# Character State: ch-18

## Marcus Thorne
Location: The Big Oak, North Bank, Cypress Bend, Florida.
Physical: Calloused hands stained with elderberry and woodsmoke; pulse steady; wearing a heavy flannel that smells of rain.
Emotional: Transformed; moves from a state of "systemic guilt" to "communal utility." He no longer views the group as a dataset to be managed, but as a biological imperative.
Active obligations: Owes David his life (Ch-17) — ACKNOWLEDGED; Owes Leo a future (Ch-12) — COMMITTED.
Open loops: The Alpha-7 "Phone Home" sequence (Ch-13) — UNRESOLVED/DORMANT.
Arc: 99% — Marcus has successfully transitioned from a digital architect to an analog anchor.
Permanent: YES

## David
Location: The Big Oak, North Bank, Cypress Bend, Florida.
Physical: Limp is pronounced but steady; hands scarred; smelling of pine and roasted meat.
Emotional: Fatherly/Tribal; has relinquished the burden of "solo protector" to become the coordinator of a collective.
Active obligations: Owes Marcus his life (Ch-17) — RECIPROCATED via inclusion.
Arc: 98% — David has moved from a desperate survivalist to the patriarch of a nascent society.
Permanent: YES

## Sarah Jenkins
Location: The Big Oak, North Bank, Cypress Bend, Florida.
Physical: Wind-burned face; hands stained from the harvest; eyes bright with a sharp, terrestrial focus.
Emotional: Reclaiming agency; she has stopped being a "victim of code" and started being the "architect of the table."
Active obligations: Protecting Leo's "unindexed" status — ACTIVE.
Arc: 90% — Sarah has weaponized her empathy into a survival tool for the group.
Permanent: YES

## Elena
Location: The Big Oak, North Bank, Cypress Bend, Florida.
Physical: Smudged with grease and charcoal; movements are precise and mechanical.
Emotional: Synthesized; views the successful feast as a triumph of social engineering and structural integrity.
Known secrets: The manual axe-throw failsafe (Ch-10) — CARRIED.
Arc: 85% — Elena identifies human connection as the "lubricant" necessary for the machinery of survival.
Permanent: YES

## Helen Vance
Location: The Big Oak, North Bank, Cypress Bend, Florida.
Physical: Frail but upright; seated at the head of the table; hands trembling less when holding the communal ladle.
Emotional: Completed; she sees the "logic of the space" successfully passed to the next generation.
Arc: 80% — Helen has fulfilled her role as the bridge between Arthur’s ghost and Marcus’s future.
Permanent: YES

## Leo
Location: The Big Oak, North Bank, Cypress Bend, Florida.
Physical: Mud-streaked; healthy; eating with gusto.
Emotional: Native; he no longer remembers the "index" and treats the swamp as his sovereign territory.
Arc: 70% — The first true citizen of the "Dead Zone."
Permanent: YES

# World State: ch-18

## NPC Memory
- County Dispatch/Avery-Quinn: BLIND — The storm and the "Great Dark" have successfully masked the Bend's thermal and digital signatures.

## Faction Attitudes
- Avery-Quinn Corp: DORMANT PREDATOR — Searching for the Alpha-7 handshake, but currently focused on urban recovery.

## Active World Events
- The Great Dark: PEAK — The atmospheric isolation is total, providing a temporary window of absolute sovereignty for the tribe.
- The 14-Week Lockdown: DAY 12 — The "Thanksgiving" harvest has secured the group's caloric needs for the next phase.
- The Thanksgiving Feast: COMPLETED — The formal establishment of the Cypress Bend Tribe; a transition from "survivors" to "occupiers."