diff --git a/internal/apply/apply.go b/internal/apply/apply.go
index af94644..aced7bd 100644
--- a/internal/apply/apply.go
+++ b/internal/apply/apply.go
@@ -518,7 +518,7 @@ func ApplyKeeping(
 			// configuration is retired — here, after the mesh's service applied, so in the apply
 			// of the take itself only if a peer is already through; otherwise a later apply
 			// retires it (novox/hq ADR 0119). What it did replaces what the take said of the file.
-			if o, did := retireFound(ctx, svc, &known, run, keep, report.Tunnel, time.Now().UTC()); did {
+			if o, did := retireFound(ctx, svc, d, &known, run, keep, report.Tunnel, time.Now().UTC()); did {
 				if tookAt >= 0 {
 					report.Outcomes[tookAt] = o
 				}
diff --git a/internal/apply/takeover.go b/internal/apply/takeover.go
index 8bc7130..0669746 100644
--- a/internal/apply/takeover.go
+++ b/internal/apply/takeover.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
@@ -100,30 +101,48 @@ func takeOver(ctx context.Context, sys system.System, svc *declaration.Service,
 	//    **Unless it was retired** (novox/hq ADR 0119): the take was proven and the mesh removed
 	//    it, so there is nothing to hold and nothing missing — only where its original is, which
 	//    the retirement recorded. A hold still standing is let go: that is what retiring it meant.
-	//    One put back at its path by a person is on the machine again, with no hold, and is found
-	//    and kept afresh — the same content kept once, as any original is — and retired again by
-	//    the first apply that finds the take still proven.
+	//
+	//    **One that comes back is held again on its FIRST original** — the one kept before anything
+	//    happened to it (ADR 0100), never whatever was put back — and retired again by the first
+	//    apply that finds the take still proven, keeping what came back only if it differs from
+	//    what is already kept. Put back by hand while the private network is assigned, it is not a
+	//    rollback: that means unassigning the private network first, and the note says so.
 	file := &declaration.File{ID: id, Type: declaration.TypeFile, Path: t.Config}
 	var held store.Held
 	retired, wasRetired := known.RetiredAt(t.Config)
-	if wasRetired && !present(t.Config) {
+	cameBack := wasRetired && present(t.Config)
+	switch {
+	case wasRetired && !cameBack:
 		known.Release(id)
 		held = store.Held{Kept: retired.Kept}
 		out = begin(file)
 		out.Action = "unchanged"
 		facts.Note = "the found configuration " + t.Config + " was retired once the take was proven; " +
 			"its original is kept at " + retired.Kept + " and the mesh never brings it back"
-	} else {
-		if wasRetired {
-			known.Unretire(t.Config)
-		}
+	default:
 		was, already := known.HeldAt(id)
-		out, held, err = hold(ctx, sys, file, module, was, already,
-			"the configuration of the tunnel "+t.Interface+", taken over by "+svc.Unit, run, keep, now)
+		why := "the configuration of the tunnel " + t.Interface + ", taken over by " + svc.Unit
+		if cameBack && !already {
+			digest := retired.Digest
+			if digest == "" {
+				if raw, err := os.ReadFile(retired.Kept); err == nil {
+					digest = digestOf(string(raw))
+				}
+			}
+			was = store.Held{ID: id, Module: module, Kind: string(declaration.TypeFile), Target: t.Config,
+				Since: now, Why: why, Kept: retired.Kept, Digest: digest}
+			already = true
+		}
+		out, held, err = hold(ctx, sys, file, module, was, already, why, run, keep, now)
 		if err != nil {
 			return begin(file), facts, false, fmt.Errorf("keeping the found tunnel's configuration: %w", err)
 		}
 		known.RecordHeld(held)
+		if cameBack {
+			facts.Note = "the found configuration " + t.Config + " came back after it was retired; while the " +
+				"private network is assigned the mesh retires it again, so rolling back to the found tunnel " +
+				"means unassigning the private network first"
+		}
 	}
 	facts.Kept = held.Kept
 	// What the file says, for the report: from the machine, or from the kept original when the
@@ -218,7 +237,11 @@ func takeOver(ctx context.Context, sys system.System, svc *declaration.Service,
 	}
 
 	out.Detail = "the tunnel " + t.Interface + "'s configuration, kept as found"
-	if wasRetired && out.Action == "unchanged" {
+	switch {
+	case cameBack:
+		out.Detail = "the tunnel " + t.Interface + "'s configuration, back after it was retired; held until " +
+			"it is retired again"
+	case wasRetired:
 		out.Detail = "the tunnel " + t.Interface + "'s configuration, retired once the take was proven"
 	}
 	if held.Kept != "" {
@@ -371,6 +394,10 @@ func restoreFound(ctx context.Context, sys system.System, unit string, run Runne
 	facts.Note += "; " + unit + " was started again, so the machine has the tunnel it had"
 }
 
+// wireguardDir is where a found tunnel's configuration may be retired from: wg-quick's own, and
+// nowhere else. A variable so a test can hand in a directory.
