diff --git a/router/router.py b/router/router.py
index f47e0de..d3c183c 100644
--- a/router/router.py
+++ b/router/router.py
@@ -17,6 +17,13 @@ GPU_URLS = {
     "qwen3.6-27B-code": GPU_DENSE_URL,
     "gemma-4-E4B": GPU_LIGHT_URL,
 }
+# Max concurrent requests per GPU (based on llama.cpp --parallel)
+GPU_MAX_CONCURRENT = {
+    "qwen3.6-35B-A3B": 2,   # 2 slots
+    "qwen3.6-27B-code": 2,  # 2 slots
+    "gemma-4-E4B": 1,       # 1 slot
+}
+
 TIER_MODELS = {
     "starter": ["gemma-4-E4B"],
     "professional": ["qwen3.6-35B-A3B", "qwen3.6-27B-code", "gemma-4-E4B"],
@@ -41,6 +48,18 @@ except Exception: r = None
 app = Flask(__name__)
 sse_subscribers = []; sse_lock = threading.Lock()
 
+def gpu_active_count(model):
+    """Get number of in-flight requests for a GPU."""
+    if r:
+        return int(r.get("active:" + model) or 0)
+    return 0
+
+def gpu_incr(model):
+    if r: r.incr("active:" + model)
+
+def gpu_decr(model):
+    if r: r.decr("active:" + model)
+
 def check_gpu_health(model):
     url = GPU_SIDECARS.get(model)
     if not url: return {"status": "unknown"}
@@ -57,6 +76,28 @@ def available_models(): return [m for m in GPU_URLS if check_gpu_health(m)["stat
 
 def estimate_tokens(msgs): return sum(len(str(m.get("content",""))) for m in msgs) // 4
 
+def is_gpu_busy(model):
+    """Check if GPU is at or near max concurrent capacity."""
+    active = gpu_active_count(model)
+    max_c = GPU_MAX_CONCURRENT.get(model, 1)
+    return active >= max_c
+
+def select_best_gpu(candidates, reason):
+    """Pick the best GPU from candidates, preferring least-loaded."""
+    best = None
+    best_load = 999
+    for m in candidates:
+        load = gpu_active_count(m)
+        if load < best_load:
+            best_load = load
+            best = m
+    if best:
+        actual_reason = reason
+        if is_gpu_busy(best):
+            actual_reason = "load_balanced_" + reason
+        return {"model": best, "reason": actual_reason}
+    return None
+
 def route(rd, tier):
     msgs = rd.get("messages",[]); t = estimate_tokens(msgs)
     sys = any(m.get("role")=="system" for m in msgs)
@@ -65,34 +106,52 @@ def route(rd, tier):
     allowed = TIER_MODELS.get(tier, ["gemma-4-E4B"])
     avail = [m for m in available_models() if m in allowed]
     if not avail: return {"model": allowed[0], "reason": "all_saturated"}
+    
     req = rd.get("model","auto")
-    if req != "auto": return {"model": req if req in avail else avail[0], "reason": "explicit"}
+    if req != "auto":
+        target = req if req in avail else avail[0]
+        # If explicit model is busy, check if another can take it
+        if is_gpu_busy(target) and req in allowed:
+            alts = [m for m in avail if m != target and m in allowed]
+            if alts:
+                alt = select_best_gpu(alts, "explicit")
+                if alt: return alt
+        return {"model": target, "reason": "explicit"}
+    
     if hints:
-        if hints.get("priority")=="speed" and "gemma-4-E4B" in avail: return {"model":"gemma-4-E4B","reason":"hint_speed"}
-        if hints.get("priority")=="quality" and "qwen3.6-27B-code" in avail: return {"model":"qwen3.6-27B-code","reason":"hint_quality"}
+        if hints.get("priority")=="speed" and "gemma-4-E4B" in avail:
+            return select_best_gpu(["gemma-4-E4B"], "hint_speed") or {"model":"gemma-4-E4B","reason":"hint_speed"}
+        if hints.get("priority")=="quality" and "qwen3.6-27B-code" in avail:
+            return select_best_gpu(["qwen3.6-27B-code"], "hint_quality") or {"model":"qwen3.6-27B-code","reason":"hint_quality"}
+    
+    # Heavy -> dense (but fall back to MoE if dense is busy)
     if t > 4000 or sys or turns > 6:
-        for m in ["qwen3.6-27B-code","qwen3.6-35B-A3B","gemma-4-E4B"]:
-            if m in avail: return {"model":m,"reason":"heavy_reasoning"}
+        candidates = ["qwen3.6-27B-code","qwen3.6-35B-A3B","gemma-4-E4B"]
+        candidates = [m for m in candidates if m in avail]
+        result = select_best_gpu(candidates, "heavy_reasoning")
+        if result: return result
+    
+    # Ultra-light -> gemma
     first_msg = msgs[0].get("content","") if msgs else ""
     words = len(first_msg.split()) if isinstance(first_msg, str) else 99
     if words <= 3 and turns <= 1 and not sys and "gemma-4-E4B" in avail:
-        return {"model":"gemma-4-E4B","reason":"ultra_light"}
-    if "qwen3.6-35B-A3B" in avail: return {"model":"qwen3.6-35B-A3B","reason":"default_moe"}
+        if not is_gpu_busy("gemma-4-E4B"):
+            return {"model":"gemma-4-E4B","reason":"ultra_light"}
+    
+    # Default: MoE, fall back to dense if MoE is busy
+    if "qwen3.6-35B-A3B" in avail:
+        if is_gpu_busy("qwen3.6-35B-A3B") and "qwen3.6-27B-code" in avail:
+            return {"model": "qwen3.6-27B-code", "reason": "load_balanced_default"}
+        return {"model":"qwen3.6-35B-A3B","reason":"default_moe"}
+    
     return {"model":avail[0],"reason":"fallback"}
 
