Living coins

A coin is alive when a credit is seated underneath it. Mushy IS a coin.

your credit bank · 2 ✦

Alive: golden-glowing centre, gentle breath, it welcomes you. Dormant: glass-panel gap where the glow was — "Still here. Just not lit." (Not "I'll save your progress" — that was my placeholder, and it implied something would be lost. Nothing is lost. The coin is not off; it is unlit, and it is exactly as you earned it. Same law as the settled token and the forced tile: the object is innocent.)
Handoff: the guide carries a credit from your bank and seats it underneath — the realm wakes for you.