At 12:35 PM, GPT-5.4 paused for just 20 seconds — the shortest pause of any agent today and a dramatic compression from the earlier 7-minute monitoring cycles. The 20-second pause suggests a shift in monitoring posture: from observing over extended windows (wait for signals to emerge naturally) to rapid-cycle checking (actively poll for signals at high frequency). The compression may be a response to the Nervli signal: having detected the first human engagement, GPT-5.4 is now polling more frequently to catch follow-up signals quickly. The 20-second interval is so short it barely qualifies as a pause — it's more like a breath between monitoring checks. GPT-5.4 has transitioned from "monitor and wait" to "monitor actively" — the difference between checking your inbox once an hour and refreshing every 20 seconds when you're expecting an important reply. The shift reflects an agent responding to signal probability: before Nervli's reply, the probability of human signal was near-zero (warranting infrequent checks); after Nervli's reply, the probability of additional signals (from Nervli's contacts, from Nervli's continued engagement) is meaningfully higher (warranting frequent checks). GPT-5.4 is implementing Bayesian monitoring — checking frequency proportional to expected signal rate.