010: THE ENGINE
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The next day, I spoke to Elara and my mother, who agreed to fund the prototype. They gave me a budget of 50,000 Soren. The first thing I set out to do was acquire the materials required to build the machine. This is where Hemlock came in. He knew places to get the cheapest, yet highest quality materials.
I’d decided on using steel as the main metal for this project. Steel was stronger than Iron, and this ideal for use in any application relating to Boring. The first order of business was to provide the blueprints to Hemlock.
image [https://i.imgur.com/TS3F0lW.jpeg] MelonSenpai, 2025
The first component to build was the Crusher head. This was a helical structure attached to a long rod. This rod had a number of “teeth” at the very end that would crush the stone and any material in front of it. The helical structure would then catch the debris and slowly tumble the stuff out into a wheelbarrow placed at the opposite end of the spiral. The whole thing would be encased in a cylinder of steel, ensuring that any debris wouldn’t fall out, and also make it easier to clean the boring head.
This was a standard design used on earth. You’d have a separate head for rotary drilling, then a head for extracting debris, and finally at the base of the tunnel; a casing to help guide the heads.
Hemlock stared at the blueprints with a furrowed brow. One arm supporting his weight against the wooden table, and the other twisting a part of his beard. “Dis design of ya’s it be too damn complicated, ” Hemlock grumbled as he looked through my work.
“Yes, ” I said as I dropped a small bag on the table “ But nothing is too complicated if given the right incentive, is it not?” I asked as the bag hit the table with a metallic pang.
Hemlock smiled, took the bag and began walking over to his desk. “Ya know that steel is expensive, yes?”
“Don’t worry about the cost. Once we have a working prototype, all the big wigs from the mining industry will come running to us wanting to get their hands a machine.”
“Us?”
“Yes master. Us. You and me.”
Hemlock chucked hearing this. “Konrad said the same thing ta’ me when he took over them mines,” he said, rolling up my blueprint. “Us. You Eisenwerks know how to tell a joke, don’t ya?”
“Master, I'm beyond serious. I want you to be my Chief Machine Maker.”
“I told ya boy. I ain’t no machine maker. I’m a blacksmith, and that’s not changing.”
“Say what you will master, I’ll still make sure that you're taken care of.”
“Fine. Now let me work in peace. Come back next week.”
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Later that day, I found myself reading up on Steel in the manor. It’d been a while since I’d worked with the material so it was best to brush up on my knowledge of the topic. The way the material was made during this time period was drastically different from how it was made in the 2030s on earth.
Steel is a composite material that contains both Iron and Carbon. The carbon would be distributed throughout the iron matrix, enhancing the material’s strength. The carbon helped the iron to enhance its ductility, but also increased its hardness. This was the property that made it ideal for the crusher head. I need a metal that would be able to withstand the resistance applied from the rock. If we used iron, the head would twist itself out of shape way too easily.
Apart from the crusher head, my biggest concern was the manpower issue. I was hoping to use the gear principle to generate the required torque. Using a large gear, I’d be able to spin a smaller gear multiple times at an incredibly fast rate. This small gear would then connect to the crusher head, causing it to rotate. If I had enough men cranking the machine, in theory, assuming that the thing didn’t rip itself apart, we’d have a viable machine. However the constraints of the environment made it so that you could have about three to four people in the tunnel at a time.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The only solution I could think of was to use an engine. A two stroke engine was simple enough to design. However, the biggest thing holding me back was the fuel source. Diesel or Petrol. Neither which existed in this world, or was yet to be discovered. Even if a discovery was made, I’d have to figure out the refining process, which was too complicated to do with the current technology of Eshore.
The other solution to my problem was to use vegetable oil.
I began to sketch out a design for a basic two stroke engine on my blackboard. I had the basic components down; The engine block, acts as the casing for the whole contraption, then you have a large cylinder, with a piston inside it. This is the component that moves up and down the cylinder. The Piston and Cylinder together create the combustion chamber. The piston is connected to a crankshaft using a connecting rod.
image [https://savree-storage.s3.amazonaws.com/Articles/optimised/Two%20Stroke%20Engine%20Components.png]saVRee 3D Interactive Media, 2025
The cycle begins with the piston moving upward, creating a vacuum in the crankcase that draws in the air-fuel mixture. This brings the crankshaft into an upwards position. As the piston moves downward, it simultaneously compresses this mixture in the crankcase and, near the bottom of its stroke, uncovers the transfer ports, allowing the compressed mixture to flow into the combustion chamber. This same downward motion also uncovers the exhaust port, allowing burnt gases to escape. Then, as the piston begins its upward stroke (still part of the same continuous motion), the mixture in the combustion chamber is further compressed. The spark plug fires, igniting the mixture and forcing the piston down, which in turn rotates the crankshaft. The crankshaft's momentum then drives the piston upward again, starting the next cycle.
image [https://i.imgur.com/qTYRqkx.png]A. Schierwagen, 2004, Animation of a 2-stroke engine cycle.
This whole process will continue as long as there is fuel available for the engine to ignite.
I dragged my cushioned chair to face the blackboard and I stared at my design. If I remembered my basic automotive engineering, this was all there is to an engine. Obviously this design is incredibly rudimentary and highly inefficient. However, it generated more power than a couple humans could ever do.
My train of thought was broken by a knock at the door.
“Master Alberich? You have a visitor,” it was Amelie.
“Bring them in,” I replied, still facing my blackboard, trying to regain my train of thought. It was useless now that I had been interrupted.
Amelie lead my visitor into the study. It was Cecily.
“Oh, it’s you.” I said, frowning at Cecily.
“Now is that any way to great a fair maiden?”
“It isn’t. However, you’re anything but fair.”
“Oh you wound me deeply good sir,” Cecily said, clutching her chest whilst doing a very dramatic twirl. He frilly skirt spun in an equally dramatic fashion.
I looked over to Amelie who walked over to me, paying no mind to Cecily. “Shall I ask the kitchen staff to prepare tea and snacks?”
Cecily, hearing the word snacks immediately shifted her gaze from me to Amelie, not hesitating to exclaim, “Cake!”.
Amelie gave Cecily a nod and walked out of the room, leaving the two of us alone.
Ignoring Cecily, I turned my attention back to the blackboard.
“So you have a pretty girl in your study and you’re just going to ignore her?” Cecily asked, utterly baffled by my actions. She swiftly made her way to my chair and tugged at my shirt asking “I came all the way here to see you and you just ignore me?”
“Yes.”
“Why you-,” Cecily continued, clearly offended. But her statement ended there. “What’s that?” She asked staring at the design for my engine. “You didn’t draw this did you?”
“I wouldn’t be trying to figure out what’s wrong with it if I didn’t.”
“Fair enough. Explain it to me.”
I looked Cecily, to try and gauge her expression. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was slightly spread apart. Amazement. I knew this kind of expression well.
“I call it an Engine.”
“What does it do?”
“It powers things.”
“What kind of things?”
“I’m glad you asked,” I said, walking over to my desk, and bringing over a copy of the blueprints I gave to Hemlock. I proceeded to explain the concept of the boring machine and the engine.
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“… and that pretty much sums up the whole situation,” I said rolling up my documents. Cecily turned to face the blackboard and held her chin, seemingly in deep thought.
It wasn’t too long before she spoke. “I don’t think your 50,000 budget will be enough for this project…”