# Character State: ch-21

## Marcus Thorne
Location: The Ocala National Forest (Juniper Prairie Wilderness), Florida.
Physical: Shivering from cold; hands numb; no new injuries beyond minor abrasions from brush.
Emotional: Humiliated but enlightened; experiencing a "hard reset" of his sensory priorities. He has stopped treating the woods as a data set and started treating them as a predator.
Active obligations: Owes David his life (Ch-17) — UNPAID; Owes Leo a future outside the index (Ch-12) — IN PROGRESS. 
Open loops: The Seed Exchange Protocol (Ch-21) — UNRESOLVED; The Ocala "Ghost" Signal (Ch-21) — UNRESOLVED.
Known secrets: CARRIED (Ch-01): Knows Alpha-7 empathy protocols were a lie to facilitate mass firings; Julian does not know Marcus has the back-end logs.
Arc: 105% — Marcus has accepted that his technical "God-tier" perception is a liability in a biological survival state. He has moved from "admin" to "user."

## David
Location: The Ocala National Forest (Juniper Prairie Wilderness), Florida.
Physical: Rib-cage fully healed; moving with predatory efficiency; showing no signs of the previous winter's strain.
Emotional: Stoic and paternal; focused on "indexing" Marcus into the land's logic. He has transitioned from a refugee to a mentor.
Active obligations: Owes Marcus his life (Ch-17) — UNPAID; Currently acting as the arbiter of Marcus's survival.
Arc: 100% — David has successfully grafted Arthur’s "Long Wait" philosophy onto Marcus.

## Sarah Jenkins
Location: The Kitchen Hub, Cypress Bend (Off-screen).
Physical: Rested; hands smelling of rosemary and flour.
Emotional: Sovereign; managing the local "Seed of Barter" economy with a cold, logistical precision learned from her time at Avery-Quinn.
Known secrets: CARRIED (Ch-01): Knows the empathy protocols were a weaponized detachment tool.
Arc: 100% — Sarah is the stable administrative heart of the sanctuary.

## Elena
Location: The Perimeter Road, North Bank, Cypress Bend (Off-screen).
Physical: Lean; sun-darkened.
Emotional: Strategically satisfied; maintaining the physical structural reinforcement of the Bend.
Known secrets: CARRIED (Ch-10): Knows the manual axe-throw is the only physical failsafe for the power line; Marcus remains unaware.

## Arthur Silas Vance — DECEASED (Ch-36)
Legacy: His "Long Wait" philosophy served as the curriculum for Marcus’s training in the Ocala woods. His presence is felt through the "logic" of the survival tasks David imposes.

# World State: ch-21

## NPC Memory
- Miller Family (Regional/Pork-trade): FRIENDLY — Viewing the Bend as the primary node for mid-winter survival commerce.

## Faction Attitudes
- Avery-Quinn Corp: BLIND — The "True Dark" status is maintained; however, the Ocala hunt revealed a latent "Ghost Signal" (unindexed hardware) in the deeper woods, suggesting the Corporation's reach is longer than Marcus calculated.

## Active World Events
- The Sovereign Mesh: ACTIVE — Permanent state of local autonomy achieved.
- The Seed of Barter: ACTIVE — Local trust-based resource exchange is the primary currency.
- The Winter Lockout: ACTIVE — Deep cold and humidity testing the "Analog" resilience of the sanctuary.
- The Ghost Signal: NEW — A non-indexed electronic pulse detected in the Wilderness; its origin is unknown but its frequency matches Avery-Quinn's legacy architecture.