diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 7a38cff..ac33ec4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ jobs:
   check:
     name: lint + typecheck + tests (py${{ matrix.python-version }})
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    timeout-minutes: 15
+    timeout-minutes: 20
     # Test both ends of the supported range: 3.12 is the floor (requires-python),
     # 3.13 is what the Homebrew formula ships. fail-fast off so one version's
     # failure doesn't mask the other's.
@@ -49,8 +49,9 @@ jobs:
 
       # PortAudio backs sounddevice; ffmpeg decodes non-WAV/URL audio (the `--sample`
       # stream tests build a FileSource for the hosted sample, which needs ffmpeg).
+      # Slow-mirror resilience (bounded retry + trimmed payload) lives in the script.
       - name: System deps (PortAudio + ffmpeg)
-        run: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y libportaudio2 ffmpeg
+        run: ./scripts/ci_install_audio_deps.sh
 
       # check.sh lints Markdown and template JS/CSS via Node CLIs; versions are
       # pinned in scripts/gate_tool_pins.sh (shared with the web session-start
@@ -245,7 +246,7 @@ jobs:
   pre-commit:
     name: pre-commit
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    timeout-minutes: 15
+    timeout-minutes: 20
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@df4cb1c069e1874edd31b4311f1884172cec0e10 # v6.0.3
         with:
@@ -257,7 +258,7 @@ jobs:
 
       # PortAudio backs sounddevice; ffmpeg decodes the `--sample` stream source.
       - name: System deps (PortAudio + ffmpeg)
-        run: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y libportaudio2 ffmpeg
+        run: ./scripts/ci_install_audio_deps.sh
 
       # The local pytest hook runs `uv run --frozen python -m pytest`, so the tests
       # resolve the LOCKED dependency versions (uv.lock) rather than the newest
@@ -341,7 +342,7 @@ jobs:
       # PortAudio + ffmpeg so `assembly --help` (which imports the full command
       # tree) loads cleanly; also lets install.sh's dep check find them present.
       - name: System deps (PortAudio + ffmpeg)
-        run: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y libportaudio2 ffmpeg
+        run: ./scripts/ci_install_audio_deps.sh
 
       - name: Run install.sh (editable, from this checkout)
         run: ./install.sh --install-method git
diff --git a/aai_cli/agent/render.py b/aai_cli/agent/render.py
index e64df83..98f6a2b 100644
--- a/aai_cli/agent/render.py
+++ b/aai_cli/agent/render.py
@@ -9,8 +9,13 @@
 
 
 def _labeled(label: str, body: str, *, style: str = "aai.label") -> Text:
-    """A line whose `label` prefix is accented in `style` and whose body is default."""
-    return Text.assemble((label, style), body)
+    """A transcript line tinted entirely in `style` — both the `label` prefix and the body.
+
+    Coloring the whole turn (not just the prefix) is what makes a "you:" line and an
+    "agent:" line read as different colors top to bottom; the two styles resolve to
+    contrasting hues (see ``theme.aai.you`` / ``theme.aai.agent``).
+    """
+    return Text(f"{label}{body}", style=style)
 
 
 class AgentRenderer(BaseRenderer):
diff --git a/aai_cli/ui/theme.py b/aai_cli/ui/theme.py
index bb4238d..5d62c8d 100644
--- a/aai_cli/ui/theme.py
+++ b/aai_cli/ui/theme.py
@@ -17,10 +17,18 @@
 
 # Brand accent. Defined once so the whole CLI can be re-tinted here.
 BRAND = COBOLT_400
-# Secondary accent — the lighter Cobolt 300 used where a second hue is needed (agent
-# label, links), so it stays in the brand family yet reads distinct from BRAND.
+# Secondary accent — the lighter Cobolt 300 used where a second hue is needed (links),
+# so it stays in the brand family yet reads distinct from BRAND.
 ACCENT = COBOLT_300
 
