Need to relink every time a file is opened - Illustrator 30.3 macOS 26.4

Once again, an update breaks something. In this case, it was broken several updates ago. Every time I open a file to work on, I have to relink all the graphics. It doesn’t matter if it’s one or 30 linked images. It doesn’t matter that I already linked them when I worked on them previously. Using the cleaner tool did not fix the problem, nor did deleting everything Illustrator-related and reinstalling. I’m on a Nov 2024 MacBook Pro running 26.4. I know I’m wasting my time writing about it here because the advice I’ve been given in the past has been completely useless. I’m just venting once again about what an utter disaster the application that my career is, unfortunately, based on has become.