staging: staging/drafts/character-state-ch-34.md task=b9033277-3359-48ea-9821-5f81862b25cf

cypress-bend/staging/staging/drafts/character-state-ch-34.md

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+# Character State: ch-34
+
+## Marcus Thorne
+Location: North Bank, Assembly Floor (Medical Bay)
+Physical: Moderate frostnip; critical exhaustion; thermal suit power at 2%.
+Emotional: Desperate and cognitively redlined; the "Beta Ghost" is now a physical contagion.
+Active obligations: Owes Sarah a caloric-density report (Ch24) — UNPAID; owes Arthur a recalibration (Ch16) — UNPAID.
+Open loops: Marcus vs. The Outbreak [Unknown Pathogen] (Ch34) — UNRESOLVED; Marcus vs. Arthur [Digital vs. Analog supremacy] (Ch29) — UNRESOLVED.
+Known secrets: Knows the Sentinel pulse frequency shifted by 0.4 Hz — [The group does NOT know].
+Arc: 48% — Realizing his digital safeguards are useless against a biological "logic-loop" lockout.
+Permanent: NO.
+
+## Arthur "Art" Penhaligon
+Location: North Bank, Assembly Floor (Quarantine Perimeter)
+Physical: Right knee locked; violent tremors in hands; early-stage respiratory distress.
+Emotional: Terrified but stoic; treating his own body as a failing machine.
+Active obligations: Owes David a replacement Grade-8 bolt (Ch16) — UNPAID.
+Open loops: Arthur vs. The Pathogen [Internal failure] (Ch34) — UNRESOLVED; Arthur vs. The Creek [Rising water table] (Ch16) — UNRESOLVED.
+Known secrets: Knows the recycled rebar in the south pylon is oxidized beyond safe tolerances — [Marcus does NOT know].
+Arc: 55% — Forced to accept that he cannot "machine" his way out of an infection.
+Permanent: NO.
+
+## Sarah Jenkins
+Location: North Bank, Hydroponic Tier 1 (Containment)
+Physical: Healthy; wearing sealed bio-hazard gear.
+Emotional: Furious and clinical; views the outbreak as a "trophic spillover" from the city.
+Active obligations: Owes Marcus a seed-storage audit (Ch34) — UNPAID.
+Open loops: Sarah vs. Marcus [Architectural rigidity vs. Biological chaos] (Ch34) — UNRESOLVED.
+Known secrets: Knows the pathogen originated from the UBI-rationed synthetic mulch — [The group does NOT know].
+Arc: 35% — Transitioning from "Gardener" to "Field Surgeon" for the entire ecosystem.
+Permanent: YES (Has taken executive control over all "Living" sectors).
+
+## Elena Vance
+Location: Comms Van (Isolated)
+Physical: Severe fatigue; nosebleed recurring.
+Emotional: Paranoid; convinced the "Hard-Sector Reset" includes a bio-warfare component.
+Active obligations: Owes Marcus a localized JAM-radius (Ch16) — PAID.
+Open loops: Elena vs. UBI Sentinel Unit 7 [Audit Ping within 2km] (Ch34) — UNRESOLVED.
+Known secrets: Knows the city-state has initiated a "Hard-Sector Reset" on the Ocala exchange — [The group does NOT know].
+Arc: 30% — Seeing the community's biological "noise" as its greatest tactical vulnerability.
+Permanent: NO.
+
+# World State: ch-34
+
+## NPC Memory
+- UBI Sentinel Unit 7 (Ocala Perimeter): AGGRESSIVE — Within 2km of Cypress Bend; deploying signal-sniffers to track thermal plumes.
+
+## Faction Attitudes
+- The City-State: PURGE — Moving from digital sanitation to "Biological Decontamination" (scorched earth).
+
+## Active World Events
+- The Great Outbreak (Cypress Bend): Phase 1 (Incubation) complete; 15% of personnel symptomatic.
+- The Hard Freeze: 4 hours remaining; temperature dropping to 18°F.
+- The Ocala Reset: Phase 2 initiated; all mesh-nodes outside the sanctuary have been "darkened."