### 1. PROSE EVIDENCE
*   **Quote 1 (Early):** "Her skin, once pale and etched with the salt of runaway tears, now pulsed with a soft, bioluminescent amber—the heavy, golden sap of the Heart Tree flowing where blood had once struggled."
    *   *Commentary:* This effectively visualizes Lena’s apotheosis, contrasting her human past ("runaway tears") with her biological transformation.
*   **Quote 2 (Mid):** "He sat on a cypress knee that had grown to accommodate his spine, a living chair for a living ghost."
    *   *Commentary:* The imagery of the environment physically adapting to the character reinforces the "Directed Evolution" world state perfectly.
*   **Quote 3 (Late):** "The Silence eats 'em. I found a drone today. It looked like a dead beetle. I crushed it."
    *   *Commentary:* The stark, monosyllabic rhythm reflects Jax’s predatory, inhuman focus and the literalization of the EM dead zone.
*   **Quote 4 (Late):** "The trauma didn't disappear; it just became structural. It was the foundation upon which the Heart Tree grew."
    *   *Commentary:* This provides a sophisticated resolution to Lena's character arc, explaining how her "Wound" (her mother's death) serves the new ecosystem.

### 2. CHARACTER VOICE AUDIT
**Lena Duval**
*   **Line:** "Gator’s truth: the land doesn't just take; it translates."
    *   **Signature Vocabulary/Tics:** YES. Uses the specific "Gator’s truth" tic from her Voice Signature.
    *   **Avoid Forbidden Patterns:** YES. She does not apologize or say "I give up."
    *   **Emotional Register:** YES. Reflects her "Transcendent serenity" and internal "Great Hum."

**Aunt Maribelle Duval**
*   **Line:** "The flow is steady, cher," Maribelle whispered to the dark.
    *   **Signature Vocabulary/Tics:** YES. Uses "cher" as an endearment.
    *   **Avoid Forbidden Patterns:** YES (No forbidden patterns listed for Maribelle).
    *   **Emotional Register:** YES. Matches the "Contented utility" and "peace in absolute service" noted in her character state.

**Remy LeBlanc**
*   **Line:** "Remember that, Lena? How the metal just... turned to lace? They don't make scrap like they used to."
    *   **Signature Vocabulary/Tics:** YES. Relies on nostalgic anecdotes and informal phrasing.
    *   **Avoid Forbidden Patterns:** YES.
    *   **Emotional Register:** YES. Reflects the "nostalgic historian" state.

**Jax Harlan**
*   **Line:** "Nothing’s crossing, Lena... The metal things they send... they just go quiet."
    *   **Signature Vocabulary/Tics:** YES. Shows the "predatory reflexes" and "inhuman focus" in his clipped delivery.
    *   **Avoid Forbidden Patterns:** YES.
    *   **Emotional Register:** YES. Aligns with his "soul-bound devotion" to Lena.

### 3. STRENGTHS TO PRESERVE
*   **The Sensory Environment:** The descriptions of smell (magnolia and mud) must remain as they are core to Lena's Voice Signature. *Reference:* "It was meandering, thick with the scent of crushed magnolia and the iron tang of ancient mud."
*   **The Power Dynamics:** The shift of Aunt Maribelle from villain to "vital filtration organ" is a compelling conclusion to her arc. *Reference:* "The woman who had once hoarded power like a miser now distributed it like a lung."
*   **The Closing Lyricism:** The final line is a perfect synthesis of her "Cajun French" quirk and her "Bayou Binding" core principle. *Reference:* "The cypress don't lie, cher—the roots hold all forever now."

### 4. MUST-FIX -- CONTINUITY
*   **ORIGINAL:** "She twisted the metal chain around her finger, the familiar bite of the silver providing a grounding spark..."
*   **PROBLEM:** World State "The Great Silence" establishes that "modern technology [is] rendered non-functional scrap within the Veil." While a silver locket isn't "complex technology," the EM dead zone implies a fundamental rejection of refined, non-organic external materials. More importantly, Lena’s arc states her goal was "Transcendent serenity; ego dissolved." Obsessing over a human relic (the locket) contradicts her "100% Arc" status where her "ego dissolved into the Great Hum."
*   **FIX:** Remove the physical interaction with the locket to show her ego has truly dissolved, or describe the locket as being actively consumed by the sap/bark.
*   **REWRITE:** "She felt the ghost of a silver chain against her bark-fused skin, a relic of a girl who had once dreamed of city lights. She no longer reached for it; the metal was being slowly pulled into the grain of the Heart Tree, its secret weight becoming part of the collective whole."

### 5. MUST-FIX -- CLARITY
*   **ORIGINAL:** "She reached out, her fingers trailing along a ridge of bark that was also her own collarbone."
*   **PROBLEM:** The physical positioning is confusing. Is she touching herself, or is she touching a tree that she perceives as herself?
*   **FIX:** Clarify the fusion of the physical form and the environment.
*   **REWRITE:** "She reached out—or perhaps she simply felt—her fingers trailing along a ridge of bark where her collarbone had once been, the distinction between flesh and timber long since gone."

### 6. OPTIONAL SUGGESTIONS
*   **Suggestion:** Transitioning between the characters feels slightly "list-like." 
    *   *Quote:* "Lena shifted her focus... Then, she felt the edge." 
    *   *Reason:* Adding a more organic "root-pulse" transition between Maribelle, Remy, and Jax would enhance the feeling of Lena being the central hub. (Low priority as the current transitions are functional).

### 7. FORBIDDEN CHANGES / NON-GOALS
*   **Verbal Tics:** Do not remove "Gator's truth" or "cher." These are required voice markers.
*   **Sentence Fragmenting:** Jax’s dialogue ("The Silence eats 'em.") should remain punchy and grammatically simple; do not "clean up" his speech.
*   **Pacing:** The slow, observational pace is intentional for a "Post-Human" / "Apotheosis" finale chapter; do not suggest increasing the external action.

### 8. VERDICT: REVISE
**SCORE: 82**
The chapter beautifully captures the atmosphere and successfully integrates nearly every RAG requirement and voice signature. However, a **REVISE** is required because Lena’s continued physical manipulation of her locket ("She twisted the metal chain around her finger... a habit of the small Lena") contradicts the World State and Character State notes that her ego is "dissolved" and her arc is "100% complete." She should not be performing the "guilt signal" physical habit if her secrets are "RESOLVED."