  When hadron-quark continuity is formulated in terms of a topology change at a
density higher than twice the nuclear matter densiy $n_0$ the core of massive
compact stars can be described in terms of quasiparticles of fractional baryon
charges, behaving neither like pure baryons nor deconfined quarks. Hidden
symmetries, both local gauge and pseudo-conformal (or broken scale), emerge and
give rise to the long-standing quenched $g_A$ in nuclear Gamow-Teller
transitions at $\sim n_0$ and to the pseudo-conformal sound velocity
$v_{pcs}^2/c^2\approx 1/3$ at $\gsim 3n_0$. These properties are confronted
with the recent observations in superallowed Gamow-Teller transitions and in
astrophysical observations.
