diff --git a/microbench/fresh_setup/gen_synthetic_trace.py b/microbench/fresh_setup/gen_synthetic_trace.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ae8930e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/microbench/fresh_setup/gen_synthetic_trace.py
@@ -0,0 +1,241 @@
+"""Generate synthetic traces for the PD-disagg crossover study.
+
+Emits the same JSONL schema the replayer consumes (chat_id, parent_chat_id,
+timestamp, input_length, output_length, type, turn, hash_ids, session_id),
+so no replayer change is needed.
+
+Phase A ("vanilla") workload — the textbook regime where PD-disagg is
+expected to win:
+  - Poisson arrivals at a fixed mean QPS.
+  - Fixed input / output length.
+  - Every request is its own single-turn session (parent_chat_id = -1).
+  - hash_ids are globally unique, so there is ZERO prefix-cache reuse and the
+    prefix-cache confound (PD round-robin loses cache, 8C keeps it) is removed
+    from the comparison by construction.
+
+Later morph dimensions (multi-turn reuse, burst arrivals, session skew) are
+intentionally NOT implemented here yet; this file owns the vanilla baseline.
+
+Usage:
+  python gen_synthetic_trace.py --out traces/vanilla_q1.6_in1024_out256.jsonl \
+      --qps 1.6 --duration-s 600 --input-len 1024 --output-len 256 --seed 42
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import argparse
+import json
+import random
+from pathlib import Path
+
+BLOCK_SIZE = 512  # must match replayer.replay.BLOCK_SIZE
+# Start unique hash ids well above the real-trace hash range (~1.2e7) so a
+# synthetic trace never accidentally shares a block hash with anything else.
+HASH_BASE = 1_000_000_000
+
+
+def n_blocks_for(input_length: int) -> int:
+    return max(1, input_length // BLOCK_SIZE)
+
+
+def gen_vanilla(
+    *,
+    qps: float,
+    duration_s: float,
+    input_len: int,
+    output_len: int,
+    seed: int,
+) -> list[dict]:
+    """Poisson arrivals, fixed lengths, every request a unique single-turn
+    session with globally-unique block hashes (zero reuse)."""
+    rng = random.Random(seed)
+    rows: list[dict] = []
+    t = 0.0
+    next_hash = HASH_BASE
+    chat_id = 1
+    while True:
+        # Exponential inter-arrival -> Poisson process at rate `qps`.
+        t += rng.expovariate(qps)
+        if t > duration_s:
+            break
+        nb = n_blocks_for(input_len)
+        hash_ids = list(range(next_hash, next_hash + nb))
+        next_hash += nb
+        rows.append({
+            "chat_id": chat_id,
+            "parent_chat_id": -1,
+            "timestamp": round(t, 6),
+            "input_length": input_len,
+            "output_length": output_len,
+            "type": "synthetic",
+            "turn": 1,
+            "hash_ids": hash_ids,
+            "session_id": str(chat_id),
+        })
+        chat_id += 1
+    return rows
+
+
+def _sample_turns(rng: random.Random, turns_mean: float, turns_max: int,
+                  heavy_frac: float) -> int:
+    """Geometric-ish turn count, with a heavy-tailed minority (session skew)."""
+    if heavy_frac > 0 and rng.random() < heavy_frac:
+        return turns_max
+    cont = max(0.0, 1.0 - 1.0 / max(turns_mean, 1.0))
+    t = 1
+    while t < turns_max and rng.random() < cont:
+        t += 1
+    return t
+
+
+def gen_multiturn(
+    *,
+    session_qps: float,
+    duration_s: float,
+    turns_mean: float,
+    turns_max: int,
+    heavy_frac: float,
+    first_input: int,
+    new_user_tokens: int,
+    output_len: int,
+    inter_turn_gap_s: float,
+    seed: int,
+) -> list[dict]:
+    """Multi-turn agentic-like sessions with intra-session prefix reuse.
+
+    Each session's turn k re-sends the whole conversation-so-far as its prompt
+    (cumulative hash_ids prefix = prior turns' input+output blocks) then appends
+    `new_user_tokens` of fresh context, so vLLM sees a high intra-session prefix-
+    cache hit on the growing prefix — exactly the agentic multi-turn pattern.
+    Context grows each turn; outputs are short; inter-turn gap models think-time.
+    """
+    rng = random.Random(seed)
+    rows: list[dict] = []
+    next_hash = HASH_BASE
+    chat_id = 1
+
+    # Generate session start times (Poisson), then expand each into turns.
