adjudication_pass: promote character-state-ch-21-final.md original=4c12a4f9-b118-40d0-ab0f-86a092b9a3ff

cypres-bend/deliverables/character-state-ch-21-final.md

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+# Character State: ch-21
+
+## Marcus Thorne
+Location: The Ocala National Forest (Juniper Prairie Wilderness), Florida.
+Physical: Shivering from cold; hands numb; no new injuries beyond minor abrasions from brush.
+Emotional: Humiliated but enlightened; experiencing a "hard reset" of his sensory priorities. He has stopped treating the woods as a data set and started treating them as a predator.
+Active obligations: Owes David his life (Ch-17) — UNPAID; Owes Leo a future outside the index (Ch-12) — IN PROGRESS. 
+Open loops: The Seed Exchange Protocol (Ch-21) — UNRESOLVED; The Ocala "Ghost" Signal (Ch-21) — UNRESOLVED.
+Known secrets: CARRIED (Ch-01): Knows Alpha-7 empathy protocols were a lie to facilitate mass firings; Julian does not know Marcus has the back-end logs.
+Arc: 105% — Marcus has accepted that his technical "God-tier" perception is a liability in a biological survival state. He has moved from "admin" to "user."
+
+## David
+Location: The Ocala National Forest (Juniper Prairie Wilderness), Florida.
+Physical: Rib-cage fully healed; moving with predatory efficiency; showing no signs of the previous winter's strain.
+Emotional: Stoic and paternal; focused on "indexing" Marcus into the land's logic. He has transitioned from a refugee to a mentor.
+Active obligations: Owes Marcus his life (Ch-17) — UNPAID; Currently acting as the arbiter of Marcus's survival.
+Arc: 100% — David has successfully grafted Arthur’s "Long Wait" philosophy onto Marcus.
+
+## Sarah Jenkins
+Location: The Kitchen Hub, Cypress Bend (Off-screen).
+Physical: Rested; hands smelling of rosemary and flour.
+Emotional: Sovereign; managing the local "Seed of Barter" economy with a cold, logistical precision learned from her time at Avery-Quinn.
+Known secrets: CARRIED (Ch-01): Knows the empathy protocols were a weaponized detachment tool.
+Arc: 100% — Sarah is the stable administrative heart of the sanctuary.
+
+## Elena
+Location: The Perimeter Road, North Bank, Cypress Bend (Off-screen).
+Physical: Lean; sun-darkened.
+Emotional: Strategically satisfied; maintaining the physical structural reinforcement of the Bend.
+Known secrets: CARRIED (Ch-10): Knows the manual axe-throw is the only physical failsafe for the power line; Marcus remains unaware.
+
+## Arthur Silas Vance — DECEASED (Ch-36)
+Legacy: His "Long Wait" philosophy served as the curriculum for Marcus’s training in the Ocala woods. His presence is felt through the "logic" of the survival tasks David imposes.
+
+# World State: ch-21
+
+## NPC Memory
+- Miller Family (Regional/Pork-trade): FRIENDLY — Viewing the Bend as the primary node for mid-winter survival commerce.
+
+## Faction Attitudes
+- Avery-Quinn Corp: BLIND — The "True Dark" status is maintained; however, the Ocala hunt revealed a latent "Ghost Signal" (unindexed hardware) in the deeper woods, suggesting the Corporation's reach is longer than Marcus calculated.
+
+## Active World Events
+- The Sovereign Mesh: ACTIVE — Permanent state of local autonomy achieved.
+- The Seed of Barter: ACTIVE — Local trust-based resource exchange is the primary currency.
+- The Winter Lockout: ACTIVE — Deep cold and humidity testing the "Analog" resilience of the sanctuary.
+- The Ghost Signal: NEW — A non-indexed electronic pulse detected in the Wilderness; its origin is unknown but its frequency matches Avery-Quinn's legacy architecture.