diff --git a/src/pages/index.astro b/src/pages/index.astro
index f7e7f89..2c2f431 100644
--- a/src/pages/index.astro
+++ b/src/pages/index.astro
@@ -505,7 +505,7 @@ const canonical = new URL('/', Astro.site);
 
   .hero-lead.has-scroll-stack {
     position: relative;
-    min-height: clamp(68rem, 185svh, 108rem);
+    min-height: clamp(54rem, 145svh, 84rem);
     align-items: stretch;
   }
 
@@ -541,7 +541,7 @@ const canonical = new URL('/', Astro.site);
   .is-stacked-stack .technology-stack {
     width: min(100%, 28rem);
     min-width: 0;
-    min-height: 135svh;
+    min-height: 100svh;
     margin-top: clamp(3.25rem, 9vh, 6rem);
     margin-left: auto;
   }
@@ -907,21 +907,10 @@ const canonical = new URL('/', Astro.site);
       --edge: clamp(1.15rem, 5vw, 1.85rem);
     }
 
-    /* The first gesture clears the hero and settles on Nucleic by itself. The two
-       technology rows then become the remaining stops, so even a quick mobile fling
-       cannot skip straight from the opening composition to the second product. */
-    main.has-technology-scroll {
-      scroll-snap-type: y mandatory;
-    }
-
-    .has-technology-scroll .hero-copy,
-    .has-technology-scroll .technology-steps > span {
-      scroll-snap-align: center;
-      scroll-snap-stop: always;
-    }
-
     .hero {
-      padding-top: clamp(2.5rem, 8vh, 5rem);
+      --mobile-hero-pin-top: clamp(2.5rem, 8vh, 5rem);
+
+      padding-top: var(--mobile-hero-pin-top);
     }
 
     .statement {
@@ -937,11 +926,11 @@ const canonical = new URL('/', Astro.site);
     }
 
     .hero-lead.has-scroll-stack {
+      height: max-content;
       min-height: 0;
     }
 
-    .hero-copy,
-    .has-scroll-stack .hero-copy {
+    .hero-copy {
       position: relative;
       top: auto;
       display: grid;
@@ -949,6 +938,22 @@ const canonical = new URL('/', Astro.site);
       transform: none;
     }
 
+    /* Pinned at exactly the offset it already occupies, so the copy is held from the
+       first pixel of scroll rather than travelling to meet a pin line. */
+    .has-scroll-stack .hero-copy {
+      position: sticky;
+      z-index: 2;
+      top: var(--mobile-hero-pin-top);
+    }
+
+    /* Viewports too short to hold the copy and the card at once are the one case the
+       composition cannot be static: the copy is released to scroll away, and the card
+       pins at the CSS inset below instead of at its own resting offset. */
+    .has-scroll-stack.is-hero-released .hero-copy {
+      position: relative;
+      top: auto;
+    }
+
     .mission {
       max-width: 25rem;
     }
@@ -959,17 +964,24 @@ const canonical = new URL('/', Astro.site);
       margin-top: clamp(3.25rem, 9vh, 6rem);
     }
 
+    /* The lead is what the script tightens when the card would otherwise sit too low
+       to be pinned where it rests; the clamp is the value it starts from. */
     .hero-lead.is-stacked-stack .technology-stack {
       width: 100%;
+      margin-top: var(--technology-stack-lead, clamp(3.25rem, 9vh, 6rem));
       margin-left: 0;
     }
 
+    /* Scroll length for the story, and nothing else — the card no longer spends any
+       of it travelling, so a full viewport of it would read as a dead stretch. */
     .has-scroll-stack .technology-stack {
-      min-height: 135svh;
+      min-height: 70svh;
     }
 
+    /* The script pins this at the card's own resting offset. The clamp is the fallback
+       for the released case above, where the card does have to come up the screen. */
     .is-scroll-stack .technology-stage {
-      top: clamp(8.5rem, 28%, 14rem);
+      top: var(--technology-stage-pin-top, clamp(8.5rem, 28%, 14rem));
       transform: none;
     }
 
@@ -977,6 +989,14 @@ const canonical = new URL('/', Astro.site);
       min-height: 11.9rem;
     }
 