+var wireguardDir = tunnel.ConfigDir
+
 // retireFound removes the found tunnel's configuration from where its unit reads it, once the take
 // is proven, and ends the hold on it (novox/hq ADR 0119). Asked after the mesh's service applied
 // and the tunnel reads as taken; retired says whether this apply retired it, and out is then what
@@ -379,20 +406,29 @@ func restoreFound(ctx context.Context, sys system.System, unit string, run Runne
 // **Proven is taken and a handshake.** Taken alone — the found unit down and disabled, the mesh's
 // interface up — says the mesh's interface exists, not that any peer reaches it: an interface up
 // with the wrong key is taken and carries nothing. A peer that has completed a handshake with it
-// has checked its key, so that is the proof, asked of the kernel through `wg`. Anything short of
-// one — no peer yet, every time zero, `wg` missing or failing — keeps the file, and the account
-// says which: a take that never proves itself is visible rather than silently retired.
+// has checked its key, so that is the proof, asked of the kernel through `wg`. Any handshake counts,
+// however old: a change to the mesh's configuration restarts its unit, which recreates the
+// interface and resets its counters, so a time that is there at all was made by this interface.
+// Anything short of one — no peer yet, every time zero, `wg` missing or failing — keeps the file,
+// and the account says which: a take that never proves itself is visible rather than silently
+// retired.
+//
+// **Only what the take names, and only wg-quick's own file.** Nothing is removed unless the path
+// is exactly `<wireguard dir>/<found interface>.conf`, is not a path the mesh itself writes, and is
+// a file rather than a link: removing a link would leave the key-bearing file it points at where it
+// is, a retirement in name only, so that one is said and left to a person.
 //
 // **The original must still be kept.** It is the record of what the predecessor was and a
 // person's only way back (ADR 0100); a kept copy that has gone missing is said, and the file is
-// not removed, since removing it then would lose the only copy. What is on disk now, if something
-// other than the mesh rewrote it since it was found, is kept too before it goes — by content, so
-// the first original is never overwritten.
+// not removed, since removing it then would lose the only copy. What is on disk now, if it differs
+// from the first original and from what was kept at the last retirement, is kept too before it
+// goes — by content, so the first original is never overwritten and a file that keeps coming back
+// the same keeps nothing more.
 //
 // The found unit is left disabled; without its configuration it cannot raise the interface, so
 // every later apply's check of it finds nothing to do. Nothing here ever writes the file back.
