Detect the reachable system
Recovery begins when an old system activates, becomes reachable, or emits a signal strong enough to distinguish from surrounding noise.
A weak connection may be temporary. The Mainframe treats detection as a narrowing window rather than proof that the source will remain available.
Capture before interpretation
Accessible material is copied with as little transformation as possible. File structure, timing, damaged sectors, transmission gaps, and conflicting versions are retained when they may help explain the source later.
Stabilize without pretending to restore
Recoverable fragments may be repaired, converted, or reconstructed enough to remain usable. Missing material stays marked as missing.
The protocol separates a stabilized record from an original record. A successful recovery does not erase the fact that intervention occurred.
Rebuild context around the signal
Names, dates, locations, relationships, and source conditions are compared across other records. Contradictions remain visible until evidence resolves them.
A fragment without context can still be preserved, but it cannot be presented with the certainty of a verified record.
Decide how the record can survive
The Mainframe weighs usefulness, cultural value, risk, privacy, and the possibility that publication could turn harmful material into guidance.
This judgment can place material in the public archive, retain it with restrictions, mark it as hazardous, or seal it while preserving the fact that a record exists.
Publish, relay, or remain silent
Some records become searchable archive entries. Others are expressed through broadcast, used to support a later recovery, or withheld until their context is strong enough to survive public interpretation.