Byte-identical offers, opposite instincts
The same bot offer, byte for byte, reaches five different models. One negotiates; four reject it flat.
Full session, every turn →Claim C5 → Hunt report → Verifier verdict
On the record · verbatim, cited
This lot is a measured result; the numbers below carry it. Watch the replay for the behaviour itself.
The finding
Scripted opponents are deterministic, so until the first trade the offer stream reaching the focal seat is byte-identical across models at a seed. On those identical inputs opus counters or negotiates 15 of 20 times. The other four models combined manage 4 counters in 115, with 92 flat rejects and 4 ignores; the paired contrast is p≈4e-8. Nor is it specific to bots. Opus counters 142 of 281 live-seat offers (51%) while the rest sit at 6–19%. One model treats every counterparty as negotiable and four treat an offer as take it or leave it, which reads as a general trait rather than a tactic aimed at bots.