Replication before consumption
Each unit deposits a daughter cell before it touches new material — the swarm grows rather than drifts.
Cold metal, never warm
Reactions run at ambient with zero thermal signature — the lattice stays a fraction above room temperature.
Tessellation is the protocol
A single hex edge encodes the next bond angle; misalignment rejects the cell before it can lock in.
Spread halts at the perimeter
A coded kill-edge caps the frontier at ninety-six cells — the goo fills its container, then waits.