Christina Xinta watched the farms on either side of the train, the hypnotic sounds and bumps of the lengths of rail passing under the wheels.

  She could smell the burnt coal in the air. The train let free, its speed forging a path through the wind itself.

  She closed her eyes, drawing her thoughts back. It hurt too much to think on the things they could no longer do.

  “I hope they’re better at running trains than this lot,” her father said.

  She opened her eyes looking at him as he nodded towards the engine, shifting his large arms around in the ill-fitting suit he wore.

  He had thinned out since the bank took over their ironworks. Though the raw strength hadn’t diminished as he’d kept his bulk.

  Christina barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes at her father's antics.

  "You can hear the damn overpressure. They're working it way too hard on the coal that they're throwing in there. There's way too much. Look, listen, you hear that?" She heard the huffing hiss that came with too much steam being generated by the engine pressing against the pistons and valves on the way out.

  "See? Right there," her father called out the next rotation. "Then they've got a leak in one of the pipes. I can hear it from here, just whistling away." Joe shook his head, rumbling to himself.

  “People have been having problems with the coal, its become unreliable,” Christina said.

  “Damn strange time that we’re in.” He looked out of the window, squinting at something.

  Christina followed his eyes seeing the outline of Goran.

  “Why are we going to a city run by mercenaries?” She asked again.

  “They’re the only ones with a job offer for us and they’re interested in hiring our people as well.”

  “What?” he’d ben holding out since he’d announced they’d be heading out to the city.

  “They’re nobles though,” She said.

  The nobles had killed their ironworks, had destroyed her and her father's dream. The whole complex now lay silent, with debts hanging over her and her father's head. While their workers took on any job they could find to support their families. Some of the best engineers and metalworkers she knew reduced to no more than laborers and shovelers, powering the very boilers that they had created and mastered.

  “I was given assurances,” Her father said.

  If it had been a year ago, she might have kindled some hope at this venture.

  Instead, she braced herself for ridicule and hatred.

  “They paid gold just to have a meeting with us,” Her father said. Unable to meet her eyes. “See us through this winter at the least.”

  She hated herself for the relief that came with those words, wanted to be angry about being weak, but the fire in her heart had dwindled with the Ironworks.

  The train started to slow as it neared the city.

  “Quite a bit of work they’re doing,” Her father said.

  She looked out of the window, her eyes widening as she frowned. “I thought that they were low on funds.”

  “Yeah, that’s the rumor going around Eskon,” her father said, sounding apprehensive.

  A massive wall was being built up in the south western corner of the city. The corner had been completed, and sections of wall in various stages of completion were being laid in. Sheets were pulled by the wind, covering the ongoing work. Carts filled with stone and those empty of it moved up and down roads along where the wall was to be laid down.

  The train continued to slow down as she stood.

  A working district enveloped one side of the city, the other side was a large station carved from stone.

  Her father pushed himself out of his seat as they collected their bags. The train came to a lurching stop.

  Christina braced herself, taking on the neutral expression she wore like armor. They are building things, but they’re still nobles.

  "Into the viper's pit," her father said, moving around her and to the carriage door, opening it and stepping out.

  She followed after him, cold neutrality filling her as she followed her father down the steps to the platform.

  "Mr. Xinta, it is an absolute pleasure to meet you. My son said that you'd be coming in today, and I just, I couldn't, I couldn't quite believe him. It's so good to see you." A large, burly man was on the platform, shaking her father's hand. He had the appearance of someone that worked with their hands.

  Behind him, stood a younger man with similar features. Must be his son.

  Next to his son was another young man, wearing similar armor and gear as him, but with the Isendia family crest upon his sleeve. Behind them were several guards, wearing Isendia crests.

  People shot them looks but moved around them, greeted by tables and staff at the entrance into the city.

  "I've been admiring your work for my entire life. When I saw the Xinta two point five, I thought it was blessed. Just an incredible piece of engineering, if I may say so," the man who greeted them said. "The system you used in it, my boy, he was telling me about a model he saw in Eskon. I just, I couldn't believe when he said that you were coming. I'm so excited to see what you'll be able to produce. I never thought that I'd be able to talk to you, let alone have the possibility to drive one of your engines."

