3 Ready, 6 timed out at 30 min. Hypotheses tested and REFUTED by
measurement: contention (single node alone stuck in Loading ephemeral 20+
min with 385GiB free, load 0.04), rack boot-image sync (status synced, 10
images), DHCP (same nodes enlisted fine earlier). Real blocker is
observability: modules/node-vm defines no serial console, so a stuck node
is a sealed box -- the same gap already logged for cloudinit-vm, now biting
a live diagnosis. Fix is the opt-in serial+log pattern opnsense-edge
already carries; NOT applied, since it re-applies domains mid-diagnosis and
is an operator ruling. Step E prerequisites measured and recorded (dc0-dc1
mesh = virbr5 ON VCLOUD; netem-link assumes passwordless sudo vcloud lacks).
CURRENT-STATE updated in this commit (GA-R1/C1).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01KiUu1oqt76tWvV4vEC3NAr