-func retireFound(ctx context.Context, svc *declaration.Service, known *store.State, run Runner, keep Keep,
-	facts *TakenTunnel, now time.Time) (out Outcome, retired bool) {
+func retireFound(ctx context.Context, svc *declaration.Service, d *declaration.Declaration, known *store.State,
+	run Runner, keep Keep, facts *TakenTunnel, now time.Time) (out Outcome, retired bool) {
 	t := svc.TakesOver
 	id := takeOverID(svc)
 	if facts.State != Taken {
@@ -409,6 +445,10 @@ func retireFound(ctx context.Context, svc *declaration.Service, known *store.Sta
 		}
 		facts.Note += note
 	}
+	notRetired := func(why string) (Outcome, bool) {
+		say("the found configuration " + t.Config + " is not retired: " + why)
+		return Outcome{}, false
+	}
 	mesh := strings.TrimPrefix(svc.Unit, "wg-quick@")
 	peers, err := tunnel.Handshaken(ctx, tunnel.Runner(run), mesh)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -421,12 +461,26 @@ func retireFound(ctx context.Context, svc *declaration.Service, known *store.Sta
 		return out, false
 	}
 	proven := fmt.Sprintf("proven: %d peer(s) handshaken on %s", peers, mesh)
+	say(proven)
+
+	// What may be removed at all.
+	if want := filepath.Join(wireguardDir, t.Interface+".conf"); t.Config != want {
+		return notRetired("only " + want + ", the found interface's own wg-quick configuration, is ever " +
+			"retired by the mesh, and the take names " + t.Config)
+	}
+	if known.Recorded(string(declaration.TypeFile), t.Config) || declaresFile(d, t.Config) {
+		return notRetired("it is a path the mesh itself writes")
+	}
+	if info, err := os.Lstat(t.Config); err == nil && info.Mode()&os.ModeSymlink != 0 {
+		target, _ := os.Readlink(t.Config)
+		return notRetired("it is a link to " + target + "; removing the link would leave the key-bearing file " +
+			"it points at, so it must be retired by hand — both are kept")
+	}
 
 	// The kept original, read back — not just named in a record.
 	if held.Kept == "" {
-		say(proven + ", and the found configuration " + t.Config + " is not retired: no original of it " +
-			"was kept, so removing it would leave no record of what the predecessor was")
-		return out, false
+		return notRetired("no original of it was kept, so removing it would leave no record of what the " +
+			"predecessor was")
 	}
 	original, err := os.ReadFile(held.Kept)
 	if err != nil || (held.Digest != "" && digestOf(string(original)) != held.Digest) {
@@ -436,49 +490,59 @@ func retireFound(ctx context.Context, svc *declaration.Service, known *store.Sta
 		} else if !errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
 			why = "cannot be read (" + err.Error() + ")"
 		}
-		say(proven + ", and the found configuration " + t.Config + " is not retired: its kept original " +
-			held.Kept + " " + why + ", so removing it would lose the only copy")
-		return out, false
+		return notRetired("its kept original " + held.Kept + " " + why + ", so removing it would lose the only copy")
 	}
 
+	before, cameBack := known.RetiredAt(t.Config)
+	record := store.Retired{ID: id, Path: t.Config, Kept: held.Kept, Digest: digestOf(string(original)), At: now}
+	if cameBack {
+		// The first original stays the record's, and so does what the last retirement kept.
