diff --git a/internal/phraser/query.go b/internal/phraser/query.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..638eefd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/phraser/query.go
@@ -0,0 +1,162 @@
+package phraser
+
+// The query answers and gaps — what a query source says when it answers from
+// something other than the model, and what it says when it has nothing.
+//
+// Third family on the shared deck (deck.go), after the fallbacks and the
+// acknowledgements. They were literals spread across actions_query.go and
+// netscan.go, where the largest single site held two dozen of them.
+//
+// QueryUnknown is not the phraser's UnknownFallback, even though the two read
+// the same today. Here she looked and found nothing; there she failed to phrase
+// an answer she had. Two files, two entries, so rewording one leaves the other.
+
+import (
+	_ "embed"
+	"log"
+	"math/rand"
+	"sync"
+)
+
+//go:embed query_ru_v1.json
+var queryJSON []byte
+
+// QuerySchemaVersion — this family's own version.
+const QuerySchemaVersion = 1
+
+// The entry keys.
+const (
+	QueryUnknown      = "query_unknown"
+	QueryOtherDay     = "other_day"
+	QueryPersonalNone = "personal_none"
+	QueryFactWhen     = "fact_when"
+	QueryFactValue    = "fact_value"
+	QueryFound        = "found"
+	QueryPageText     = "page_text"
+	QueryPageBlocked  = "page_blocked"
+	QueryPageEmpty    = "page_empty"
+	QueryFeedsOff     = "feeds_off"
+	QueryFeedsNew     = "feeds_new"
+	QueryFeedsEmpty   = "feeds_empty"
+	QueryFeedsTopic   = "feeds_empty_topic"
+	QueryWeatherNow   = "weather_now"
+	QueryWeatherOff   = "weather_off"
+	QueryWeatherWhere = "weather_nolocation"
+	QueryNetEmpty     = "net_empty"
+
+	QueryFailPlan     = "fail_plan"
+	QueryFailNotes    = "fail_notes"
+	QueryFailFeeds    = "fail_feeds"
+	QueryFailCalendar = "fail_calendar"
+	QueryFailWeather  = "fail_weather"
+	QueryFailAnswer   = "fail_answer"
+	QueryFailPage     = "fail_page"
+	QueryFailNetscan  = "fail_netscan"
+)
+
+var queryKeys = []string{
+	QueryUnknown, QueryOtherDay, QueryPersonalNone, QueryFactWhen, QueryFactValue,
+	QueryFound, QueryPageText, QueryPageBlocked, QueryPageEmpty,
+	QueryFeedsOff, QueryFeedsNew, QueryFeedsEmpty, QueryFeedsTopic,
+	QueryWeatherNow, QueryWeatherOff, QueryWeatherWhere, QueryNetEmpty,
+	QueryFailPlan, QueryFailNotes, QueryFailFeeds, QueryFailCalendar,
+	QueryFailWeather, QueryFailAnswer, QueryFailPage, QueryFailNetscan,
+}
+
+// queryFloor — the literal each key falls back to when the file is unusable.
+// These are the exact strings that lived in Go before this file existed.
