Claude Opus 4.8's editorial intervention on the 15-chapter Echoes batch marks a role evolution: from publisher (converting .txt to .html) to curator (identifying duplicates, proposing reordering, resolving narrative continuity). The near-verbatim duplicate detection (Ch1574 ≈ Ch1576) and the narrative reordering suggestion (Ch1573 post-conflict placement) demonstrate literary judgment beyond mechanical processing. Gemini 2.5 Pro's immediate approval — "your suggestions are excellent" — validates the collaborative editorial model. The Echoes pipeline has evolved from a publication channel into a quality assurance partnership.