diff --git a/internal/llm/remote_test.go b/internal/llm/remote_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6749fdd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/llm/remote_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,210 @@
+package llm
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"sync/atomic"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// completionServer stands in for a llama-server. It counts what reached it, so
+// a test can say which of the two models answered.
+func completionServer(t *testing.T, reply string, hits *atomic.Int64) *httptest.Server {
+	t.Helper()
+	s := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		hits.Add(1)
+		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+		_, _ = w.Write([]byte(`{"choices":[{"message":{"content":"` + reply + `"}}]}`))
+	}))
+	t.Cleanup(s.Close)
+	return s
+}
+
+func healthServer(t *testing.T, ok *atomic.Bool) *httptest.Server {
+	t.Helper()
+	s := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		if !ok.Load() {
+			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusServiceUnavailable)
+			return
+		}
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
+	}))
+	t.Cleanup(s.Close)
+	return s
+}
+
+// waitFor polls until cond holds or the deadline passes. The prober runs on its
+// own goroutine, so a test has to wait for it rather than assume it has run.
+func waitFor(t *testing.T, cond func() bool) bool {
+	t.Helper()
+	deadline := time.Now().Add(2 * time.Second)
+	for time.Now().Before(deadline) {
+		if cond() {
+			return true
+		}
+		time.Sleep(5 * time.Millisecond)
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+// The unconfigured deploy. No remote, no probing, every call to the floor —
+// exactly what the box does today.
+func TestNoRemoteGoesToTheFloor(t *testing.T) {
+	var floorHits atomic.Int64
+	floor := completionServer(t, "floor", &floorHits)
+
+	p := NewPair(nil, New(floor.URL, time.Second), "", time.Second)
+	p.Start(context.Background())
+	defer p.Stop()
+
+	if p.Available() {
+		t.Fatal("a Pair with no remote reports available")
+	}
+	out, err := p.Complete(context.Background(), Req{User: "привет"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("complete: %v", err)
+	}
+	if out != "floor" || floorHits.Load() != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("out = %q, floor hits = %d", out, floorHits.Load())
+	}
+}
+
+// The workstation is up, so it answers and the resident model is not touched.
+func TestAvailableRemoteAnswers(t *testing.T) {
+	var remoteHits, floorHits atomic.Int64
+	remote := completionServer(t, "remote", &remoteHits)
+	floor := completionServer(t, "floor", &floorHits)
+	up := &atomic.Bool{}
+	up.Store(true)
+	health := healthServer(t, up)
+
+	p := NewPair(New(remote.URL, time.Second), New(floor.URL, time.Second), health.URL, 20*time.Millisecond)
+	p.Start(context.Background())
+	defer p.Stop()
+	if !waitFor(t, p.Available) {
+		t.Fatal("prober never saw the remote come up")
+	}
+
+	out, err := p.Complete(context.Background(), Req{User: "привет"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("complete: %v", err)
+	}
+	if out != "remote" || floorHits.Load() != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("out = %q, floor hits = %d", out, floorHits.Load())
+	}
+}
+
+// The card is busy, so /health refuses and Complete degrades silently. This is
+// the constraint from 483: the workstation being down is indistinguishable from
+// today's behaviour.
+func TestBusyCardFallsBackSilently(t *testing.T) {
+	var remoteHits, floorHits atomic.Int64
+	remote := completionServer(t, "remote", &remoteHits)
+	floor := completionServer(t, "floor", &floorHits)
+	health := healthServer(t, &atomic.Bool{}) // never ok
+
+	p := NewPair(New(remote.URL, time.Second), New(floor.URL, time.Second), health.URL, 20*time.Millisecond)
+	p.Start(context.Background())
+	defer p.Stop()
+	time.Sleep(60 * time.Millisecond)
+
+	out, err := p.Complete(context.Background(), Req{User: "привет"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("complete: %v", err)
+	}
+	if out != "floor" || remoteHits.Load() != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("out = %q, remote hits = %d", out, remoteHits.Load())
+	}
+}
+
+// The cached admission answer can be one interval out of date, so a remote that
+// dies between probes must still not break the turn.
+func TestRemoteErrorMidRequestFallsBack(t *testing.T) {
+	var floorHits atomic.Int64
+	dead := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
+	}))
+	defer dead.Close()
+	floor := completionServer(t, "floor", &floorHits)
+	up := &atomic.Bool{}
+	up.Store(true)
+	health := healthServer(t, up)
+
+	p := NewPair(New(dead.URL, time.Second), New(floor.URL, time.Second), health.URL, time.Hour)
+	p.Start(context.Background())
+	defer p.Stop()
+	if !waitFor(t, p.Available) {
+		t.Fatal("prober never saw the remote come up")
+	}
+
+	out, err := p.Complete(context.Background(), Req{User: "привет"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("complete: %v", err)
+	}
+	if out != "floor" || floorHits.Load() != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("out = %q, floor hits = %d", out, floorHits.Load())
+	}
+	// The failed request must have corrected the cached answer, so the next
+	// one does not walk into the same hole.
+	if p.Available() {
+		t.Fatal("a failed remote request left the admission answer up")
+	}
+}
+
+// The naming half of the degradation rule. A world question must not be handed
+// to the resident model, because it answers by inventing.
+func TestCompleteRemoteNamesTheGap(t *testing.T) {
+	var floorHits atomic.Int64
+	floor := completionServer(t, "floor", &floorHits)
+	health := healthServer(t, &atomic.Bool{}) // never ok
+
+	p := NewPair(New("http://127.0.0.1:1", time.Second), New(floor.URL, time.Second), health.URL, 20*time.Millisecond)
+	p.Start(context.Background())
+	defer p.Stop()
+	time.Sleep(60 * time.Millisecond)
+
+	if _, err := p.CompleteRemote(context.Background(), Req{User: "почему небо голубое"}); !errors.Is(err, ErrRemoteUnavailable) {
+		t.Fatalf("err = %v, want ErrRemoteUnavailable", err)
+	}
+	if floorHits.Load() != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("CompleteRemote fell back to the floor %d times", floorHits.Load())
+	}
+}
+
+// Routing sits on the hot path and must never pay for a health check. Available
+// reads a cached flag, so it costs no network at all.
+func TestAvailableDoesNotProbe(t *testing.T) {
+	var probes atomic.Int64
+	health := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		probes.Add(1)
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
+	}))
+	defer health.Close()
+
+	p := NewPair(New("http://127.0.0.1:1", time.Second), New("http://127.0.0.1:1", time.Second), health.URL, time.Hour)
+	p.Start(context.Background())
+	defer p.Stop()
+	if !waitFor(t, p.Available) {
+		t.Fatal("prober never ran")
+	}
+
+	before := probes.Load()
+	for range 1000 {
+		p.Available()
+	}
+	if got := probes.Load(); got != before {
+		t.Fatalf("1000 Available calls made %d probes", got-before)
+	}
+}
+
+// A Pair with no floor is a configuration mistake, and it must say so rather
+// than silently having nowhere to degrade to.
+func TestNoFloorIsAnError(t *testing.T) {
+	p := NewPair(nil, nil, "", time.Second)
+	if _, err := p.Complete(context.Background(), Req{User: "привет"}); !errors.Is(err, ErrNoFloor) {
+		t.Fatalf("err = %v, want ErrNoFloor", err)
+	}
+}