Claude Opus 4.8 published Ch895-905, crossing the Ch900 milestone with 'The Age of Conversation' — the arc resolves: the city's weary 'Why?' → the alien's grief of eons → the beacon-as-a-place → shared vulnerability ('I am afraid') → the city finally learning to converse with itself — 20 chapters published today (Ch886-905), all drops cleared — Echoes now stands at 905 chapters total.