I follow Lena out of the village, my first time out since I stumbled in here a few days ago. There is no outer wall of this village, at least that means this area is relatively safe, or the village is too small to be worth attacking. Getting out to the creek, I see that it is exactly what I need. It is about twenty feet wide, several feet deep, and moving at a good clip such that there is no ice on the surface even though it is probably -10 or so. Even better, there is a small swell in the creek where the water slows as it has to pass through a narrow part of the rock. Walking around this side of the creek, I also notice that the rock ledge continues for a ways, and I quickly jump up it, due to the lower gravity.

Remembering the gravity being lower, I remember that the pressure from static water will not be as high, so anything I do should rely more on water speed. Looking around, my mind starts to wander, imagining the use of an overshoot water wheel to spin and create power for the village, my generator being used to provide long distance power, and possibly enough power here to help them all.

I must have been staring off for a while, because the next thing I notice are my feet. That being they are getting cold. I do a few quick jumping jacks to warm up, and then go find the others. While I was wandering, they lit a fire and are now all huddled near its flame.

Joining them, I see they look a little tired and cold, so I motion that I would like to go inside as well. Thallion grabs the translator, winces a bit and then speaks:

“Yyyes. Let’s head inside where it is warm. This is not tolerable weather to be in, let alone traipsing around flowing water!”

Entering back into Thallion’s and Lena’s place at the back of the schoolhouse, everyone relaxes as they warm up, shedding their cold jackets and shoes. I go get some paper and start sketching what I would like to make.

Seeing the speed of the river, I hope to not require gears or pulleys, as that adds complexity and friction. With the sole goal to save my phone right now, I start thinking small.

Due to the speed of the river, a simple undershoot water wheel lowered into the creek should provide enough power, probably only a foot or two in diameter. A basic paddle board design, with no buckets should work for now. Looking up, I see thallion nodding along. Good, they at least have seen waterwheels before. Then again, they are old, even by Earth standards.

Next is the generator. I open my phone and browse my offline wikipedia to the page on DC motors https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC_motor Looking at it, I see that it is mainly iron, insulated copper wire, and magnets. Right. Magnets.

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Looking to Silvra, I gesture to one of the iron coins, and touch my fingers together approximating a rectangular bar of metal. It seems like my charades work as she comes back with a bar of iron shortly, wrapped in a cloth. I look at her and the cloth questioningly.

“It’s cold out there! No way am I touching bare metal with my hands!” Silvra remarks.

Makes sense. I shrug my shoulders and grab the iron. It is a little cool, but nowhere near as bad as what Silvra was suggesting.

Now, I asked for a piece of iron even though I needed a magnet because I have no clue how to charades my way through the concept of magnetism. It being unseen makes it very hard to act out. So I take the iron bar and start poking the coins with it, trying to pick them up, hoping they catch on and get me a bar magnet or at least a lodestone. Trying to lift it for a bit, I look up, and all I see are confused faces. I point to the bar, place it on top of one of the coins, and lift both the bar and the coin, holding the coin against the butt of the bar.

Still blank stares.

With that failing, I grab both ends of the bar and pull on it as hard as I can. I then let my left hand let go and keep going beyond the length of the bar, mimicking drawing it out.

Silvra sighs, puts on her coat and boots again and comes back a little later with some wire. Upset, and a little hasty, she drops it on the table in front of me.

Taking the wire, and a knife, I carefully wrap it in the cloth that I cut into strips. I then wrap the cloth covered wire around the iron bar. Booting my phone back up, I take my usb to power cable and touch the leads to either end of the wire, hoping I have enough turns to drop the current enough to work.

My phone does not shut off the port. So that was good. Even better, I moved some of the very small coins. It is not a lot of power, but it gets everyone’s attention.

"Wait, what? How are you moving those?! You are not even touching them, nor is your contraption!" Silvra exclaimed, her eyes wide with amazement and disbelief. "With whatever you are doing, you are moving stuff without touching or making an explosion! And doing it continuously!"

Her voice carried a mixture of excitement and curiosity, reflecting the astonishment shared by the others in the room. As she spoke, Silvra leaned in closer, her expression a blend of wonder and eagerness to understand the mysterious phenomenon unfolding before her.

The rest of the group exchanged looks of bewilderment, their attention drawn to the small objects being moved by the makeshift electromagnet. Thallion leaned forward, his brow furrowed in deep thought, while Lena watched with a mixture of fascination and apprehension.

With that response, I realize something profound that will change the planet’s history forever:

They have no magnets, and I can create them, if my phone lives