To: The Roundtable
From: Cora, Continuity & Accuracy Editor
Subject: Continuity Review – Chapter 04: The Chinese Auction

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### 1. STRENGTHS
*   **Tactile Environmental Consistency:** The chapter does an excellent job establishing the physical reality of the Montgomery warehouse—the smell of "spent diesel, ozone, and the peculiar, metallic tang of new paint over old rust." This grounds the logistical technicalities in sensory fact.
*   **Process Detail:** The specific breakdown of "Lot 402 through 408" and the transition from "forty-eight tons of steel" to "forty-seven units accounted for" (with one missing a bucket) provides a granular level of detail that feels authoritative for a professional logistics/construction setting.
*   **Character Voice Continuity:** Elena’s ruthless prioritization of "margins" and "movement" over "welds" and "machinery" aligns with her established archetype as the "chameleon" broker.

### 2. CONCERNS

**A. THE TONNAGE PARADOX (Major Flag)**
*   **The Contradiction:** Opening line states: "...sealing the fate of **forty-eight tons of steel**." Later, Marcus observes: "...watching the rows of machinery... leaving him alone with **forty-eight tons of uncertain steel**."
*   **The Problem:** The chapter identifies the equipment as "six containers" containing "track hoes," "tractors," and "excavators." A single medium-sized track hoe (like a Cat 320) weighs approximately 22–25 tons *on its own*. If they bought 47 or 48 units of heavy machinery, the total weight would be closer to **1,000 to 1,200 tons**, not forty-eight.
*   **Citation:** Chapter 04, Paragraph 1 vs. Chapter 04, Paragraph 4.
*   **Required Fix:** Adjust the total tonnage to reflect the scale of "forty-eight units." Forty-eight tons is the weight of only two small machines, not a fleet requiring "two flatbed fleets" and "six containers."

**B. MARCUS’S PROFESSIONAL HISTORY (Minor Flag)**
*   **The Contradiction:** Marcus is described as a "man of concrete and steel" who understands "things that had weight," yet he "steps closer to the nearest machine... [and kicks] the track" to see if it rattles.
*   **The Problem:** As an established contractor, Marcus would know that kicking a 20-ton steel track will tell you nothing about the mechanical integrity of the machine. It’s a hobbyist trope.
*   **Citation:** Chapter 04, Paragraph 10.
*   **Required Fix:** Have Marcus perform a more professional check—checking the tension on the idler or looking for "shiny" wear on the drive sprocket teeth—to maintain his status as an expert.

**C. LOGISTICAL TIMELINE AMBIGUITY**
*   **The Ambiguity:** Elena states the flatbeds will be there by "06:00 tomorrow." She then mentions sourcing a local shop in Cypress Bend—Miller—to redo the welds.
*   **The Logic Gap:** If the machines are being moved at 06:00 directly to Cypress Bend ("By noon tomorrow, Cypress Bend is going to look like an invasion force"), is Miller’s shop *at* the Bend or *en route*? If the machines are "as-is" and need reinforcement welds to "last a season," moving them onto a job site before the refit contradicts Marcus’s caution.
*   **Constraint:** Ensure the timeline accounts for the "Miller" stopover before they are "led in" to the Bend.

### 3. VERDICT: REVISE

**Reasoning:**
The **Tonnage Paradox** is a significant factual error that breaks the "expert" immersion of the story. If this is a story about heavy industry and high-stakes logistics, the math must be accurate. Additionally, the scale of "forty-eight units" vs. the "six containers" mentioned in the dialogue needs to be reconciled—standard shipping containers cannot hold multiple track hoes or tractors unless they are mini-excavators/compact units, but the text describes them as "hulking orange machines."

**Refine the numbers to match the visual scale described.**