staging: character-state-ch-07.md task=eabf99c0-a1ea-44fe-a154-51f88ef8aa01

projects/whispers-in-the-dark/staging/character-state-ch-07.md

@@ -2,39 +2,39 @@
 
 ## Sarah Miller
 Location: The Miller Household, Second Floor Hallway.
-Physical: Severe auditory hemorrhaging; exhaustion; physical tremors; temporary deafness following the 110dB terminal burst.
-Emotional: Resolute but shattered; high-functioning shock.
+Physical: Severe auditory hemorrhaging; temporary deafness; exhaustion; physical tremors; scorched palms from electrical discharge.
+Emotional: High-functioning shock; hyper-fixated on data survival; wary.
 Active obligations: Owes Elias Thorne a logical explanation (ch-02) — UNPAID.
-Open loops: [Sarah] The cause of "ghost-looping" on her digital recorder (ch-02) — UNRESOLVED; [Sarah] Validation of 1927 occult chants overdubbing her recordings (ch-02) — UNRESOLVED; [Sarah] The veracity of the apparition's vision regarding Elias's death (ch-06) — UNRESOLVED.
+Open loops: [Sarah] The cause of "ghost-looping" on her digital recorder (ch-02) — UNRESOLVED; [Sarah] Validation of 1927 occult chants overdubbing her recordings (ch-02) — UNRESOLVED; [Sarah] The veracity of the apparition's vision regarding Elias's death (ch-06) — UNRESOLVED; [Sarah/Elias] Verification of the "Black Box" recording captured during the spike (ch-07) — UNRESOLVED.
 Known secrets: CARRIED (ch-01--unresolved): Monitoring her own recordings for vocal mimicry patterns; CARRIED (ch-02--unresolved): The signal is manifesting as 1927 occult chants; CARRIED (ch-06): The "Whispers" possess intimate knowledge of her past failures and professional shaming.
-Arc: 55% — Transitioned from a victim of the manifestation to an active investigator by weaponizing her own recording equipment against the entity.
+Arc: 55% — Weaponized her scientific equipment to force a physical repelling of the entity, transitioning from victim to combatant.
 Permanent: YES
 
 ## Elias Thorne
-Location: Archive Sub-Level 4 / Transitioning to Miller Household.
-Physical: No injuries; experiencing acute synchronization with the 14Hz hum.
-Emotional: Desperate; driven by a precognitive "pull" toward Sarah’s location.
+Location: The Miller Household, Second Floor Hallway.
+Physical: Heavy bruising from forced entry; minor lacerations from glass shards; auditory sensitivity.
+Emotional: Relieved but intensely unsettled; protective; hyper-vigilant.
 Active obligations: Owes Sarah Miller a logical explanation (ch-02) — UNPAID.
 Open loops: [Elias] The significance of the 1927 "Great Silence" signatures (ch-01) — UNRESOLVED; [Elias] The source of the "wet iron" scent (ch-02) — UNRESOLVED.
 Known secrets: CARRIED (ch-02--unresolved): Conviction that the signal is a sentient entity rewriting his biological rhythms; CARRIED (ch-01--unresolved): Signal frequency matches his pulse.
-Arc: 25% — Accepts that his fate and Sarah’s are tethered by the signal, moving from passive research to active rescue.
-Permanent: NO
+Arc: 35% — Successfully navigated the "pull" of the signal to reach Sarah, confirming the physical necessity of their partnership.
+Permanent: YES
 
 # World State: ch-07
 
 ## NPC Memory
-- The Whispers (Entities): Hostile — Attempted to manifest fully using Sarah’s audio equipment; momentarily repelled by a localized feedback loop.
+- The Whispers (Entities): Hostile — Dissipated by the constructive interference loop; left behind a residual "static" stain on the architecture.
 
 ## Faction Attitudes
-- Archive Administration: Hostile — (State carried: lockdown continues; monitoring Elias’s movement).
+- Archive Administration: Hostile — Elias has officially bypassed lockdown protocols and disappeared from their tracking.
 
 ## Active World Events
-- The Feedback Spike: Sarah successfully triggered a high-decibel recursion loop that disrupted the local manifestation, though it caused structural damage to her home and physical harm to herself.
-- The Convergence: Elias and Sarah are no longer investigating in parallel; the signal is actively orchesrating their physical meeting.
-- Audio Evolution: The signal has demonstrated the ability to use "dead" (unpowered) electronics as physical anchors for manifestations.
+- The Feedback Spike: A 110dB burst triggered by Sarah destroyed all local unshielded electronics and caused structural timber cracking in her home.
+- The Physical Union: Elias and Sarah have successfully met in person during an active manifestation.
+- Electronic Dead Zone: The Miller household is now a localized "dead zone" where the signal's influence is temporarily thinned by the feedback residue.
 
 ## Environmental Constants
 - Location: The Miller Residence.
-- Atmosphere: Ozone-heavy; smell of scorched copper and sulfur.
-- Lighting: Complete darkness; electronics fried by the feedback spike.
-- Audio: Temporary, ringing silence (The "Void" following the 110dB burst).
+- Atmosphere: Ozone-saturated; thick smell of burnt circuitry and copper.
+- Lighting: Pitch black; no utility power.
+- Audio: Absolute silence punctuated by the physical ringing in the characters' ears.