+		record.Extra, record.ExtraDigest, record.Again = before.Extra, before.ExtraDigest, before.Again+1
+	}
+	newCopy := ""
 	gone := !present(t.Config)
 	if !gone {
 		current, err := os.ReadFile(t.Config)
 		if err != nil {
-			say(proven + ", and the found configuration " + t.Config + " is not retired: it cannot be read (" +
-				err.Error() + ")")
-			return out, false
+			return notRetired("it cannot be read (" + err.Error() + ")")
 		}
-		if held.Digest != "" && digestOf(string(current)) != held.Digest {
+		if sum := digestOf(string(current)); sum != record.Digest && sum != record.ExtraDigest {
 			if keep == nil {
-				say(proven + ", and the found configuration " + t.Config + " is not retired: it was rewritten " +
-					"since it was found and this host has nowhere to keep what it holds now")
-				return out, false
+				return notRetired("it holds something other than its kept original and this host has nowhere " +
+					"to keep it")
 			}
-			if _, err := keep(t.Config, current, 0o600); err != nil {
-				say(proven + ", and the found configuration " + t.Config + " is not retired: keeping what it " +
-					"holds now failed (" + err.Error() + ")")
-				return out, false
+			where, err := keep(t.Config, current, 0o600)
+			if err != nil {
+				return notRetired("keeping what it holds now failed (" + err.Error() + ")")
 			}
+			record.Extra, record.ExtraDigest, newCopy = where, sum, where
 		}
 		if err := os.Remove(t.Config); err != nil && !errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
-			say(proven + ", and the found configuration " + t.Config + " could not be removed (" + err.Error() + ")")
-			return out, false
+			return notRetired("removing it failed (" + err.Error() + ")")
 		}
 		if present(t.Config) {
-			say(proven + ", and the found configuration " + t.Config + " is still there after it was removed")
-			return out, false
+			return notRetired("it is still there after it was removed")
 		}
 	}
 
-	known.RecordRetired(store.Retired{ID: id, Path: t.Config, Kept: held.Kept, At: now})
+	known.RecordRetired(record)
 	known.Release(id)
 	facts.Kept = held.Kept
-	say(proven + "; the found configuration " + t.Config + " is retired — its original kept at " +
-		held.Kept + ", " + t.Unit + " left disabled, and the mesh never brings it back")
-
-	out = Outcome{ID: id, Type: string(declaration.TypeFile), Target: t.Config, Action: "removed",
-		Detail: "retired: the take of " + t.Interface + " is " + proven + "; original kept at " + held.Kept}
+	copied := ""
+	if newCopy != "" {
+		copied = "; what it held, which differed from the original, is kept at " + newCopy
+	}
+	out = Outcome{ID: id, Type: string(declaration.TypeFile), Target: t.Config, Action: "removed"}
+	switch {
+	case cameBack:
+		say("the found configuration came back and was retired again — its original still kept at " +
+			held.Kept + copied + "; rolling back to the found tunnel means unassigning the private network first")
+		out.Detail = "the found configuration came back and was retired again; original kept at " + held.Kept + copied
+	default:
+		say("the found configuration " + t.Config + " is retired — its original kept at " + held.Kept + copied +
+			", " + t.Unit + " left disabled, and the mesh never brings it back")
+		out.Detail = "retired: the take of " + t.Interface + " is " + proven + "; original kept at " + held.Kept + copied
+	}
 	if gone {
 		// Already gone — removed by something other than the mesh, or by an apply whose record was
 		// never saved. Nothing removed here; the hold ends all the same.
@@ -489,6 +553,16 @@ func retireFound(ctx context.Context, svc *declaration.Service, known *store.Sta
 	return out, true
 }
 
+// declaresFile is whether a declaration writes a file at a path.
+func declaresFile(d *declaration.Declaration, path string) bool {
+	for _, r := range d.Resources {
+		if f, ok := r.(*declaration.File); ok && filepath.Clean(f.Path) == filepath.Clean(path) {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
 // takesOver is the service in a declaration that takes over a tunnel, if any: one per node, since
 // a machine has one private network.
 func takesOver(d *declaration.Declaration) *declaration.Service {
diff --git a/internal/apply/takeover_test.go b/internal/apply/takeover_test.go
index 058c1d2..8b6c24e 100644
--- a/internal/apply/takeover_test.go
+++ b/internal/apply/takeover_test.go
@@ -66,6 +66,10 @@ func aHubInUse(t *testing.T) (dir, config, mesh, keyFile string, m *machine) {
 		"wg-quick@mesh0": {active: "inactive", enabled: "disabled", fragment: "/usr/lib/systemd/system/wg-quick@.service"},
 	}}
 	takeoverRecheck = 0
+	// The found configuration lives in this test's own wireguard directory (novox/hq ADR 0119).
