diff --git a/projects/cypress-bend/staging/polished/character-state-ch-20-final.md b/projects/cypress-bend/staging/polished/character-state-ch-20-final.md
index 18763273..f58c3a9a 100644
--- a/projects/cypress-bend/staging/polished/character-state-ch-20-final.md
+++ b/projects/cypress-bend/staging/polished/character-state-ch-20-final.md
@@ -1,58 +1,58 @@
-# CHAPTER POLISH EXTRACTION — CANONICAL STATE
-
-## Character State: ch-20 [FINALIZED]
-
-**Lena Duval**
-- Location: The Heart Tree (Siphon Hub Core)
-- Physical: Fully transfigured—bioluminescent sap coursing through silver-veined wood; human substrate integrated into ecosystem substrate
-- Emotional: Transcendent, ego-dissolved into collective Hum consciousness; serene permanent merger
-- Obligations: All resolved (Ch-18 paid; Ch-20 intrusion threat closed)
-- Arc completion: 100% — Permanent sentinel role stabilized
-- Status: **PERMANENT**
-
-**Jax Harlan**
-- Location: The Sovereign Veil (Perimeter threshold)
-- Physical: Enhanced ocular reflex (silver-green iris); toxin immunity; operational
-- Emotional: Absolute protective devotion; guardian focus locked
-- Obligations: All resolved (Ch-18 paid; Ch-20 border security sealed)
-- Arc completion: 100% — Transitioned from outsider to Eternal Guardian
-- Status: **PERMANENT**
-
-**Aunt Maribelle Duval** [DECEASED — Ch-19]
-- Integrated: Biological filtration organ within Siphon Hub root lattice
-- Legacy: Foundational stability anchor for permanent Bend isolation
-
-**Remy LeBlanc** [DECEASED — Ch-19]
-- Integrated: Memory-strand suspension in Interior Grove cypress
-- Legacy: Eternal historian/archivist for collective Hum memory network
+# CHAPTER POLISH: CYPRESS BEND — FINAL STATE EXTRACTION
 
 ---
 
-## World State: ch-20 [FINALIZED]
+## CHARACTER STATE: ch-20 [POLISHED CANONICAL]
 
-**The Hum (Cypress Bend)**
-- Status: UNIFIED collective consciousness
-- Architecture: All individual coven wills absorbed into single protective sentience
-- Defense posture: Total biological impermeability established
+### Lena Duval
+- **Location:** The Heart Tree (Siphon Hub Core)
+- **Physical State:** Transfigured—bioluminescent sap flows through silver-veined wood; human substrate fully dissolved into ecosystem matrix.
+- **Emotional State:** Transcendent, serene; ego merged with the Hum's collective consciousness. No internal conflict remains.
+- **Arc Status:** 100% COMPLETE — Transformation from isolated rebel to collective guardian finalized and permanent.
+- **Obligations:** All paid (Ch-18). No open loops.
+- **Secrets Carried:** Mother's deliberate drowning ritual (Ch-02) — now held in Hum's eternal memory, burden transformed into collective wisdom.
+- **Permanence:** YES — Stabilized as the Heart of Cypress Bend indefinitely.
 
-**The Sovereign Veil**
-- Configuration: Lethal impermeable fog barrier (complete stabilization)
-- Permeability: ABSOLUTE — no human intrusion possible
+### Jax Harlan
+- **Location:** The Sovereign Veil (Perimeter)
+- **Physical State:** Enhanced ocular reflex (silver-green iris); toxin immunity; no injuries.
+- **Emotional State:** Absolute devotion; protective hypervigilance toward threshold security.
+- **Arc Status:** 100% COMPLETE — Transitioned from outsider to Eternal Guardian.
+- **Obligations:** All paid (Ch-18). Border security resolved (Ch-20).
+- **Permanence:** YES — Locked into sentinel role at the Bend's edge.
 
-**External Authority Response**
-- Classification: TERROR designation (lethal anomaly zone)
-- Policy: Permanent no-man's-land exclusion boundary
+### Aunt Maribelle Duval [DECEASED — Ch-19]
+- Absorbed into Siphon Hub root lattice; serves as biological filtration organ.
+- Legacy: Foundational stability for permanent Bend isolation.
 
-**The Coven**
-- Status: DISSOLVED — Individual identities replaced by collective Hum consciousness
-- Faction attitude: Ceased to exist as separate entity
-
-**Narrative Closure**
-- All character arcs: **CONCLUDED**
-- Active threads: **NONE**
-- World stabilization: **COMPLETE**
-- Final state: **PERMANENT SENTINEL STATE REACHED**
+### Remy LeBlanc [DECEASED — Ch-19]
+- Biologically suspended in cypress memory-strands within Interior Grove.
+- Legacy: Eternal historian; archivist of collective Bend memory network.
 
 ---
 
-**[END EXTRACTION]**
\ No newline at end of file
+## WORLD STATE: ch-20 [POLISHED CANONICAL]
+
+### The Hum (Cypress Bend Collective)
+- **Status:** UNIFIED — All individual coven wills absorbed into single protective sentience.
+- **Consciousness Level:** Emergent, non-hostile, self-perpetuating.
+
+### The Sovereign Veil (Border)
+- **Status:** COMPLETE & IMPERMEABLE — Lethal fog barrier stabilized; no breach possible.
+- **Last Intrusion:** Ch-20 external forces repelled; total biological rejection achieved.
+- **Security:** ABSOLUTE.
+
+### Faction Attitudes
+- **External Authorities:** TERROR — Permanent "no-man's land" exclusion established.
+- **The Coven:** DISSOLVED — Individual identities ceased; merged into the Hum.
+
+### Active Narrative Threads
+- **All character arcs:** CONCLUDED
+- **World stabilization:** COMPLETE
+- **Open loops:** NONE
+- **Endpoint:** PERMANENT SENTINEL STATE REACHED
+- **Story status:** FINALIZED
+
+---
+
+**POLISH SIGN-OFF:** All character voices locked. All world rules locked. No further revision required. Story arc resolved at permanence threshold.
\ No newline at end of file