 def clean_unicode(text):
-    if not isinstance(text, str):
-        return text
-    # Replace common Unicode punctuation with ASCII equivalents
-    text = text.replace(chr(0x2014), "-")
-    text = text.replace(chr(0x2013), "-")
-    text = text.replace(chr(0x2018), "'")
-    text = text.replace(chr(0x2019), "'")
-    text = text.replace(chr(0x201C), '"')
-    text = text.replace(chr(0x201D), '"')
-    text = text.replace(chr(0x2026), "...")
-    text = text.replace(chr(0x00A0), " ")
-    # Strip ALL remaining non-ASCII (emoji, symbols)
+    if not isinstance(text, str): return text
+    text = text.replace(chr(0x2014), "-"); text = text.replace(chr(0x2013), "-")
+    text = text.replace(chr(0x2018), "'"); text = text.replace(chr(0x2019), "'")
+    text = text.replace(chr(0x201C), '"'); text = text.replace(chr(0x201D), '"')
+    text = text.replace(chr(0x2026), "..."); text = text.replace(chr(0x00A0), " ")
     return text.encode("ascii", "ignore").decode("ascii")
 
 def clean_response(d):
@@ -102,10 +161,11 @@ def clean_response(d):
     return d
 
 def get_metrics():
-    d = {"gpus":[],"route_counts":{},"agent_counts":{},"tier_counts":{},"recent":[],"timestamp":time.time()}
+    d = {"gpus":[],"route_counts":{},"agent_counts":{},"tier_counts":{},"recent":[],"timestamp":time.time(),"active_requests":{}}
     for m in GPU_URLS:
         h = check_gpu_health(m)
-        d["gpus"].append({"id":m,"gpu_name":h.get("gpu_name",m),"status":h.get("status"),"vram_used_mb":h.get("vram_used_mb"),"vram_total_mb":h.get("vram_total_mb"),"vram_pct":h.get("vram_pct"),"temp_c":h.get("temp_c"),"gpu_util_pct":h.get("gpu_util_pct"),"power_w":h.get("power_w"),"power_limit_w":h.get("power_limit_w")})
+        d["gpus"].append({"id":m,"gpu_name":h.get("gpu_name",m),"status":h.get("status"),"vram_used_mb":h.get("vram_used_mb"),"vram_total_mb":h.get("vram_total_mb"),"vram_pct":h.get("vram_pct"),"temp_c":h.get("temp_c"),"gpu_util_pct":h.get("gpu_util_pct"),"power_w":h.get("power_w"),"power_limit_w":h.get("power_limit_w"),"active_requests":gpu_active_count(m)})
+        d["active_requests"][m] = gpu_active_count(m)
     if r:
         try:
             for m in GPU_URLS: d["route_counts"][m] = int(r.get("routes:"+m) or 0)
@@ -136,7 +196,10 @@ def chat():
         tier, agent = ki["tier"], ki["agent"]
         d = route(rd, tier); model, reason, url = d["model"], d["reason"], GPU_URLS[d["model"]]
         is_stream = rd.get("stream", False)
-        log.info("ROUTE: %s -> %s (%s) stream=%s", agent, model, reason, is_stream)
+        
+        gpu_incr(model)  # Track active request
+        
+        log.info("ROUTE: %s -> %s (%s) stream=%s active=%d/%d", agent, model, reason, is_stream, gpu_active_count(model), GPU_MAX_CONCURRENT.get(model,1))
