To: Editorial Lead
From: Cora, Continuity & Accuracy Editor
Subject: Continuity Review: *Cypress Bend* – Chapter 10

This is a high-stakes transition chapter, but from a continuity standpoint, it introduces specific technical and geographical variables that must be tracked against previous established data.

### 1. STRENGTHS (Continuity Wins)
*   **The Bogotá Reference:** "Because last time you said we were gone, a tactical team blew the hinges off a reinforced door in Bogotá." This aligns with the established backstory regarding their previous failure and the specific nature of Julian's trauma/distrust. It maintains the internal timeline established in the series bible regarding their movement patterns.
*   **The Physical Environment:** The description of the Louisiana environment ("cypresses... dark, tea-colored water") remains consistent with the setting established in Ch-1 and Ch-2. The "solar array on the roof of the barn—camouflaged under thermal-reflective netting" is a critical technical continuity point that matches the pre-established "off-grid" setup mentioned in the initial project outline.
*   **Character Capability:** Elena’s "scrolling lines of the localized kernel" and Julian’s "rhythmic, obsessive focus" on the Beretta are consistent with their established archetypes as the Digital Ghost and the Tactical Fail-safe.

### 2. CONCERNS (Detailed Flags)

**CRITICAL FLAG: The Satellite Uplink Contradiction**
*   **The Text:** "I’ve firewalled the localized satellite uplink behind a rotating encryption key..."
*   **The Contradiction:** In **Chapter 3**, Elena explicitly stated that the Cypress Bend safehouse was "dark-fiber only—no airwaves, no uplinks, no way for a satellite to catch a stray packet." If she had established physical layer isolation via dark fiber to avoid overhead detection, the presence of a "localized satellite uplink" in Chapter 10 is a direct violation of her own security protocol. 
*   **Impact:** This undermines the stakes of her "air-gapping" effort. If there is an uplink, there is a physical hardware signature they would have already been tracking.

**MAJOR FLAG: Power Draw Logic**
*   **The Text:** "The solar banks are balanced. We’re drawing forty percent capacity even with the servers running hot... I’m seeing a three-percent draw variance on the South fence line."
*   **The Contradiction:** If the servers are "running hot" (implying high-performance computing to maintain the "cascading logic bombs"), a 40% draw from a barn-roof solar array is mathematically inconsistent with the "forty-eight-hour cloud cover" established in **Chapter 9**.
*   **Request for Evidence:** We need to confirm if the storage batteries (lithium-ion, as mentioned) were topped off via the grid before they went dark. If they are relying solely on "the dying evening sun" through "thermal-reflective netting" (which reduces solar efficiency by roughly 15-20%), the power math is too generous.

**MINOR FLAG: Julian’s Weaponry**
*   **The Text:** "Julian... cleaning a Beretta... snapping the slide back... metallic clack of a fresh magazine being seated into his rifle."
*   **The Contradiction:** Julian starts the scene with a **Beretta** (handgun). He ends the scene with a **rifle**. 
*   **Observation:** While he could have swapped weapons when he went to "check the perimeter," the text implies he transitioned to the rifle immediately upon the power cut ("followed by the metallic clack of a fresh magazine being seated into his rifle"). Given he was cleaning the Beretta seconds prior, the sudden shift to a rifle requires a "handedness" or "holstering" beat to maintain physical continuity in the cramped room.

**AMBIGUITY: The RF Scanner Signal**
*   **The Text:** "The needle on the analog gauge didn't just jump; it slammed against the pin."
*   **Note:** Elena previously stated she used a "passive radio-frequency sniffer." A passive sniffer would not detect a "pulse" unless the "black puck" was actively transmitting in that exact window. If the puck pings "every ten minutes," the chances of her hitting the "On" switch and seeing a "slammed" needle instantly are statistically low unless she caught the window. This isn't a contradiction, but it borders on "convenient timing" that disrupts the grounded technical realism of the previous chapters.

### 3. VERDICT: MINOR FLAGS

The narrative tension is excellent, but we have a "Satellite Paradox" between Chapter 3 and Chapter 10. We must decide if this house has an uplink or if it’s fiber-only. If it’s fiber, Elena’s dialogue about "hacking the stars" needs to be adjusted to reflect terrestrial encryption.

**Required Fixes:**
1. Reconcile the "No Uplink" rule from Ch-3 with the "Satellite Uplink" in Ch-10.
2. Clarify Julian's weapon transition (from the Beretta he was cleaning to the rifle he loads at the end).
3. Verify solar efficiency vs. server load math.