|
Registered User
Currently Offline
|
Posts: 125
Join Date: May 2007
|
Chapter 1- The Sons of Electricity
Upstate New York, 1887
A behemoth black cloud hanged over the peaceful countryside, raindrops, thick as bullets fell down from the sky stinging all who foolishly leave the luxury of their homes. A stagecoach makes it's way down a dumpy dirt road, the horses tend to leave the path to seek a forum of shelter but the cabman pulls on the reins and whips them back to formation. The cabman holds on to his coat as a gust of wind hits him dead on, he merely laughs for the wind reminds the poor man of his ex-wife "That all you got lasse?" he shakes a fist high in the air. A purple flash lights up the dark night then followed by a loud BOOM whiched shook the very Earth to it's knees, the horses kick their hooves in fright but the cabman only laughs harder "Aye, the game is afoot!"
The thin man inside the coach tries not to flip over as the coach rocked back and forth, he holds onto large leather-hide book filled with loose paper. A bump on the road sents him flat against coach's wall, he rubs the sore on his back and winces "Should have listened to the wife...". He sticks his head out in the cold rain and shouts at the cabman "Are we there yet good man?"
"Aye sir, we already here." he points to a small ranch up ahead.
The thin man grabs his coat and top hat and steps out of the coach only to ruin his shoes in a puddle of mud. "Should have listened to the wife..." he mumbles to himself.
"The master's inside, sir." the cabman spoke as he led the team of horses inside a barn.
The thin man opens the door and is shocked at what he sees, light but no candles, caught up in his own thoughts he didn't hear the footsteps which snuck up behind him. "Aw Dr. Wilson, a pleasure."
Wilson, surprised jumped back, dropping his book to the floor. "Oh you startled me Professor Smart." Wilson kneels on one knee and collects the scattered papers.
"Please call me Solomon lad. Are you familiar with electrics, Dr. Wilson?"
"I seen them once or twice in the City. Did you invent these?"
The Professor chuckles "No, no, no. That honor goes to my mentor Thomas Edison. Please follow me to my study room."
Wilson follows the Professor down a long hallway, Wilson admires the rare paintings which hanged from the fine velvet walls. They enter a library, the fine oak shelves where filled with books after books while the floor was littered with notes which ranged from astronomy to biology and even a few newspaper articles Wilson wrote, Professor Smart leans back on his chair and asks Wilson to do the same. "My I fancy you with a drink?"
"Yes, whiskey thank you."
"Mr. O' Hara, your talents are needed. I believed you met my cabman and man servant Blackie O' Hara."
The cabman enters the room "Aye master?"
"Brandy for me and a glass of whiskey for the young man."
"Aye sir." once Blackie leaves the room Wilson asks the Professor in a hush tone
"Why do they call the chap 'Blackie'?"
"Mr. O' Hara is one of the few Black Irish here in the state of New York. Due to his grey hair and age, it is quite hard to tell." The Professor smiles, enjoying the irony.
Once Blackie serves the refreshments, Professor Smart begins the interview.
"I'm sure you are curious why I summoned you here..."
"I was abit inquired why you sent me your letter, professor."
"I always did enjoy your articles you written for the Daily Times Dr. Wilson, so I thought if I had to reveal the next step of of harnessing electricity, it would be you who I want for the story."
Wilson writes down the Professor's words, "And which side or you in Professor Smart?"
"Pardon?"
"The War of Currents, do you support Edison's ideas?"
"I hold Edison dear, almost as a father. But no ones is perfect Dr. Wilson, Edison's ideas of a Direct current has its uses as the electric lamp uses a Direct current but Tesla is also a dear friend of mine and even have studied both his and Westinghouse's ideas of an Alternating current. At first I welcomed the idea of competition but I grew dull and soon supported none for I fancy that both DC and AC is the future."
"In your letter you mentioned a device you said will change the world as we know it. What device is it if I may be bold."
"I bought this small land to keep weary eyes away from my tinkering. What I will show you Dr. Wilson is something which both sides of the Current War will love to get their hands on. If you will follow me to the lab..."
Professor Smart reaches under his desk and pushes a small button, the bookcase swung open revealing a flight of curving stairs, they descent down the stairs and enter a tunnel deep beneath the Earth, the tunnel was cluttered with mechanical parts, some were fashioned and even resembled the human body, the sound of moving gears echoed throughout the tunnel. Professor Smart stops and shows Wilson two machine men, laying in a wooden slab.
"Dear Lord!" Wilson cries
"Ssshh Keep your voice down Dr. Wilson, the boys are asleep?"
"Boys?"
"Meet Abraham and Napoleon, I named them after two late world leaders, a fitting name don't you think?"
"A-a-are they---?'
"Alive? In every meaning of the word."
"H-how?"
"You see lad, I got the idea from Edward S. Ellis story about the Steam Man. As you can see I had a few failures before I succeeded. I spent countless hours awake tinkering and building. I finally had the notion to base them after a clock, many gears, cogs and sprockets all working together. To better understand, think as them as human beings like you and me, the gears act like their muscles while the AC motor as their heart, the voice box as their vocal cords, the iron casing as their bones. But I couldn't give them something that we humans possess..."
"Which is?"
"A soul...Only God knows the secret but what I found was an accident. I left the boys hooked up to the machine behind where you stand, it replenishes the boys' energy. Their was a strom such as tonight, lighting hit the side of the cabin, it flowed through the wirings and into the boy's motor. Giving them raw energy. I came back shocked at the discovery, they were like newborn children, I schooled the boys how to walk and talk to advance math and english."
"Amazing..."
"Nothing great comes without sacrifice, my boy."
"And what will you do with the um---Boys?"
"I will do what any father do to their sons....Milk them for all their worth..."
"Come one, Come all! Ladies and gentlemen! Come see the modern Geppetto, the father of the future, the wizard of machines, the man with the big brain Professor Solomon Smart! Come see his sons, the mechanical brothers, the advanced automatons, the sons of electricity! The Smart Brothers!"
The curtains pull away revealing both Abraham and Napoleon, the crowd gasped in horror.
Napoleon crosses his arms together "What are you all looking at?" he growls at the frightened by-standers. "Abomination!" one gentleman shouts.
"Whoa! Easy Napoleon! Remember what the Professor said, smile and wave!...Sorry about my brother ladies and gentlemen, we're abit rusty..." The crowd laughs at the joke.
"Who you calling 'rusty', tin-head?"
"We're made of iron!"
The crowd roars in laughter at the two metal siblings' antics, their father sighs in relief as he sees the happiness on the people's faces.
"Ya got yerself a real show, boyo."
"I was beginning to think they would have liked my hanging better, eh Blackie?"
"Hang you sir? Those two jaspers up there are goin' to be big, let's just hope the family doesn't break up the show or vise versa."
"Those two youngster's are my whole world, Blackie. And I'll be damned (pardon my french) if I let anything happen to them. Besides, who would want to steal them?" he jerks a thumb to his sons who were busy trading insults and acting like buffoons.
Inside the huddled crowd, a short round man stares his unblinking eyes at the stage, the woman next to him was dressed in a green robe which hid most of her face. The short man removes his cigar from his mouth "We got a problem...The rubies love those whelps."
"What do you want u-ssssss to do, Bo-sssss?" the woman murmurs "Do you want u-ssss to get rid of them?"
"No, no. Why ruin something when you can exploit it...We wait until the moment's juss right..."
|