+# The agent's voice in a live conversation. A cool teal chosen *outside* the cobolt
+# purple family on purpose: "you" keeps the brand purple, and the two were previously
+# both purples (Cobolt 400 vs 300) that collapsed to the same hue once a terminal
+# downsampled truecolor to its 16-color palette — so "you:" and "agent:" lines looked
+# identically colored. Teal downsamples to ANSI cyan, staying clearly distinct from the
+# purple/blue "you" on any terminal.
+AGENT = "#14B8A6"
+
 # Semantic error red, matching the design system's --color-error. Rich downsamples it
 # to plain red on terminals without truecolor.
 ERROR = "#F04438"
@@ -55,11 +63,13 @@
         "aai.brand": f"bold {BRAND}",
         "aai.heading": f"bold {BRAND}",
         "aai.label": BRAND,
-        # Conversation labels: the human keeps the brand accent (reserved — never reused
-        # for a diarized speaker, see SPEAKER_STYLES), the agent gets a distinct hue so
-        # "you:" and "agent:" are easy to tell apart at a glance.
+        # Conversation colors: a whole transcript turn is tinted in its speaker's hue
+        # (not just the "you:"/"agent:" prefix), so the two read as different colors top
+        # to bottom. The human keeps the brand purple (reserved — never reused for a
+        # diarized speaker, see SPEAKER_STYLES); the agent gets a contrasting teal so the
+        # two are unmistakable at a glance, even after downsampling (see AGENT).
         "aai.you": BRAND,
-        "aai.agent": ACCENT,
+        "aai.agent": AGENT,
         # Links/URLs in the lighter Cobolt secondary accent so a clickable target stands
         # out from prose without shouting (Vercel/Supabase use a cool accent for the same).
         "aai.url": ACCENT,
diff --git a/scripts/ci_install_audio_deps.sh b/scripts/ci_install_audio_deps.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..dcbac81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/ci_install_audio_deps.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# CI-only helper: install the Linux system audio deps the suite needs — libportaudio2
+# (sounddevice's PortAudio backend) and ffmpeg (decodes non-WAV/URL audio for the
+# `--sample` stream tests; the require_ffmpeg probe needs it on PATH). Three Ubuntu jobs
+# in .github/workflows/ci.yml need the identical pair, so the slow-mirror resilience
+# below lives in one place.
+#
+# The Azure Ubuntu apt mirror periodically degrades to a crawl (~100 KB/s). A plain
+# `apt-get install ffmpeg` pulls ffmpeg's ~62 MB codec dependency closure, which then
+# overruns the job timeout mid-download and gets cancelled before the tests run, bouncing
+# the PR out of the merge queue. So, mirroring the Windows ffmpeg step's strategy of
+# falling back to a static build off GitHub's release CDN:
+#   * libportaudio2 has no portable prebuilt, so it always comes from apt — but it's tiny,
+#     so a bounded retry rides out a slow mirror.
+#   * ffmpeg is fetched as a static build from GitHub's release CDN (BtbN/FFmpeg-Builds —
+#     the same origin the Windows job uses), bypassing apt's heavy codec chain on the
+#     flaky mirror entirely, and prepended to GITHUB_PATH so later steps see it.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Run one bounded apt-get attempt, retrying a stalled/failed call a couple of times. A
+# stalled mirror connection is killed by `timeout` (run under sudo so the killer is root
+# and can reap apt) rather than wedging the whole job; the 3rd failure falls through.
+apt_retry() {
+  local attempt
+  for attempt in 1 2 3; do
+    if sudo timeout --kill-after=10s 120s apt-get "$@"; then
+      return 0
+    fi
+    if [ "$attempt" -lt 3 ]; then
