# Chapter 17 Input — The Approach

## Scene Goals

### Scene 1: Wake at Millford Street
- Day 15 (Sunday/Godsday equiv.). Phelan wakes at Millford Street — Devod's room above the tanner's shop. Everyone slept (earned rest from Ch16)
- Brief Mere/Devod beat. Devod improving — Day 4 post-draining, stronger than yesterday. Mere already working (she doesn't stay still long)
- Transition to operational mode. The plan from Ch16 is in Phelan's head — now it needs people. Today is assembly and positioning
- **Gear logistics:** Phelan needs Carter's jacket from Chandler's Row (ore studs, ~20% magical absorption — relevant for safehouse infiltration). Either stops there en route or someone brings it

### Scene 2: Leon Briefing — Full Scene
- Leon hasn't been on-page since Ch14 (soundstone report, street witness found). This is his return
- Phelan explains the three-part plan: Leon intercepts Kae at Brida's, Phelan + Ledger infiltrate the safehouse, Mere bridges treatment
- **Key beat:** Leon learns the plan is to *save* Kae, not kill him. His reaction — the guilt thread surfaces. The crystal he sold enabled this weapon. He watched Devod drained in Ch13 (the father parallel — his own father hurt by bandits, Devod hurt by what Leon's sale enabled). Saving Kae instead of killing him hits differently
- Accepts the intercept role. Putting himself between Kae and a target — first time he's committed to physical risk for someone else's plan. Not freelancing — *serving*. He'd hate that word. Does it anyway
- Fire combat dynamic acknowledged — his fire is better than Phelan's for head-on containment. This is the right role for him
- The "stay or bolt" thread from Ch10 pays off. He stayed then. This is harder — and he stays again

### Scene 3: Carson and Brida
- Carson warns Brida — she's his flock, he'd do that. Could be on-page or reported through Carson
- Phelan tells Brida the plan is to *help* Kae, not kill him. The tipping point — she understands the man is in pain. She sheltered him because Elara asked. She reported Elara's disappearance to the Compact and got nothing
- Brida agrees to help despite being targeted. Provides intelligence about Kae's patterns and movements — when he comes and goes, what his routines look like
- Brida's cooperation enables the timing of the two simultaneous operations

### Scene 4: Ledger Safehouse Prep
- Ledger walks Phelan through Compact safehouse protocols — security patterns, ward configurations, access methods, rotating seals
- This is where his institutional knowledge becomes operational. He knows these buildings from the inside
- Practical detail that sets up Ch18's infiltration — the reader needs enough to understand the challenge without a full technical briefing
- Ledger's commitment is already made (Ch16: "I can get you in"). This scene is the homework

### Scene 5: Positioning
- Team moves into place. Leon to Brida's location. Phelan and Ledger staging for the safehouse approach
- Mere's treatment ready — she stays with Devod or positions where she can access Kae post-operation
- Chapter ends with everyone in position. The coiled-spring feeling — tension building, everything about to happen

## Key Dialog
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## Character Moments
- **Phelan:** Operational mode — cold, precise, running the plan. But the Millford Street opening is warm (the quiet after earned rest). The irony of the safehouse near his old shack is worth a beat — he walked past it for over a year
- **Leon (full scene):** The save-not-kill reveal is the emotional centre. His guilt about the crystal sale has been building since Ch4. The intercept role gives him something concrete he can *do* about it — not absolution, but action. The freelancer choosing to serve someone else's plan
- **Mere:** Operational. Her herbal treatment is the third leg of the plan — without it, saving Kae is mercy, not a solution. Phelan's trust in her expertise is implicit, not stated. She's preparing, not waiting
- **Devod:** Day 4 post-draining. Present but not operational — his contribution was Ch16's genius idea. Here he's recovering, watching his plan get executed. The quiet confidence of a man who believes he'll be heard (earned in Ch16)
- **Carson:** Flock-tending. Warns Brida because that's what he does. The jacket, the network, the quiet infrastructure that makes operations possible
- **Brida Voss:** Returns from Ch14. Targeted by Kae but agrees to help because the plan is to save him. She cared about Kae — Elara asked her to shelter him. She's not a passive victim; she's choosing to participate
- **Ledger:** Shifts from intelligence to operations. He committed in Ch16; here he delivers the practical knowledge. The professional risk is already accepted — now it's execution

## Mood / Tone
- **Scene 1:** Quiet, warm — the aftermath of earned rest. Brief before the chapter shifts to operational
- **Scene 2:** Weight. Leon's briefing carries emotional gravity — the guilt thread, the commitment. Not heavy-handed, but present
- **Scene 3:** Carson/Brida — community, loyalty, the flock. Brida's agreement is the human centre of the chapter
- **Scene 4:** Technical, methodical — Ledger's competence on display. The reader trusts the plan because Ledger knows the building
- **Scene 5:** Coiled spring. Everyone in position. Tension without action. The "before the storm" energy
- **Overall:** Pacing is methodical and precise — planning and positioning, not action yet. Building toward Ch18's infiltration

## Freeform Notes
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