Hyper-Literal Reverse Engineering v5: A Formal Methodological Alternative to the Traditional Scientific Method

We give a complete, citable specification of Hyper-Literal Reverse Engineering version 5 (HLRE v5), a formal methodological alternative to the traditional scientific method, designed for investigations in which the researchers — human or artificial — face flexible search spaces, post-hoc selection pressure, and narrative smoothing. This paper publishes the full v4.1 core in complete form — claim layers with separate evidential burdens, the seven-gate workflow, parameter-informed postulation with the five-component record and novelty budget, formal mechanism requirements with parameter and choice ledgers, numerical-search discipline with null controls, prediction and validation with the prediction register, dependency trace, and independence levels I0–I4, comparative evidence with complexity control, epistemic vocabulary control, the semantic-debris protocol with four-layer hyper-literal reconstruction, claim grades and statuses, the ten standard records, and the operating checklist — together with the five v5 closure amendments distilled from a full-scale audit in which the v4.1 protocol was applied and still permitted published errors: (i) a first-class dependency ledger; (ii) a framing audit against novelty inflation; (iii) a retraction discipline with a single withdrawal ledger; (iv) an error-family taxonomy; and (v) human gates (source gate, balance gate) required before deposition whenever every verification pipeline is artificial. This paper is the canonical reference for the methodology; works produced under it cite this paper rather than reproducing its specification.