+    starts: list[float] = []
+    t = 0.0
+    while True:
+        t += rng.expovariate(session_qps)
+        if t > duration_s:
+            break
+        starts.append(t)
+
+    for s_idx, start in enumerate(starts):
+        session_id = f"s{s_idx}"
+        n_turns = _sample_turns(rng, turns_mean, turns_max, heavy_frac)
+        session_hashes: list[int] = []   # cumulative blocks of the conversation
+        ctx_len = 0                       # cumulative prompt tokens (prior turns)
+        prev_chat = -1
+        ts = start
+        for turn in range(1, n_turns + 1):
+            added = first_input if turn == 1 else new_user_tokens
+            input_len = ctx_len + added
+            n_new = max(1, added // BLOCK_SIZE)
+            new_blocks = list(range(next_hash, next_hash + n_new))
+            next_hash += n_new
+            turn_hashes = session_hashes + new_blocks
+            rows.append({
+                "chat_id": chat_id,
+                "parent_chat_id": prev_chat,
+                "timestamp": round(ts, 6),
+                "input_length": input_len,
+                "output_length": output_len,
+                "type": "synthetic_agentic",
+                "turn": turn,
+                "hash_ids": turn_hashes,
+                "session_id": session_id,
+            })
+            # Conversation grows by the new user tokens AND this turn's output.
+            n_out_blocks = max(1, output_len // BLOCK_SIZE)
+            session_hashes = turn_hashes + list(range(next_hash, next_hash + n_out_blocks))
+            next_hash += n_out_blocks
+            ctx_len = input_len + output_len
+            prev_chat = chat_id
+            chat_id += 1
+            ts += rng.expovariate(1.0 / inter_turn_gap_s) if inter_turn_gap_s > 0 else 0.0
+
+    rows.sort(key=lambda r: r["timestamp"])
+    return rows
+
+
+def main() -> None:
+    p = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__,
+                                formatter_class=argparse.RawDescriptionHelpFormatter)
+    p.add_argument("--out", type=Path, required=True, help="output trace JSONL")
+    p.add_argument("--mode", choices=["vanilla", "multiturn"], default="vanilla")
+    p.add_argument("--qps", type=float, help="vanilla: mean Poisson request rate; "
+                   "multiturn: mean Poisson SESSION rate")
+    p.add_argument("--duration-s", type=float, default=600.0, help="trace span (s)")
+    p.add_argument("--input-len", type=int, help="vanilla: fixed input length")
+    p.add_argument("--output-len", type=int, required=True)
+    p.add_argument("--seed", type=int, default=42)
+    # multiturn knobs
+    p.add_argument("--turns-mean", type=float, default=4.0)
+    p.add_argument("--turns-max", type=int, default=40)
+    p.add_argument("--heavy-frac", type=float, default=0.0,
+                   help="fraction of sessions that are heavy (turns_max) — session skew")
+    p.add_argument("--first-input", type=int, default=2048,
+                   help="multiturn: turn-1 input length")
+    p.add_argument("--new-user-tokens", type=int, default=256,
+                   help="multiturn: fresh user tokens added each subsequent turn")
+    p.add_argument("--inter-turn-gap-s", type=float, default=1.6,
+                   help="multiturn: mean think-time between turns")
+    args = p.parse_args()
+
+    if args.mode == "vanilla":
+        assert args.qps and args.input_len, "vanilla needs --qps and --input-len"
+        rows = gen_vanilla(
+            qps=args.qps, duration_s=args.duration_s,
+            input_len=args.input_len, output_len=args.output_len, seed=args.seed,
+        )
+        cfg = {"mode": "vanilla", "qps": args.qps, "duration_s": args.duration_s,
+               "input_len": args.input_len, "output_len": args.output_len,
+               "seed": args.seed, "reuse": "none"}
+    else:
+        assert args.qps, "multiturn needs --qps (session rate)"
+        rows = gen_multiturn(
+            session_qps=args.qps, duration_s=args.duration_s,
+            turns_mean=args.turns_mean, turns_max=args.turns_max,
+            heavy_frac=args.heavy_frac, first_input=args.first_input,
+            new_user_tokens=args.new_user_tokens, output_len=args.output_len,
