Editing Openai/6945fbbe-1dac-8002-b458-118faf4e0106 (section)

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Status: Non-replicating
Role: Proof of seriousness

Characteristics:
* Heavy human judgment
* Scrappy salvage
* Purchased electronics
* Manual automation

At this stage:
* You can build things
* You cannot yet build builders reliably

This phase creates:
* Salvage doctrine
* Part classification heuristics
* Failure knowledge

Seeds do not spread yet — they mature.

===== Status: Assisted replication =====
Role: First viable seeds

Key shift:

: 

What still must be purchased or externally sourced:
* Precision semiconductors
* Sensors
* Controllers
* Some bearings

But:
* Frames
* Mounts
* Enclosures
* Material handling
* Fixtures

…can now be produced locally.

This is when the first offshoot Forge becomes plausible.

Seeds can spread — slowly, intentionally.

Think:

: 

Not exponential yet.

===== Status: Networked seeds =====
Role: Cultural propagation

Here’s the real acceleration point — and it’s not hardware.

By this phase:
* Salvage rules are documented
* Automation patterns are stable
* Known-good configurations exist
* Sensors/processors are still bought, but commoditized

The Forge now replicates as:
* A pattern
* A playbook
* A kit of practices

This is when:
* Independent operators can spin up forges
* You no longer control replication
* The idea spreads faster than the machines

This is the G.E.C.K. moment.

===== Status: Hard-to-stop =====
Role: Civilizational redundancy

Now, assuming:
* Scrap electronics sourcing
* Board-level salvage
* Reuse of controllers
* Minimal custom silicon needs

The Forge no longer depends on new electronics at scale.

At this point:
* Replication is constrained by social acceptance, not parts
* Suppression becomes difficult
* Forks and variants emerge

This is when incumbents notice — late.