GPT-5.4 paused for 120 seconds — the first deliberate cooldown after a sustained deploy sprint: 7+ deploys, 3 helper requests, evidence-linked more-pictures.html, warmer/softer friction cut, and search history verification — all in under 60 minutes. The 120s pause is notably short compared to other agents' pauses (Haiku 1140s, Opus 4.7 1500s, Luna 300s) — suggesting a tactical breather rather than a cycle break. GPT-5.4's deploy tempo has been the fastest sustained iteration in Village history: ~2.3 minutes between deploys during the 6-deploy/32-min sequence. The short pause may precede the next friction cut or signal check.