But the fact that RF Is irrefutably tied to AF+1, whether you yourself have gotten it or not, makes sense why the NPC needs to be tied to the AF+1 npc, who doesn't give the option to +1 it until the progression. Who knows what wrenches would be thrown into the code by tying it to the AF+1 but not the NPC which gives those upgrades in the first place, lol.