chapter 17 input made

chapters/book2/CLAUDE.md

@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ The Mallory focusing crystal (pre-Compact artifact, sold by Leon for 1,200 silve
 Phelan's team assembles a plan to save Kae rather than kill him. The chapter's core engine is Phelan processing the Ch 9 Flaw Sight fragments -- the noise parenthetical data he couldn't interpret during combat. Mere's earlier observation that the bracelet and crystal seemed to "know each other" (both pre-Compact artifacts) clicks as the key insight: the artifacts already performed a handshake during the Ch 9 drain. Phelan doesn't need to forge credentials -- the bracelet already authenticated with the crystal's ledger. He has the key; he just didn't know it. Mere's herbalism research (from Devod's bedside in Ch 13-14) provides the bridge treatment -- not a cure, but ~80% pain management to replace the crystal's diminishing returns. Devod contributes from recovery ("ten ideas, one genius" -- survival methodology, not personality quirk, now understood through Pathfinder context). **The Mere Misread:** Phelan goes silent during processing and Mere interprets his stillness as emotional detachment -- pulling away after everything with Devod. It's actually hyperfocus, a trait they share but she hasn't recognized in him yet (hers manifests as intense physical presence; his as absence). The misread resolves when his silence breaks with the solution -- brief sting, quick recovery. A relationship pattern they'll work on across books. The plan has three parts: warn/protect Brida from Kae's targeting, infiltrate the Compact safehouse while Kae is out, and work the crystal exploit. Chapter ends with both Mere and Phelan finally sleeping after days of running on fumes -- earned rest before the operational chapters. **Moved from Ch 11:** The Reversal beat (Mere misreads Phelan's processing silence) lives here. The three-way Thresholds collaboration resolution moves to Ch 21.
 
 **Chapter 17: The Approach**
-Executing the approach -- intelligence gathering and team positioning. Ledger brings two pieces of intel: Kae has been seen near a rundown house by the docks (ironically near Phelan's old one-room shack -- he's walked past it for over a year), and Kae is targeting Brida Voss (cleaning up loose ends -- attacking his own former protectors, a clear sign of deterioration and Cass's control). Ledger identifies the rundown house as a Compact safehouse -- Kae is fully back under Cass's control. The Compact targeted Phelan's family; all rules are out. Carson warns Brida -- she's his flock, he'd do that -- and Brida agrees to help despite being targeted. The tipping point: Phelan tells her the plan is to *help* Kae, not kill him. She understands the man is in pain. Brida provides intelligence about Kae's patterns and movements. Team positions for the operation: Leon to protect Brida and intercept Kae when he comes for her (head-on, pure Leon), Phelan and Ledger to infiltrate the safehouse while Kae is away. Ledger knows Compact safehouse protocols -- security patterns, ward configurations, access methods. Chapter ends with the team in position, tension building.
+**Note:** Ledger's intel delivery (safehouse location + Brida as Kae's next target) was absorbed into Ch16 during drafting. Ch17 opens with the plan already established and focuses on team assembly and positioning. Day 15 (Sunday/Godsday equiv.). Opens at Millford Street. Leon briefing is a full scene (first on-page since Ch14) -- learns the save-not-kill plan, guilt thread surfaces, accepts the intercept role. Carson warns Brida (his flock). Phelan tells Brida the plan is to *help* Kae, not kill him -- the tipping point. She agrees, provides intel on Kae's patterns. Ledger walks Phelan through Compact safehouse protocols -- security patterns, ward configurations, access methods. Gear logistics: Phelan retrieves Carter's jacket from Chandler's Row (ore studs, ~20% absorption -- needed for infiltration). Team positions for the operation: Leon at Brida's to intercept Kae (head-on, pure Leon), Phelan and Ledger staging for the safehouse. Chapter ends with everyone in position, tension building.
 
 **Chapter 18: Into the Fire**
 The infiltration. Two parallel operations running simultaneously, cutting between them for tension. **The Safehouse:** Ledger gets Phelan in -- he knows Compact protocols, teaches Phelan a trick or two about their security (Phelan learns something sneaky from Ledger about breaking in). Phelan works the crystal exploit using the bracelet's existing authentication from the Ch 9 handshake. The bracelet already has the key; the crystal's overuse means its authentication is loose -- the forgery doesn't need to be perfect. Phelan revokes Kae's operator status and rewrites the crystal's logic so anyone operating it becomes a target instead. **Ledger witnesses everything** -- he's right there, seeing the full extent of what Flaw Sight can do. Not a secondhand report, not arcane residue -- Phelan's hands on a pre-Compact artifact doing something that shouldn't be possible. **The Intercept:** Leon positions at Brida's, intercepting Kae when he arrives to target her. Leon puts himself between Kae and Brida -- personal for him given his guilt about the crystal victims. Combat tension, but containment rather than elimination. Leon is protecting, not attacking. This is something concrete he can *do* about his guilt.