diff --git a/specs/spec10/10-tui.md b/specs/spec10/10-tui.md
index a813841..340d411 100644
--- a/specs/spec10/10-tui.md
+++ b/specs/spec10/10-tui.md
@@ -348,11 +348,14 @@ clipped to end above the card (`waveRowsFor`), and either raster is deleted
 only when the card's own rows would collide with it (`stagePlan`,
 `cardTopRow` in `dock.ts` replaying the renderer's width/chrome math),
 because kitty images composite ABOVE text cells) and the head ask renders as
-a centered rounded card (refs' ~55% content width) on the `CARD` ground in
-the dock's slot — and the answer field moves INTO the card (user decision,
-2026-08-11): the same single input, permanent focus intact, renders as the
-card's last row while a question is open, and the bottom row keeps only its
-quiet rule. The card is where you read AND where you answer.
+a centered rounded card (refs' ~55% content width) on the `CARD` ground,
+**floating over the room** (amended 2026-08-12, with §3.3's overlay
+amendment): the card is absolutely positioned a gap row above the bottom
+rule and takes no rows from the layout, so nothing behind it moves — the
+room dims, it never rearranges — and the answer field moves INTO the card
+(user decision, 2026-08-11): the same single input, permanent focus intact,
+renders as the card's last row while a question is open, and the bottom row
+keeps only its quiet rule. The card is where you read AND where you answer.
 Kind picks the frame: warm/ember for a question (with a client-side `#n`
 counter in the title), periwinkle for a consent (` · optional` in the title)
 — the listener's color, because the decision is theirs; a consent card
@@ -438,9 +441,16 @@ now-playing stays in the status strip. Same four regions either way; only
 the composition moves, which is exactly the §6.1 licence. **Overlays and the
 band**: the settings pane reclaims the band's rows outright (a mode the
 listener opened is their own full attention); a spotlight card keeps the sky
-on stage dimmed per §3.2-B, and the band steps off only when the card's top
-row (the renderer's own math, `cardTopRow`) would climb into the scene — the
-short-terminal case where both cannot fit. **The starfield is
+on stage dimmed per §3.2-B ~~, and the band steps off only when the card's
+top row (the renderer's own math, `cardTopRow`) would climb into the scene —
+the short-terminal case where both cannot fit~~ — **amended 2026-08-12 (user
+report: the card is a mask, not a sibling — a checklist card tall enough to
+trip the yield collapsed the whole scene and threw the wordmark to the top
+of the frame): the card floats (yoga absolute, above the text layer), takes
+no rows from the composition, and the band never steps off while the pane is
+closed; only the raster layers yield, per-rectangle, where the card's own
+rows reach (`stagePlan` / `waveRowsFor` against `cardTopRow`), because kitty
+images composite above text cells and would otherwise cover the card. **The starfield is
 retired** (2026-08-12 design session): at character resolution the scatter
 read as noise, so the night behind the wave and the figure stays empty and
 the scene's texture budget goes to the wave alone.
diff --git a/tui/src/app.tsx b/tui/src/app.tsx
index 174d330..ce32372 100644
--- a/tui/src/app.tsx
+++ b/tui/src/app.tsx
@@ -410,12 +410,11 @@ export function App({ subscribe, wire }: { subscribe: Subscribe; wire: Wire }):
   const { scene: sceneRows } = sceneSplit(Math.max(dims.height - 5, 10))
   const sceneWidth = cols - 2
   // Whether the scene band holds the stage. The settings pane always reclaims
-  // its rows (a mode the listener opened is their own full attention); a
-  // spotlight card keeps the sky dimmed beside it (§3.2-B: a sky going dark
-  // under every consent reads as broken) unless the terminal is too short to
-  // host both — the card's own top row, from the renderer's math, is the
-  // judge. The paint loops read this through a ref, like the card row.
-  const sceneShown = wide && !paneOpen && (cardTop === null || cardTop > 3 + sceneRows)
+  // its rows (a mode the listener opened is their own full attention). The
+  // spotlight card takes none: it floats over the room (§3.2-B), so the sky
+  // stays on stage dimmed beneath it — only the raster layers yield, and only
+  // where the card's own rows reach (stagePlan / waveRowsFor via the refs).
+  const sceneShown = wide && !paneOpen
   const sceneShownRef = useRef(sceneShown)
   sceneShownRef.current = sceneShown
   // The newest broadcast line carries the bullet (concept 04); older lines
@@ -761,8 +760,11 @@ export function App({ subscribe, wire }: { subscribe: Subscribe; wire: Wire }):
 
       {/* The spotlight card (§3.2-B as built): the oldest pending ask grows
           into a centered rounded card while the room around it is hushed.
-          Kind picks the frame: warm for a question, periwinkle for a consent —
-          the listener's color, because the decision is theirs. */}
+          It FLOATS — absolutely positioned over the log, one gap row above
+          the bottom rule, taking no rows from the layout: the room behind it
+          dims but never rearranges. Kind picks the frame: warm for a
+          question, periwinkle for a consent — the listener's color, because
+          the decision is theirs. */}
       {asks.length > 0 &&
         (() => {
           const head = asks[0]!
@@ -786,13 +788,17 @@ export function App({ subscribe, wire }: { subscribe: Subscribe; wire: Wire }):
                 borderColor: frame,
                 titleColor: consent ? PERIWINKLE : EMBER,
                 flexDirection: 'column',
-                alignSelf: 'center',
+                position: 'absolute',
+                // Yoga anchors absolute insets to the parent's border box, so
+                // the ultrawide gutter must be added back to stay centered.
+                left: gutter + Math.floor((cols - width) / 2),
+                bottom: 2,
+                zIndex: 100,
                 width,
                 paddingLeft: 2,
                 paddingRight: 2,
                 paddingTop: 1,
                 paddingBottom: 1,
-                marginBottom: 1,
                 backgroundColor: CARD,
               }}
             >
diff --git a/tui/src/dock.ts b/tui/src/dock.ts
index bcd795f..2480207 100644
--- a/tui/src/dock.ts
+++ b/tui/src/dock.ts
@@ -68,12 +68,13 @@ export function cardRows(text: string, cols: number): number {
   rows += 2 // the action row (its top margin + the line)
   rows += 2 // the in-card answer field (its top margin + the input)
   rows += 4 // border (2) + vertical padding (2)
-  rows += 1 // the card's bottom margin
+  rows += 1 // the gap row between the floating card and the bottom rule
   return rows
 }
 
-// The first terminal row the card can touch: it stands on the window's bottom
-// row (the quiet rule that keeps the frame closed). Rasters end above this.
+// The first terminal row the card can touch: the card floats anchored to the
+// window's bottom rule (the quiet line that keeps the frame closed), so its
+// top is the window height minus its own rows. Rasters end above this.
 export function cardTopRow(text: string, cols: number, height: number): number {
   return Math.max(1, height - 1 - cardRows(text, cols))
 }