diff --git a/src/core/layout.ts b/src/core/layout.ts
index b958577..0686dc6 100644
--- a/src/core/layout.ts
+++ b/src/core/layout.ts
@@ -291,7 +291,11 @@ export function createGraphSimulation(
 	// stamping unconnected propositions onto the baseline / base ring
 	// assigns them meaning they don't have. Orphans are exempt from the
 	// depth force and keep the REGULAR view's forces instead (full center
-	// gravity + full cluster pull, unprojected).
+	// gravity + full cluster pull, unprojected). AMENDED (owner,
+	// 2026-09-30 physics follow-up): in VERTICAL mode the central pole is
+	// a HORIZONTAL force for everyone — structured and orphan/imp alike —
+	// y belongs to the depth rows and to nothing else; the full regular
+	// pull survives only in radial mode (where the rings own the radius).
 	const mode = options.depthAnchor?.mode ?? "off";
 	// The depth machinery reads the LOGICAL edge list when supplied —
 	// structure is inference over propositions, not the drawn geometry.
@@ -311,9 +315,10 @@ export function createGraphSimulation(
 		nodes.forEach((n, i) => {
 			// IMP EXEMPTION joins the mask (owner, 2026-09-30): depth is a
 			// property of inference over PROPOSITIONS; an implication node
-			// is pure geometry — never pinned to a level, keeps the full
-			// regular forces (gravity, cluster pull, springs), and settles
-			// naturally between premise and conclusion levels.
+			// is pure geometry — never pinned to a level, keeps the
+			// regular forces (cluster pull, springs, and gravity —
+			// horizontal-only in vertical mode, like everyone), and
+			// settles naturally between premise and conclusion levels.
 			if (!connected.has(n.id) || n.id.startsWith(IMP_ID_PREFIX)) orphan![i] = 1;
 		});
 	}
@@ -323,19 +328,21 @@ export function createGraphSimulation(
 		sim.force("y", forceY<LayoutNode>(g.y).strength(g.strength));
 	} else if (g) {
 		// Mode-projected gravity, EXACTLY d3's forceX/forceY math (restoring
-		// force × strength × alpha): structured nodes get x-only in vertical
-		// mode (the depth force owns y) and none in radial mode (the rings
-		// own the radius); ORPHANS get the full regular-view pull in every
-		// mode.
+		// force × strength × alpha). VERTICAL (owner, 2026-09-30 physics
+		// follow-up): the central pole is horizontal-ONLY for EVERY node —
+		// structured (the depth force owns y) and orphan/imp alike (an
+		// unstructured node has no row to sit on and no pole to sag
+		// toward; its y is free). RADIAL: orphans keep the full regular
+		// pull; structured nodes get nothing (the rings own the radius).
 		const orphanMask = orphan!;
 		sim.force("gravity", (alpha: number) => {
 			for (let i = 0; i < nodes.length; i++) {
 				const n = nodes[i]!;
-				if (orphanMask[i]) {
+				if (mode === "vertical") {
+					n.vx = (n.vx ?? 0) + (g.x - (n.x ?? 0)) * g.strength * alpha;
+				} else if (orphanMask[i]) {
 					n.vx = (n.vx ?? 0) + (g.x - (n.x ?? 0)) * g.strength * alpha;
 					n.vy = (n.vy ?? 0) + (g.y - (n.y ?? 0)) * g.strength * alpha;
-				} else if (mode === "vertical") {
-					n.vx = (n.vx ?? 0) + (g.x - (n.x ?? 0)) * g.strength * alpha;
 				}
 				// radial + structured: nothing — the rings own the radius.
 			}
diff --git a/tests/layout.test.ts b/tests/layout.test.ts
index 077a166..27b15fd 100644
--- a/tests/layout.test.ts
+++ b/tests/layout.test.ts
@@ -224,7 +224,27 @@ describe("depths over the LOGICAL graph (physics arc, owner 2026-09-30)", () =>
 		assert.equal(depths.get("c"), 1);
 	});
 
