diff --git a/js/scenes/GameScene.js b/js/scenes/GameScene.js
index 0d5bdfb..9565b46 100644
--- a/js/scenes/GameScene.js
+++ b/js/scenes/GameScene.js
@@ -1156,7 +1156,7 @@ export class GameScene extends Phaser.Scene {
         // A combat level landed (the system fires its own burst + voice +
         // the armor bump on the manager's 'levelup' event — the skill
         // layer will subscribe to that same event later): the feed's line.
-        onLevelUp: (level) => this.combatHud?.kill(`LEVEL ${level} — XP`),
+        onLevelUp: (level) => this.combatHud?.kill(`LEVEL ${level} — XP` + (level > 5 ? ' · +1 SKILL POINT' : '')),
         onPlayerDamage: (n, a) => {
           if (!this.combatHud || !a) return;
           if (a.shieldHit > 0) this.combatHud.flash('shield');
@@ -1694,6 +1694,17 @@ export class GameScene extends Phaser.Scene {
     // system so its perks (dual cannon / targeting computer) are live from the
     // first frame, exactly as they are after a fresh lock-in.
     if (this.combat) this.combat.classState = this.classState;
+    // LEVEL-UP SKILL-POINT GRANT — the "level-up bonus" seam the ledger
+    // promised (ClassState.awardSkillPoints): every combat level landed past
+    // 5 banks one point (level 6 pays, 7 pays, …). The manager fires one
+    // 'levelup' event per level crossed, so a three-level jump banks three;
+    // points land in the bank whether or not a class is on file yet (the
+    // spend side is what stays gated on one).
+    if (this.combat) {
+      this.combat.xp.on('levelup', (ev) => {
+        if (ev.to > 5) this.classState.awardSkillPoints(1);
+      });
+    }
 
     // ---- THE SKILL LAYER (data/skills.json, js/skills/SkillState.js) ----
     // The run's skill LEDGER — the points spent in the class's tree and which
@@ -9592,13 +9603,17 @@ export class GameScene extends Phaser.Scene {
   }
 
   /**
-   * The READY-RESEARCH cue's scene-side switch (per frame, update): one
+   * The deck's attract cues' scene-side switch (per frame, update): one
    * cue on screen at a time —
-   *   - console CLOSED: the deck's RESEARCH slot wears the periodic
+   *   - RESEARCH READY: the deck's RESEARCH slot wears the periodic
    *     yellow shimmer (face sweep → edge run, js/ui/ShimmerCue.js);
-   *   - console OPEN: the console wears it instead (its tabs' edge
-   *     shimmers + the jump-gate tech's ACK pulse — _paintCues), and
-   *     the deck's slot rests.
+   *   - SKILL POINTS BANKED: the deck's SHIP slot wears the same
+   *     shimmer (the bank sits in the ship console's class plate) —
+   *     research wins the slot when both are ready (the active beat);
+   *   - console OPEN: the console wears its own half instead (the
+   *     research tabs' edge shimmers — _paintCues), and the deck's
+   *     slot rests (same for the ship slot while its console — class
+   *     or skill — is up).
    * setShimmer is idempotent, so the per-frame call is a no-op when
    * the beat is unchanged. The cue also rests while a project runs
    * (researchAnyAvailable) and under the deck's standby (the ActionBar
@@ -9608,8 +9623,13 @@ export class GameScene extends Phaser.Scene {
   _applyResearchCue() {
     const bar = this.actionBar;
     if (!bar || typeof bar.setShimmer !== 'function') return;
-    const on = this.researchAnyAvailable() && this.researchWindow?.isOpen !== true;
-    bar.setShimmer(on ? 'research' : null);
+    if (this.researchAnyAvailable() && this.researchWindow?.isOpen !== true) {
+      bar.setShimmer('research');
+      return; // research owns the cue (the active beat)
+    }
+    const points = Number(this.classState?.skillPoints) || 0;
+    const shipOpen = this.shipWindow?.isOpen === true || this.classWindow?.isOpen === true || this.skillWindow?.isOpen === true;
+    bar.setShimmer(points > 0 && !shipOpen ? 'ship' : null);
   }
 
   /** Entering a system begins its NAV chart: the SYSTEM category's