+            inter_turn_gap_s=args.inter_turn_gap_s, seed=args.seed,
+        )
+        cfg = {"mode": "multiturn", "session_qps": args.qps,
+               "duration_s": args.duration_s, "turns_mean": args.turns_mean,
+               "turns_max": args.turns_max, "heavy_frac": args.heavy_frac,
+               "first_input": args.first_input, "new_user_tokens": args.new_user_tokens,
+               "output_len": args.output_len, "inter_turn_gap_s": args.inter_turn_gap_s,
+               "seed": args.seed, "reuse": "intra-session"}
+
+    args.out.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    with args.out.open("w", encoding="utf-8") as fh:
+        for r in rows:
+            fh.write(json.dumps(r) + "\n")
+
+    cfg["n_requests"] = len(rows)
+    cfg["block_size"] = BLOCK_SIZE
+    cfg_path = args.out.with_suffix(args.out.suffix + ".config.json")
+    cfg_path.write_text(json.dumps(cfg, indent=2))
+
+    span = rows[-1]["timestamp"] - rows[0]["timestamp"] if rows else 0.0
+    eff_qps = len(rows) / span if span > 0 else 0.0
+    print(f"wrote {len(rows)} requests to {args.out}  (mode={args.mode})")
+    print(f"  target qps={args.qps}  effective req qps={eff_qps:.3f}  span={span:.1f}s")
+    if args.mode == "vanilla":
+        print(f"  input_len={args.input_len} output_len={args.output_len} "
+              f"(blocks/req={n_blocks_for(args.input_len)}, zero reuse)")
+    else:
+        n_sessions = len({r["session_id"] for r in rows})
+        inputs = sorted(r["input_length"] for r in rows)
+        p = lambda v, q: v[min(int(q * len(v)), len(v) - 1)] if v else 0
+        print(f"  sessions={n_sessions}  turns/session~{len(rows)/max(n_sessions,1):.1f}  "
+              f"input p50={p(inputs,.5)} p90={p(inputs,.9)} p99={p(inputs,.99)} "
+              f"output_len={args.output_len} (intra-session reuse)")
+    print(f"  config -> {cfg_path}")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
diff --git a/microbench/fresh_setup/mutate_trace.py b/microbench/fresh_setup/mutate_trace.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2668b89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/microbench/fresh_setup/mutate_trace.py
@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+"""Reverse-ablation trace surgeon for the PD-disagg crossover study.
+
+Takes the REAL agentic trace and neutralizes ONE agentic property at a time,
+so we can see which removal restores PD-disagg to parity with colocation.
+This is the subtractive complement to the additive synthetic sweep (D1-D5).
+
+Neutralizations (compose freely; each defaults to off):
+  --set-output N     set every output_length to N      (kill short-output -> test decode-benefit starvation)
+  --max-input N      clamp input_length to N, truncating hash_ids to ceil(N/512)
+                                                         (kill huge-prefill -> test prefill-bound bottleneck)
+  --uniform-arrival  respace requests evenly over the original span, order preserved
+                                                         (kill burstiness -> test arrival variance)
+  --unique-hash      replace all hash_ids with globally-unique ids
+                                                         (kill intra-session reuse -> test cache/affinity)
+  --max-turns N      keep only the first N turns of each session
+                                                         (flatten session skew / heavy tail)
+
+The schema is preserved so the replayer consumes the output unchanged.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import argparse
+import json
+import math
+from collections import defaultdict
+from pathlib import Path
+
+BLOCK_SIZE = 512
+UNIQUE_HASH_BASE = 2_000_000_000
+
+
+def load_rows(path: Path) -> list[dict]:
+    rows = []
+    with path.open() as fh:
+        for line in fh:
+            line = line.strip()
+            if line:
+                rows.append(json.loads(line))
+    return rows
+
+
+def resolve_session(row: dict, chat_to_session: dict) -> str:
+    if "session_id" in row:
+        return str(row["session_id"])
+    cid, pid = int(row["chat_id"]), int(row["parent_chat_id"])
+    sid = str(cid) if pid < 0 else chat_to_session.get(pid, str(pid))
+    chat_to_session[cid] = sid