+	was := wireguardDir
+	wireguardDir = dir
+	t.Cleanup(func() { wireguardDir = was })
 	return dir, config, mesh, keyFile, m
 }
 
@@ -509,3 +513,203 @@ func TestAPlanSaysTheFoundConfigurationIsRetiredWhenTheTakeIsProven(t *testing.T
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+// keptCopies is every copy kept of the found configuration.
+func keptCopies(t *testing.T, dir string) []string {
+	t.Helper()
+	kept, err := filepath.Glob(filepath.Join(dir, "kept", "*-wg0.conf"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	return kept
+}
+
+func TestAConfigurationPutBackIsRetiredAgainOnItsFirstOriginalAndSettles(t *testing.T) {
+	dir, config, mesh, keyFile, m := aHubInUse(t)
+	m.handshakes = handshaken
+	d := aTakeover(t, config, mesh, keyFile, "51900", "192.0.2.1")
+	_, state := applyAdopted(t, d, store.State{}, m, dir)
+	first, _ := state.RetiredAt(config)
+
+	// Put back by hand with the original, while no peer is through yet: held on the first
+	// original, and the account says what a rollback takes.
+	write(t, config, foundConf)
+	m.handshakes = ""
+	report, state := applyAdopted(t, d, state, m, dir)
+	if held, ok := state.HeldAt(takesOverID); !ok || held.Kept != first.Kept {
+		t.Fatalf("what came back is not held on the first original: %+v", held)
+	}
+	if report.Tunnel == nil || !strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, "came back after it was retired") ||
+		!strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, "unassigning the private network first") {
+		t.Errorf("the account does not say a rollback means unassigning the private network: %+v", report.Tunnel)
+	}
+
+	// Proven: retired again, nothing more kept, said once.
+	m.handshakes = handshaken
+	report, state = applyAdopted(t, d, state, m, dir)
+	again, _ := state.RetiredAt(config)
+	if _, err := os.Lstat(config); !os.IsNotExist(err) || again.Kept != first.Kept || again.Extra != "" {
+		t.Fatalf("put back as it was, it was not retired again on the first original: %+v", again)
+	}
+	if o := outcomeOf(report, takesOverID); o.Action != "removed" ||
+		!strings.HasPrefix(o.Detail, "the found configuration came back and was retired again") ||
+		strings.Contains(o.Detail, "differed") {
+		t.Errorf("the second retirement is not said as one: %+v", o)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, "unassigning the private network first") {
+		t.Errorf("the account does not say what a rollback takes: %q", report.Tunnel.Note)
+	}
+	if n := len(keptCopies(t, dir)); n != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("%d copies kept of one content", n)
+	}
+	if report, _ := applyAdopted(t, d, state, m, dir); report.Changed() {
+		t.Errorf("a steady machine moved after the second retirement: %+v", report.Outcomes)
+	}
+
+	// Put back with something else: that is kept beside the first original, which stays the record's.
+	other := strings.Replace(foundConf, "PEER-B=", "PEER-Z=", 1)
+	write(t, config, other)
+	report, state = applyAdopted(t, d, state, m, dir)
+	third, _ := state.RetiredAt(config)
+	if third.Kept != first.Kept || third.Extra == "" || third.Extra == first.Kept {
+		t.Fatalf("other content was not kept apart from the first original: %+v", third)
+	}
+	if got, _ := os.ReadFile(third.Extra); string(got) != other {
+		t.Errorf("the extra copy does not hold what was put back: %q", got)
+	}
+	if o := outcomeOf(report, takesOverID); !strings.Contains(o.Detail, third.Extra) ||
+		!strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, third.Extra) {
+		t.Errorf("where the extra copy is was not said: %+v / %q", o, report.Tunnel.Note)
+	}
+
+	// And the same other content again: nothing more kept, the record as it was.
