LADDER CLIMB · carrier shed per gap crossing — lost or collected (Patricia)

Each gap crossing drives population up one rung (|1⟩→|2⟩→|3⟩→|4⟩→|5⟩) and sheds a quantum. The rung reached counts traversals — the carrier is the climb, not a fixed level. Above |5⟩ is the continuum (256→257 escape). The fork: shed energy is lost (open, Σp<1) or collected by the Patricia mode (closed at the larger boundary, qutrit + collector = 1). Patricia: the leak is the product.