(8);
@@ -4457,7 +4463,7 @@ void
 					if (getenv("BT_DUCK_LOG") || getenv("BT_GAIT_LOG"))
 						DEBUG_STREAM << "[duck] SQUAT (posture 1 -> leg clip 2)\n" << std::flush;
 				}
-				else if (mapPosture == 2)
+				else if (!duckWant && mapPosture == 2)
 				{
 					SetLegAnimation(3);					// 'squ' -- rise
 					ForceUpdate(8);
@@ -4466,14 +4472,21 @@ void
 					if (getenv("BT_DUCK_LOG") || getenv("BT_GAIT_LOG"))
 						DEBUG_STREAM << "[duck] RISE (posture 2 -> leg clip 3)\n" << std::flush;
 				}
-				else if (getenv("BT_DUCK_LOG"))
-					DEBUG_STREAM << "[duck] request consumed, posture=" << mapPosture
-						<< " (mode=" << MovementMode()
-						<< " legLvl=" << (int)legStateAlarm.GetLevel()
-						<< " simLive=" << 1	// re-read below costs a bridge call; posture already folded it
-						<< " myo=" << myomerEffectiveness
-						<< " squat=" << squatCapable << ")\n" << std::flush;
-				duckState = 0;							// consumed (@0x4aa0a9)
+				else
+				{
+					// Gates not ready THIS frame (posture selector still
+					// settling).  Retry next frame -- do NOT clear duckState:
+					// it is the gauge's posture source now, and dropping it
+					// here is what made the request vanish silently.
+					static int s_duckWait = 0;
+					if ((s_duckWait++ % 60) == 0)
+						DEBUG_STREAM << "[duck] WAITING: want=" << duckWant
+							<< " actual=" << duckActual
+							<< " posture=" << mapPosture
+							<< " mode=" << MovementMode()
+							<< " myo=" << myomerEffectiveness
+							<< "\n" << std::flush;
+				}
 			}
 
 			// (3b) AIRBORNE AUTO-RISE -- recovered 2026-08-06 by the #60