diff --git a/buyer/src/cli/reclaim-orphans.ts b/buyer/src/cli/reclaim-orphans.ts
index 6feb601..61a4419 100644
--- a/buyer/src/cli/reclaim-orphans.ts
+++ b/buyer/src/cli/reclaim-orphans.ts
@@ -109,6 +109,11 @@ async function main(argv: string[]): Promise<number> {
     return 1;
   }
   const networkId: 0 | 1 = env.NETWORK_ID === "1" ? 1 : 0;
+  // Inject loaded vars into process.env so shared tx builders see them
+  // (e.g. lucidContext.ts's VECTOR_ZERO_TIME_MS). See run-cycle.ts for context.
+  for (const key of ["VECTOR_ZERO_TIME_MS", "OGMIOS_URL", "INDEXER_URL", "NETWORK_ID"]) {
+    if (env[key] && !process.env[key]) process.env[key] = env[key];
+  }
 
   const wk = deriveWalletKey(env.BUYER_PRIV_KEY_HEX, networkId);
   const chain: ChainProvider = new LiveOgmiosProvider({ ogmiosUrl: env.OGMIOS_URL });
diff --git a/buyer/src/cli/run-cycle.ts b/buyer/src/cli/run-cycle.ts
index 10f353d..8085e92 100644
--- a/buyer/src/cli/run-cycle.ts
+++ b/buyer/src/cli/run-cycle.ts
@@ -179,6 +179,12 @@ async function main(argv: string[]): Promise<number> {
     return 1;
   }
   const networkId: 0 | 1 = env.NETWORK_ID === "1" ? 1 : 0;
+  // Inject loaded vars into process.env so downstream tx-building modules
+  // (e.g. lucidContext.ts's VECTOR_ZERO_TIME_MS) see them. The shared tx
+  // builders read these from process.env, not the CLI-local env map.
+  for (const key of ["VECTOR_ZERO_TIME_MS", "OGMIOS_URL", "INDEXER_URL", "NETWORK_ID"]) {
+    if (env[key] && !process.env[key]) process.env[key] = env[key];
+  }
   const advertRef = parseEscrowRef(env.ADVERT_REF);
   const wk = deriveWalletKey(env.BUYER_PRIV_KEY_HEX, networkId);
   const chain: ChainProvider = new LiveOgmiosProvider({ ogmiosUrl: env.OGMIOS_URL });
diff --git a/packages/shared/src/tx/internal/lucidContext.ts b/packages/shared/src/tx/internal/lucidContext.ts
index 2f0266f..c90757c 100644
--- a/packages/shared/src/tx/internal/lucidContext.ts
+++ b/packages/shared/src/tx/internal/lucidContext.ts
@@ -41,11 +41,15 @@ const HEX64_RE = /^[0-9a-fA-F]{64}$/;
 // idempotent — repeated calls leave the values identical. createLucidContext
 // invokes it before constructing the Lucid instance.
 
-const VECTOR_ZERO_TIME = Number(process.env.VECTOR_ZERO_TIME_MS) || 1_752_057_484_000;
 const VECTOR_ZERO_SLOT = 0;
 const VECTOR_SLOT_LENGTH = 1000;
 
 export function applyVectorSlotConfig(): void {
+  // Read VECTOR_ZERO_TIME_MS lazily so callers that populate process.env after
+  // module load (e.g. CLIs that read a .env file at runtime) still get the
+  // right value. Capturing this as a module-level const broke run-cycle.ts
+  // with the testnet default while pointing at mainnet.
+  const VECTOR_ZERO_TIME = Number(process.env.VECTOR_ZERO_TIME_MS) || 1_752_057_484_000;
   const cfg = SLOT_CONFIG_NETWORK["Mainnet"];
   if (
     cfg.zeroTime !== VECTOR_ZERO_TIME ||