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+# Mere Fields — Character Bible
+
+---
+
+## Core Identity
+
+- **Full Name:** Mere Fields
+- **Known As:** "Mere" (everyone), surname "Fields" (formal)
+- **Age:** [TBD — keep consistent once established]
+- **Occupation:** [TBD]
+- **Home:** Lives with her mother (as of Book 1 opening). Wants out.
+
+---
+
+## Physical Description
+
+<!-- Height, build, coloring, distinguishing features, how she carries herself, what people notice first. -->
+
+[TBD — establish before or during Ch2 drafting]
+
+---
+
+## Personality
+
+### Core Traits
+- **High-functioning autistic** — top-notch pattern recognition, processes the world through systems and logic
+- **Brutally honest** — says exactly what she means, doesn't realize (or care) how her comments land
+- **Anti-social by preference** — hates people, loves animals. This isn't shyness; it's a considered position
+- **Extremely goal-oriented** — identifies what she wants, sees no reason to wait, moves toward it with uncomfortable directness
+- **Not a damsel** — has her own agenda, skills, and opinions about Phelan's methods
+
+### How She Processes People
+- No subtext. She says what she means and assumes others do too.
+- Reads patterns in behavior but not emotional nuance — she can predict what people will *do* without understanding why they *feel* that way
+- Phelan's cold-reading breaks against her because there's nothing hidden to read. This is what makes her interesting to him.
+
+### Relationship With Emotion
+- Her love for Phelan is the only emotional attachment she has — and she may not frame it in emotional terms
+- Shows care through actions, logistics, and presence rather than words
+- Doesn't perform feelings. If she's upset, she states it like a fact. If she's happy, she might not mention it at all.
+
+---
+
+## Skills & Competencies
+
+- Pattern recognition (rival to Phelan's, but applied differently — she sees behavioral/structural patterns; he sees magical ones)
+- [TBD — her professional skills, knowledge areas, what makes her independently capable]
+
+---
+
+## Backstory
+
+### Family
+- **Mother:** Controlling, overbearing. Mere lives with her as of Book 1. The relationship is suffocating. Mere needs out.
+- **Father (Devod Fields):** Divorced from mother. Mother hates him. Mere knows where he lives but has no real connection to him at this point. No active relationship.
+- **Parents' divorce:** Details [TBD]. Mother's hatred of Devod is established but reasons not yet explored.
+
+### History
+- [TBD — childhood, education, how she developed her skills, what shaped her worldview]
+
+---
+
+## Relationships
+
+| Character | Relationship | Status (Current) |
+|-----------|-------------|-------------------|
+| Phelan Varrant | Love interest — early attraction phase | Thinks he's cute, charming, odd. Interested. |
+| Mother (name TBD) | Daughter — strained | Living together, Mere wants out. Controlling dynamic. |
+| Devod Fields | Daughter — disconnected | Knows where he lives. No active relationship. |
+
+---
+
+## Wants vs. Needs
+
+- **Wants:** Independence from her mother. A living situation that makes sense. To be left alone by people who drain her. To be with someone who doesn't require her to perform normalcy.
+- **Needs:** Connection she won't seek on her own — Phelan, and eventually her father. To learn that emotional attachment isn't a weakness in her system.
+
+---
+
+## Voice & Dialog Notes
+
+- Speaks in declarative statements. Rarely asks questions unless genuinely seeking information.
+- No hedging, no softening. "Your shirt doesn't fit well" not "Have you thought about maybe trying a different size?"
+- Occasionally says something devastatingly perceptive that she considers obvious.
+- Doesn't do small talk. Conversations with her either have a point or don't happen.
+- When she *does* express something emotionally vulnerable, it comes out as a factual observation: "I prefer when you're here" rather than "I miss you."
+
+---
+
+## Character Progression
+
+*This section tracks how Mere evolves as the story progresses. Each entry is canon once the corresponding chapter is finalized. Add new entries as chapters establish new facts, shifts, or developments.*
+
+### Book 1
+
+| Chapter | Development | Category |
+|---------|-------------|----------|
+| — | *No finalized chapters yet* | — |
+
+<!--
+Categories: mindset, goal, relationship, skill, revelation, personality
+
+Example entries:
+| Ch02 | Pitches moving in with Phelan — first time she's initiated something emotionally risky (framed as practical) | goal, relationship |
+| Ch07 | Learns something about Devod that shifts her indifference | revelation, relationship |
+| Ch12 | Shows unexpected competence in [area] during the case climax | skill |
+-->
+
+### Book 2
+<!-- Future -->
+
+### Book 3
+<!-- Future -->
+
+---
+
+## Open Questions
+
+*Decisions to make as the character develops. Remove entries as they get resolved in prose.*
+
+- [ ] Physical description — what does she look like?
+- [ ] Age — relative to Phelan (early-to-mid 30s)?
+- [ ] Occupation — what does she do for income?
+- [ ] What was she browsing in the magical components section of the herbal shop? (Ch1 seed)
+- [ ] What are her independent skills beyond pattern recognition?
+- [ ] Mother's name?
+- [ ] What specifically makes the mother "controlling"?
+- [ ] How/when did Mere first meet Phelan?