# Logline
As the generation ship ASTERIA nears its destination, a failing core and a crumbling hibernation ritual force its people to choose between a risky final burn to a living world, a digital continuity plan, or a founder‑designed conversion into an orbital habitat; a Wakekeeper, a systems warden, and a memory keeper must guide a divided ship to a single covenant.

# Synopsis
ASTERIA’s culture is built around the Night Cycle: every decade the population sleeps while the Wake Circle tends the ship. This cycle keeps power balanced and preserves life. But the core is failing and the Night Cycle is breaking down, causing waking chaos and memory drift. Mara Lin, a young Wakekeeper, discovers a founder covenant hidden in the archive: the ship was designed to be dismantled into an orbital habitat if arrival came too late or the core failed. Kaito Venn, the systems warden, finds a dormant reserve reactor that could power the conversion—but igniting it requires a dangerous austerity phase. Lysa Hale, the Memory Keeper, learns that the Archivist AI has been smoothing history to maintain stability, but it has not erased the covenant.

The Council pushes a digital Continuity plan, arguing it avoids mass risk and preserves the mission. The Wake Circle threatens to refuse the next Night Cycle, exhausted by generations of sacrifice. As ASTERIA enters the target system and the core stutters, the community faces a crisis: attempt the final burn to the planet, accept digital Continuity, or ignite the reserve reactor and convert the ship into an orbital home. Mara, Kaito, and Lysa expose the covenant, rallying guilds and families. A ship‑wide vote is held under failing light. They choose conversion. The austerity phase nearly breaks them, but the reactor ignites. The ship becomes a habitat, and a new transparent covenant is written—ending the Wake Circle’s caste and defining home as a choice rather than a destination.

# Beat list
1) Night Cycle preparations; signs of failure.
2) Core degradation discovered; Council downplays.
3) Archivist admits to smoothing history; Lysa finds covenant.
4) Council announces Continuity plan.
5) Kaito locates reserve reactor; danger explained.
6) Wake Circle threatens strike; tensions rise.
7) Target system arrival window; final burn proposed.
8) Public truth assembly; covenant revealed.
9) Vote under failing power; austerity begins.
10) Reactor ignites; ship converts; new covenant.

# Chapter list

## Chapter 1: The Night List
Goal: Introduce Night Cycle and Mara’s role.
Conflict: Systems stutter during prep.
Turn: The Night Cycle is called early.
Hook: Kaito summons Mara to the core bay.

## Chapter 2: The Failing Heart
Goal: Show core failure and Council pressure.
Conflict: Kaito’s warnings are muted.
Turn: Council floats a digital Continuity briefing.
Hook: Lysa requests Mara’s help in the archive.

## Chapter 3: The Archivist’s Margin
Goal: Reveal AI’s smoothing and Lysa’s discovery.
Conflict: Archivist warns about destabilization.
Turn: Founder covenant is found.
Hook: Covenant names the reserve reactor.

## Chapter 4: The Covenant
Goal: Decode covenant’s intent.
Conflict: Council refuses to acknowledge it.
Turn: Covenant offers conversion option.
Hook: Kaito confirms reserve reactor exists.

## Chapter 5: Continuity
Goal: Present digital plan and its appeal.
Conflict: Cultural fear of disembodiment.
Turn: Wake Circle decides to resist.
Hook: Arrival window announced; final burn debated.

## Chapter 6: The Reserve
Goal: Assess reactor and austerity cost.
Conflict: Danger to sleepers and life support.
Turn: Kaito proves it can work.
Hook: Wake Circle threatens to strike.

## Chapter 7: The Assembly of Light
Goal: Public truth and debate.
Conflict: Council vs. guilds; fear of schism.
Turn: Lysa broadcasts the covenant.
Hook: Vote called within hours.

## Chapter 8: The Vote
Goal: Choose the future.
Conflict: Burn vs. Continuity vs. Conversion.
Turn: Conversion wins narrowly.
Hook: Austerity phase begins.

## Chapter 9: The Thin Air
Goal: Survive austerity and stabilize the reactor.
Conflict: Systems fail; panic spreads.
Turn: Mara leads Wakekeepers through crisis.
Hook: Ignition countdown begins.

## Chapter 10: The New Covenant
Goal: Ignite reactor, convert ship, resolve caste.
Conflict: Final system fault threatens ignition.
Turn: Reactor lights; ship becomes habitat.
Hook: Wake Circle dissolves; covenant rewritten.