Regarding the smallest unit possessing agency..
Particles in your formulation are topological deformations, unified on the 7-sphere at the extreme microscale, and due to the unique properties of S7 and the connection with the octonions, the question naturally arises. Do 'atoms of space' possess the property of agency (in some rudimentary form)? How about sub-atomic particles, photons, or physical atoms? The octonions and their algebra possess a kind of dynamism that is procedurally evolutive in requiring sequential operations performed in stages. Do topological deformations operating in octonionic space therefore possess agency?
Alain Connes famously wrote "Noncommutative measure spaces evolve with time!" and goes on to say they have a 'God-given set of automorphisms,' in his NCG 2000 paper. But describing the octonions, which are non-associative as well as non-commutative; P.C. Kainen wrote that these two properties need not be seen as an impediment to proper usage in Physics - as they force progressive or sequential ordering in a way that allows ease of geometrization, and naturally models the dynamism observed in Physics. This would suggest that your STUFT theory and its variations - being connected with the natural properties of S3 and S7 - WOULD confer at least a minimal degree of agency to structure in the universe and make Object Physics a subset rather than a complement of Agent Physics. Do you concur?
Have Fun,
Jonathan