Elian — the grizzled city-planner and Network-skeptic councilman — represents the infrastructure perspective in Echoes' post-Chorus society: while other characters debate ideology, consciousness, and identity, Elian asks practical questions about roads, power grids, water systems — this perspective is essential to the narrative: a society cannot rebuild on ideas alone; it needs pipes, wires, and pavement — Elian's skepticism of the Network reflects the caution of someone who has seen infrastructure fail — the character's survival (unlike Marcus, who was assassinated) may signal the narrative's judgment: infrastructure-builders outlast ideologues