+    /* Keep Nucleic alone for roughly the first half of the scroll, then move directly
+       into the next product without the old empty stretch between story beats. The
+       split is below half because the step boxes are read against a band at the middle
+       of the viewport, which the stack's own top edge starts well below. */
+    .is-scroll-stack .technology-steps {
+      grid-template-rows: 23% 77%;
+    }
+
     /* One line each: side by side these two need ~360px of tracking-heavy mono, which
        is more than a 390px screen has once the edge inset is paid. */
     .footer {
@@ -1018,8 +1038,10 @@ const canonical = new URL('/', Astro.site);
      so tighten the spacing but leave the type alone and let the page scroll. */
   @media (max-height: 700px) and (max-width: 720px) {
     .hero {
+      --mobile-hero-pin-top: clamp(0.75rem, 2.2vh, 1.75rem);
+
       row-gap: clamp(1.1rem, 2.9vh, 2rem);
-      padding: clamp(0.75rem, 2.2vh, 1.75rem) 0 clamp(0.5rem, 1.4vh, 1.25rem);
+      padding: var(--mobile-hero-pin-top) 0 clamp(0.5rem, 1.4vh, 1.25rem);
     }
   }
 
@@ -1077,19 +1099,17 @@ const canonical = new URL('/', Astro.site);
     const cards = [...technologyStack.querySelectorAll<HTMLAnchorElement>('[data-technology-card]')];
     const steps = [...technologyStack.querySelectorAll<HTMLElement>('[data-technology-step]')];
     const progressCurrent = technologyStack.querySelector<HTMLElement>('[data-technology-progress-current]');
-    const mobileStack = window.matchMedia('(max-width: 720px)');
+    const mobileLayout = window.matchMedia('(max-width: 720px)');
 
     heroLead?.classList.add('has-scroll-stack');
     hero?.classList.add('has-scroll-story');
-    scrollRoot?.classList.add('has-technology-scroll');
     technologyStack.classList.add('is-scroll-stack');
 
     let stackWrappedBelow = false;
-    let mobileEntryScrollTop = 0;
-    let mobileStackEntered = false;
 
+    /* Two columns: copy and card each hold the middle of their own half of the line. */
     const syncPinnedInsets = () => {
-      if (!scrollRoot || !heroCopy || !technologyStage || stackWrappedBelow) return;
+      if (!scrollRoot || !heroCopy || !technologyStage) return;
 
       const setCenteredInset = (element: HTMLElement, property: string) => {
         const inset = `${Math.max(0, (scrollRoot.clientHeight - element.offsetHeight) / 2)}px`;
@@ -1102,21 +1122,58 @@ const canonical = new URL('/', Astro.site);
       setCenteredInset(technologyStage, '--technology-stage-pin-top');
     };
 
-    const syncMobileEntry = () => {
-      if (!mobileStack.matches || !scrollRoot || !heroCopy || !technologyStage) return;
+    /* One column, on a phone: the card is pinned at the offset it already occupies,
+       so the first pixel of scroll advances the story instead of dragging the card up
+       to a pin line above it and only then starting. Where the card would rest too low
+       to be fully visible, the lead above it is tightened rather than letting it
+       travel; only when even a minimal lead cannot fit is the copy released. */
+    const MINIMUM_STACK_LEAD = 20;
 
-      const rootRect = scrollRoot.getBoundingClientRect();
-      const copyRect = heroCopy.getBoundingClientRect();
-      const stackRect = technologyStack.getBoundingClientRect();
-      const stageInset = Number.parseFloat(getComputedStyle(technologyStage).top) || 0;
-      const currentScroll = scrollRoot.scrollTop;
+    const syncStaticStory = () => {
+      if (!hero || !heroLead || !heroCopy || !scrollRoot || !technologyStage) return;
 
