# Character State: ch-25

## Marcus Thorne
Location: The Kitchen Porch, Cypress Bend, Florida.
Physical: Shaking hands; drenched from the rain; leaning against a post to maintain verticality.
Emotional: Morally redlined; the "Steward’s Choice" has transitioned from a theoretical burden to a physical weight.
Active obligations: Owes Sarah a life free from indexing (Ch-01) — IN PROGRESS; Owes the Hiker ("Caleb") safe passage (Ch-25) — UNPAID.
Open loops: The Ocala "Ghost" Signal (Ch-22) — UNRESOLVED; The Avery-Quinn "Deep Scan" Retaliation (Ch-25) — UNRESOLVED.
Arc: 145% — Marcus has officially broken his own "Zero-Trust" protocol to prioritize a human variable over systemic security.

## Sarah Jenkins
Location: The Kitchen Hub, Cypress Bend, Florida.
Physical: Steady; soot-smudged forehead; hands warm from the stove; movements are rhythmic and grounded.
Emotional: Defiantly compassionate; she has successfully inverted the "Sanctuary" logic from a bunker to a hospital.
Active obligations: None.
Open loops: The Hiker’s Sanctuary Status (Ch-25) — UNRESOLVED.
Arc: 130% — Sarah has asserted moral dominance over the group, forcing the "analog" survivalists to reckon with the empathy they claim the machines lack.

## David
Location: The Treeline / Porch Perimeter, Cypress Bend, Florida.
Physical: Hand resting on his sidearm; eyes fixed on the dark; fully healed and functionally alert.
Emotional: Paradoxical; he is the "Sword" of the sanctuary, skeptical of the outsider but deferring to the communal consensus.
Active obligations: Owes Helen a legacy (Ch-01) — IN PROGRESS.
Open loops: Perimeter Breach via Hiker (Ch-25) — UNRESOLVED.
Arc: 138% — David has accepted that protection requires more than just a fence; it requires a reason to keep the fence standing.

## Elena
Location: The Server Shed / North Bank, Cypress Bend, Florida.
Physical: Damp hair; eyes bloodshot from monitoring sensor ghosting and thermal drift.
Emotional: Tactically compromised; she views Caleb as "biological noise" threatening the mesh's invisibility.
Active obligations: Owes Marcus a physical failsafe (Ch-10) — UNPAID.
Open loops: The Hiker’s Tech Signature (Ch-25) — UNRESOLVED.
Arc: 132% — Elena recognizes that the "Ghost" in the marsh is no longer just digital; it’s now a breathing liability in the kitchen.

# World State: ch-25

## NPC Memory
- Caleb (The Hiker): GRATEFUL/VULNERABLE — Semi-conscious on the porch; he is the first external "node" to enter the sanctuary’s inner circle.
- Julian Avery (Avery-Quinn Corp): PREDATORY — Data indicates he is tightening the "Human Baseline" scans around the Ocala sector.

## Faction Attitudes
- Avery-Quinn Corp: ESCALATING — Shifting from passive monitoring to active thermal/empathy mapping of the sector.

## Active World Events
- The Moral Test: RESOLVED (Phase 1) — The outsider has been admitted.
- The Sovereign Mesh: STRAINED — Increased movement and thermal output at the Hub are creating a "bloom" that the ghost-mesh is struggling to flatten.
- The Deep Scan: ACTIVE — Avery-Quinn has initiated a high-intensity sweep looking for "Alpha-7" anomalies.