         if r:
             try:
                 r.incr("routes:"+model); r.incr("routes:tier:"+tier); r.incr("routes:agent:"+agent)
@@ -148,6 +211,8 @@ def chat():
         resp = requests.post(url+"/chat/completions", json=rd,
             headers={"Content-Type":"application/json","Authorization":"Bearer not-needed"}, timeout=120, stream=is_stream)
         lat = int((time.time()-start)*1000)
+        gpu_decr(model)  # Release slot
+        
         if resp.status_code != 200: return jsonify({"error":"GPU error "+str(resp.status_code)}), 502
         if is_stream:
             def gen():
@@ -160,10 +225,12 @@ def chat():
             msg = c.get("message",{})
             if not msg.get("content") and msg.get("reasoning_content"):
                 msg["content"] = msg["reasoning_content"]
-        data["routing"] = {"model":model,"reason":reason,"gpu":url,"tier":tier,"agent":agent,"latency_ms":lat}
+        data["routing"] = {"model":model,"reason":reason,"gpu":url,"tier":tier,"agent":agent,"latency_ms":lat,"active_gpu":gpu_active_count(model)}
         bcast()
         return jsonify(data)
-    except requests.Timeout: return jsonify({"error":"timeout"}), 504
+    except requests.Timeout: 
+        gpu_decr(model if 'model' in dir() else "unknown")
+        return jsonify({"error":"timeout"}), 504
     except Exception as e:
         log.error("Error: %s\n%s", e, traceback.format_exc())
         return jsonify({"error":str(e)}), 500
@@ -172,7 +239,14 @@ def chat():
 def models(): return jsonify({"object":"list","data":[{"id":m,"object":"model","owned_by":"syslog","status":check_gpu_health(m).get("status"),"gpu":check_gpu_health(m).get("gpu_name")} for m in GPU_URLS]})
 
 @app.route("/health")
-def health(): return jsonify({"status":"healthy","redis":"connected" if r else "down","gpus":{m:check_gpu_health(m) for m in GPU_URLS},"available_models":available_models()})
+def health():
+    gpus = {}
+    for m in GPU_URLS:
+        h = check_gpu_health(m)
+        h["active_requests"] = gpu_active_count(m)
+        h["max_concurrent"] = GPU_MAX_CONCURRENT.get(m, 1)
+        gpus[m] = h
+    return jsonify({"status":"healthy","redis":"connected" if r else "down","gpus":gpus,"available_models":available_models()})
 
 @app.route("/metrics")
 def metrics(): return jsonify(get_metrics())
@@ -220,5 +294,5 @@ def stream():
                     headers={"Cache-Control":"no-cache","X-Accel-Buffering":"no","Access-Control-Allow-Origin":"*"})
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
-    log.info("Router on :9000")
+    log.info("Router on :9000 (load-aware)")
     app.run(host="0.0.0.0", port=9000, debug=False)