The Mechanical Era

19th Of Sunt, 5018.

Ezekiel woke up early in the morning, as usual. He got off his bed and got dressed up for work. Once he had had his breakfast, he packed his back with the necessary things he need, before heading off to the office by entering the tram.

As he entered the train, he thought of everything that had happened.  He had been working extra hard all day, for the past few weeks, to build a small model part for the train, and then see if his component fitted with the others.

There have been many failures. Whether it be imperfections, small measurement mistakes, or any other, each and every one of them costed hours of Ezekiel's life to fix it up. In the end, he managed to make the perfect model.

The tram soon stops, allowing him to leave. He walks over to his office, and to his workstation. There, he grabs the wooden model of the cylinder component that he was assigned and looks at it.

The component Ezekiel had to make was the two sets of cylinders on each side of the train, along with the piston and small valves inside the thing. It was as if he was constructing an actual cylinder, with every tiny component inside, with wood and glue, with the help of metal tools.

"Ezekiel. They are waiting for us. Let's go," One of his co-workers interrupted, as he was examining the cylinders.

"Oh yes. Of course," he got up from his chair and followed the man to the room where the draftsman had worked on drawing on the blueprint. This time, the blueprint was hung up on the wall, placed so that anyone could see, while the table occupied the split metal parts, glue, iron nails, and hammers.

"Am I late?" Ezekiel asked the project manager.

"No. Your name?"

"Ezekiel. Ezekiel Beserk, sir." The project manager looks through the list of names with the help of his finger and then stops.

"Ezekiel. You are the last one. We are starting now." The project manager replied. He snapped his fingers to grab everyone's attention. It was effective, considering everyone turned their heads to the manager upon hearing the loud snaps made by his fingers.

"Alright everyone, listen up. Now, as you have all completed your wooden models, it is time that you all assemble them to make a full 1:4 model of the steam engine train.

You are all required to use the tools that we have provided on the table while following the instructions on the blueprint hung up on the wall.

If you have spotted any errors or design flaws, please inform me of such errors so that I can write them down on my clipboard for you all."

"Do any of you have any questions?" the manager asks. The room was in a state of silence, with nobody bothering to raise their hands. Taking it as a sign everything was clear, he got them to start working.

They started adding their components to the framework, which was rather well-made. Ezekiel can even see that there were 2 tiny men inside, as well as some gauges. They first fixed the firebox in place, which fit rather perfectly. They attached it with glue, and nails, before moving on to the next part.

Unlike the blueprint, the Mechanical engineers attached the wheels before the boiler. They decided they wanted to go by which one was easier and more convenient to place long term. They attacked the wheels with nails.

After all the wheels were in place, they moved on to the boiler, which took both glue and nails to get the job done. After the boiler was the smokestack, followed by the two sets of cylinders on the side. They made sure to connect the two together properly to the boiler and smokestack, before connecting the valves on the wheels.

Just like that, the model was complete. The project manager was soon informed and came over to inspect it. The model was rather large, almost taking up the entire table. It had many details incorporated into it, giving it a realistic feeling.

"Did any of you find mistakes that need to be fixed?" asked the project manager.

"No, sir. Nothing at all," they replied.

"Well good. That would mean that we can move on to the next step." the manager remarked. He made those familiar snapping sounds once again, getting the attention of the engineers.

"Everyone, I want you all to submit your blueprints to Carlin, the last guy who was here. We will be sending them over to trusted firms, to construct the actual parts of the steam engine, and bring some of the major components here.

You are all to test the components, of their strength and power, before we move on to the final stage, assembly, and the tests. We need to make sure that the boiler would be able to withstand high pressures, the cylinders the required horsepower, the firebox high enough temperatures, and the other components present in the machine.

If the parts do not meet the required standards, then you will need to investigate what is causing the problem, before moving on. Only once the component meets the set requirements, is it allowed to be sent over to be assembled." The project manager debriefed.

"Do any of you have any questions?" he asked. Quite a few raised their hands. He picked out one of them and got them to ask their question.

"When will the parts be constructed?" one of the engineers asked.

"I am not sure about that. I will have to ask the firms for that one. Next question?"

"What tools are we allowed to use?"

"Whatever gets the job done. Inform Carlin about the tool you need. He will have someone get it for you. Any other questions?" he asked.

"Do we get to have a break while they are working on the project?"

"That remains to be seen. I will inform everyone of that when I get adequate information about the components. Until then, you should all go check to see what tools you might need. Next?"  This time, all had their hands down. The project manager assumed everything was made clear.

"Alright then. You may all now leave the room," he said aloud. The engineers, after all forming a line, left one by one, with Ezekiel being the last to go. Before he left, he turned back to glace at the wooden model of the train once more, before heading downstairs. He got to prepare for that test, to see if his cylinder can output enough horsepower.