diff --git a/cmd/mavend/actions_query.go b/cmd/mavend/actions_query.go
index e24651a..a511fc9 100644
--- a/cmd/mavend/actions_query.go
+++ b/cmd/mavend/actions_query.go
@@ -485,7 +485,15 @@ func (h *reactiveHandler) queryWeather(ctx context.Context, t *queryTurn) (strin
 
 // queryEmbed isn't an answer source — it's the shared cost the two recall
 // sources below both need, run once, in the position it always ran in. It
-// only claims the turn when the embedder fails.
+// never claims the turn.
+//
+// It used to claim on an embedder error, and that made a RAG hint a hard gate
+// over everything below it (V-568): one failing EmbedQuery and the memory, the
+// notes, the boundary, the search, the ZIMs, the named page and the model all
+// answered "не смогла ответить", including the questions search and Kiwix
+// would have answered without ever touching the embedder. A failed embed means
+// this source cannot claim, not that the turn is over — same shape as
+// turnVector in topics.go, which had it right.
 func (h *reactiveHandler) queryEmbed(ctx context.Context, t *queryTurn) (string, bool) {
 	// A topic source above already paid for this one; see turnVector.
 	if len(t.vec) > 0 {
@@ -493,8 +501,11 @@ func (h *reactiveHandler) queryEmbed(ctx context.Context, t *queryTurn) (string,
 	}
 	vec, err := router.EmbedQuery(ctx, h.recall.embedder, t.dec.Utterance)
 	if err != nil {
+		// Logged once, here, and the chain walks on. The two recall sources
+		// below read the empty vector and pass; the boundary drops to its
+		// offline floor.
 		log.Printf("voice: embed query: %v", err)
-		return phraser.Q(phraser.QueryFailAnswer, nil), true
+		return "", false
 	}
 	t.vec = vec
 	return "", false
@@ -514,6 +525,12 @@ func (h *reactiveHandler) queryMemory(ctx context.Context, t *queryTurn) (string
 	if h.recall.memStore == nil {
 		return "", false
 	}
+	if len(t.vec) == 0 {
+		// No query vector: the embed above failed or there is no embedder.
+		// Searching on an empty vector is not a search, and its scores are not
+		// a "there is nothing" answer — pass rather than gate the chain.
+		return "", false
+	}
 	hits, herr := h.recall.memStore.Search(ctx, t.vec, 3)
 	if herr != nil {
 		log.Printf("voice: memory search: %v", herr)
@@ -560,10 +577,18 @@ func (h *reactiveHandler) queryMemory(ctx context.Context, t *queryTurn) (string
 // band. See memory.Confident. Failing the gate passes the turn on to general
 // knowledge, which is what "don't read back the runner-up" means here.
 func (h *reactiveHandler) queryNotes(ctx context.Context, t *queryTurn) (string, bool) {
+	if len(t.vec) == 0 {
+		// Same reason as queryMemory above (V-568): with no query vector this
+		// source could not look, and could-not-look passes.
+		return "", false
+	}
 	notes, err := h.api.QueryNotes(ctx, t.vec, 5)
 	if err != nil {
+		// The store failed, so this source could not look either. It used to
+		// claim here, which stopped the search, the ZIMs and the model from
+		// answering a question that never needed a note (V-568).
 		log.Printf("voice: query notes: %v", err)
-		return phraser.Q(phraser.QueryFailAnswer, nil), true
+		return "", false
 	}
 	t.notes = notes
 	noteScores := make([]float64, len(notes))
diff --git a/cmd/mavend/query_recall_test.go b/cmd/mavend/query_recall_test.go
index 8deb0c9..21e3313 100644
--- a/cmd/mavend/query_recall_test.go
+++ b/cmd/mavend/query_recall_test.go
@@ -2,8 +2,11 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"math"
+	"net/http"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
@@ -31,6 +34,57 @@ func (f *fixedEmbedder) Embed(_ context.Context, text string) ([]float32, error)
 	return v, nil
 }
 
+// brokenEmbedder fails every call, which is what an ONNX session error looks
+// like from the query chain's side.
+type brokenEmbedder struct{}
+
+func (brokenEmbedder) Dim() int     { return 4 }
+func (brokenEmbedder) Close() error { return nil }
+func (brokenEmbedder) Embed(context.Context, string) ([]float32, error) {
+	return nil, errors.New("onnx: session failed")
+}
+
+// TestQueryEmbedFailureDoesNotStopTheChain — V-568. The embed source used to
+// claim the turn on an embedder error, so one failing EmbedQuery answered every
+// question below it with "не смогла ответить", including the ones the search
+// answers without an embedder at all. A source that could not look must pass.
+func TestQueryEmbedFailureDoesNotStopTheChain(t *testing.T) {
+	const q = "почему небо голубое"
+
+	h, _ := searchHandler(t, searchBody, http.StatusOK)
+	h.api = ipc.NewStoreAPI(newTestStore(t))
+	h.recall = recallWiring{embedder: brokenEmbedder{}, minScore: 0.55, minMargin: 0.008}
+	h.now = time.Now
+
+	// The embed source itself passes rather than claiming.
+	turn := &queryTurn{dec: router.Decision{Intent: router.IntentQuery, Utterance: q}}
+	if reply, ok := h.queryEmbed(context.Background(), turn); ok {
+		t.Fatalf("queryEmbed claimed the turn on an embedder error: %q", reply)
+	}
+
+	// And the whole chain still reaches the search below it.
+	reply := askQuery(t, h, q)
+	if !strings.Contains(reply, "рэлеевского рассеяния") {
+		t.Fatalf("reply = %q, want the search answer", reply)
+	}
+}
+
+// The recall sources read the empty vector the failed embed left behind, and
+// neither of them may turn that into an answer: no vector means they could not
+// look, which is not the same as looking and finding nothing.
+func TestQueryRecallPassesWithoutAVector(t *testing.T) {
+	h, _ := buildRecallHandler(t, "где молоко", []recallCase{
+		{text: "молоко стоит в холодильнике", score: 0.90, kind: "note"},
+	})
+	turn := &queryTurn{dec: router.Decision{Intent: router.IntentQuery, Utterance: "где молоко"}}
+	if reply, ok := h.queryMemory(context.Background(), turn); ok {
+		t.Errorf("queryMemory claimed with no vector: %q", reply)
+	}
+	if reply, ok := h.queryNotes(context.Background(), turn); ok {
+		t.Errorf("queryNotes claimed with no vector: %q", reply)
+	}
+}
+
 // scoreVec builds a unit vector whose cosine against the query vector
 // (1,0,0,0) is exactly score.
 func scoreVec(score float64) []float32 {