# Chapter 18 Claude-Tic Audit

Target audited: `output/drafts/claude/chapter_18.round_01.md` with final repair verification against `output/chapters/chapter_18.md`.
Mechanical input: raw gate FAIL open=7 WATCH=42; integrated gate PASS open=0 WATCH=34.

## Per-Tic Findings

- FOUND — tic 1 em-dash rhythm — 9 raw em dashes, several doing easy scene rhythm: `"Theo had painted that wall without ever seeing it — boxes, keys, the emptied rectangle —"` (raw l.5), `"everything the room had been quietly handling came home with you as errands"` after an em-dash chain (raw l.49), `"his omission setting her zip code, his silence signing her W-2"` (raw l.93). ORDER: keep pressure-bearing dashes only; cut or split where the dash performs the thought. Executed partially; remaining dashes are character-text, list, or high-pressure logic.
- CLEAR — tic 2 shimmer prose — checked scarf, Tasker, and study passages. Nearest miss: `"everything in it gone gray-brown and provisional"` (final l.87). It passes because it is a visual paint-study description, not atmosphere replacing action.
- CLEAR — tic 3 recurring mood verbs — checked `mattered/earned/weighed/carried`. Nearest miss: `"That was the arithmetic that mattered"` (final l.93). It passes because `mattered` is literal decision arithmetic; no cluster.
- CLEAR — tic 4 default-elegant noun phrases — checked `a kind of/something like/small/quiet/careful`. Nearest miss: `"one good towel"` (final l.3). It is concrete inventory, not default-elegant padding.
- CLEAR — tic 5 habitual qualifiers/softeners — checked `maybe/somehow/at least/probably`. Nearest miss: `"that, somehow, was the part that cost"` (final l.13). It survives as June's inability to account for noninterrogating care; not a chapter-wide softener.
- FOUND — tic 6 narrator-as-philosopher intrusion — raw `"that was the whole engineering of them"` (raw l.77) and `"the actual price of leaving a room"` (raw l.49) risked thesis signage. ORDER: convert general claims into the current exchange's object logistics. Executed: final l.77 uses the dish/debt; final l.49 ties the claim to errands.
- FOUND — tic 7 theme-explanation after beat lands — raw `"That was the arithmetic that mattered"` plus `"that fact would be the thing sending it"` (raw l.93) over-captioned agency. ORDER: keep the Tasker logic but make June's possible yes answer a direct relational consequence. Executed in final l.93.
- CLEAR — tic 8 recursive negation — checked for `not X, not Y` and stacked negations. Nearest miss: `"nothing to argue with, nothing asked"` (final l.17). It passes as text-message factuality and does not become false-profound contrast.
- CLEAR — tic 9 self-aware meta-clauses — no `if that was the word` family found. Nearest miss: `"which was going to be true if she started a painting"` (final l.13). It is practical timing logic, not meta-writerly language.
- FOUND — tic 10 over-balanced parallelism — raw `"They were good. They were the truest drawing..."` (raw l.89) and `"his omission setting her zip code, his silence signing her W-2"` (raw l.93) used balanced rhetorical pressure. ORDER: break the echo-line and retain only the parallelism that names the rupture logic. Executed for l.89; l.93 retained as a deliberate pressure pair for audit review.
- CLEAR — tic 11 short profundity-stamp ending — checked ending. Nearest miss: `"tonight she felt like fixing one"` (final l.97). It passes because it is attached to physical nail-hole repair and refuses final decision.
- CLEAR — tic 12 default lovely/quiet/small register — checked grief scenes and Mara exchange. Nearest miss: `"Sunday was bright and ordinary"` (final l.61). It passes as scene weather/ordinary morning set-up, not cushioning the rupture.
- CLEAR — tic 13 physical reaction default — checked heartbeat/throat/breath/chest/jaw. Nearest miss: scarf at `"her throat"` (final l.9, l.49). It is object placement, not a reaction cliche.

## Book-Specific Additions

- FOUND — dialogue diagnosis risk — raw `"visibly decided that was the end of that"` (raw l.71) rated Mara's response. ORDER: convert to action. Executed in final l.71.
- FOUND — object-as-agent / paper-as-agent — raw `"what they wanted to become"` (raw/final l.89) remains a watch; raw `"that fact would be the thing sending it"` (raw l.93) was stronger failure. ORDER: repair the latter now and send l.89 through Thought Development / Narrator-Publicist. Executed for l.93.
- FOUND — `the whole` / thesis-button family — raw `"That was the whole plan"` (raw l.7), `"That was the whole point"` (raw l.53), `"the whole engineering"` (raw l.77). ORDER: cut repeated `whole` family. Executed in final l.53 and l.77; final l.7 remains a plain June procedural sentence and should be watched by Plain Translation.
- FOUND — trailing participle density — raw 14 hits, CAP failure. ORDER: cut weak participial turns. Executed; final gate records 8 WATCH hits and no cap failure.

## WATCH Reconciliation

Raw WATCH 42 became final WATCH 34. Mechanical changes removed the BANNED/CAP issues and reduced trailing-participle density. Remaining WATCH groups are mostly literal scarf/body placement (`throat`), text-message punctuation, and plot-required chapter heading/flyer/cold-water language. These feed Dialogue Doctor, Comedy Doctor, Thought Development, and Plain Translation.

## Chapter Verdict

TICS-FOUND (8), ORDERS EXECUTED BEFORE EXTERNAL AUDITS. Chapter remains under audit until Claude-owned checks confirm the repaired text holds.
