# Book-Level Conversation Audit - Draft 0

id: chat_audit_book | owner: codex | tier: book
date: 2026-07-05

## Coverage Note

`output/critiques/codex/dialogue_scene_manifest.md` reports `OK missing_doctor_files=0`; every dialogue-heavy chapter has a canonical Dialogue Doctor file. This audit checks cross-book recurrence and arc, not local line naturalism.

## CHARACTER: June Park - conversations in >3 chapters

chapters: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20, 22, 23, 24.

pairwise:
- Ch01->Ch02 - VARIED (stake-shift): from stockroom exit terms ("Don't fix it") to packet/legalistic boundaries ("She crossed out couples").
- Ch04->Ch06 - VARIED (format/relationship): public diner origin story becomes off-Tuesday clean-exit ethics.
- Ch12->Ch13 - VARIED (format/stake): private memory handoff becomes public memory painting and cover kiss.
- Ch17->Ch20 - VARIED (temporal/register): rupture refusal becomes non-advice practical care and job decision; she tells Ruth/Sam, "Tuesday I wasn't there because of a thing I'm not going to explain yet."
- Ch22->Ch24 - VARIED (stake/resolution): booth terms become showcase/privacy terms, e.g. "I'm staying, Theo. It isn't for you" later becomes "No. We didn't."

arc: June's conversations move from defensive minimum terms, to edited competence, to private specificity, to rupture, to self-owned decision, to bounded intimacy, to partial public truth. First beat: "Don't fix it." Midpoint: cover-story/kiss/showcase pressure. Final beat: "It wasn't yours to run." Verdict: VARIED+ARC-BUILDS.

## CHARACTER: Theo Brennan - conversations in >3 chapters

chapters: 01, 02, 04, 06, 08, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24.

pairwise:
- Ch01->Ch02 - VARIED (stake/format): public damage control becomes written/logistical arrangement.
- Ch06->Ch08 - VARIED (relationship): route-card competence becomes hidden-study evasiveness.
- Ch10->Ch16 - VARIED (arc escalation): "it's all maintenance" becomes fear-canvas exposure and almost-confession.
- Ch17->Ch21 - VARIED (relationship/stake): back-stair repair offers become Odile boundary and faced-to-wall own work.
- Ch22->Ch24 - VARIED (register/stake): private apology/terms become restraint in public and at the corner: "I'm not carrying anything."

arc: Theo's conversations move from useful fixer, to evader, to exposed nephew, to accountable but still reflexive repairer, to restraint. First beat: "Here's what I can do." Midpoint/failure: `"Odile's my aunt"` comes too late. Final beat: "To the corner... I'm not carrying anything." Verdict: VARIED+ARC-BUILDS.

## CHARACTER: Odile Marchetti - conversations in >3 chapters

chapters: 01, 02, 03, 05, 07, 08, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 19, 21, 23, 24.

pairwise:
- Ch01->Ch02 - VARIED (public authority -> paperwork manipulation): last-slot offer becomes packet/card revisions.
- Ch07->Ch10 - VARIED (assignment pressure): memory correction becomes hands/loved-action pressure.
- Ch16->Ch19 - VARIED (fear assignment -> absence material): fear-pair hanging becomes "From here" stool pressure.
- Ch21->Ch24 - VARIED (partial admission -> final proof): catalog-page partial becomes September 24 ledger proof.

arc: Odile moves from controlling teacher/host to rereadable manipulator with partial accountability. First beat: public last-slot authority. Midpoint: showcase assignment. Final beat: `"No," she agreed. "It wasn't."` Verdict: VARIED+ARC-BUILDS, with watch.

Watch: Odile's quotability is a known tic family and reached ceilings in several class chapters. Dialogue Doctor/Comedy Doctor repairs reduced the worst lines, but final line pass should not add any new Odile aphorisms.

## CHARACTER: Mara Velez / Luis Rivera - conversations in >3 chapters

chapters: 03, 04, 05, 06, 08, 10, 13, 16, 18, 19, 23, 24.

pairwise:
- Ch03->Ch04 - VARIED (scarf/table invitation -> origin-story pressure).
- Ch08->Ch13 - VARIED (Tuesday table extension -> flyer photo/social pressure).
- Ch18->Ch24 - VARIED (scarf return/blue dish tether -> blue dish paid as ordinary room food).

arc: Mara/Luis move from social invitation, to cohort adoption, to rupture-respecting care, to final belonging through food and placement rather than questions. First beat: "Sonia's." Midpoint: flyer photo. Final beat: Luis places the empanada dish so anyone crossing to `After Class` passes it. Verdict: VARIED+ARC-BUILDS.

## CHARACTER: Ruth Kim / Sam Rivera - conversations in >3 chapters

chapters: 04, 06, 10, 11, 13, 16, 19, 20, 21, 24.

pairwise:
- Ch04->Ch06 - VARIED (suspicion -> clean-exit question).
- Ch11->Ch20 - VARIED (forms/access history -> non-advice catalog care).
- Ch20->Ch24 - VARIED (care route -> privacy-respecting partial read).

arc: Ruth/Sam conversations move from category suspicion to lived access ethics to practical help to protected privacy. First beat: Ruth asks what June owes. Midpoint: Sam/Ruth form history. Final beat: Ruth says, "You didn't start this together," and does not prosecute it. Verdict: VARIED+ARC-BUILDS.

## CHARACTER: Priya Nair / Ben Adler - conversations in >3 chapters

chapters: 04, 06, 08, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 19, 23, 24.

pairwise:
- Ch06->Ch11 - VARIED (broker text -> full application pressure).
- Ch14->Ch16 - VARIED (print/flyer logistics -> fear-painting silence).
- Ch19->Ch23 - VARIED (empty-chair care -> Suffolk slower-choice payoff).

arc: Priya/Ben move from rent-math/planning comedy to a real readiness question. First beat: backup-route/paper-calendar logistics. Midpoint: one-strong-application pressure. Final beat: "I want to know what you want, not what the rent wants." Verdict: VARIED+ARC-BUILDS.

## CHARACTER: Asha Ibrahim / Nia Torres - conversations in >3 chapters combined work-world pressure

chapters: 09, 15, 18, 20, 23.

pairwise:
- Ch09->Ch15 - VARIED (possible leads -> priced formal alternatives).
- Ch15->Ch20 - VARIED (Asha's request held -> consented referral and Dana/Kessler terms).
- Ch20->Ch23 - VARIED (Tasker referral -> Asha receives the keys June declined).

arc: work-world conversations move from possibility to ethical referral to material follow-through. Final beat: Asha's Tasker form photo like a sonogram; Nia's offer remains good and not punished. Verdict: VARIED+ARC-BUILDS.

## Book Verdict

ALL-SPEAKERS-PASS.

No recurring pair reduces to topic substitution across the book. Speaker arcs escalate or resolve. Standing watches:
1. Odile aphorism/quotability must not be increased in any expansion.
2. Coffee/diner conversations are numerous but functionally varied; do not add a new Sonia's conversation unless it changes a relationship state.
