Creating an Industrial Empire in 19th Century Parallel World

It's been thirty minutes since Jonathan left their apartment room, leaving Poul completely alone.

He took this time to check the interior of the apartment once more, hoping to gain more information from it. He saw no modern appliances. Everything looks century old. There was no indoor plumbing or electrical outlets. The storefronts and the reception hall earlier used gas lamps for the main source of light.

It was as if they were sent back to the past and lived in it. Though they are working on finding out at what era this world is similar to their world's history.

"I'm back!" Jonathan announced his arrival, entering the door with a paper bag clutched in his arms. Poul kicked the door, closing it behind him.

"I know I was kind of late. I went to the city hall and asked if I could borrow a copy of the map, to which they said yes. I didn't open the map yet as I figured it would be best if we looked at it together."

"Really?" Poul rubbed his both hands and placed it over his face, warming it. "Let's see where we really are."

Inside the paper bag was a rolled map tied with a string in the middle. Jonathan pulled the string, unfurled the map, and placed it over the table.

"The Felix guy said we are in Ohio right? That means in Ohio in the United States of America. But America was replaced with Avalonia—" Poul trailed off as soon as he set his eyes on the map. "This is…"

"Very similar to our world," Jonathan finished his words. "The geography of the United States of America is very similar to the United States of Avalonia. As for where we are now specifically, we are in the city of Columbus, the capital of the Ohio State. Do you also notice any difference?"

"Yeah…what happened to Canada? It was annexed?"

"Yes," Jonathan confirmed. "It added four states to the United States of Avalonia. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, East Canada, and West Canada. Making Avalonia the largest country in North Columbia. As for the government of the country, it is similar to America. A constitutional federal republic."

"Did the civil war spark between the north and the south? I'm just assuming because this is a parallel world and there could be some similarities in the history."

"The civil war of the United States of Avalonia has already concluded ten years ago," Jonathan answered and continued. "The country is basically reconstructing the ruined south. Enough with the history, let's start analyzing the era of this world."

"I see no modern appliances, electrical wiring, indoor plumbing. I can take a safe guess that we are in the early 19th century?"

Jonathan shook his head. "No, we are probably in the late 19th century. I saw a poster on the bulletin board announcing the wide-scale construction of water and sewage pipelines. Telephone lines and tram engines. This apartment will be renovated soon according to the owner. What's more there are job posters requiring laborers for construction of railways but 12 hours a day for 4 dollars."

"12 hours for 4 dollars?" Poul exclaimed. "So the man who gave us three dollars is equivalent to twelve-hour or more work."

"Yeah, we are really lucky that we bumped into that man, otherwise we would be having this conversation out in the street," Jonathan chuckled stiffly.

"So we are stuck in a rapidly industrializing world where child labor is common. This is the worst place to live. Life expectancy is low, you will literally work to death just to survive the day…"

"Haphazard drainage and water systems, no building codes means there's zero standards in construction and design. Diseases like cholera are common…" Jonathan continued.

"Some may have romanticized life in the Victorian Era but the reality is often disappointing," Poul finished. "Thinking all this makes me miss the modern world, specifically the hygiene. Ahh…I hope everything is just a dream."

"I hope so too," Jonathan said solemnly.

"Well…it can't be helped, if this is our new life and world, I guess we just have to suck it. So how are we going to live this life out?"

"It's simple…we work. It's either coal mining or railroad construction. Oh yeah, there is also a job for digging up ditches for the pipelines."

"That would kill us. How about something safe? Like newsboys or street sweepers."

"That would do but the salary is low, not enough to pay for a day's rent."

"Well it's either that or we die in the mines or faint in hard labor. We don't even know the physical capabilities of our new body," Poul countered.

"But what choices do we have? If we want to survive in this dark technological era, we have to work. We can't be choosy because we live in the modern era. Haist…It's really unfortunate that we can't use our expertise in this world because of our new body," Jonathan said.

Poul pondered at Jonathan's words. He was right. There are cases that children at the age of 5 to 15 are working alongside their parents in factories to put food on the table, instead of going to school.

They were the best engineers in their country and now it was reduced to something less. There's no way he is going to accept it. Somehow they can utilize their knowledge and make a living out of it. An idea popped up in his head.

"Well we can forget about working in the mines or digging ditches or scooping up turd on the streets. Jonathan, you are a civil engineer. In this world's era, there would be a lot of construction projects that could use your skills. As for me, well I can work on steam engines, be it designing or improving it. Hmm, I could somehow introduce new technology here,"

"I already considered that, but we are too young for the adults to take us seriously. They would wonder how we are knowing things beyond their understanding, what's more, a modern concept."

"Ahh…I know this is frustrating," Poul rubbed his head. He continued to scratch it until a new idea popped up again. "Jonathan, this might sound absurd but hear me out. Are you fine working 12 to 16 hours everyday just to survive?"

"Well if it means surviving the day, why not?" Jonathan said. "We just have to recuperate to our new environment and work our way up to escape abject poverty."

Poul sighed. He didn't expect that it would be his answer. But nevertheless, he persisted.

"Jonathan…I'm impressed that you can say those things with a straight face. You don't see where I'm getting here. This is late 1880s parallel world America, the land of opportunity. Like I said earlier, we can use our modern knowledge to our advantage. Imagine any revolutionary technology that hasn't been introduced yet in this world."

"And like I said earlier, no one would take us seriously, especially with your appearance."

"This hair of silver won't get in the way of my vision in this new world," Poul said resolutely. Jonathan had never seen such unwavering determination from Poul before.

"What are you going to introduce in this world if ever presented with an opportunity?" Jonathan seriously asked.

Poul tilted his head upward. Ideas flowing into his mind like an avalanche. There's many to choose but there is one that stood out.

"Hmm…in this world, there's no light. It's dark and everyone uses kerosene to light up their homes and streets. Why don't we change that?"

"You…don't mean…" Jonathan uttered perplexedly. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah. I'm going to introduce electricity to the world. The lifeblood of the 20th and 21st century," Poul announced confidently.