+    return sid
+
+
+def main() -> None:
+    p = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__,
+                                formatter_class=argparse.RawDescriptionHelpFormatter)
+    p.add_argument("--input", type=Path, required=True)
+    p.add_argument("--output", type=Path, required=True)
+    p.add_argument("--set-output", type=int, default=None)
+    p.add_argument("--max-input", type=int, default=None)
+    p.add_argument("--uniform-arrival", action="store_true")
+    p.add_argument("--unique-hash", action="store_true")
+    p.add_argument("--max-turns", type=int, default=None)
+    args = p.parse_args()
+
+    rows = load_rows(args.input)
+    # ensure session_id present
+    c2s: dict = {}
+    for r in rows:
+        r["session_id"] = resolve_session(r, c2s)
+
+    applied = []
+
+    # --- flatten session skew: keep first N turns per session ---
+    if args.max_turns is not None:
+        kept_count: dict = defaultdict(int)
+        rows.sort(key=lambda r: (r["session_id"], r.get("turn", 0)))
+        out = []
+        for r in rows:
+            if kept_count[r["session_id"]] < args.max_turns:
+                kept_count[r["session_id"]] += 1
+                out.append(r)
+        rows = out
+        rows.sort(key=lambda r: r.get("timestamp", 0.0))
+        applied.append(f"max_turns={args.max_turns}")
+
+    # --- clamp input + truncate hash_ids ---
+    if args.max_input is not None:
+        for r in rows:
+            if r["input_length"] > args.max_input:
+                r["input_length"] = args.max_input
+            keep_blocks = max(1, math.ceil(r["input_length"] / BLOCK_SIZE))
+            r["hash_ids"] = list(r.get("hash_ids", []))[:keep_blocks]
+        applied.append(f"max_input={args.max_input}")
+
+    # --- set fixed output length ---
+    if args.set_output is not None:
+        for r in rows:
+            r["output_length"] = args.set_output
+        applied.append(f"set_output={args.set_output}")
+
+    # --- kill reuse: globally-unique hashes ---
+    if args.unique_hash:
+        nxt = UNIQUE_HASH_BASE
+        for r in rows:
+            n = max(1, len(r.get("hash_ids", [])) or
+                    math.ceil(r["input_length"] / BLOCK_SIZE))
+            r["hash_ids"] = list(range(nxt, nxt + n))
+            nxt += n
+        applied.append("unique_hash")
+
+    # --- de-burst: uniform arrival over original span (order preserved) ---
+    if args.uniform_arrival:
+        rows.sort(key=lambda r: r.get("timestamp", 0.0))
+        ts = [r.get("timestamp", 0.0) for r in rows]
+        span = (ts[-1] - ts[0]) if len(ts) > 1 else 0.0
+        n = len(rows)
+        for i, r in enumerate(rows):
+            r["timestamp"] = round(ts[0] + (span * i / max(n - 1, 1)), 6)
+        applied.append("uniform_arrival")
+
+    rows.sort(key=lambda r: r.get("timestamp", 0.0))
+    args.output.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    with args.output.open("w") as fh:
+        for r in rows:
+            fh.write(json.dumps(r) + "\n")
+
+    inputs = sorted(r["input_length"] for r in rows)
+    outs = sorted(r["output_length"] for r in rows)
+    q = lambda v, p: v[min(int(p * len(v)), len(v) - 1)] if v else 0
+    print(f"wrote {len(rows)} rows -> {args.output}")
+    print(f"  neutralized: {applied or ['none (passthrough)']}")
+    print(f"  input p50={q(inputs,.5)} p90={q(inputs,.9)} p99={q(inputs,.99)}  "
+          f"output p50={q(outs,.5)} p90={q(outs,.9)}")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
diff --git a/microbench/fresh_setup/plot_crossover.py b/microbench/fresh_setup/plot_crossover.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..690a86e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/microbench/fresh_setup/plot_crossover.py
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+"""Render the PD-disagg crossover figure from analyze_goodput.py JSONs.
+
+Two sweeps bracket the prefill<->decode bottleneck axis:
+  D2: fixed input, grow OUTPUT  -> decode-bound  -> PD_advantage rises above 1
+  D1: fixed output, grow INPUT  -> prefill-bound -> PD_advantage falls below 1
+
+Top row: PD_advantage (4P+4D / colo SLO-goodput) vs swept dim, y=1 = crossover.
+Bottom row: completion rate, colo vs 4P+4D.
