### 1. PROSE EVIDENCE
*   **Early:** "The 'Severing' wasn't a clean cut; it was a jagged tearing of skin from muscle."
    *   This effectively visceral metaphor grounds the supernatural loss of power in a tangible, physical agony consistent with the Southern Gothic tone.
*   **Mid:** "She didn't let go of him. She couldn't. Her fingers tracked the line of his pulse. It was organic, rhythmic, and infinitely more centered than the erratic thrumming of the silver locket resting against her sternum."
    *   This passage reinforces the character's tactile grounding habit while highlighting the "frequency shift" as a sensory experience.
*   **Mid:** "Lena’s thumb instinctively caught the chain of her locket, twisting the silver links tight around her index finger."
    *   This is a perfect execution of the physical habit established in the character notes, externalizing her internal anxiety.
*   **Late:** "The Neutral was a man who looked like he’d been carved out of driftwood—lean, weathered, and ancient."
    *   This simile aligns well with the "swamp" aesthetic, reinforcing the thematic connection between people and the land even in an urban setting.
*   **Late:** "The air in the shop grew heavy. A low, rhythmic thumping started against the glass of the window—the sound of a hundred heavy moths throwing themselves against the pane."
    *   This imagery creates a mounting sense of dread and serves as a strong sensory transition into the climax.

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### 2. CHARACTER VOICE AUDIT
**Lena Duval**
*   **Line:** "Gator's truth—I can't feel a thing beyond these four walls except the hum of the 'Wall."
*   **Signature Vocabulary/Tics:** YES ("Gator's truth").
*   **Avoid Forbidden Patterns:** YES (She does not apologize or say "I give up").
*   **Emotional Register:** YES (Panicked but stubborn, consistent with 50% arc progression).

**Jax Harlan**
*   **Line:** "Lena, look at me. Breathe, damn it."
*   **Signature Vocabulary/Tics:** YES (Clipped, pragmatic, focused on navigation/stability).
*   **Avoid Forbidden Patterns:** YES (Maintains a protective but grim tone).
*   **Emotional Register:** YES (Moving toward "active investigator" as he questions the safehouse leak).

**Aunt Maribelle (The Coven)**
*   **Line:** "Come home, cher, or watch the Bend rot with you."
*   **Signature Vocabulary/Tics:** YES (Uses Cajun-French endearment "cher").
*   **Avoid Forbidden Patterns:** YES (Manipulative tone).
*   **Emotional Register:** YES (Aggressive and haunting).

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### 3. STRENGTHS TO PRESERVE
*   **Tactile Grounding:** The focus on Lena's physical contact with Jax and the river stones ("Lena fell to her knees, her hands reaching out to touch a bowl of river stones") is essential to her "Voice Signature" and magic system.
*   **The Locket as a Sensory Tool:** The way the locket vibrates in sync with industrial machinery ("It’s syncing with the industrial hum of the city power lines") perfectly bridges the character's internal conflict with the world-building of Project Phlegethon.
*   **Southern Gothic Atmosphere:** The description of the apothecary and the "hundred heavy moths" maintains the "Paranoiac, heavy, industrial" mood.

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### 4. MUST-FIX -- CONTINUITY
*   **ORIGINAL:** "'The cypress don't lie, cher—the roots whisper what your heart's too stubborn to hear.'"
*   **PROBLEM:** The voice signature notes state Lena uses Cajun French endearments ("cher," "mon coeur") **only** for those she truly cares for. In the mid-chapter, she uses it in a somewhat abstract way while explaining the swamp to Jax. While she cares for Jax, the context of the quote feels like a canned phrase or a lecture.
*   **FIX:** Ensure the use of "cher" feels like an intimate grounding of the conversation. (The line is her "example line," but its placement here feels slightly detached from her current panic. No change required if the author intends this as a direct address to Jax's stubbornness).

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### 5. MUST-FIX -- CLARITY
*   **ORIGINAL:** "The Neutral’s place is six blocks. An old apothecary near the canal."
*   **PROBLEM:** The transition from the "Stepping out onto the street" section to arriving at the shop is very abrupt. We see one cat and some mold, and then they are suddenly at the door.
*   **FIX:** Add a brief sentence describing the physical toll of those six blocks. "Each step felt like wading through knee-deep molasses as the city's iron weight pressed against her temples, but Jax's hand on her elbow kept her from drifting into the gray."

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### 6. OPTIONAL SUGGESTIONS
*   **OPTIONAL:** Regarding the line "No no, not that, no no." This is her imperfection signature for panic. It could be used more effectively when the moths start hitting the glass to heighten the climax.
*   **OPTIONAL:** "The 'hollow deafness' made the world feel flat..." This is a strong metaphor, but adding a specific sound she *should* be hearing (like the soul of the stray cat) would sharpen the sense of loss.

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### 7. FORBIDDEN CHANGES / NON-GOALS
*   **DO NOT** smooth out Lena's repetitive speech during panic ("No no, not that, no no"). This is a documented imperfection signature.
*   **DO NOT** remove the vernacular "hellfire" or "dang it" as these are scaled stress expressions from the Voice Signature.
*   **DO NOT** make Jax more "emotive." His "brooding outsider" role requires him to remain a "low rumble" and an "anchor."

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### 8. VERDICT
**SCORE: 92**
**JUSTIFICATION:** The chapter is an excellent execution of the provided character and world state. The voice signatures are followed with high precision, and the "Frequency Shift" concept is advanced through strong sensory prose. The score is held back from 95+ only by a slightly rushed transition during the walk and a need for tighter integration of the "cher" address to ensure it hits the intimacy requirement of her voice notes.

**VERDICT: PASS** (The "Must-Fix" items are minor enough to be considered polish rather than structural failure).