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+# Character State: ch-17
+
+## Lena Duval
+Location: The Heart Tree (Siphon Hub Core)
+Physical: Fully integrated; bioluminescent skin; physical form is a vessel for the Great Hum.
+Emotional: Transhuman serenity; protective "gator's truth" instinct.
+Active obligations: Maintaining the Veil (Ch-16) -- UNPAID; sustaining the emergent swamp ecosystem (Ch-16) -- UNPAID.
+Open loops: The Silver Locket fused to the Tree (Ch-16) -- UNRESOLVED.
+Known secrets: CARRIED (Ch-16--unresolved): The complete kinetic and ancestral memory of the Duval line.
+Arc: 100% -- Transition complete; she is the permanent sovereign of the singularity.
+Permanent: YES
+
+## Jax Harlan
+Location: Inner Perimeter / Security Annex
+Physical: Green Fever iridescent scarring; immune to toxins.
+Emotional: Resolute; loyal; peaceful in the silence.
+Active obligations: Neutralizing the TDC Black Box (Ch-16) -- UNPAID; patrolling the physical perimeter (Ch-16) -- UNPAID.
+Open loops: Final decommissioning of the shielded transmitter (Ch-16) -- UNRESOLVED.
+Known secrets: CARRIED (Ch-16--unresolved): Precise frequency and location of the hidden TDC uplink.
+Arc: 100% -- Fully accepted his role as the blade and shield of the Heart Tree.
+Permanent: YES
+
+# World State: ch-17
+
+## NPC Memory
+- Duval Elders (Cypress Bend): DEVOTED -- They have transitioned into acolytes, tending the Heart Tree roots as a religious duty.
+- TDC Survivors (External): BROKEN -- Retreating forces have classified the region as an "Absolute Loss" and "Biological Singularity."
+
+## Faction Attitudes
+- The Great Hum: DOMINANT -- The intelligence is sovereign and no longer reactive to industrial threats.
+- Terrebonne Development Corp (TDC): DEFUNCT -- Focused on containment and burial of corporate crimes rather than extraction.
+
+## Active World Events
+- The Grand Recission: FINAL PHASE -- Transformation of TDC infrastructure into bio-matter is nearly 100% complete.
+- The Great Silence: PERMANENT -- Electronic failure zone (5-mile radius) where the Hum drowns out all external signals.
+
+## Key Objects/Locations
+- The Heart Tree: Neural center and Lena’s anchor; the source of the Great Hum.
+- The Silver Locket: Calcified into bark; the last repository of Lena’s human identity.
+- The TDC Black Box: Final piece of un-reclaimed technology within the Security Annex.
+- The Siphon Hub: A "cathedral of greenery"; the primary interface between the Tree and the physical world.
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