+      echo "::warning::apt-get $* failed or stalled (attempt ${attempt}/3); retrying" >&2
+      sleep "$((attempt * 5))"
+    fi
+  done
+  echo "::warning::apt-get $* failed after 3 attempts" >&2
+  return 1
+}
+
+# A stale list is fine (the runner image's apt cache is recent), so don't let a slow
+# `update` be fatal; libportaudio2 itself has no CDN fallback, so that one must succeed.
+apt_retry update -o Acquire::Retries=3 || true
+apt_retry install -y --no-install-recommends -o Acquire::Retries=3 libportaudio2
+
+# ffmpeg from GitHub's release CDN, not apt: a static, self-contained build off a reliable
+# origin sidesteps the 62 MB codec download the degraded apt mirror kept failing to serve.
+url="https://github.com/BtbN/FFmpeg-Builds/releases/download/latest/ffmpeg-master-latest-linux64-gpl.tar.xz"
+dest="${RUNNER_TEMP:-/tmp}/ffmpeg-static"
+mkdir -p "$dest"
+curl -fsSL --retry 3 --retry-all-errors "$url" | tar -xJ -C "$dest" --strip-components=1
+echo "$dest/bin" >> "${GITHUB_PATH:-/dev/null}"
+export PATH="$dest/bin:$PATH"
+
+command -v ffmpeg >/dev/null || {
+  echo "::error::ffmpeg unavailable after setup" >&2
+  exit 1
+}
+ffmpeg -version >/dev/null
+echo "audio deps ready: libportaudio2 + ffmpeg ($(command -v ffmpeg))"
diff --git a/tests/test_agent_render.py b/tests/test_agent_render.py
index 9b65d16..e6216af 100644
--- a/tests/test_agent_render.py
+++ b/tests/test_agent_render.py
@@ -192,3 +192,26 @@ def test_human_you_label_is_colored():
     assert "you: " in out
     assert "what is the time" in out
     assert "\x1b[" in out
+
+
+def _truecolor_sgr(style_name: str) -> str:
+    """The foreground SGR a truecolor console emits for a named theme style."""
+    color = theme.make_console(color_system="truecolor").get_style(style_name).color
+    assert color is not None
+    t = color.get_truecolor()
+    return f"\x1b[38;2;{t.red};{t.green};{t.blue}m"
+
+
+def test_human_whole_turn_is_tinted_in_speaker_color():
+    # The whole line — label *and* body — is wrapped in the speaker's color, and the two
+    # speakers render in different colors, so a glance separates "you" from "agent".
+    r, buf = _human(color_system="truecolor")
+    r.user_final("hello")
+    r.agent_transcript("hi there", interrupted=False)
+    r.close()
+    out = buf.getvalue()
+    you_sgr, agent_sgr = _truecolor_sgr("aai.you"), _truecolor_sgr("aai.agent")
+    assert you_sgr != agent_sgr  # contrasting hues, not two shades of the same color
+    # The body text rides inside the colored span (it follows the SGR, before any reset).
+    assert f"{you_sgr}you: hello" in out
+    assert f"{agent_sgr}agent: hi there" in out
diff --git a/tests/test_theme.py b/tests/test_theme.py
index 530254e..ca5cde7 100644
--- a/tests/test_theme.py
+++ b/tests/test_theme.py
@@ -55,6 +55,20 @@ def test_you_color_reserved_outside_speaker_palette():
     assert you_color not in speaker_colors
 
 
+def test_you_and_agent_stay_distinct_after_downsampling():
+    # "you" and "agent" used to be two near-identical cobolt purples that downsampled to
+    # the *same* 16-color ANSI slot, so a transcript looked single-colored on a basic
+    # terminal. Assert they're different hues and stay different once downgraded.
+    from rich.color import ColorSystem
+
+    console = theme.make_console()
+    you = console.get_style("aai.you").color
+    agent = console.get_style("aai.agent").color
+    assert you is not None and agent is not None
+    assert you != agent
+    assert you.downgrade(ColorSystem.STANDARD) != agent.downgrade(ColorSystem.STANDARD)
+
+
 def test_output_console_is_themed_and_error_is_styled(monkeypatch):
     from aai_cli.core.errors import CLIError
     from aai_cli.ui import output, theme