diff --git a/docs/CURRENT-STATE.md b/docs/CURRENT-STATE.md
index 1f87149..52836be 100644
--- a/docs/CURRENT-STATE.md
+++ b/docs/CURRENT-STATE.md
@@ -131,7 +131,17 @@
   to D-121 Option C. `opentofu/vr1-dc0-maas/` is retained but UNUSED (the pod
   route is refuted); retire-or-keep is a stage-close question, as is the
   D-103/D-123 amendment text. Session changelog items 15-17.
-  REMAINING IN G10: netem (step E) only.
+  **COMMISSIONING PARTIAL (open, 2026-07-20): 3 nodes Ready, 6 timed out.**
+  Contention REFUTED by test (a single node alone sat in `Loading ephemeral`
+  20+ min with 385 GiB free, load 0.04); rack boot-image sync and DHCP also
+  ruled out by measurement. Diagnosis is BLOCKED because `modules/node-vm`
+  defines NO serial console -- the same sealed-box gap already logged for
+  `modules/cloudinit-vm`, and the fix is the opt-in serial+log pattern
+  `modules/opnsense-edge` already has. Failed commissioning is re-runnable;
+  nothing is lost. REMAINING IN G10: this diagnosis, then netem (step E,
+  NOT started -- target is the dc0<->dc1 mesh = **virbr5 on vcloud**,
+  measured; `modules/netem-link` assumes PASSWORDLESS SUDO which vcloud's
+  operator account lacks). Session changelog item 18.
 - The grounding audit is COMPLETE and EXITED (2026-07-19): Phases 1-6 all
   closed (charter `148dcef`; rulings `docs/audit/ga-rulings.md`; the
   Phase-5 sweep ran as six operator-gated batches in one session; exit
diff --git a/docs/changelog-20260719-dc0-deploy-stepB.md b/docs/changelog-20260719-dc0-deploy-stepB.md
index 9c5f81f..be4ea24 100644
--- a/docs/changelog-20260719-dc0-deploy-stepB.md
+++ b/docs/changelog-20260719-dc0-deploy-stepB.md
@@ -665,6 +665,48 @@
 - **Revert:** `maas admin machine update <id> power_type=` (clears power) per
   machine; the script itself reverts by commit.
 
+## 18. OPEN: 6 of 9 nodes fail commissioning ("timed out"); NOT contention; blocked
+## on node observability. Step E not started.
+
+- After power was wired, all 9 were commissioned at once: **3 reached Ready,
+  6 hit MAAS's 30-minute timeout** (`Marking node failed - Node operation
+  'Commissioning' timed out after 30 minutes`).
+- FIRST HYPOTHESIS (resource contention -- 9 nodes x depth-4 nested, 384 GiB
+  of 416 GiB, all pulling ephemeral images through one /30 transit) was
+  TESTED AND REFUTED: a single failed node re-commissioned ALONE sat in
+  `Loading ephemeral` for 20+ minutes with the rack at **385 GiB free and
+  load 0.04**. It is not contention and not memory.
+- Also RULED OUT by measurement: rack boot-image sync (`list-boot-images`
+  -> `status: synced`, 10 images), and DHCP itself (these same nodes
+  enlisted fine over PXE earlier, which is what proved the depth-4 gate).
+- **BLOCKER IS OBSERVABILITY, and it is the same gap twice:**
+  `modules/node-vm` defines **no serial console** (confirmed in the module
+  and in the live domain XML -- no serial/console devices), so a node stuck
+  in `Loading ephemeral` is a sealed box: no console, no agent, no way to
+  see the boot. This is the identical finding already logged against
+  `modules/cloudinit-vm` (item 4), now proven to bite a second module and an
+  actual live diagnosis. **The fix is the same opt-in serial+log pattern
+  `modules/opnsense-edge` already carries** -- that module's console log is
+  what made the 2026-07-12 boot bugs legible, and it is exactly what is
+  missing here.
+- NOT DONE, deliberately: adding a console to node-vm means re-applying
+  domains mid-diagnosis, which is a change to a built surface and belongs to
+  an operator ruling, not a reflex.
+- Current fleet: 3 Ready (commissioned, deployable), 6 Failed/retrying.
+  Nothing is lost -- failed commissioning is re-runnable at will.
+- **Step E (netem) NOT STARTED.** Measured prerequisites for when it is:
+  the dc0<->dc1 mesh is **virbr5 ON VCLOUD** (note: virbr5 INSIDE the rack
+  is provider-public -- same number, different host, measured not assumed);
+  its qdisc is currently default (`noqueue`). D-100 rules the parameters as
+  a PLACEHOLDER for the rehearsal within a "same-metro dark-fiber, low
+  single-digit ms" lean. Applying to the dc0<->dc1 leg is both the
+  semantically correct link for D-100 and the SAFE one -- it carries no
+  traffic (dc1 does not exist), unlike the transit, which is currently
+  load-bearing for MAAS/PXE. **`modules/netem-link` cannot run unattended
+  from here: it shells out to `ssh <host> 'sudo tc ...'` and assumes
+  PASSWORDLESS SUDO, which vcloud's operator account does not have** -- a
+  documented module assumption that this host violates.
+
 ## 8. STAGE-CLOSE QUEUE ITEM (operator directive, 2026-07-20): OPNsense 26.7 review
 
 - Operator directive (verbatim intent): at the proper time/place, review the