-      /* These resolve to document-space thresholds even while the stage is sticky.
-         The handoff waits for both conditions: the hero is above the scrollport and
-         the product card has reached its pinned position. */
-      const heroCleared = currentScroll + copyRect.bottom - rootRect.top + 16;
-      const stagePinned = currentScroll + stackRect.top - rootRect.top - stageInset;
-      mobileEntryScrollTop = Math.max(0, Math.ceil(heroCleared), Math.ceil(stagePinned));
+      /* Measure against the CSS lead, not a lead this function set on an earlier pass,
+         so shrinking and re-widening a window recovers the full spacing. */
+      technologyStack.style.removeProperty('--technology-stack-lead');
+      technologyStage.style.removeProperty('--technology-stage-pin-top');
+
+      const heroStyle = getComputedStyle(hero);
+      const copyBottom =
+        (Number.parseFloat(heroStyle.paddingTop) || 0) + heroCopy.offsetHeight;
+      /* The card has to clear the hero's own bottom padding, or the sticky element
+         runs out of containing block before the scroll ends and drifts at the tail. */
+      const gutter = (Number.parseFloat(heroStyle.paddingBottom) || 0) + 8;
+      const lead = Math.min(
+        Number.parseFloat(getComputedStyle(technologyStack).marginTop) || 0,
+        scrollRoot.clientHeight - gutter - technologyStage.offsetHeight - copyBottom,
+      );
+
+      const released = lead < MINIMUM_STACK_LEAD;
+      heroLead.classList.toggle('is-hero-released', released);
+      if (released) return;
+
+      /* The pin is derived from the lead that was actually applied, not from the
+         unrounded one: half a pixel of disagreement is half a pixel of travel. */
+      const appliedLead = Math.round(lead);
+      technologyStack.style.setProperty('--technology-stack-lead', `${appliedLead}px`);
+      technologyStage.style.setProperty(
+        '--technology-stage-pin-top',
+        `${copyBottom + appliedLead}px`,
+      );
+    };
+
+    const clearStaticStory = () => {
+      heroLead?.classList.remove('is-hero-released');
+      technologyStack.style.removeProperty('--technology-stack-lead');
+      technologyStage?.style.removeProperty('--technology-stage-pin-top');
+    };
+
+    const syncInsets = () => {
+      if (!stackWrappedBelow) {
+        syncPinnedInsets();
+      } else if (mobileLayout.matches) {
+        syncStaticStory();
+      }
     };
 
     const syncEnhancedLayout = () => {
@@ -1125,26 +1182,19 @@ const canonical = new URL('/', Astro.site);
       /* Remove the fallback before measuring so resizing from a stacked viewport
          back to two columns can recover instead of measuring its own forced block. */
       heroLead.classList.remove('is-stacked-stack');
+      clearStaticStory();
       stackWrappedBelow = technologyStack.offsetLeft <= heroCopy.offsetLeft + 1;
       heroLead.classList.toggle('is-stacked-stack', stackWrappedBelow);
 
-      if (stackWrappedBelow) {
-        heroCopy.style.removeProperty('--hero-copy-pin-top');
-        technologyStage?.style.removeProperty('--technology-stage-pin-top');
-      } else {
-        syncPinnedInsets();
-      }
+      if (stackWrappedBelow) heroCopy.style.removeProperty('--hero-copy-pin-top');
 
-      syncMobileEntry();
+      syncInsets();
     };
 
     syncEnhancedLayout();
 
     if ('ResizeObserver' in window && scrollRoot && heroCopy && technologyStage) {
-      const pinObserver = new ResizeObserver(() => {
-        syncPinnedInsets();
-        syncMobileEntry();
-      });
+      const pinObserver = new ResizeObserver(syncInsets);
       pinObserver.observe(scrollRoot);
       pinObserver.observe(heroCopy);
       pinObserver.observe(technologyStage);
@@ -1173,40 +1223,12 @@ const canonical = new URL('/', Astro.site);
 
     activateTechnology(0);
 
-    let mobileEntryTimer = 0;
-    const settleMobileEntry = () => {
-      if (!mobileStack.matches || !scrollRoot || mobileStackEntered) return;
-      if (scrollRoot.scrollTop + 1 < mobileEntryScrollTop) return;
-
-      /* A single fast fling may cross every observer step. Return it to the required
-         Nucleic-only frame; only a later gesture is allowed to advance the stack. */
-      mobileStackEntered = true;
-      activateTechnology(0);
-      scrollRoot.scrollTo({ top: mobileEntryScrollTop, behavior: 'auto' });
-    };
-
-    scrollRoot?.addEventListener(
-      'scroll',
-      () => {
-        if (mobileStack.matches && scrollRoot.scrollTop <= mobileEntryScrollTop * 0.25) {
-          mobileStackEntered = false;
-        }
-
-        window.clearTimeout(mobileEntryTimer);
-        mobileEntryTimer = window.setTimeout(settleMobileEntry, 120);
-      },
-      { passive: true },
-    );
-
-    scrollRoot?.addEventListener('scrollend', settleMobileEntry, { passive: true });
-
     const stepObserver = new IntersectionObserver(
       (entries) => {
         entries.forEach((entry) => {
           if (!entry.isIntersecting) return;
           const index = Number((entry.target as HTMLElement).dataset.technologyStep);
-          const canActivate = index === 0 || !mobileStack.matches || mobileStackEntered;
-          if (Number.isInteger(index) && canActivate) activateTechnology(index);
+          if (Number.isInteger(index)) activateTechnology(index);
         });
       },
       { root: scrollRoot, rootMargin: '-45% 0px -45% 0px' },