# Character State: ch-09

## Lena Duval
- **Location:** Heart of Sector 4 Drainage Junction, Terrebonne Siphon.
- **Physical:** Hearing damaged; palm wound sealed with a salt-scab; digital fever broken, replaced by bone-deep lethargy. Smells of magnolia, ozone, and brine.
- **Emotional:** Grimly satisfied; experiencing "hollowed-out" clarity after the harmonic resonance.
- **Active Obligations:** Owes Jax Harlan a survival debt (salt-tithe) -- UNPAID.
- **Open Loops:** Reconciling the "Gator's Truth" of her machine-magic; surviving the imminent Terrebonne Corporation retaliation.
- **Known Secrets:** DISCOVERED: The Siphon’s true purpose is a "Harmonic Bleed" that captures bayou spirits to power the upper districts (Jax remains unaware).
- **Arc Progress:** 85% — Mastery achieved. She has synthesized mechanical and magical forces, proving she is a new breed of guardian.
- **Item State:** Silver Locket (Dormant, chain bent); Scrambler Box (Fused into the machine as a permanent magical Focus).

## Jax Harlan
- **Location:** Manual override catwalks, Sector 4 Siphon.
- **Physical:** Hearing muffled; upper arm lacerations from metal shards; steadying his hands against the vibration of the "heartbeat."
- **Emotional:** Deeply shaken by the supernatural display; fiercely protective of Lena.
- **Active Obligations:** Guarding Lena during her recovery/exit -- ACTIVE.
- **Open Loops:** Addressing the leaking safehouse intel.
- **Arc Progress:** 65% — Tactical skepticism abandoned; he now accepts the bayou’s sentient malice as a combat variable.

# World State: ch-09

## NPC Memory
- **The Drowned Man:** DISPERSED — Rejoined the brine once the gear-cycle broke; the immediate structural threat to the lower gears is gone.
- **Aunt Maribelle:** BLOCKED — Her silver locket tether was severed by the 440Hz interference; she is currently blind to Lena’s location.
- **Terrebonne Board:** AGGRAVATED — Real-time telemetry shows a total failure of the Sector 4 purge. Response teams are likely mobilized.

## Faction Attitudes
- **Terrebonne Development Corp:** AGGRESSIVE — Transitioning from containment to active retaliation for infrastructure damage.
- **The Duval Coven:** DIVIDED — Rumors of Lena’s "machine-magic" are spreading; elders view it as heresy, younger members as a way forward.

## Active World Events
- **The Great Flush:** FAILED — Bypass valves are seized; the forced purge of the bayou has been stopped.
- **The Harmonic Bleed:** TRANSFORMED — The screaming engine has settled into a rhythmic, low-frequency thrum that mimics a physical heartbeat.
- **The Gear Jam:** PERMANENT — The Siphon is physically fused; it cannot be restarted without a total teardown.

## Metadata
- **Environment:** Industrial cathedral; dripping salt-water; absolute silence except for the rhythmic "heartbeat" of the gears.
- **Scent:** Overpowering magnolia and ozone.
- **Key Conflict:** The shift from a mechanical battle to a political/survivalist war against the Terrebonne Corporation.