diff --git a/goodwe_controller/test_rehearse.py b/goodwe_controller/test_rehearse.py
index e919e57..1367519 100644
--- a/goodwe_controller/test_rehearse.py
+++ b/goodwe_controller/test_rehearse.py
@@ -142,9 +142,18 @@ print("2. THE CLEAN CONTROLS: two transitions on which the shipped code is "
 #   CONTROL-B  a store that has already run flat under 0.7.0 (schema stamped,
 #              no latch), onto a roster named `garage`/`shed`. This is the
 #              MAINT-05 half, and the names are deliberately not `inverter-a`.
+#   CONTROL-C  a FRESH INSTALL - an empty state file - onto `garage`/`shed`.
+#              ⚠️ THIS ONE FOUND A DEFECT IN THE HARNESS. A fresh store's
+#              migration writes `sign_tripped = False` and `sign_reason = ""`
+#              under `inverter-a` before any roster exists, and the first draft
+#              reported both as STRANDED - red on every fresh install. Losing a
+#              DEFAULT loses nothing; that is `MigrationReport.lost`'s own
+#              distinction, and an alarm that fires on the harmless case is one
+#              an operator learns to dismiss before the real one arrives.
 CONTROLS = {
     "CONTROL-A": ("state-legacy.json", "roster-inverter-a.yaml"),
     "CONTROL-B": ("state-flat-070.json", "roster.yaml"),
+    "CONTROL-C": ("state-fresh.json", "roster.yaml"),
 }
 
 
@@ -379,6 +388,22 @@ print("6. THE REVERSE DIRECTION: the retreat, and the return from it")
 # --------------------------------------------------------------------------- #
 code_r, out_r = run(HERE, "state-flat-070.json", "roster.yaml",
                     "--reverse", "--round-trip")
+# ⚠️ AND THE SOFTENING IS NOT A HOLE. The SAME key stranded with a NON-default
+# value is still a finding - that is the whole of part 5 - so the two cases are
+# separated by the VALUE and not by the key name.
+_fresh_code, _fresh_out = run(HERE, "state-fresh.json", "roster.yaml")
+check("a fresh install DOES strand `unit/inverter-a/sign_tripped` - the key is "
+      "written and nothing on the roster reads it - and the report SAYS SO",
+      _fresh_code == RR.EXIT_OK
+      and "unit/inverter-a/sign_tripped = False" in _fresh_out)
+check("...and does NOT call it a finding, because the value is the default; "
+      "the same key at True is the finding part 5 turns on, so the two cases "
+      "are separated by the VALUE and not by the key name",
+      "STRANDED STORE KEY: unit/inverter-a/sign_tripped" not in _fresh_out
+      and "STRANDED STORE KEY: unit/inverter-a/sign_tripped = True"
+      in "\n".join(l.strip() for l in
+                    run(HERE, "state-legacy.json", "roster.yaml")[1].splitlines()))
+
 _orphaned = set(re.findall(r"ORPHANED ENTITY: (sensor\.\S+)", out_r))
 print(f"      the retreat orphans: {sorted(_orphaned)}")
 check("the RETREAT is rehearsed at all, and it reports the entities it "
diff --git a/goodwe_controller/tools/rehearsal/state-fresh.json b/goodwe_controller/tools/rehearsal/state-fresh.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b6884d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/goodwe_controller/tools/rehearsal/state-fresh.json
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{
+ "_comment": "ARCH-02 SYNTHETIC FIXTURE - a FRESH INSTALL. No maintenance history, no latch, no schema markers: what /data/state.json looks like before the add-on has ever completed a cycle. It is a clean control, and it earned its place: the first draft of the harness reported this transition RED, because the DEV-02 migration writes both SAFETY-02 defaults under `inverter-a` before a roster exists and the tool called them stranded. Losing a default loses nothing."
+}
diff --git a/goodwe_controller/tools/rehearse_roster.py b/goodwe_controller/tools/rehearse_roster.py
index 5ff9f20..a86fdf2 100644
--- a/goodwe_controller/tools/rehearse_roster.py
+++ b/goodwe_controller/tools/rehearse_roster.py
@@ -371,6 +371,9 @@ class Snapshot:
         self.store_migration = controller.store_migration
         self.maint_migration = controller.maint_migration
         self.machine_read = machine_reads(controller, store)
+        # Keys no machine reads whose value is the default `Store.load()` would
+        # have supplied. Reported, never a finding: see `diff()`.
+        self.stranded_at_default = []
 
     @property
     def unit_keys(self):
@@ -451,14 +454,27 @@ def diff(before: Snapshot, after: Snapshot) -> list:
     # ever look under. `MigrationReport.misdirected` says the same thing about
     # the keys the migration itself wrote; this says it about the WHOLE FILE,
     # including keys written by a version that is no longer installed.
+    #
+    # ⚠️ ONLY WHERE THE VALUE IS NOT THE DEFAULT, WHICH IS `MigrationReport`'s
+    # OWN DISTINCTION AND NOT A SOFTENING OF THIS ONE. A stranded
+    # `sign_tripped = False` has lost the DEFAULT - the same statement "absent"
+    # already makes - so nothing is gone; a stranded `sign_tripped = True` has
+    # lost A LATCH. Reporting the first would make this tool red on a FRESH
+    # INSTALL, whose migration writes both defaults under `inverter-a` before
+    # any roster exists, and an alarm that fires on the harmless case is an
+    # alarm an operator learns to dismiss before the real one arrives - which is
+    # the argument `MigrationReport.lost` already carries in store.py.
     for key in sorted(after.data):
-        if not key.startswith("unit/"):
+        if not key.startswith("unit/") or key in after.machine_read:
             continue
-        if key in after.machine_read:
+        value = after.data[key]
+        bare = key.rsplit("/", 1)[-1]
+        if value in (None, DEFAULTS.get(bare)):
+            after.stranded_at_default.append(key)
             continue
         findings.append(Finding(
             "STRANDED STORE KEY",
-            f"{key} = {after.data[key]!r} is in the store and NO machine on "
+            f"{key} = {value!r} is in the store and NO machine on "
             f"the roster {after.units!r} read it during a full start. Its "
             f"value is not information."))
 
@@ -511,7 +527,8 @@ def _latch_finding(key, before, after):
             "LATCH KEY NOT UNDER A ROSTER NAME",
             f"the flat `{key}` = {was!r} did not reach {target}, which is the "
             f"key `Inverter({unit!r})` restores from"))
-    elif target in after.data and target not in after.machine_read:
+    elif (target in after.data and target not in after.machine_read
+          and after.data[target] not in (None, DEFAULTS.get(key))):
         out.append(Finding(
             "LATCH KEY NOT READ BY ANY MACHINE",
             f"{target} = {after.data[target]!r} exists but no machine on the "
@@ -660,6 +677,15 @@ def report_transition(name, before, after, findings) -> None:
         mark = "  " if key in after.data else "  (absent, defaulted) "
         print(f"      {key}{mark}")
 
+    if after.stranded_at_default:
+        print()
+        print("    keys no machine reads whose value IS the default, so "
+              "nothing is lost by")
+        print("    stranding them - reported rather than hidden, not counted "
+              "as findings:")
+        for key in after.stranded_at_default:
+            print(f"      {key} = {after.data[key]!r}")
+
     print()
     print("  -- MAINTENANCE HISTORY (MAINT-05: a second move must not drop it) -")
     for label, hist in (("before", before.history), ("after", after.history)):