MEON R70–R86.4 Continuation: Locked Lensing Fractal Dimension, External Rotation-Curve Stress Tests, IFU Fail-Closed Diagnostics, and MUSE Covariance Localization

Abstract

This release continues the MEON validation and reproducibility record after the R57–R69 Zenodo package. It documents the subsequent R70–R86.4 analysis chain, including locked lensing/fractal-dimension investigations, external galaxy rotation-curve stress tests, IFU stellar-kinematic diagnostics, and a staged MUSE covariance-localization program. The continuation deliberately preserves both positive and negative results. Later rotation-curve tests show that MEON can outperform a frozen baryonic baseline in selected comparisons, while stronger NFW/MOND and cross-sample tests prevent any claim of a general replacement for established dark-matter or modified-gravity descriptions. The IFU branch remains fail-closed: extreme Stage-B residuals could not be adequately explained by the tested sky/template contributions, Stage B remains FAIL, and Stage C remains LOCKED. The R86 series then investigates whether the specific Stage-B covariance/residual fingerprint is introduced by the MUSE reduction pipeline. R86.2 evaluates 696 Stage-1 pixel tables from 29 exposures and finds 20/20 comparable target bins but 0/20 positive detections before cube construction. R86.3 isolates the first cube-resampling transition and again finds 0/20 emergent reproductions of the locked Stage-B fingerprint. R86.4 HOTFIX1 extends the test through full single-exposure on-sky calibration and astrometric positioning before final cube resampling; all 29 exposures complete successfully, all 20 frozen bins remain comparable, and 0/20 reproduce the locked Stage-B signature. Strong generic autocorrelation can nevertheless appear after calibration, demonstrating that correlation structure alone is not equivalent to reproduction of the Stage-B residual fingerprint. The package therefore narrows several potential instrumental and reduction-pipeline explanations without claiming that the remaining signal is necessarily physical or fractal. It does not constitute an independent external replication, a proof of the full MEON framework, a demonstration that the Universe or spacetime is fundamentally fractal, or a standalone falsification of ΛCDM. The release is intended as a frozen, auditable continuation package for external review and further downstream pipeline-isolation tests.