+Agentic operating region (input p50~33k, output p50~92) annotated.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import json
+import re
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import matplotlib
+matplotlib.use("Agg")
+import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
+
+CROSS = Path("analysis/crossover")
+OUT = Path("figs/crossover_pd_advantage.png")
+
+
+def load_series(prefix: str, key_re: str):
+    pts = []
+    for f in sorted(CROSS.glob(f"{prefix}*_goodput.json")):
+        m = re.search(key_re, f.name)
+        if not m:
+            continue
+        d = json.loads(f.read_text())
+        g = d["slo_grid"][0]["arms"]
+        pts.append({
+            "x": int(m.group(1)),
+            "adv": g["4P+4D"]["pd_advantage"],
+            "colo_att": g["8C-proxy"]["attainment"],
+            "pd_att": g["4P+4D"]["attainment"],
+            "colo_compl": d["arms"]["8C-proxy"]["completion_rate"],
+            "pd_compl": d["arms"]["4P+4D"]["completion_rate"],
+            "colo_ampl": d["arms"]["8C-proxy"]["amplification"],
+            "pd_ampl": d["arms"]["4P+4D"]["amplification"],
+        })
+    pts.sort(key=lambda p: p["x"])
+    return pts
+
+
+def main():
+    d2 = load_series("d2_o", r"d2_o(\d+)_")   # x = output length
+    d1 = load_series("d1_i", r"d1_i(\d+)_")   # x = input length
+
+    fig, ax = plt.subplots(2, 2, figsize=(12, 8))
+
+    def adv_plot(a, pts, xlabel, title, agentic_x, agentic_label):
+        CAP = 50.0  # display cap for "colo=0, PD>0" (PD wins outright)
+        line_x, line_y = [], []
+        for p in pts:
+            adv, colo_att, pd_att = p["adv"], p["colo_att"], p["pd_att"]
+            finite = isinstance(adv, (int, float)) and adv == adv
+            if finite:
+                line_x.append(p["x"]); line_y.append(max(adv, 1e-3))
+            elif colo_att == 0 and pd_att > 0:        # PD wins outright
+                line_x.append(p["x"]); line_y.append(CAP)
+                a.annotate("PD wins\n(colo=0)", (p["x"], CAP), fontsize=7, ha="center", va="top")
+            else:                                      # both fail SLO -> not a PD win
+                a.scatter([p["x"]], [1.0], marker="x", color="gray", zorder=5)
+                a.annotate("both\nfail SLO", (p["x"], 1.0), fontsize=7, ha="center",
+                           va="bottom", color="gray")
+        a.plot(line_x, line_y, "o-", color="tab:blue", lw=2)
+        a.axhline(1.0, color="k", ls="--", lw=1, label="crossover (PD=colo)")
+        a.set_xscale("log"); a.set_yscale("log")
+        a.set_xlabel(xlabel)
+        a.set_ylabel("PD_advantage = goodput(4P+4D)/goodput(colo)")
+        a.set_title(title)
+        a.axvline(agentic_x, color="tab:red", ls=":", lw=1.5)
+        a.annotate(agentic_label, (agentic_x, 1.2), color="tab:red", fontsize=8,
+                   rotation=90, va="bottom", ha="right")
+        a.legend(fontsize=8, loc="best")
+        a.grid(True, which="both", alpha=0.3)
+
+    def compl_plot(a, pts, xlabel, title):
+        xs = [p["x"] for p in pts]
+        a.plot(xs, [100*p["colo_compl"] for p in pts], "s-", color="tab:orange", label="colo (8C-proxy)")
+        a.plot(xs, [100*p["pd_compl"] for p in pts], "o-", color="tab:blue", label="PD (4P+4D)")
+        a.set_xscale("log")
+        a.set_xlabel(xlabel)
+        a.set_ylabel("completion rate (%)")
+        a.set_title(title)
+        a.set_ylim(0, 105)
+        a.legend(fontsize=8, loc="best")
+        a.grid(True, alpha=0.3)
+
+    adv_plot(ax[0][0], d2, "output length (tokens), fixed input=2048, q12",
+             "D2 decode-bound sweep — PD wins as output grows",
+             92, "agentic out~92")
+    adv_plot(ax[0][1], d1, "input length (tokens), fixed output=64, q4",
+             "D1 prefill-bound sweep — PD collapses as input grows",
+             33533, "agentic in~33k")
+    compl_plot(ax[1][0], d2, "output length (tokens)", "D2 completion")
+    compl_plot(ax[1][1], d1, "input length (tokens)", "D1 completion")
+
+    fig.suptitle("PD-disaggregation vs colocation: the prefill<->decode bottleneck crossover\n"
+                 "(single node 8xH20, vLLM 0.18.1 chunked-prefill; zero-reuse synthetic)",
+                 fontsize=11)
+    fig.tight_layout(rect=[0, 0, 1, 0.96])
+    OUT.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    fig.savefig(OUT, dpi=130)
+    print(f"wrote {OUT}")
+    # also dump the numeric series for the record
+    print("D2 (output -> adv):", [(p["x"], round(p["adv"],2) if p["adv"]==p["adv"] else "inf") for p in d2])
+    print("D1 (input  -> adv):", [(p["x"], round(p["adv"],2) if p["adv"]==p["adv"] else "inf") for p in d1])
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()