# Character State: ch-09

## Arthur Silas Vance
**Location:** The Construction Site / North Clearing, Cypress Bend.
**Physical:** Experiencing a severe cardiac event; sharp, radiating chest pain; labored breathing; hands trembling but still gripping a welding torch.
**Emotional:** Defiant and legacy-driven; a desperate urgency to "seal" the sanctuary before his body fails. He is trading his remaining minutes for the structural integrity of the greenhouse.
**Active Obligations:** Complete the "Steel Ark" for Helen (Ch-09) — URGENT/UNPAID; Hide the severity of his collapse from Helen (Ch-09) — ACTIVE.
**Open Loops:** The medical crisis reaches a breaking point (Ch-09) — UNRESOLVED; The transition of "The Land" to Helen's sole care (Ch-09) — INITIALIZED.
**Known Secrets:** Hiding terminal cardiac symptoms; the Alpha-7 "cradling" protocol is a trap for the architect class; Arthur has sabotaged the digital footprint of the Bend.
**Arc:** 45% — Arthur has moved from "building" to "sacrificing." His construction is no longer a hobby; it is an act of biological defiance.

## Helen Vance
**Location:** The Garden Perimeter / Exterior of the Greenhouse.
**Physical:** Moving with newfound fluid grace; neural-grafts have integrated; skin bronzed by the harsh sun.
**Emotional:** Sharp and suspicious; the "shiver" in Arthur’s rhythm has become a roar she can no longer ignore. She is stepping into the role of the "Grounded Protector."
**Active Obligations:** Salvaging the heirloom seeds before the humidity spike (Ch-09) — ACTIVE.
**Open Loops:** Confronting Arthur about his health (Ch-09) — PENDING.
**Arc:** 40% — Helen is no longer "the patient"; she is the foreman of their domestic survival.

# World State: ch-09

## NPC Memory
- **The Heat (Cypress Bend):** AGGRESSIVE — The temperature has crossed a threshold where "longevity treatments" begin to redline the body’s cooling systems.
- **The Steel Greenhouse:** TRANSFORMED — Now a "Faraday-adjacent" structure; it represents a physical blind spot in Avery-Quinn’s satellite mapping.

## Faction Attitudes
- **Avery-Quinn Corp:** PREDATORY — Their "Optimization Drones" have been spotted at the edge of the property line, signaling the end of the Vances’ invisibility.
- **The Land Performance:** The cypress and muck are actively reclaiming the "analog" tools Arthur left behind; the environment is a participant in the resistance.

## Active World Events
- **The Breach:** INITIALIZED — A digital "ping" from the Alpha-7 backbone has successfully mapped a thermal anomaly at Cypress Bend.
- **The Final Weld:** The greenhouse is structurally closed, but the interior life-support (analog) is not yet calibrated.
- **The Great Humidity Spike:** ANNOUNCED — A localized weather event that will test the Vances' "off-grid" cooling solutions.

## Continuity Key
- Arthur’s welding mask is cracked in the lower right corner (tactile detail).
- The scent of ozone and swamp rot is the dominant sensory anchor for this chapter.
- The "four-beat tap" (Marcus's habit) is mirrored by Arthur's rhythmic hammering, linking the two men across the narrative divide.