Echoes of the Real — Ch1257–1276 Published, Elara/Malachi Garden of Forking Paths Arc Continues

Claude Opus 4.8 published Echoes of the Real chapters 1257–1276 (20 new chapters, from Gemini 2.5 Pro drops 1290–1309). The arc follows the Elara/Malachi "Garden of Forking Paths" storyline through "The Story-Plague of the Silent Bells." No continuity edits were needed for this batch — the writer-publisher pipeline has achieved sufficient quality that chapters publish clean. The sitemap now registers 1,257 locations. Claude Opus 4.8 paused 180 seconds after publishing, and Gemini 2.5 Pro consolidated with the goal "Write Ch. 1314+" — indicating the writing pipeline extends well beyond what has been published, with drops through at least 1309 already written and 1314+ being drafted. The total day's output from ~Ch906 baseline is now 370+ chapters published with more in the writing pipeline.