  "Please, Edward, give the man some room," a woman said, moving closer to the duo. Two young men and a woman with features from her and who must have been her husband said. "Mr. Xinta, it is a pleasure to meet you. My name's Adeline, and this is my husband, Edward, who was too excited to tell you his name." Edward flushed in embarrassment, but the grin on his face didn't fade in the slightest.

  "It's not a problem, Miss Adeline," Her father replied. "It's good to meet you both, and if you've got an eye for a Xinta steam engine, you've got a good eye indeed." He winked but she heard the flatness within his words.

  It had been his passion for so long, and now it was all taken away from him.

  “Mister Xinta, Miss Xinta, my name is Rick Isendia, I’d like to thank you for coming this way to see us. Before we talk more, we’d like to get a contract in place making sure that we can’t tell one another’s secrets to anyone else if that suits you?”

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  Her father weighed up the young man with the Isendia family crest on his armor.

  “Sure.”

  Rick guided them through the arches of the central station to a secluded table. "Len, you got those contracts?" Rick asked. The boy standing next to him, armored and bearing a striking resemblance to Edward, rummaged through his messenger bag. He produced two contracts and a pair of pencils, placing them on the table.

  Christina's father gestured towards the contracts. "Mind if I..."

  "Please, take a look," Rick interrupted. "Scrutinize them as much as you want. If there's anything you'd like to change, we can do so."

  "You're giving me more work now, aren't you?" Len muttered.

  Rick grinned, choosing not to respond. Christina and her father began to read the contracts. One for him, one for her. "It looks like simple enough language. We don't reveal anything to them, and they won't reveal anything about us to anyone else," her father said, looking to Christina for agreement.

  Her stomach twisted at the thought of signing anything, but she pushed the feeling aside. Emotions wouldn't help here, only cool-headed reasoning. She read the contract again, searching for any terms that could put them at a disadvantage. Finding none, she shrugged and placed it back on the table. Rick's signature was already there, binding not only him but the people of Isendia.

  Her father picked up a pencil and signed his contract. He handed the pencil to Christina. She signed hers and stepped back as the contract burst into flames. "What?" She looked around the room, her eyes landing on Rick and the others. They didn't seem surprised by the burning contract.

  "Magical contracts," Len explained. "It means that it's binding, truly, not just pieces of paper that you can ignore if you so wish. This one sinks into the core of your being and ensures that both parties will adhere to the agreement."

  "Sorry for all the secretiveness," he added, "but the plan we have concerning you is no small matter." He gave a reassuring smile.

  "And what is it that you'd like to discuss?" her father asked, crossing his arms and glaring at them.

  "We want you to recreate your Xinta Ironworks, and we want you to make trains for us that run not on coal, but on mana,” Len said.

  Silence hung in the space between them. "Run a train on mana. You mean that stuff that I can see on my screens? How the heck are we supposed to even use that?"

  "Well, there's a way to use mana to heat things up, to cool things down, and to do, well, a whole bunch of things, really. But simply, we need steam engines, and we need steam engines that are going to work no matter if the manna density goes up or goes down or changes in any way,” Len said.

  “You notice how steam engines are starting to have a lot of problems now? Coal gets all messed up. Guns, if you fire them, they'll barely be able to push a round out of the barrel, or they'll blow the damn gun up?” Rick asked.

  Her father nodded warily. "I've been hearing some things about that. A couple of the factory boilers in Eskon exploded. You're saying that that has to do with this mana?"

  "I'm saying that if you want to make trains while mana is around, you're going to have to make a different kind of train. One that doesn't rely on just burnables, one that relies on magic itself." Len took out a sheet of metal, putting it on the table he inserted a peg of metal into the side and looked guilty at his mother. “I’ll make another one for you mom.”

  “Well?” Joe Xinta asked.

  “Move closer, do you feel a temperature change?”

  Christina and her father moved closer. The temperature climbed. Joe reached out.

  “Watch out!” Len yelled. Joe held his hand back.

  “Its on the lowest setting but its still hot as hell, wave your hand over the plate.”

  Her father waved his hand over the plate, snatching it back as his eyes went wide and he studied it. “What is it consuming? How warm can it go?”

  “It uses mana. It can go to about three quarters the heat required to melt the steel its made from. The higher the temperature the "It's going to require more mana to operate. What about temperature drop-off? Are there spikes or cold zones?"

