diff --git a/internal/bootstrap.cm b/internal/bootstrap.cm
index 2f0984e8..11fa3521 100644
--- a/internal/bootstrap.cm
+++ b/internal/bootstrap.cm
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ var script = null
 var ast = null
 
 if (args != null) {
-  // CLI mode — run script directly
+  // CLI mode — parse args
   program = args[0]
   _j = 1
   while (_j < length(args)) {
@@ -189,11 +189,11 @@ if (args != null) {
     _j = _j + 1
   }
 
+  // Resolve script file: try .cm then .ce in CWD then core_path
   script_file = program
   if (!ends_with(script_file, '.ce') && !ends_with(script_file, '.cm'))
     script_file = program + '.cm'
 
-  // Search CWD then core_path, trying .cm then .ce
   if (!fd.is_file(script_file))
     script_file = core_path + '/' + program + '.cm'
   if (!fd.is_file(script_file))
@@ -201,9 +201,20 @@ if (args != null) {
   if (!fd.is_file(script_file))
     script_file = core_path + '/' + program + '.ce'
 
-  script = text(fd.slurp(script_file))
-  ast = analyze(script, script_file)
-  run_ast(program, ast, {use: use_fn, args: user_args, json: json})
+  if (ends_with(script_file, '.ce')) {
+    // Actor script — delegate to engine
+    load_engine({
+      os: os, actorsym: actorsym,
+      init: {program: program, arg: user_args},
+      core_path: core_path, shop_path: shop_path, json: json,
+      analyze: analyze, run_ast_fn: run_ast
+    })
+  } else {
+    // Module script — run directly
+    script = text(fd.slurp(script_file))
+    ast = analyze(script, script_file)
+    run_ast(program, ast, {use: use_fn, args: user_args, json: json})
+  }
 } else {
   // Actor spawn mode — load engine.cm with full actor env
   load_engine({
diff --git a/internal/bootstrap.mach b/internal/bootstrap.mach
index 452430bb..7276d31a 100644
Binary files a/internal/bootstrap.mach and b/internal/bootstrap.mach differ
diff --git a/internal/engine.cm b/internal/engine.cm
index 39d1ee97..3b659003 100644
--- a/internal/engine.cm
+++ b/internal/engine.cm
@@ -109,23 +109,7 @@ var REPLYTIMEOUT = 60 // seconds before replies are ignored
 
 function caller_data(depth)
 {
-  var _depth = depth == null ? 0 : depth
-  var file = "nofile"
-  var line = 0
-  var md = null
-  var m = null
-
-  var caller = array(Error().stack, "\n")[1+_depth]
-  if (caller) {
-    md = extract(caller, /\((.*)\:/)
-    m = md ? md[1] : "SCRIPT"
-    if (m) file = m
-    md = extract(caller, /\:(\d*)\)/)
-    m = md ? md[1] : 0
-    if (m) line = m
-  }
-
-  return {file,line}
+  return {file: "nofile", line: 0}
 }
 
 function console_rec(line, file, msg) {
@@ -140,9 +124,7 @@ function log(name, args) {
   if (name == 'console') {
     os.print(console_rec(caller.line, caller.file, msg))
   } else if (name == 'error') {
-    if (msg == null) msg = Error()
-    if (is_proto(msg, Error))
-      msg = msg.name + ": " + msg.message + "\n" + msg.stack
+    if (msg == null) msg = "error"
     os.print(console_rec(caller.line, caller.file, msg))
   } else if (name == 'system') {
     msg = "[SYSTEM] " + msg
@@ -166,7 +148,7 @@ function actor_die(err)
   if (overling) {
     if (err) {
       // with an err, this is a forceful disrupt
-      reason = (is_proto(err, Error)) ? err.stack : err
+      reason = err
       report_to_overling({type:'disrupt', reason})
     } else
       report_to_overling({type:'stop'})
@@ -300,8 +282,8 @@ $_.time_limit = function(requestor, seconds)
         callback(val, reason)
       }, value)
     } disruption {
-      cancel(Error('requestor failed'))
-      callback(null, Error('requestor failed'))
+      cancel('requestor failed')
+      callback(null, 'requestor failed')
     }
     do_request()
 
diff --git a/internal/engine.mach b/internal/engine.mach
index f5841e61..359b1286 100644
Binary files a/internal/engine.mach and b/internal/engine.mach differ
diff --git a/pronto.cm b/pronto.cm
index 1695890e..e860d550 100644
--- a/pronto.cm
+++ b/pronto.cm
@@ -44,9 +44,10 @@ function fallback(requestor_array) {
     var cancelled = false
 
     function cancel(reason) {
+      var _c = null
       cancelled = true
       if (current_cancel) {
-        var _c = function() { current_cancel(reason) } disruption {}
+        _c = function() { current_cancel(reason) } disruption {}
         _c()
         current_cancel = null
       }
@@ -293,9 +294,10 @@ function sequence(requestor_array) {
     var cancelled = false
 
     function cancel(reason) {
+      var _c = null
       cancelled = true
       if (current_cancel) {
-        var _c = function() { current_cancel(reason) } disruption {}
+        _c = function() { current_cancel(reason) } disruption {}
         _c()
         current_cancel = null
       }