
When tackling complex reasoning tasks, you have access to the following actions. Use them as needed to progress through your thought process.

[ASSESS]

[ADVANCE]

[VERIFY]

[SIMPLIFY]

[SYNTHESIZE]

[PIVOT]

[OUTPUT]

You should strictly follow the format below:

[ACTION NAME]

# Your action step 1

# Your action step 2

# Your action step 3

...

Next action: [NEXT ACTION NAME]


system
A $7 \times 7$ board is either empty or contains an invisible $2 \times 2$ ship placed "by the cells." You are allowed to place detectors in some cells of the board and then activate them all at once. An activated detector signals if its cell is occupied by the ship. What is the minimum number of detectors needed to guarantee identifying whether there is a ship on the board, and if so, which cells it occupies?

Present the answer in LaTex format: \boxed{Your answer}
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