diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c2ad2bc..bbb1ff4 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -97,6 +97,37 @@ Fitzroy mecca, the thin tail (labelled honestly: the floor is shops-per-street-m
 below it), the synthetic control, and the `?classic=1` covenant made visible. Charter:
 [`docs/V4_REAL_MAP.md`](docs/V4_REAL_MAP.md) · data + licences (ODbL):
 [`web/assets/towns/SOURCES.md`](web/assets/towns/SOURCES.md).
+
+## v5.0-alpha — THE FIRST REAL CRATE: the shops get real too
+
+**v4 made the towns real. v5 makes the shops real** — and the first one is standing.
+
+Boot `?plansrc=osm&town=redhill_godverse&stock=real`, walk down **Musgrave Road** into **Monster Robot
+Party** (147 Musgrave Rd, Red Hill, Brisbane — a real record shop), and riffle its crate. The records in
+it are **that shop's real stock**: 120 real records off its real point-of-sale, real covers, real titles,
+real prices. Buy one and the wallet debits what the sticker says. It's gone for the session and back next
+boot — because until the live tier lands, the crate is a **file**, not a shop's ledger.
+
+**Stock is a data tier now**, exactly like assets — each rung fully playable, each degrading softly to
+the one below, so the game never depends on a server to be a game:
+
+| tier | what | deterministic? |
+|---|---|---|
+| **0 · parody** | seeded canvas sleeves (v1) — any boot, always works | yes — the QA baseline |
+| **1 · static real** | per-shop atlases baked from the shop's own POS | yes — atlases are files |
+| 2 · live GODVERSE | live stock, sold-means-gone *(design ratified, not built)* | no — by design |
+
+**The offline law:** the server enriches, never gates. `?noassets=1` still fetches **zero bytes** and plays
+silent-and-fine; a shop whose atlas is missing falls soft to parody rather than borrowing someone else's
+crate; and **`?classic=1` still boots the exact v2 town, byte-identical forever** (`0x3fa36874`). The
+world stays seeded and golden-gated — only the *stock inside it* is data.
+
+**Provenance:** item photos are each shop's own product shots, 🟢 in-house — **flagged before any public
+or commercial release**, and every atlas carries that flag where the QA gate must print it. Real titles
+and artists are an in-house amendment to the no-real-trademarks law, on the same footing. **Nothing an
+in-game purchase does touches real inventory** — v5.0 ships sell-sandboxed by ruling; a real reservation
+tier is chartered for v5.x, not assumed. Charter: [`docs/V5_REAL_SHOP.md`](docs/V5_REAL_SHOP.md) ·
+economy design: [`docs/G3_ECONOMY_DESIGN.md`](docs/G3_ECONOMY_DESIGN.md).
 | `?seed=N` | `20261990` | town seed |
 
 **Release tour:** [`docs/shots/release_v3_1/contact.html`](docs/shots/release_v3_1/) — the money shots on