diff --git a/.eleventy.js b/.eleventy.js
index 2e39dce..b9553ec 100644
--- a/.eleventy.js
+++ b/.eleventy.js
@@ -22,6 +22,21 @@ export default function configureEleventy(eleventyConfig) {
   eleventyConfig.addFilter('where', (items, key, value) => (items || []).filter(item => item?.[key] === value));
   eleventyConfig.addFilter('statusClass', value => `status-${String(value || 'hmmm').toLowerCase().replace(/[^a-z0-9]+/g, '-')}`);
   eleventyConfig.addFilter('markdown', value => md.render(String(value || '')));
+  // Exact canonical body lines of a unit: skip the heading line, stop before
+  // footnote lines, notes blocks, separators, and sub-headings. Mirrors the
+  // body extraction in scripts/verify-article-canon.mjs; keep the two in step.
+  eleventyConfig.addFilter('canonUnitBody', content => {
+    const lines = String(content || '').split(/\r?\n/).slice(1);
+    const body = [];
+    for (const line of lines) {
+      if (/^\s*>?\s*(?:\[[^\]]+\]|[⁰¹²³⁴⁵⁶⁷⁸⁹]+|\d+)\s+/.test(line)) break;
+      if (/^\s*\*\*\[Notes/.test(line)) break;
+      if (/^\s*---\s*$/.test(line)) break;
+      if (/^\s*#{2,}\s/.test(line)) break;
+      if (line.trim()) body.push(line.trim());
+    }
+    return body;
+  });
 
   return {
     dir: { input: 'src', output: '_site', includes: '_includes', data: '_data' },
diff --git a/src/lab/unit.njk b/src/lab/unit.njk
index 539a07b..c84137c 100644
--- a/src/lab/unit.njk
+++ b/src/lab/unit.njk
@@ -18,7 +18,9 @@ title: "Lab: {{ unit.title }}"
 </header>
 <section>
   <h2>Conversation</h2>
-  <article class="panel turn"><span class="status status-canon">Speaker A · main text</span><p>The exact canonical unit is one interaction away so this interpretive layer cannot quietly replace it.</p><p><a href="/source/{{ unit.routeSlug }}/">Open exact source and provenance</a></p></article>
+  <article class="panel turn"><span class="status status-canon">Speaker A · main text</span>
+    <blockquote class="reading">{% for line in unit.content | canonUnitBody %}<p>{{ line }}</p>{% endfor %}</blockquote>
+    <p><a href="/source/{{ unit.routeSlug }}/">Open exact source and provenance</a></p></article>
   {% if unit.notes.length %}
     {% for note in unit.notes %}<article class="panel turn note"><span class="status status-interpretation">Speaker B · note {{ note.marker }}</span><p>{{ note.text }}</p></article>{% endfor %}
   {% else %}