diff --git a/internal/link/enrol_reply_probe_test.go b/internal/link/enrol_reply_probe_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7f17d09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/link/enrol_reply_probe_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+package link
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/nats-io/nats.go"
+)
+
+// **Verified 2026-09-27**: the caller asked for a reply to `_INBOX.LCr3M83q…` and the consumer
+// saw `$JS.ACK.PROBE.probe_consumer.1.1.1…`. The design was right, and enrolment's payload-borne
+// reply subject is necessary rather than defensive.
+//
+// Design 25 §2 asserts that a reply address is **eaten** when a message crosses a stream: core
+// request/reply puts the requester's inbox in the message's Reply field, but a JetStream consumer
+// has already claimed that field for its own ack address by the time a handler sees it. The whole
+// enrolment design rests on it — the reply subject travels in the payload instead — so it is
+// checked rather than believed.
+//
+//	docker run -d --rm --name t -p 14222:4222 nats:2.10-alpine -js
+//	MESH_TEST_NATS=nats://127.0.0.1:14222 go test ./internal/link/ -run TestAReplyAddress
+func TestAReplyAddressDoesNotSurviveAStream(t *testing.T) {
+	url := os.Getenv("MESH_TEST_NATS")
+	if url == "" {
+		t.Skip("MESH_TEST_NATS unset")
+	}
+	conn, err := nats.Connect(url)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer conn.Close()
+	js, err := conn.JetStream()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if _, err := js.AddStream(&nats.StreamConfig{
+		Name: "PROBE", Subjects: []string{"probe.>"}, Retention: nats.WorkQueuePolicy,
+	}); err != nil && err != nats.ErrStreamNameAlreadyInUse {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer js.DeleteStream("PROBE")
+
+	seen := make(chan *nats.Msg, 1)
+	sub, err := js.Subscribe("probe.enrol", func(m *nats.Msg) { seen <- m },
+		nats.Durable("probe_consumer"), nats.ManualAck())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer sub.Unsubscribe()
+
+	// A caller doing what core request/reply does: publish with its own inbox as the reply.
+	inbox := nats.NewInbox()
+	if err := conn.PublishMsg(&nats.Msg{Subject: "probe.enrol", Reply: inbox, Data: []byte("{}")}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	select {
+	case m := <-seen:
+		t.Logf("the caller asked for a reply to   %s", inbox)
+		t.Logf("the consumer sees a Reply field of %s", m.Reply)
+		if m.Reply == inbox {
+			t.Fatalf("the reply address SURVIVED the stream. Design 25 §2 says it does not, and "+
+				"builds enrolment around carrying the reply subject in the payload to work "+
+				"around it. If this holds generally, that work is unnecessary and the design "+
+				"should say so.")
+		}
+		if m.Reply == "" {
+			t.Fatal("the Reply field is empty rather than claimed; the design says it carries " +
+				"the consumer's ack address, which is a different fact")
+		}
+		// Answering it would send the enrolling node's credentials to an ack subject.
+		if len(m.Reply) < 7 || m.Reply[:7] != "$JS.ACK" {
+			t.Errorf("the Reply field is %q, which is neither the caller's inbox nor an ack "+
+				"address — the design's reasoning assumes one of the two", m.Reply)
+		}
+		m.Ack()
+	case <-time.After(5 * time.Second):
+		t.Fatal("nothing was delivered")
+	}
+}