diff --git a/app/services/corpus.ts b/app/services/corpus.ts
index ca8ca62..80212ae 100644
--- a/app/services/corpus.ts
+++ b/app/services/corpus.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ import type { ChunkSpan } from '#services/spool'
 const inflate = promisify(unzip)
 const deflate = promisify(deflateCb)
 const gzip = promisify(gzipCb)
+/** The largest inflated chunk the filter reads as one string (V8's limit is 0x1fffffe8 characters). */
+const MAX_FILTER_BYTES = 256 * 1024 * 1024
 
 /** What a filtered chunk was filtered with (CORPUS_FILTER): the rule set and the group priorities of its lease. */
 export interface CorpusFilter {
@@ -91,7 +93,9 @@ class Corpus {
     const file = this.path(range, span)
     await mkdir(dir, { recursive: true })
     let stored = data
-    if (filter) {
+    // Past V8's longest string (0x1fffffe8) the text can't be filtered; such a chunk is stored as it came (the
+    // worker drops the same lines itself). Seen once: a chunk inflating past 512 MB (LOG.md 2026-10-24 (102)).
+    if (filter && raw.length < MAX_FILTER_BYTES) {
       // Latin-1 both ways: every byte back as it was.
       const { kept, drops } = filterOverviews(raw.toString('latin1'), range.group, filter.priorities, filter.ruleVersion)
       stored = await deflate(Buffer.from(kept, 'latin1'), { level: 9 })
diff --git a/lib/edge/scan.ts b/lib/edge/scan.ts
index 006ace8..cc8c0c3 100644
--- a/lib/edge/scan.ts
+++ b/lib/edge/scan.ts
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@ interface Counter {
 function findCounter(subject: string, after: number): Counter | null {
   let open = subject.length
   while (true) {
+    // lastIndexOf('(', -1) searches from 0 again: a "(" at the start that isn't a counter looped forever.
+    if (open === 0) return null
     open = subject.lastIndexOf('(', open - 1)
     if (open <= after) return null
     let i = open + 1
diff --git a/tests/unit/edge/scan.spec.ts b/tests/unit/edge/scan.spec.ts
index 5e78d6a..7e5da49 100644
--- a/tests/unit/edge/scan.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/edge/scan.spec.ts
@@ -37,5 +37,8 @@ test.group('edge / scanOverviewText and SegmentScanner', () => {
     // Obfuscated, or a counter only before the name: no segment.
     assert.isNull(scanner.segment(9, 'Xq8r2KdLm3Zw91PqA7zz', 'p', '', '<o@x>', '1', xref, 'alt.binaries.test'))
     assert.isNull(scanner.segment(9, '(1/2) "x.bin" yEnc', 'p', '', '<o@x>', '1', xref, 'alt.binaries.test'))
+    // A "(" at the start that isn't a counter, no quote: no segment (it looped forever, LOG.md 2026-10-24 (102)).
+    assert.isNull(scanner.segment(9, '(Some Show) S01E01 x264', 'p', '', '<o@x>', '1', xref, 'alt.binaries.test'))
+    assert.equal(scanner.segment(9, '(Some Show) S01E01.mkv (3/9)', 'p', '', '<o@x>', '1', xref, 'alt.binaries.test')?.number, 3)
   })
 })