# Character State: ch-26

## Marcus Thorne
Location: The Kitchen Porch, Cypress Bend, Florida.
Physical: Right hand trembling; soaked from the storm; lean and weathered.
Emotional: Morally hollowed; experiencing "The Steward’s Choice" as a physical weight.
Active obligations: Owes Sarah a life free from indexing (Ch-01) — IN PROGRESS; Owes Leo a future (Ch-12) — IN PROGRESS; Owes the Hiker ("Caleb") safe passage — PAID (via David).
Open loops: The Ocala "Ghost" Signal (Ch-22) — UNRESOLVED; The Avery-Quinn "Deep Scan" Retaliation (Ch-25) — UNRESOLVED.
Arc: 145% — Marcus has finalized the transition from protector of individuals to the cold guardian of the collective.

## Sarah Jenkins
Location: The Kitchen Hub, Cypress Bend, Florida.
Physical: Exhausted; soot-smudged forehead; gripping a cold iron stove handle for grounding.
Emotional: Defiantly mourning; struggling with the death of "simple charity."
Active obligations: None.
Open loops: The Hiker’s Sanctuary Status — RESOLVED (Deported).
Known secrets: Knows the Alpha-7 empathy protocols were a lie — Julian does NOT know she has weaponized that detachment.
Arc: 130% — Sarah has accepted that the "Sanctuary" requires a tactical cruelty she previously despised.

## David
Location: South Perimeter Treeline, Cypress Bend, Florida.
Physical: Hand on sidearm; scanning the highway; fully healed.
Emotional: Resigned; the physical arm of the group’s compromise.
Active obligations: Owes Helen a legacy (Ch-01) — IN PROGRESS.
Open loops: Perimeter Breach via Hiker — RESOLVED.
Arc: 140% — David has finalized his role as the "Wall," recognizing mercy as a luxury.

## Elena
Location: The Server Shed / North Bank, Cypress Bend, Florida.
Physical: Eyes bloodshot from monitoring sensor ghosting.
Emotional: Validated; relieved the "biological noise" of the hiker has been removed.
Active obligations: Owes Marcus a physical failsafe (Ch-10) — UNPAID.
Known secrets: Knows the manual axe-throw is the only physical failsafe for the power line — Marcus does NOT know.
Arc: 132% — Elena has reinforced the "True Dark" status of the Bend by removing the outlier variable.

# World State: ch-26

## NPC Memory
- Caleb (The Hiker): DEPORTED — Blindfolded and abandoned at the South Perimeter. He is now a stray variable who knows the location but lacks the coordinates to return.
- Julian Avery (Avery-Quinn Corp): WATCHFUL — Analyzing thermal anomalies and wait-times in the sector.

## Faction Attitudes
- Avery-Quinn Corp: PREDATORY — Escalating "Human Baseline" scans in Ocala-adjacent sectors.

## Active World Events
- The Moral Test: COMPLETED — The group chose isolationism/survival over individual rescue.
- The Sovereign Mesh: ACTIVE — Post-hiker stabilization; the hub is currently masked.
- The Long Wait: ONGOING — The legacy of Arthur Vance continues as the group adopts his "invisible" doctrine.
- Weather: Post-storm humidity; heavy saturation; thermal masking is high but risky due to sensor "ghosting."