diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 499ced8..9d3d96a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ MicroBantam (`mb`) is a compressed Perl 5 reference implementation of the same a
 - `bantam.py` — Python reference implementation (stdlib only)
 - `main.go`, `term_linux.go`, `term_darwin.go`, `term_windows.go`, `term_other.go` — Go implementation (stdlib only, module `code.luxferre.top/luxferre/bantam`)
 - `bantam.pl` — Perl 5 implementation (core modules only)
-- `mb` — MicroBantam, compressed Perl 5 implementation (core modules only, 92 SLOC)
+- `mb` — MicroBantam, compressed Perl 5 implementation (core modules only, under 100 SLOC)
 - `model.cfg`, `system.txt` — shared configuration and system prompt
 - `README.md` — this document
 
diff --git a/mb b/mb
index 7619b68..0e2b449 100755
--- a/mb
+++ b/mb
@@ -10,11 +10,7 @@ $SIG{__WARN__} = sub {
   warn $m;
 };
 
-# Make STDOUT/STDERR UTF-8 aware so decoded Unicode (model output, tool
-# results) prints cleanly instead of triggering "Wide character in print"
-binmode(STDOUT, ':encoding(UTF-8)');
-binmode(STDERR, ':encoding(UTF-8)');
-binmode(STDIN, ':encoding(UTF-8)');
+binmode(STDOUT, ':encoding(UTF-8)');binmode(STDERR, ':encoding(UTF-8)');binmode(STDIN, ':encoding(UTF-8)');
 
 $| = 1; # unbuffered output: live spinner, responsive prompt