The research team had finished building a train prototype. The engine worked like a dream. The body of the train had no issues. The small set of sample tracks the team had built could bear the weight of the train with no issues. They had ironed out all of the problems with the train, and run it through hour after hour of tests. All they had left to do was present their results to the world.
About ten meters behind him sat the fruit of the research team’s years of work. A beautiful, shining behemoth of steel, alchemy, and steam. The train stood three time as tall as he did, and shone as though it had been polished. That was because it was polished, of course. Felix and a few of the other researchers had given it a final cleaning the night before.
The train tracks they had prepared were made of iron and wood. Felix would have preferred steel, but Damilius's steel output couldn't handle that yet. So the team had been forced to use iron and wood instead. Still, Felix saw the team's product as a thing of beauty.
As Felix stood, scanning their work for any final flaws, one of the other researchers slapped Felix on the back. "It's been great workin' with ya, kid. You might be young, but you have a bright future ahead of you. Now, look sharp. The officials and the reporters are comin’.”
As if on queue, Felix saw the first people who had been invited start trickling into the testing field. Near the front of the group was Miria and Anise. Felix waved at them, and they waved back. A few of the other researchers had raised an eyebrow at him when he asked for spots for the two of them in their big reveal. One of them had even asked him which one he was dating, which had caused him to roll his eyes and leave. But despite the absurd misunderstanding, Felix was glad to see his friends. And he was excited to show off the results of his hard work.
Felix grinned. Hearing them encourage him felt reassuring in a way no amount of preparation could match.
Felix's attention snapped back to the team as the leader started to speak.
“Well… it’s time, everyone,” said Orin, the leader of the research team. Orin scanned the faces of the other researchers. “All of us have been slaving away at this project for… gosh, four years now. I know that there were hard times, and I know that we had some days where we all wished this damn monster of a project would come to an end. The railroad tracks broke during our first test. Our engine model started to melt after we ran it through its fifth test. We ran into funding issues twice, and nearly had to can the whole project. The department of research and budget kept harassing us. But today… I'm proud to have worked with all of you lovely men and women. We made it.” Then, Orin grinned, and clapped Felix’s shoulder. “Thanks to all of our hard work, and Felix’s insight!”
A few of the other researchers laughed and cheered at Orin’s words. “To Felix, our little genius researcher! To our own hard work! And to a better tomorrow!” A few of them yelled. Felix smelled alcohol on their breaths, and resisted the urge to wrinkle his nose. It was a bit early to be celebrating. They still had the rest of the day to get through. It would have made much more sense to get drunk after they finished presenting their work. But he decided not to say anything. There was nothing he could do to remove the alcohol from their bodies, after all. Not unless he asked Miria to help. He put them out of his mind, and smiled as he looked at the train again.
He gave the crowd a quick headcount. There were about two hundred people in the crowd now. There were reporters, government officials, family, and friends. Everyone that was supposed to be here had arrived by now.
He and the other researchers stepped onto the raised platform near the center of the stadium. Orin stood at the front of the group, and looked at the attendees of the big reveal, before he smiled one more time. As the attendees settled in, Orin’s booming voice started to echo through the field.
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“Ladies! Gentlemen! Everyone who has come to see our hard work! I’d like to thank all of you for taking time to come here today. For three years, my research team and I have worked hard to build this fine machine! For many years, our transportation network has had an unresolvable problem. Getting supplies inland. Moving supplies by steamboat can help cities on the coasts, but for inland cities it can be difficult to supply them. We hope that what we’ve created today will solve this problem forever. For a better future!”
Felix resisted the urge to grimace. Orin’s speech wasn’t awful, but Felix had to say, it wasn’t great either. The man had practiced a much longer speech with the rest of the research team yesterday. Had he forgotten it when he walked on stage? Still, it wasn't that big of a deal. He decided to ignore it.
At the end of the day, the speech wasn’t the important part. What mattered was the train itself. The product of their years of research and testing. Unlike the others, Felix had a pretty good idea how revolutionary railroads were. The research team seemed to think of railroads as a solution to a minor problem. However, due to Felix’s memories of his first life let him know just how revolutionary trains were. A mediocre speech wouldn’t be enough to stop the tide of a new era - Felix didn’t think anything would, except perhaps a Worldstrider invasion.
Orin didn’t say anything else, and instead, he walked up to the train. A few researchers helped to shovel some coal into the engine. Once it was full, Orin flicked a few levers and dumped a potion into the engine. Felix felt the whirr of binding essence make its way through the engine of the train, and seconds later, the train roared to life. Several of the onlookers covered their ears as the train bellowed loudly, and started to chug forward. Its pace was akin to a crawl at first, but with each second, the massive piece of artifice picked up speed.
The onlookers stopped covering their ears, and Felix saw them start to point and take pictures as the train kept moving along. For demonstration purposes, the research team had also attached a single car filled with steel to the back of the train. Felix felt a few oohs and aahs from the crowd as the train carried an ‘obscene’ amount of weight easily.
The newer steamships could also carry huge loads of materials, of course. But the train represented something different. They represented a new era.
Felix felt his smile widen one final time as the train finished warming up. It moved at a mere 30 kph - but it was only the first generation of trains. Once people realized just how useful they were, they would build better and better models. It was the birth of a new era.
As he admired the giant steel machine in motion, a System message appeared in the corner of his eyes.
Felix took a look at his new System notification, and tried not to laugh in glee. He wasn’t quite as impressed with some of the earlier parts of the Ability, although he did love the fact that he could retain access to the alchemy System. But the final part of the ability? That was amazing. Permanent increases to equipment slots was something he hadn’t seen in any other ability before. It was more than worth the rest of the ability being just ‘okay.’
The week of September 23rd I will be moving. I anticipate missing 1-2 MaM chapters that week, depending on how much time and energy it takes to move everything, set up/rebuild furniture, and basically just get everything settled. Budding Scientist chapter for that week may also be shorter than usual, depending on how things go.
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