# Surprise Audit - Chapter 18

id: surprise_audit | owner: codex | target: `output/chapters/chapter_18.md`

- `SURPRISE-PRESENT — absence becomes labor, not rumination` — expected rupture aftermath would be waiting for Theo; the chapter instead gives scarf washing, catalog boxing, studies, a draft email, and spackle.
- `SURPRISE-PRESENT — Mara's care misfires` — the warm expected beat is not pure comfort: June starts `"I don't think I—"` and Mara routes around it into logistics.
- `SURPRISE-PRESENT — Tasker is neither accepted nor rejected` — expected panic escape is resisted through cursor/draft action rather than a declaration.
- `SURPRISE-PRESENT — studies are suppressed` — the strongest drawings are turned face down instead of becoming a romantic message.

Chapter verdict: `SURPRISE-WORKING`.

REVISION ORDERS: none.