-	it("the depth force EXEMPTS the imp node like an orphan (full gravity, never pinned to a row)", () => {
+	it("VERTICAL mode: the central pole is horizontal-ONLY for everyone — orphans included (owner, 2026-09-30)", () => {
+		const mk = (id: string, x: number, y: number) => ({ id, x, y });
+		const sim = createGraphSimulation(
+			[mk("a", 0, 0), mk("b", 40, 0), mk("lonely", 500, 400)],
+			[{ from: "a", to: "b" }],
+			{
+				depthAnchor: { mode: "vertical", strength: 1, spacing: 60 },
+				gravity: { x: 0, y: 0, strength: 0.1 },
+				chargeStrength: 0,
+			},
+		);
+		for (let i = 0; i < 400; i++) sim.tick();
+		const pos = new Map((sim.nodes() as unknown as { id: string; x: number; y: number }[]).map((n) => [n.id, n]));
+		// The orphan converges on x (the pole is still a pole)...
+		assert.ok(Math.abs(pos.get("lonely")!.x) < 50, `lonely x pulled to center (got ${pos.get("lonely")!.x.toFixed(1)})`);
+		// ...but its y is UNTOUCHED — no row to sit on, no sag toward the
+		// pole (old behavior dragged it to y≈0).
+		assert.ok(Math.abs(pos.get("lonely")!.y - 400) < 5, `lonely y free (got ${pos.get("lonely")!.y.toFixed(1)})`);
+	});
+
+	it("the depth force EXEMPTS the imp node like an orphan (never pinned to a row)", () => {
 		const mk = (id: string, x: number, y: number) => ({ id, x, y });
 		const sim = createGraphSimulation(
 			[mk("a", 0, 0), mk("b", 40, 0), mk("c", 0, -480), mk("arg_x", 20, -100)],
@@ -256,9 +276,9 @@ describe("depths over the LOGICAL graph (physics arc, owner 2026-09-30)", () =>
 		assert.ok(Math.abs(pos.get("a")!.y) < 50, `a on row 0 (got ${pos.get("a")!.y.toFixed(1)})`);
 		assert.ok(Math.abs(pos.get("b")!.y) < 50, `b on row 0 (got ${pos.get("b")!.y.toFixed(1)})`);
 		assert.ok(Math.abs(pos.get("c")!.y + 500) < 50, `c on row 1 (got ${pos.get("c")!.y.toFixed(1)})`);
-		// The imp node is exempt: pulled by full gravity toward the
-		// center, NOT stamped onto c's row (old behavior pinned it to
-		// −500 as a depth-1 "node").
+		// The imp node is exempt: NOT stamped onto c's row (old behavior
+		// pinned it to −500 as a depth-1 "node"); springs alone place
+		// it between the levels.
 		assert.ok(Math.abs(pos.get("arg_x")!.y) < 250, `arg_x unpinned, floats between levels (got ${pos.get("arg_x")!.y.toFixed(1)})`);
 	});
 });
@@ -363,27 +383,30 @@ describe("depthAnchor force", () => {
 		assert.ok(child.y < old.y - 40, `child rises above its premises (child=${child.y.toFixed(1)}, old=${old.y.toFixed(1)})`);
 	});
 
-	it("orphans are exempt from depth anchoring — regular forces govern them (ORPHAN RULE)", () => {
+	it("orphans are exempt from depth anchoring — y is FREE, the pole is horizontal (ORPHAN RULE, amended 2026-09-30)", () => {
 		// A premise→conclusion chain plus an unconnected loner. Gravity's
-		// center is FAR from the baseline, so the two are distinguishable:
-		// a depth-stamped orphan would sit on the baseline; an exempt one
-		// follows gravity instead.
+		// center is FAR off-axis, so the forces are distinguishable: a
+		// depth-stamped orphan would sit on the baseline; the pre-amend
+		// exempt one sagged to gravity's y. Since the owner's 2026-09-30
+		// amendment the vertical pole is horizontal-ONLY for everyone —
+		// the orphan keeps its y and follows gravity on x alone.
 		const ns = [
 			{ id: "base", x: 0, y: 0 },
 			{ id: "derived", x: 10, y: 0 },
-			{ id: "loner", x: 0, y: 0 },
+			{ id: "loner", x: 400, y: -80 },
 		];
 		const sim = createGraphSimulation(ns, [{ from: "base", to: "derived" }], {
 			gravity: { x: 0, y: 500, strength: 0.1 },
 			depthAnchor: { mode: "vertical", strength: 1.5, spacing: 120, center: { x: 0, y: 0 } },
+			chargeStrength: 0,
 		});
 		for (let i = 0; i < 400; i++) sim.tick();
 		const byId = new Map(sim.nodes().map((n) => [n.id, n]));
 		assert.ok(Math.abs(byId.get("base")!.y!) < 40, "structured base sits on the baseline");
 		assert.ok(byId.get("derived")!.y! < -60, "derived rises a level");
-		const lonerY = byId.get("loner")!.y!;
-		assert.ok(lonerY > 250, `the orphan follows gravity, not the baseline (y=${lonerY.toFixed(0)})`);
-		assert.ok(Math.abs(lonerY - 500) < 120, `the orphan converges on gravity's center (y=${lonerY.toFixed(0)})`);
+		const loner = byId.get("loner")!;
+		assert.ok(Math.abs(loner.y! - (-80)) < 5, `the orphan's y is untouched (y=${loner.y!.toFixed(0)})`);
+		assert.ok(Math.abs(loner.x!) < 60, `the orphan still converges on the pole horizontally (x=${loner.x!.toFixed(0)})`);
 	});
 
 	it("radial: orphans are exempt — they gather at the center, not on the base ring", () => {