This constitutes a line-level audit of Chapter 27. The prose is rhythmically dense and maintains a high degree of technical-thematic integration.

### 1. STRENGTHS TO PRESERVE
*   **Voice Differentiation:** (YES).
    *   **Marcus:** "Probability of survival is sub-optimal... The world outside the Mesh is designed for nodes, Sarah. Not people." (Perfectly aligns with his "Systems Architecture" profile).
    *   **Sarah:** "I just... Error 404, Marcus. I'm empty." (Matches her "Status Code" imperfection signature).
    *   **Helen:** "But he also said a home is a sovereign nation. You can't let every traveler vote in your elections." (Matches the "tectonic" and political legacy of Arthur).
*   **Tactile Rhythms:** The use of Sarah’s retractable pen (*Click-click. Click-click.*) as a proxy for her heartbeat/anxiety is a masterclass in sensory grounding. 
*   **Environmental Economy:** "The Florida humidity had turned the air into an anaerobic soup." This is a strong noun-driven description that avoids weak adjectives.

### 2. MUST-FIX — CONTINUITY
*   **The Hiker’s Name:** In Chapter 26 (Context), the hiker is "Caleb." In this draft, Marcus says "Caleb—if that was even his name." 
    *   *Correction:* Ensure Marcus's skepticism is consistent. If he learned the name in Ch-26, he shouldn't be questioning it now unless he suspects it’s a pseudonym.
*   **Sarah’s Physical State:** The context describes Sarah with a "soot-smudged forehead" and "gripping a cold iron stove handle." The draft includes the smudge but has her "scouring a cast-iron pot." 
    *   *Correction:* This is a minor misalignment of action vs. state. I recommend keeping the scouring as it provides the *Click-click* rhythm of the pen.

### 3. MUST-FIX — CLARITY
*   **The Blindfold Material:** 
    *   *ORIGINAL:* "...a strip of heavy black fabric—industrial-grade nylon, the kind used to shroud server racks during transit."
    *   *SUGGESTED:* Eliminate the "during transit" or clarify. Server shrouds are typically for dust/static in storage or shipping. If it’s meant to be signal-blocking (Faraday), state it as "signal-dampening nylon."
    *   *Rationale:* Marcus later says the material is "designed to block all signal." Standard industrial nylon doesn't do this; "Faraday-weave" or "EMF-shielding" nylon does.
*   **The "Ghost" Signal Placement:**
    *   *ORIGINAL:* "They passed the 'Ghost' signal point—the place where the Ocala anomaly had pinged three weeks ago."
    *   *SUGGESTED:* Clarify the distance/direction relation to the farm.
    *   *Rationale:* This is a major unresolved loop. If it's on the path to the highway, the sanctuary is already compromised. Ensure the prose reflects Marcus’s specific *architectural* concern here.

### 4. OPTIONAL SUGGESTIONS
*   **Dialogue Tag Economy:**
    *   *ORIGINAL:* "'A blindfold?' Sarah asked."
    *   *SUGGESTED:* "'A blindfold?' Sarah didn't look up from the pot." 
    *   *Rationale:* The "asked" is redundant given the question mark. Using the action reinforces her "violent" cleaning movement.
*   **Adverb Audit:**
    *   *ORIGINAL:* "The sound wasn’t coming from the pot. It was the frantic, metallic heartbeat..."
    *   *SUGGESTED:* "The sound wasn’t coming from the pot. It was the metallic trip-wire pulse of her retractable pen..."
    *   *Rationale:* "Frantic" is a "telling" adjective. "Trip-wire pulse" creates a more specific, high-tension image.

### 5. FORBIDDEN CHANGES / NON-GOALS
*   **Do Not Change:** Marcus’s internal "One, two, three, four" count. It is his established grounding tic (Voice Sig) and must remain to show his psychological redlining.
*   **Do Not Change:** Sarah’s use of "Error 403" and "Error 404." These are her specific linguistic wounds from Avery-Quinn.
*   **Do Not Change:** The "dropping of the 'g'" in David’s dialogue ("doin'"). It distinguishes him from Marcus’s precise, clipped diction.
*   **Do Not Change:** The phrase "biological noise." It is the core of the chapter's dehumanizing theme.

### 6. VERDICT

**POLISH NEEDED.**

The chapter is structurally sound and the voices are incredibly distinct. However, the technical nature of the blindfold (standard nylon vs. signal-blocking) requires a specific line fix to maintain the "Hard Sci-Fi" logic of the Sovereign Mesh. Once the signal-blocking properties of the fabric are clarified, the chapter is a PASS.