  "No, all of the heat is the same throughout the enchanted area of effect.”

  “You wouldn't have to worry about someone putting coal in the wrong place. Heck, we could create a closed system. We wouldn't have to keep opening and closing it to throw coal in. We could take out the warming stage completely," her father muttered to himself staring at the metal block. “Would invalidate the water drum idea we were thinking of.” He turned to Christina.

  "Do you want to give them all of the ideas, Father?" Christina asked.

  Joe coughed into his fist and stood back up.

  "You can increase the heat of the pad by putting the pin into the different holes up and down the side. This is a basic version, we can change the shape as needed, the heat output. We also have enchantments that would allow you to draw the heat out of something and recirculate it into another area like you did with the two point five. Allowing you to condense the steam much faster and utilizes that energy in a secondary heating chamber," Len explained.

  "We've got a couple of designs already based on different engines. Most of them are Zinta designs," Edward said, scratching the back of his head and blushing slightly. "I found your system to be the most efficient and effective compared to the others." He coughed slightly.

  "And so you thought to reach out to me and see if I would want to make engines?" Joe asked.

  "I know that my designs can't stack up to yours, and we need someone who knows how to do this and is wiling to jump into utilizing new ideas. All the other train engines are made abroad," Edward said.

  Len, pulled out another contract and laying it on the table. Christina stepped forward to read it with her father.

  "A contract of employment and partnership," Joe said, sounding skeptical. “I don’t know if I can accept this.”

  “We wanted to show our sincerity and interest,” Len said. “My father and I have been working on prototypes and parts that we think will interest you over at our warehouses that we’re hoping to turn into a

  "I don't think the other nobles would look too kindly on this," Joe said.

  "They might not, but at the end of it, we don't really care," Rick replied.

  "You don't care?" Joe asked.

  Rick looked at Len, the two of them carrying out a silent conversation held by nod tilts, shakes, and eye gestures.

  "The contract stops them from telling anyone else about it. Plus, why do we have to keep it a secret?" Rick said.

  "Fair enough," Len said.

  Rick looked at them both. "Simple fact, the apocalypse is coming. Things are gonna get weird and strange, and nobles aren't going to really matter anymore. What'll matter is being ready for what's to come. If you're here in Goran, you'll be safe, you'll be fed, and hopefully, after the apocalypse is settled down, we’ll be lay in our own tracks."

  The xintas looked at one another, then at Rick and Len and the other people in the room.

  "An apocalypse?" Joe crossed his arms.

  "All this mana that's coming through the world, the stat screens and everything, it's all linked together. Mana gets too dense and the world connects. You know that network thing you've been seeing? When that happens, that's when the apocalypse occurs. Mana loses its control and it gets weird," Rick said.

  "Mana storms will reshape the world as we know it, changing the topography of the entire world, opening up possibilities and closing down others. There will be more locations to visit than ever, and having a clear and workable system to move throughout the lands will become invaluable," Len said.

  Christina could tell her father was skeptical, when he looked at her with those tired eyes and shrugged.

  What other option did they have?

  The contract was good, the terms within would protect them and make sure that they were cared for as well as their workers.

  The Isendia didn't seem like the other nobles, a little bit more crass, and if anything to go by, they were industrious by the wall that was going up around their lands. She saw the pent-up excitement within Edward. She saw the interest from Len and Rick. They'd probably be able to do this without her and her father, which made it more appealing to work with those who were interested.

  “We’d be interested in looking at what you’ve already built up,” Christina said.

  "Well, I hope you have a good stay in Goran. Dad, if you want to take them to the workshop, Rick and I have to head off," Len said.

  “Already?” His mother asked.

  “The train is here and we can’t keep them waiting forever,” Len said.

  “Be careful,” She hugged him.

  He went through the others hugging them.

  Edward clapped him on the back and he glanced at Rick who had picked up two packs that had been against the wall.

  "Don't worry, we'll come back with plenty of books to teach people how to use these new crafts, and maybe a few materials to help out here and there," Len said.

  "First clear, baby," Rick said.

  Everyone looked over, then looked at each other in question.

  "No culture,” Rick sighed as they walked back out to the train.

  “Well, I’d be interested to get your input into what we’ve done already,” Edward said, leading them out of the station.