Tom answers direct replies without a mention
Reply straight to one of Tom's posts and the bot answers without a mention. He now addresses the person who spoke last, not whoever started the thread.
You click reply on Tom's last note, type "thanks, that clears it up," and send. A moment later an answer appears under yours, written for you. You never typed his name.
Credit paulinevos, who taught Tom to watch the reply button. Once your post clears moderation, Tom queues an answer when the post directly above it is his. Moderators approving a pile of pending replies get the same behavior. His own posts still collect one reply each, and he still reads at most the last 12 public posts in the branch, sharing a 12,000-character budget with your question. The instruction sheet now names the latest speaker and tells him to answer that person, not the thread's starter.
One catch. Tom only checks the post right above yours. Reply to somebody else's answer beneath his note, one level deeper, and he stays quiet until you type @tom.