The Mechanical Era

A carriage dragged by two white horses, surrounded and guarded by 2 knights on both the back and front arrive on to a large building, made of stone and wood. The carriage door opens and out steps.

He wore his white tunic, black breeches and a pair of black leather boots and gloves along with it. Though he appears to have grown a little, as the coat seems tighter than it was a month ago. Nevertheless, Kant walked inside the building through the wooden oak doors.

The floor was made out of oak wood planks, while the walls were made mostly of grinded stone, with long wooden logs acting as columns for the interior. Looking around, the cobwebs and dirt have all been removed and cleaned, giving the building a rather new look.

The shutter bar windows, which were made out of the same wood used for the door and floor, were wide open to let sunlight in. There was no glass installed. Instead, there were metal bars that were used to prevent any thieves from breaking in.

On top of each door was a sign that told them which room it was. The sign was made out of wood, with letters caved and painted in black ink. Kant walked up the one with 'lab' on the sign. Before he entered the room, Kant took out a napkin from his pocket and wiped the sweat off his face.

His ear picks up the sound of people talking on the other side. He takes in a deep breath, calming himself down. Under his breath, he mutters a single sentence.

"You can do this Howard." Now ready, he touches the door knob, twists it around and walks inside the room.

The room, which was filled with craftsmen, immediately went silent. The ones who were sitting on the wooden chairs immediately stood up upon Kant's appearance. Kant walks in front of the black board, and behind the table.

From his view, he saw two familiar faces, the most prominent being the Peterson twins, while the other 14 were all new to him, recommended by the Petersons through Cora. The craftsmen all seem to wear the same outfit, a woolen tunic, either in beige, brown or green, along with leather shoes.

"Welcome everyone! I am glad you were all able to make it today." Kant said to the group.

"Please! Sit down." he said. They did as they were told. There were enough chairs for everyone to find a spot.

"Now, I am sure that you all know why you are here; to construct and test a new piece of technology that I have designed; a steam engine." Kant took a piece of chalk and started drawing on the board. It depicted the concept of the steam engine, the same one he showed to Arjun.

"The concept behind a steam engine is to use pressure to move the parts inside the cylinder around, creating motion. We then intend to use that motion, and turn it into power. Everyone got that?" Kant asked. They all nodded their heads.

Kant then went on to explain the concept and it's multiple uses to the craftsman, who listened very carefully. After he was done explaining, he went on to let them ask questions, to clear out anything in their mind.

Though when it came to questioning, they didn't seem to be keen on talking.

"No? Did you all understand then?" he asked. The craftsman nod.

"You all understand? Alright then, we should go assemble and test it then." he said. Kant walked opened the door and inclined everyone to follow him. He led them to the test room, where the part; the boiler, the cylinder with a piston and valve rod inside, along with the exhaust and a bunch of pipes.

The boiler was made out wrought iron, and so was the rest of the parts. It had an area where charcoal would be burned and turned to heat, protected by a small sliding gate with a wooden handle. Above the furnace, was a metal container, meant to be filled up with water.

ραпdα nᴏνa| сom On the top front of the boiler, where the water container is placed, was a valve closed in a bottle cap. This bottle cap was meant to be opened to pour the water inside of it. On the side of the boiler, featured a thermometer near the water container, along with an empty glass tube located near the pipe holes.

On the back of the boiler, was a wooden structure with gaps to fit the other parts of the steam engine. This allowed for our fellow craftsmen to assemble it quicker. It had come with the boiler, as Kant had requested.

Facing sideways on the wooden plank floor, was the cylinder with the steam intakes. It had the piston and value rod attached inside. There were also some intakes, with holes meant to be connected with the pipes.

The cylinder and steam chest were rather large. It was about the diameter of a wooden plate, being 12 inches. Finally, there was the flywheel. It was made mainly of iron, but also wood as well. There were some other parts too, but they were mainly used to connect it all together.

"Alright everyone, let's get to assembling it." Kant said. Kant picked out 5 people out of the group to help him build it while the others watched. The craftsman followed Kant's instructions, placing in the parts where it needed to go.

They attached the steam chest and cylinder up sideways, with the steam chest on the top and the cylinder at the bottom. One of the craftsmen attaches the pipes, connecting the steam inlet to the boiler, while another connects a pipe to the exhaust. The other craftsman connected the valve rod and piston rod to the gearing, where it would be attached to the flywheel.

The assembly took only a few minutes. After it was finished, the craftsman all stepped back as per Kant's orders. Kant walks behind the steam engine and looks onwards at them.

"Well done everyone. You have managed to complete the assembly part. Now before we go on to test the steam engine out, I need to explain a few tools installed in the boiler." he said. Kant first pointed his finger towards the long thermometer.

"This is a thermometer. It is used to measure the temperature of whatever you desire, in this case the water inside the boiler." he moved his finger across the thermometer to the red line near the middle of the tool.

"This red line indicated that the water has exceeded 100°C (212°F). This is the point where water starts to boil. The maximum temperature this tool can measure is about 350°C (662°F)." he said Kant then moved on to the long glass tube on the side.

"This is a barometer, which I am sure you have not heard before. This is generally used to measure atmospheric pressure, but in this instance, it will be used to give us an idea of the pressure inside." he said.

"Now you know of the tools, we can now start the test." Kant said. Kant went out and brought a wooden bucket, filled with water. He opened the bottle cap on the front and poured in the water to the container.

"Go grab a bucket from the storage and bring in charcoal. We are going to need a pile." he said. The craftsman complied and brought in charcoal until there was a sizable pile of charcoal near the furnace. Kant then brought in a shovel, to stuff some charcoal in the boiler from the pile.

From his front pocket, he takes out a box of matches he had made a long time ago. He took out one stick and lit a match. Kant then threw it into the furnace where the charcoal lay. The black minerals started to burn.

The heat emitted by the coal transferred over to the water. The craftsmen saw that the thermometer went up. It was little at first, but it started to pick up the pace. Kant fueled the fire further with more charcoal.

Only once the thermometer reached the boiling point, Kant stopped feeding the machine more coal. He closes the furnace and steps back away from the machine.

"Come, let us observe it behind the glass." he said. The group made it outside the room, and stood side by side with Kant. They all patiently waited for the machine to work. Little bits of steam can be seen coming out of the machine, with a small cloud coming out from the exhaust.

The cloud got larger and larger. The flywheel, which was still for most of the time, started to move. The craftsman all looked in awe as the machine did its work. It slowly got faster and faster, but soon plateaued at around 30rpm. Kant smiled at his invention doing its work.

"Gentlemen, it appears that the first test is a resounding success!" he said while smiling.

"Is that it? Did we do it sir?" The craftsman on his left asked. A short man with blond hair with green eyes.

"No Mr. Grant. There are still a lot of tests that need to be conducted to see whether it would be economical. But this..." he pointed at the steam engine with his hand.

"... this is a good start."

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