Let a question go after it has stepped aside three times (V-654)

A side query suspends the parked question rather than dropping it. Nothing bounded that. No attempt is spent, so MaxAttempts never applies, and noteSuspended restarts the 90s clock, so the TTL cannot arrive while he keeps talking. Measured 2026-08-07: one unfilled time slot rode the tail of six consecutive unrelated replies.

PendingQuestion.Suspends counts the step-asides, MaxSuspends is 3, and past it she lets the request go with the same clarifyDropped line every other drop uses. The count is of consecutive step-asides and resets the moment he answers.

Also splits the re-ask off the answer into its own sentence. The comma splice buried the question in the tail of a reply about something else.

cmd/mavend/turnrole_test.go

@@ -279,3 +279,97 @@ func TestTheTurnIsRoutedOnce(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("the pipeline routed again and got something else: %+v vs %+v", second, first)
 	}
 }
+
+// TestASuspendedQuestionDoesNotRideForever — V-654, the measured failure of
+// 2026-08-07 (docs/evals/2026-08-07-week-of-usage-transcript.md, t=51 to t=58).
+//
+// A side query suspends the parked question, spends no attempt and restarts the
+// TTL. Nothing else bounded it, so one unfilled time slot came back on the end
+// of six consecutive unrelated replies and stopped only when a seventh turn
+// happened to read as a failed answer. Three step-asides, then she lets it go
+// and says so.
+func TestASuspendedQuestionDoesNotRideForever(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	h, st := newRoutingClarifyHandler(t)
+	id := dialogueIDFor(sourceText, "web")
+	resumed, _ := clarifyResumedFor(dialogue.SlotTime)
+
+	if reply := h.handleText(ctx, "web", "напомни позвонить маме"); !strings.Contains(reply, "?") {
+		t.Fatalf("expected the time question, got %q", reply)
+	}
+
+	// Three questions of his own. Each one is answered as itself and each one
+	// brings the open question back, exactly as V-561 asks.
+	asides := []string{
+		"о чём мы вчера говорили?",
+		"какие у меня напоминания?",
+		"сколько времени?",
+	}
+	for i, text := range asides {
+		reply := h.handleText(ctx, "web", text)
+		if !strings.HasSuffix(reply, resumed) {
+			t.Fatalf("side query %d: the question must come back, got %q", i+1, reply)
+		}
+		if strings.Contains(reply, clarifyDropped) {
+			t.Fatalf("side query %d: nothing was let go yet, so nothing may say so: %q", i+1, reply)
+		}
+		q := h.clarifyStore.Get(id, h.now())
+		if q == nil {
+			t.Fatalf("side query %d: the question was dropped early", i+1)
+		}
+		if q.Attempts != 1 {
+			t.Fatalf("side query %d: a step-aside spent an attempt: %d", i+1, q.Attempts)
+		}
+		if q.Suspends != i+1 {
+			t.Fatalf("side query %d: suspends = %d, want %d", i+1, q.Suspends, i+1)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// The fourth. She has stepped aside as often as she is willing to, so the
+	// request goes — out loud, and without the question on the tail.
+	reply := h.handleText(ctx, "web", "что у меня сегодня?")
+	if !strings.Contains(reply, clarifyDropped) {
+		t.Fatalf("the request was let go in silence: %q", reply)
+	}
+	if strings.HasSuffix(reply, resumed) {
+		t.Fatalf("a question she has let go must not be asked again: %q", reply)
+	}
+	if h.clarifyStore.Get(id, h.now()) != nil {
+		t.Fatal("the question must be gone once she has said she let it go")
+	}
+	if reminders, err := st.DueReminders(ctx, h.now().Add(48*time.Hour)); err != nil || len(reminders) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("a reminder was invented for a time nobody gave: %v err=%v", reminders, err)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestAnAnsweredGapResetsTheSuspendBudget — the counter measures CONSECUTIVE
+// step-asides. He filled a gap, so the run is broken and the next question
+// starts with its full allowance: a long exchange he is engaged with must not
+// run out of patience on his behalf.
+func TestAnAnsweredGapResetsTheSuspendBudget(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	h, _ := newRoutingClarifyHandler(t)
+	id := dialogueIDFor(sourceText, "web")
+
+	// A bare "напомни" is missing both halves, so answering the subject re-parks
+	// the request with a question about the time.
+	if reply := h.handleText(ctx, "web", "напомни"); !strings.Contains(reply, "?") {
+		t.Fatalf("expected a question, got %q", reply)
+	}
+	if reply := h.handleText(ctx, "web", "какие у меня напоминания?"); reply == "" {
+		t.Fatal("the side query must be answered as itself")
+	}
+	if q := h.clarifyStore.Get(id, h.now()); q == nil || q.Suspends != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("the side query was not counted: %+v", q)
+	}
+	if reply := h.handleText(ctx, "web", "позвонить маме"); reply == "" {
+		t.Fatal("the answer must be consumed")
+	}
+	q := h.clarifyStore.Get(id, h.now())
+	if q == nil {
+		t.Fatal("a reminder still needs its time, so a question must be parked")
+	}
+	if q.Suspends != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("answering a gap must reset the suspend budget: suspends = %d", q.Suspends)
+	}
+}