Chapter 19: The Ghost and the Machine
The workshop was filled with the rhythmic chug-chug-chug of the engine. It didn't matter that the fuel was dirty, unrefined "waste" oil. This machine was a beast. It chewed through the crude fuel without a hiccup.
Lucas watched it, mesmerized. He looked less like a ruthless businessman and more like a child watching a fireworks show for the first time.
Meanwhile, in the East Wing, the atmosphere was very different.
When the lights had flickered and died, the guest room was plunged into pitch darkness. Seraphina had excused herself to find Alfred and check the fuse box, leaving Finn and Elera alone.
The room, which had seemed so beautiful earlier, now felt terrifying. It was too big. The darkness felt heavy.
"Finn?" Elera whispered, reaching out. "I can't see you."
"I'm here," Finn whispered back, though his voice trembled.
They huddled together on the sofa, afraid to move. Seraphina had told them to stay put, so they didn't dare leave.
Suddenly, they heard it.
Thum… Thum… Thum.
Heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway. They weren't the polite, quiet steps of the butler. They were slow and deliberate.
The footsteps stopped right outside the door. Then came the sound of something dragging across the wooden floorboards.
Chrrr… Chrrr…
Elera gripped Finn's arm so tight it hurt. They held their breath.
The door creaked open. A dim, orange light floated into the room.
A face appeared in the darkness, illuminated from below by a lantern. The shadows twisted the features into something monstrous.
"BOOO!"
"AHHH!" Elera tried to scream, but the sound caught in her throat. Finn went stiff as a board. They backed away until they hit the wall, their eyes wide with sheer terror.
The "monster" suddenly burst out laughing.
"Hahaha! Oh my god, you should have seen your faces!"
Seraphina lowered the lantern from her chin, revealing her beautiful, laughing face. She wiped a tear from her eye. "I got you! I got you so good!"
She waited for them to laugh back. But there was only silence.
She looked closer. Finn was shaking violently. Elera looked like she was about to faint. These weren't normal kids who enjoyed a scare; they were children who had lived on the streets, where danger was real and terrifying.
Seraphina's smile vanished instantly.
"Oh… oh no."
She dropped the lantern and rushed forward, wrapping both of them in a tight hug.
"I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry!" she cried, rocking them back and forth. "I was just playing. I didn't mean to scare you that bad. I'm sorry. It will never happen again, I promise."
She kissed the tops of their heads, whispering apologies until their trembling finally stopped.
Back in the workshop, Lucas finally tore his eyes away from the spinning flywheel.
"It works," he admitted. "But Asher… explain it to me. How does a spinning metal block reduce our workload? It just sits there making noise."
"It doesn't just sit there," I corrected him. "Think about your logistics. Right now, you use horses to transport coal and timber, right?"
"Yes. Horses are expensive. They get sick, they get tired, and they eat even when they aren't working."
"Exactly," I said. "Now, imagine a cart. But instead of horses pulling it from the front, we mount this engine underneath."
I grabbed a piece of chalk and drew a rough diagram on the workbench.
"We connect the engine's rotation to the wheels using a chain or a driveshaft. As the engine spins, the wheels spin."
I pointed to the drawing.
"A vehicle like this never gets tired. It doesn't need to sleep. It creates its own power. You could haul ten times the weight of a horse cart, and move twice as fast."
Lucas stared at the drawing. He visualized the future—carriages zooming down the roads without animals, factories running day and night without stopping.
"A horseless carriage…" Lucas whispered. A grin spread across his face, wide and giddy. He looked at me with pure amusement and excitement. "Asher, you really are a monster from another world."