diff --git a/MEMORY.md b/MEMORY.md
index 5ebe9ac..2b6f8fc 100644
--- a/MEMORY.md
+++ b/MEMORY.md
@@ -6,6 +6,12 @@ Scope: facts and traps that cost time to establish. Planned work lives in [TODO.
 
 ---
 
+## 2026-11-08 — Reset was returning to mid-air; QA self-test switch
+
+- **`ResetToStart()` restored a `StartLocation` captured in `BeginPlay`**, which is the PlayerStart position *above* grade (Z 600) so the capsule never spawns embedded. Every reset therefore dropped the player 1.4 m back into the air. Fix: capture `StartLocation` on the first grounded frame (repeating 0.25 s timer, cleared once captured) — not a one-shot timer, which can fire after the player has already started walking and record a mid-stride position.
+- **`-qaselftest`** drives the checks headlessly and logs `GigLine QA: ... PASS/FAIL`. It runs on a **core ticker, not a world timer**: pausing the game stops world timers, so a timer-driven test freezes exactly when it proves pause works.
+- Current results: walk 746 cm / 2 s with Z steady, reset 0 cm from spawn, pause `IsGamePaused()` 1, unpause 0, transect 84 samples / 0 holes (ground Z 317..395).
+
 ## 2026-11-08 — The fall-through was an 8 m invisible box (QA branch)
 
 - **Symptom:** player "spawned above ground but never fell", sat at Z 909, `fall=0`, `mode=1` (Walking), no fall-through, view looked plausible so it was mistaken for working.