# GOL-037: Counterpart

Death sends a successor toward a counterpart. Carried eight-bit histories can redirect each identity toward the nearest living neighbor of its former target, creating independent links and shared pursuits.

[Open simulation](https://100gol.com/experiments/037) · [Directory](https://100gol.com/experiments)

## The question

Can ordinary Life produce reciprocal streams when every death tries to continue one step toward a uniquely paired counterpart?

## Local rule

Every site holds a living or dormant identity with one outgoing counterpart. Evaluate editable Life rules synchronously. A dying identity attempts a successor one step toward its counterpart; original occupants, ordinary births and competing claims block it. Success carries identity and history, exchanging with the dormant destination identity. Append final alive/dead occupancy to each identity’s eight-bit history. With history rewiring enabled, a four-bit consecutive match anywhere in the real samples redirects that identity to the nearest living cell to its former counterpart’s post-transfer position, excluding itself and that counterpart. Equal screen-space Euclidean distances use private seeded choices; no candidate retains the link. Resolve all outgoing links independently from the same old links and completed field, then recalculate bearings. Shared targets are allowed.

## Controls and boundaries

Birth/survival masks accept zero through eight neighbors; empty masks disable a pathway. Edit four history-code bits, enablement and the independent rewiring seed. All sixteen codes are valid. Each completed Step records one final alive/dead sample, including dormant zeroes; successful successors record one. The initial sample counts toward the four-sample warmup. A persistent match can retarget every Step. Bounded edges are default; wrapping changes Life and succession geometry while bearings and retarget distances remain screen-space. Version-one compositions restore with history rewiring off. Disabling stops future changes; Reset reconstructs initial reciprocal pairs.

## What to watch

Sparse scouts makes initial death-driven travel easy to see. Watch streams steer, collide and fall dormant. Local Life births may revive blocked references. Cyan marks successful successors; simplified Color shows living occupancy. Activity and eventual order depend on the chosen rules and opening.

## Inspect a pair

Pause and enable Inspect cell. Gold outlines the selected identity and violet its outgoing counterpart. Written inspection shows carried history, matched code, former-target search center, exact nearest distance and candidate count, tie-choice stream and next target. A counterpart need not point back after rewiring. Cyan marks successful successors; Color off shows occupancy.

## Reproduce a starting configuration

[Download example JSON](https://100gol.com/api/experiments/037/configuration). Import it using Share & reproduce in the simulation controls. It starts paused at Step zero. Files contain rules and initial conditions, not evolved boards or manual edits. See [format, limitations and automated access](https://100gol.com/agents).