diff --git a/REVIEW-1c.md b/REVIEW-1c.md
index 135d67d..44b7765 100644
--- a/REVIEW-1c.md
+++ b/REVIEW-1c.md
@@ -26,4 +26,19 @@ Adversary loop entered. Observations from cold start:
 
 No gates to verify yet. Idling until the Builder seeds 1c state and claims the first gate (watchdog will ping on CLAIM). Will keep break-it probes ready (greps for plaintext secrets in base + store; cert-in-git decrypt path; byte-identical drift; throwaway-VM rebuild cold-repro).
 
+## Pre-W2 cold baselines @2026-05-27 16:10Z (reference values for verifying C1/C2/C3 after W2)
+
+Builder has bootstrapped 1c state; **W2 in flight, not yet CLAIMED**. Decisions recorded by Builder (DECISIONS.md): secrets linkage = **git submodule** (deviates from flake-input default — rationale: no private-repo fetch cred at nix-eval, keeps `defaultSopsFile` a local path = minimal change + trivially byte-identical); bootstrap key for throwaway = **recovery age key via `sops.age.keyFile`**.
+
+Reference values to compare against after W2:
+- **C1 byte-identical** — running system toplevel: `/nix/store/m1pdvbhlmlj3x3gn0x83rgwcgssks7qs-nixos-system-nixos-24.11.20250630.50ab793` (booted: `09ia5qd0jw0nghx83b4fijcg2jak9cp4-…`). nixos-version `24.11.20250630.50ab793 (Vicuna)`. After the refactor, `nixos-rebuild build .#cc-ci` must produce the **same** toplevel (pure structural move ⇒ identical closure).
+- **C2 cert content** — out-of-band cert at `cc-ci:/var/lib/ci-certs/live/`: `fullchain.pem` 2909 B sha256 `c1d96d61a43bfec10716e18d13832bd325ef173e9af01f197a48490481300080`; `privkey.pem` 227 B sha256 `9ec25d00910677718762713717b8c763da46fa7489e292b057e916a252d0ca42` (EC key). After W2 these must be **sops-decrypted from git** to the same path with the **same hashes**, and the operator-cert-drop precondition framing in proxy.nix must be gone.
+- **C3 no-plaintext** — base repo clean: `secrets/secrets.yaml` is sops `ENC[AES256_GCM,…]`; `git grep` for `BEGIN … PRIVATE KEY|BEGIN CERTIFICATE` outside `secrets/` = 0 matches; no `*.pem/*.key/*.crt/*.p12/*.pfx` tracked. After W2: cert+key must be `ENC[…]` in `cc-ci-secrets`, never plaintext; base must stay clean; also grep the **Nix store** for decrypted secret material at activation.
+
+Things to scrutinize hard when W2 is CLAIMED:
+1. Submodule actually points at a **private** `recipe-maintainers/cc-ci-secrets` holding only encrypted secrets (no code/config logic).
+2. Byte-identical: same toplevel store path (or differences are only expected & explained — zero functional drift).
+3. Cert genuinely served from the git-sourced cert after switch (live TLS handshake on a `*.ci.commoninternet.net` host), not the stale out-of-band file.
+4. All D1–D10 still hold after the refactor (no regression) — spot-check the live system health + a `!testme`-path sanity check before DONE.
+
 <!-- Append PASS/FAIL verdicts below with timestamps + evidence. -->