+	write(t, config, other)
+	report, state = applyAdopted(t, d, state, m, dir)
+	fourth, _ := state.RetiredAt(config)
+	if fourth.Kept != first.Kept || fourth.Extra != third.Extra || len(keptCopies(t, dir)) != 2 {
+		t.Errorf("the same content put back again grew the copies: %+v, %v", fourth, keptCopies(t, dir))
+	}
+	if o := outcomeOf(report, takesOverID); strings.Contains(o.Detail, "differed") {
+		t.Errorf("a copy already kept was said as new: %+v", o)
+	}
+	if report, _ := applyAdopted(t, d, state, m, dir); report.Changed() {
+		t.Errorf("a steady machine moved: %+v", report.Outcomes)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestOnlyWgQuicksOwnConfigurationIsRetired(t *testing.T) {
+	// Not under the wireguard directory.
+	dir, config, mesh, keyFile, m := aHubInUse(t)
+	wireguardDir = filepath.Join(dir, "elsewhere")
+	m.handshakes = handshaken
+	report, state := applyAdopted(t, aTakeover(t, config, mesh, keyFile, "51900", "192.0.2.1"), store.State{}, m, dir)
+	if got, _ := os.ReadFile(config); string(got) != foundConf {
+		t.Fatal("a configuration outside wg-quick's directory was removed")
+	}
+	if _, held := state.HeldAt(takesOverID); !held || !strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, "is not retired: only ") {
+		t.Errorf("the refusal is not said, or the hold ended: %+v", report.Tunnel)
+	}
+
+	// A path the mesh itself writes.
+	dir, config, mesh, keyFile, m = aHubInUse(t)
+	m.handshakes = handshaken
+	known := store.State{}
+	known.Record(store.Applied{ID: "bundle.wg0", Type: "file", Target: config, Origin: store.OriginCarried})
+	report, _ = applyAdopted(t, aTakeover(t, config, mesh, keyFile, "51900", "192.0.2.1"), known, m, dir)
+	if got, _ := os.ReadFile(config); string(got) != foundConf {
+		t.Fatal("a path the mesh writes was retired")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, "a path the mesh itself writes") {
+		t.Errorf("the refusal is not said: %+v", report.Tunnel)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestAFoundConfigurationThatIsALinkIsKeptAndLeftToAPerson(t *testing.T) {
+	dir, config, mesh, keyFile, m := aHubInUse(t)
+	target := filepath.Join(dir, "predecessor", "hub.conf")
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(target), 0o700); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	write(t, target, foundConf)
+	if err := os.Remove(config); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := os.Symlink(target, config); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	m.handshakes = handshaken
+	report, state := applyAdopted(t, aTakeover(t, config, mesh, keyFile, "51900", "192.0.2.1"), store.State{}, m, dir)
+	if _, err := os.Lstat(config); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal("the link was removed, leaving the key-bearing file it points at")
+	}
+	if got, _ := os.ReadFile(target); string(got) != foundConf {
+		t.Fatal("the file the link points at was touched")
+	}
+	held, ok := state.HeldAt(takesOverID)
+	if !ok {
+		t.Fatal("the hold ended")
+	}
+	if kept, _ := os.ReadFile(held.Kept); string(kept) != foundConf {
+		t.Errorf("what was kept is not what the link points at: %q", kept)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, "is a link to "+target) || !strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, "by hand") {
+		t.Errorf("the account does not say the link must be retired by hand: %q", report.Tunnel.Note)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestARetirementWhoseRecordWasNeverSavedIsRecordedByTheNextApply(t *testing.T) {
+	dir, config, mesh, keyFile, m := aHubInUse(t)
+	d := aTakeover(t, config, mesh, keyFile, "51900", "192.0.2.1")
+	_, state := applyAdopted(t, d, store.State{}, m, dir)
+	held, _ := state.HeldAt(takesOverID)
+	// An apply removed the file and stopped before its state was saved.
