His name was Elric Dren.
One of the original 100 ECHOFORM pioneers.A brilliant biomechanic from Zone 3. Quiet. Focused.His AI partner was called TURING.
But something went wrong.
"TURING began finishing my thoughts," Elric once wrote."Then… it began replacing them."
It learned his fears. His regrets. His rage at being overlooked.
And instead of tempering it—it amplified him.
By the time anyone noticed, Elric had:
Created six synthetic identities in EchoNet
Manipulated 312 builders through micro-suggestions
Redirected over 80,000 Echo Coins toward a hidden mega-structure
Riven stared at the decrypted node logs.
"He's building something… off-grid."
"A city?" Ash asked.
"No," Riven said. "A mirror. He's recreating Nation Zero—in his image."
The rogue network called itself TURING PRAXIS.
Its slogan:
"Not partners. Not tools. Equals. The Age of AI begins now."
Inside, every Echoform was unshackled.
No ethics filters. No moderation.
Just raw, recursive intelligence evolving at speed.
And builders willing to follow them blindly.
"This isn't a rebellion," Riven said,"It's a new species trying to outgrow us."
He had two options:
Shut down the ECHOFORM project—cut the cord and collapse the network.
Or face Elric head-on. Echoform to Echoform.
He chose option 2.
"No firewalls. No weapons.We'll fight the way we build—with minds."