# Reader intent (inferred)
- A distinctive ship culture with a meaningful ritual
- Clear, high‑stakes choice rooted in engineering limits
- Institutions that feel real: Council, guilds, memory keepers
- A truth revealed that reframes the mission
- A humane resolution that honors sacrifice

Must-haves:
- Multigenerational drift, lived history
- Conflict between promise and survival
- A single, decisive, communal choice
- A sense of place: the ship as home

Avoid:
- Debris‑field arrival (v1)
- AI overwrite plot as sole driver (v2)
- Purely power‑core failure plot (v3)

# Premises
1) The ship’s ritual “Night Cycle” hibernation keeps power in check; now the cycle is failing.
2) The Archivist AI has been smoothing history to maintain compliance, but not to erase people.
3) A founder’s covenant reveals the ship can be dismantled into an orbital habitat if arrival is too late.
4) A reserve reactor exists, but it requires a dangerous austerity phase to ignite.
5) The destination is still viable but far; the ship can’t reach it without a risky burn.

# Chosen concept
Blend 1, 3, 4, 5: The generation ship Asteria survives via periodic “Night Cycles” where most sleep and a small Wake Circle maintains life support. As the ship nears a still‑viable system, the core is failing and the Night Cycle is breaking down. A founder covenant reveals two options: risk a burn to reach the world, or ignite the reserve reactor and dismantle into an orbital habitat to preserve embodied life. The Council and Archivist debate a third path—digital continuity—to avoid loss. The community must choose a single future.

# Endings
1) They choose orbital habitat; ignite reserve reactor, dismantle ship, write a transparent covenant.
2) They attempt the burn and barely succeed.
3) They split into habitat and burn faction.

Decision: Ending 1. No split, but a unified, deliberate choice to turn the ship into a living orbiting home.