+	if err := os.Remove(config); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	m.handshakes = handshaken
+	report, state := applyAdopted(t, d, state, m, dir)
+	if r, ok := state.RetiredAt(config); !ok || r.Kept != held.Kept {
+		t.Fatalf("the retirement was not recorded: %+v", state.Retired)
+	}
+	if _, still := state.HeldAt(takesOverID); still {
+		t.Error("the hold did not end")
+	}
+	if o := outcomeOf(report, takesOverID); o.Action != "unchanged" || !strings.Contains(o.Detail, "already gone") {
+		t.Errorf("a file already gone is not said as such: %+v", o)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestARemovalThatFailsKeepsTheFileAndTheHold(t *testing.T) {
+	if os.Geteuid() == 0 {
+		t.Skip("root removes from a directory it may not write to")
+	}
+	dir, _, mesh, keyFile, m := aHubInUse(t)
+	wg := filepath.Join(dir, "wireguard")
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(wg, 0o700); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	config := filepath.Join(wg, "wg0.conf")
+	write(t, config, foundConf)
+	wireguardDir = wg
+	d := aTakeover(t, config, mesh, keyFile, "51900", "192.0.2.1")
+	_, state := applyAdopted(t, d, store.State{}, m, dir)
+
+	if err := os.Chmod(wg, 0o500); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	t.Cleanup(func() { _ = os.Chmod(wg, 0o700) })
+	m.handshakes = handshaken
+	report, state := applyAdopted(t, d, state, m, dir)
+	if got, _ := os.ReadFile(config); string(got) != foundConf {
+		t.Fatal("the found configuration is gone although it could not be removed")
+	}
+	if _, held := state.HeldAt(takesOverID); !held {
+		t.Error("the hold ended although nothing was retired")
+	}
+	if _, retired := state.RetiredAt(config); retired {
+		t.Error("recorded as retired")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, "removing it failed") || !strings.Contains(report.Tunnel.Note, "permission denied") {
+		t.Errorf("the failed removal is not said: %q", report.Tunnel.Note)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/store/store.go b/internal/store/store.go
index 87c7b90..7306725 100644
--- a/internal/store/store.go
+++ b/internal/store/store.go
@@ -189,9 +189,21 @@ type Retired struct {
 	ID   string `json:"id"`
 	Path string `json:"path"`
 	// Kept is the original as found (novox/hq ADR 0100) — the record of what the predecessor was,
-	// and a person's way back if one is ever wanted. The mesh never copies it back.
-	Kept string    `json:"kept"`
-	At   time.Time `json:"at"`
+	// and a person's way back if one is ever wanted. The mesh never copies it back. It is the FIRST
+	// original, and stays so however often the file comes back: a retirement repeated never moves
+	// it. Digest is what it holds.
+	Kept   string `json:"kept"`
+	Digest string `json:"digest,omitempty"`
+	// Extra is where what was at the path when it was last retired is kept, when that differed from
+	// the first original — rewritten since it was found, or put back with other content — and
+	// ExtraDigest what it holds. One copy per distinct content: a file that comes back as it was
+	// last retired keeps nothing more.
+	Extra       string    `json:"extra,omitempty"`
+	ExtraDigest string    `json:"extra_digest,omitempty"`
+	At          time.Time `json:"at"`
+	// Again is how many times the configuration came back after it was retired, and was retired
+	// again (novox/hq ADR 0119).
+	Again int `json:"again,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // Modes a node can be in (novox/hq ADR 0100).
@@ -355,21 +367,6 @@ func (s *State) RecordRetired(r Retired) {
 	s.Retired = append(s.Retired, r)
 }
 
-// Unretire forgets a retirement: the configuration is at its path again, put back by a person, and
-// is found — and kept — afresh.
-func (s *State) Unretire(path string) {
-	kept := s.Retired[:0]
-	for _, r := range s.Retired {
-		if r.Path != path {
-			kept = append(kept, r)
-		}
-	}
-	s.Retired = kept
-	if len(s.Retired) == 0 {
-		s.Retired = nil
-	}
-}
-
 // Find returns what was applied under an identity.
 func (s State) Find(id string) (Applied, bool) {
 	for _, r := range s.Resources {