adjudication_pass: promote character-state-ch-25-final.md original=912ee908-a924-4793-bfde-81140b80c58d

cypres-bend/deliverables/character-state-ch-25-final.md

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+# Character State: ch-25
+
+## Marcus Thorne
+Location: The Kitchen Porch, Cypress Bend, Florida.
+Physical: Shaking hands; drenched from the rain; leaning against a post to maintain verticality.
+Emotional: Morally redlined; the "Steward’s Choice" has transitioned from a theoretical burden to a physical weight.
+Active obligations: Owes Sarah a life free from indexing (Ch-01) — IN PROGRESS; Owes the Hiker ("Caleb") safe passage (Ch-25) — UNPAID.
+Open loops: The Ocala "Ghost" Signal (Ch-22) — UNRESOLVED; The Avery-Quinn "Deep Scan" Retaliation (Ch-25) — UNRESOLVED.
+Arc: 145% — Marcus has officially broken his own "Zero-Trust" protocol to prioritize a human variable over systemic security.
+
+## Sarah Jenkins
+Location: The Kitchen Hub, Cypress Bend, Florida.
+Physical: Steady; soot-smudged forehead; hands warm from the stove; movements are rhythmic and grounded.
+Emotional: Defiantly compassionate; she has successfully inverted the "Sanctuary" logic from a bunker to a hospital.
+Active obligations: None.
+Open loops: The Hiker’s Sanctuary Status (Ch-25) — UNRESOLVED.
+Arc: 130% — Sarah has asserted moral dominance over the group, forcing the "analog" survivalists to reckon with the empathy they claim the machines lack.
+
+## David
+Location: The Treeline / Porch Perimeter, Cypress Bend, Florida.
+Physical: Hand resting on his sidearm; eyes fixed on the dark; fully healed and functionally alert.
+Emotional: Paradoxical; he is the "Sword" of the sanctuary, skeptical of the outsider but deferring to the communal consensus.
+Active obligations: Owes Helen a legacy (Ch-01) — IN PROGRESS.
+Open loops: Perimeter Breach via Hiker (Ch-25) — UNRESOLVED.
+Arc: 138% — David has accepted that protection requires more than just a fence; it requires a reason to keep the fence standing.
+
+## Elena
+Location: The Server Shed / North Bank, Cypress Bend, Florida.
+Physical: Damp hair; eyes bloodshot from monitoring sensor ghosting and thermal drift.
+Emotional: Tactically compromised; she views Caleb as "biological noise" threatening the mesh's invisibility.
+Active obligations: Owes Marcus a physical failsafe (Ch-10) — UNPAID.
+Open loops: The Hiker’s Tech Signature (Ch-25) — UNRESOLVED.
+Arc: 132% — Elena recognizes that the "Ghost" in the marsh is no longer just digital; it’s now a breathing liability in the kitchen.
+
+# World State: ch-25
+
+## NPC Memory
+- Caleb (The Hiker): GRATEFUL/VULNERABLE — Semi-conscious on the porch; he is the first external "node" to enter the sanctuary’s inner circle.
+- Julian Avery (Avery-Quinn Corp): PREDATORY — Data indicates he is tightening the "Human Baseline" scans around the Ocala sector.
+
+## Faction Attitudes
+- Avery-Quinn Corp: ESCALATING — Shifting from passive monitoring to active thermal/empathy mapping of the sector.
+
+## Active World Events
+- The Moral Test: RESOLVED (Phase 1) — The outsider has been admitted.
+- The Sovereign Mesh: STRAINED — Increased movement and thermal output at the Hub are creating a "bloom" that the ghost-mesh is struggling to flatten.
+- The Deep Scan: ACTIVE — Avery-Quinn has initiated a high-intensity sweep looking for "Alpha-7" anomalies.