Nonequilibrium Work and Classical Persistence

SCQG paper 22 of 28. A physical record remains usable while later operations can access the distinction it stores. This paper studies the work, memory, physical connections and information capacity needed to keep records usable in Semantic Commitment Quantum Gravity (SCQG). Forward actionability means that a later physical operation can use a resolved distinction. The resolution becomes locally grounded when that forward action makes it available at the location of a measurement. A shared account is built through actual comparison operations and maintained records. The paper defines persistence for a specified physical task by the conditions its records, controller and resources must satisfy. The first exit from those conditions marks loss of persistence. Finite controller examples calculate record survival, successful access, completed retention and work consumption. Autonomous quantum realizations include the clock, fuel, battery, readout and retained failure records in the physical system. The microscopic analysis connects trace response, chemical reaction rates and slow relaxation modes to the work needed for continued support. It derives finite-reservoir heat and entropy balances and tracks energy exchange through physical stress. Spatial loss of support, separation into autonomous components and gravitational trapping are evaluated through their respective evolution laws. For spherical gravity, the paper relates compactness, null expansions and remaining screen capacity. The resulting framework connects the continued usability of physical distinctions to measurable work, finite resources and gravitational geometry.