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+# Character State: ch-08
+
+## Sarah Miller
+- **Location:** Miller Household, Second Floor Hallway.
+- **Physical:** Profound bilateral tinnitus/deafness persisting; blood from ears crusted; tremors reduced but exhaustion deepening; supported by Elias.
+- **Emotional:** Tentative relief laced with tactical caution.
+- **Active obligations:** Owes Elias Thorne a logical explanation (ch-02) — UNPAID.
+- **Open loops:** [Sarah] Digital recorder "ghost-looping" (ch-02) — UNRESOLVED; [Sarah] Validation of 1927 occult chants (ch-02) — UNRESOLVED; [Sarah] The apparition’s vision of Elias’s death (ch-06) — UNRESOLVED.
+- **Known secrets:** CARRIED (ch-07--unresolved): Carries 1927 occult chant data -- Elias Thorne does NOT know; CARRIED (ch-07--unresolved): the "Whispers" weaponized her professional shaming against her -- Elias Thorne does NOT know.
+- **Arc:** 65% — Shattered skepticism evolves into active alliance; physically clings to Elias, accepting shared survival over solo analysis.
+- **Permanent:** YES
+
+## Elias Thorne
+- **Location:** Miller Household, Second Floor Hallway (with Sarah).
+- **Physical:** Minor cuts from glass shards; heightened senses attuned to silence; physically supporting Sarah.
+- **Emotional:** Protective resolve hardened by reunion; underlying fear of recurrence.
+- **Active obligations:** Owes Sarah a logical explanation (ch-02) — UNPAID.
+- **Open loops:** [Elias] 1927 "Great Silence" signatures (ch-01) — UNRESOLVED; [Elias] "Wet iron" scent origin (ch-02) — UNRESOLVED.
+- **Known secrets:** CARRIED (ch-07--unresolved): Signal matches his pulse (ch-01) -- Sarah Miller does NOT know; CARRIED (ch-07--unresolved): belief the signal is sentient/biological (ch-02) -- Sarah Miller does NOT know.
+- **Arc:** 40% — Passive scholarship fully yields to hands-on protector role; bodily shields Sarah, forging unbreakable tether.
+- **Permanent:** YES
+
+# World State: ch-08
+
+## NPC Memory
+- **The Whispers (Entities):** Hostile/Receding -- Repelled by feedback burst; failed to capitalize on silence void -- Remain destabilized, manifesting suppressed.
+
+## Faction Attitudes
+- **Archive Administration:** Hostile/Alert -- Lockdown active; Elias's protocol breach escalates monitoring.
+
+## Active World Events
+- **The Feedback Spike:** Resolved -- Electronics fried, structure damaged; aftereffects linger in silence.
+- **Convergence:** Active -- Elias reaches Sarah; duo unites physically amid void.
+- **The Silence:** Ongoing -- 14Hz hum neutralized post-spike; absolute quiet holds, no recurrence yet.
+
+## Environmental Constants
+- **Location:** Miller Residence.
+- **Atmosphere:** Ozone/sulfur dominant; scorched electronics.
+- **Lighting:** Total blackout persists.
+- **Audio:** Absolute silence; Sarah's tinnitus only sound.
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