The whole cluster collapses to one slim row of hardware keycaps docked under the transcript card — the same keycap language as the bezel subsystem nav, so it reads as part of the machine, not a panel of web buttons.
Tools that take an argument (THREAT ▸ / CONSULT ▸) flip the rail into an inline ARM state — target field + fire, same row, same height. Direct tools (VATS, TRADE, LOOT, CALC) launch on one tap. The standing TARGET/ITEM input is gone; it only exists while armed.
D-PAD: dropped. Its four macros survive as typed TERMINAL-mode commands; the rail buys that space back for the transcript.
▸ CARRIER ACQUIRED — LUCKY 38 REPEATER
what's the situation at Nipton?
Nipton is a lesson, Courier — one the Legion wrote in fire. Approach from the ridge east of town if you must look.
▸ CARRIER ACQUIRED — LUCKY 38 REPEATER
threat check on cazadores before I cross the pass
Wise. Run the assessment below — the databank holds their venom profile. Do not let them flank you.