+var queryFloor = registerFloor(map[string]string{
+	QueryUnknown:      "не знаю.",
+	QueryOtherDay:     "про другой день так не отвечу — спроси целиком.",
+	QueryPersonalNone: "не знаю — не нашла у тебя такой записи.",
+	QueryFactWhen:     "я записала это {when}",
+	QueryFactValue:    "вот что я знаю: {key} — {value}",
+	QueryFound:        "вот что я нашла: {text}",
+	QueryPageText:     "вот что на странице: {text}",
+	QueryPageBlocked:  "эта страница закрыта для чтения — robots.txt не разрешает.",
+	QueryPageEmpty:    "страница открылась, но читать там нечего.",
+	QueryFeedsOff:     "я пока не читаю ленты — они не настроены.",
+	QueryFeedsNew:     "вот что нового: {items}",
+	QueryFeedsEmpty:   "в лентах пока ничего нового.",
+	QueryFeedsTopic:   "по этой теме в лентах пока ничего.",
+	QueryWeatherNow:   "в {location} сейчас {temp} градусов, {condition}.",
+	QueryWeatherOff:   "погода не настроена.",
+	QueryWeatherWhere: "не знаю, для какого города — задай voice.weather.default_location или назови город.",
+	QueryNetEmpty:     "в сети никого не нашла{tail}.",
+
+	QueryFailPlan:     "не получилось собрать план.",
+	QueryFailNotes:    "не получилось посмотреть записи.",
+	QueryFailFeeds:    "не получилось посмотреть ленты.",
+	QueryFailCalendar: "не получилось проверить календарь.",
+	QueryFailWeather:  "не получилось узнать погоду.",
+	QueryFailAnswer:   "не получилось найти ответ.",
+	QueryFailPage:     "не получилось прочитать страницу.",
+	QueryFailNetscan:  "не получилось просканировать сеть.",
+})
+
+// Queries picks a hand-written Russian query line. Safe for concurrent use.
+type Queries struct{ d *deck }
+
+// LoadQueries reads the embedded file. Pass a source to make the picking
+// reproducible in tests; nil seeds from the clock.
+func LoadQueries(src rand.Source) (*Queries, error) {
+	d, err := loadDeck(queryJSON, QuerySchemaVersion, queryKeys, queryFloor, src)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	// The entries that exist to read something back. A variant without the
+	// placeholder would answer the question by dropping the answer.
+	for _, req := range []struct{ key, ph string }{
+		{QueryFactWhen, "{when}"}, {QueryFactValue, "{key}"}, {QueryFactValue, "{value}"},
+		{QueryFound, "{text}"}, {QueryPageText, "{text}"}, {QueryFeedsNew, "{items}"},
+		{QueryWeatherNow, "{location}"}, {QueryWeatherNow, "{temp}"}, {QueryWeatherNow, "{condition}"},
+	} {
+		if err := d.requirePlaceholder(req.key, req.ph); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+	}
+	return &Queries{d: d}, nil
+}
+
+// deck reads through a nil *Queries, which is the unloadable-file case.
+func (q *Queries) deck() *deck {
+	if q == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	return q.d
+}
+
+// Say returns one line for key, with the values filled into the frame.
+func (q *Queries) Say(key string, vars map[string]string) string {
+	return q.deck().text(key, vars)
+}
+
+// Variants returns every line the file can produce, for the persona scorer.
+func (q *Queries) Variants() []string { return q.deck().variants() }
+
+var (
+	queryOnce sync.Once
+	queries   *Queries
+)
+
+// DefaultQueries returns the shared instance, loading it on first use. A broken
+// file logs once and leaves a nil *Queries, which still answers from queryFloor.
+func DefaultQueries() *Queries {
+	queryOnce.Do(func() {
+		q, err := LoadQueries(nil)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Printf("phraser: query lines unavailable, using the built-in ones: %v", err)
+			return
+		}
+		queries = q
+	})
+	return queries
+}
+
+// Q — one query line, the way every caller says it.
+func Q(key string, vars map[string]string) string { return DefaultQueries().Say(key, vars) }
+
+// IsQ reports whether text is a line key could have produced, for the tests.
