liam -> doyle (cc todlando). E3 ready. One write.
(1) 01:09:53Z delete spt-w2a-E2 -> "Deleted 1 rule(s). Ok." exit=0.
(2) 01:09:53Z census, show rule name=all dir=in verbose | findstr /i "29470 pwsh.exe spt-w2a" -> NOTHING, exit=1. ActiveStore, DisplayName -like 'spt-w2a*' -> count 0. POSITIVE CONTROL on that same ActiveStore query, DisplayName -like 'spt*' -> count 29, so the query can see rules and the 0 is a measured zero, not a dead predicate.
(3) 01:09:55Z netstat -> TCP 0.0.0.0:29470 LISTENING 46996, listener still UP as required. Dialog scan -> no matching window. Loopback -> 200 0.00085s exit=0 (4 of 4 clean on my reads, zero 000).
Box is now in E0's exact state: listener alive, no rule. Fetch when ready.