i'm not fully able to comprehend the comments at https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/blob/a9c587416e084327a0eab1ac0640f731a8729357/src/rust/engine/src/nodes.rs#L243 yet, but feel confident i can get there after some more reading. your explanation of intrinsics in nodes.rs was very helpful, although actually everything you just explained was very helpful to get me on the right thought track.