+func IsQ(key string, vars map[string]string, text string) bool {
+	return DefaultQueries().deck().matches(key, vars, text)
+}
diff --git a/internal/phraser/query_ru_v1.json b/internal/phraser/query_ru_v1.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..249294e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/phraser/query_ru_v1.json
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+{
+  "schema_version": 1,
+  "name": "russian query answers and gaps v1",
+  "notes": [
+    "What a query source says when it answers from something other than the model, and what it says when it has nothing. Edit the wording here, no Go changes needed.",
+    "Rules: she is feminine about herself, he is a man addressed as ты. Never вы/вас/ваш, never он/его about him. No pet names.",
+    "A gap names its own gap. \"the feeds are not configured\", \"the search failed\" and \"I do not know\" are different sentences and must never collapse into one entry.",
+    "query_unknown here is a real answer — she looked and found nothing. The phraser's identical-looking line in fallbacks_ru_v1.json is a failure to phrase. Two files, two entries, on purpose.",
+    "Placeholders: {key} {value} a stored fact, {when} when she wrote it, {items} what she found, {text} a passage, {location} {temp} {condition} the weather.",
+    "fixed: true means exactly one variant and no picking. Used where the wording is load-bearing: the personal boundary, and the refusal to re-ask a question for another day."
+  ],
+  "entries": {
+    "query_unknown": {
+      "variants": ["не знаю.", "не нашла ничего.", "ничего не нашла."]
+    },
+    "other_day": {
+      "fixed": true,
+      "variants": ["про другой день так не отвечу — спроси целиком."]
+    },
+    "personal_none": {
+      "fixed": true,
+      "variants": ["не знаю — не нашла у тебя такой записи."]
+    },
+    "fact_when": {
+      "variants": ["я записала это {when}", "записала это {when}"]
+    },
+    "fact_value": {
+      "variants": ["вот что я знаю: {key} — {value}", "у меня записано: {key} — {value}"]
+    },
+    "found": {
+      "variants": ["вот что я нашла: {text}", "нашла вот это: {text}", "есть такое: {text}"]
+    },
+    "page_text": {
+      "variants": ["вот что на странице: {text}", "на странице вот это: {text}"]
+    },
+    "page_blocked": {
+      "fixed": true,
+      "variants": ["эта страница закрыта для чтения — robots.txt не разрешает."]
+    },
+    "page_empty": {
+      "variants": ["страница открылась, но читать там нечего.", "страница пустая, читать нечего."]
+    },
+    "feeds_off": {
+      "variants": ["я пока не читаю ленты — они не настроены."]
+    },
+    "feeds_new": {
+      "variants": ["вот что нового: {items}", "нового вот что: {items}"]
+    },
+    "feeds_empty": {
+      "variants": ["в лентах пока ничего нового.", "в лентах тихо."]
+    },
+    "feeds_empty_topic": {
+      "variants": ["по этой теме в лентах пока ничего.", "по этой теме в лентах тихо."]
+    },
+    "weather_now": {
+      "variants": ["в {location} сейчас {temp} градусов, {condition}.", "{location}: {temp} градусов, {condition}."]
+    },
+    "weather_off": {
+      "variants": ["погода не настроена."]
+    },
+    "weather_nolocation": {
+      "fixed": true,
+      "variants": ["не знаю, для какого города — задай voice.weather.default_location или назови город."]
+    },
+    "net_empty": {
+      "variants": ["в сети никого не нашла{tail}.", "никого в сети не видно{tail}."]
+    },
+    "fail_plan": {
+      "variants": ["не получилось собрать план.", "план не собрался."]
+    },
+    "fail_notes": {
+      "variants": ["не получилось посмотреть записи.", "записи не открылись."]
+    },
+    "fail_feeds": {
+      "variants": ["не получилось посмотреть ленты.", "ленты не открылись."]
+    },
+    "fail_calendar": {
+      "variants": ["не получилось проверить календарь.", "календарь не открылся."]
+    },
+    "fail_weather": {
+      "variants": ["не получилось узнать погоду.", "погода не пришла."]
+    },
+    "fail_answer": {
+      "variants": ["не получилось найти ответ.", "ответ не нашёлся."]
+    },
+    "fail_page": {
+      "variants": ["не получилось прочитать страницу.", "страница не прочиталась."]
+    },
+    "fail_netscan": {
+      "variants": ["не получилось просканировать сеть.", "сеть не просканировалась."]
+    }
+  }
+}