The rattling and metal tapping against glass reverberated down the hall and into the workshop. With each passing second, the din and cacophony got louder. And the longer Emma and company waited, the more the sound of what was hopefully wheels grinding as they strained against their cargo. Images of a cart and whatever Igor was bringing were in the collected group's minds. After all, the last time he disappeared, he returned with a mechanized gorilla's body. And so, like the fable of the blindfolded people asked to describe an elephant by touch. The waiting group imagined machines and creatures, distorted, impossible, arcane, and eldritch, something that should not exist in the real world.

No one noticed Big Ron, now awake and twitching at the sounds coming down the hall.

Igor appeared from the left of the doors opening, three large cables bound to each other by strands of smaller wires interwoven into an intricate braid. The wires and cables were wrapped around Igor's body and neck. One of his hands kept darting up to catch and re-rap the cable about himself. On top of the cart, a beehive-shaped cone thicker around the top than the bottom, with glass valves plugged into the device's walls. On top of the inverted hive sat a helmet with a second helmet resting upon that. On the cart's second shelf was a barrel generator and what looked like an upright hand bellow with a bar that a person lifted and depressed to expel air.

Igor smiled at the four of them in greeting as he entered. While the group returned the greeting with mesmerized glances at Igor's contraption, no one looked at Big Ron, who stirred, stiffened, and watched while still bound to the chair.

"Well, Mr. Igor. What do we have here?" asked Emma.

"Oblak. Igor Oblak. At your service," Igor replied.

"Quite so, Mr. Oblak," Emma stated.

"This good lady is the culmination of many lifetimes of work of many great scientists studying and toiling in parallel lines of interest. This is the Aether Impressions Extractor." Igor said while he wheeled the machine behind Big Ron.

"Mr. Wolf, is our friend awake?" Emma asked

"He will be. I got a bucket of water that should bring him around." Mr. Wolf replied as Emma bent down to eye level with Big Ron looking to the right side of his face, then to the left and back again.

"Ron, Ron, Ron. It is not nice to trick us into believing you are asleep." Emma said.

"I can still douse him," Mr. Wolf offered.

"That won't be necessary now, will it, Ron?" Emma said.

"It would help the Impressions extractor." Igor offered, trigging Mr. Wolf to immediately dump the bucket of water over Ron's head.

"I am not telling you lot. Anyphing! And a little water and talk are doing nowt to change that." Ron spat the words.

"Well, let us see what can be done with that, shall we. Mr. Oblak, a description of the machine's workings if you would." Emma waved her hands, evoking the image of a magician casting on stage.

"Arr, yes. You see, this is the Aether Impressions Extractor. Science has proven that, without a shadow of a doubt, mind you. Everything we do makes an impression in the Aetheric field, generated by the brain, to store memories. That field can be accessed, and we can remove those memories and replay them to another person." Igor said.

"Will that kill him?" Amelia asked.

"No, of course not; I am not some sort of barbarian," Igor said, circling to look directly into Big Ron's eyes. Eyes that carried a level of relief and softened.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"It will, however, be more pain than you can endure, my good fellow, and for that, I am sorry," Igor reached out and touched Ron lightly on the shoulder.

"Now. YOU hang on one god's dam minute. I am not getting anything exacted from me brain." Ron said, twisting in his seat.

"Well, I will just give him another little slap," said Mr. Wolf.

"No! Don't do that; the Aether will capture the experience and burn it into his mind. The machine will cause the brain will lose the passage of time and remember the single moment of pain as happening every second for the remainder of your life Ron. Or until your sanity is lost." Igor warned, talking directly to Ron.

"Ron, this helmet will be placed on your head," Igor explained as he walked behind Ron and lifted the contraption off the trolly. And with some effort, forced it onto Ron's head, despite Ron's erratic nods and twists attempting to prevent the inevitable.

"Help him, Hutchens," Emma commanded. For his part, Hutchens just moved from Emma's side and placed his hands on Ron's head, holding it in still until the contraption was fully fastened by a strap below his chin.

And it is extracted. The process will start slowly, and you will not feel much, if anything, really. Then it will begin to feel a sensation of like a breeze. YOU can stop it at that point. Remember that YOU can stop me at that point." Igor said before he continued.

"But then it will reach a crescendo like a great sea wave breaking on the shore, and it will crash you into the most painful thing you will ever experience. You will want to die, but the machine will not let you, Ron. Instead, it will keep you awake and experiencing it." Igor offered even more instruction.

Emma looked to the room, at each person into their faces, which told you who they were. Mr. Wolf was experiencing wonder and fascination, Amelia looked down and away, and Hutchens looked amused.

"Let us get this done," Emma stated. Igor connected the wires to the machine from Ron's helmet and handed the bellows to Mr. Wolf.

"When I signal you pump this," Igor instructed. Then, pulling a ripcord around a fly-wheel on the side of the barrel engine, it burst into life. It sparked and emitted cracking noise as the machine started to generate electricity from the petroleum-powered engine.

"It has started. Ron, you will not be feeling anything yet. But soon. YOU can stop this, Ron. Just tell me to stop." Igor pleaded.

"Stop it," Ron demanded.

"Tell them what they want to know, Ron. Tell them before it is too late." Igor said with his voice raised above the sound of the motors screaming.

"Yes, tell me," Emma said, looking directly into Ron's eyes.

"Never. Stop this now." Ron pleaded. Igor moved before Ron signaled to Mr. Wolf, who started to work the bellows.

"Yes, tell her, Ron, you will feel the breeze any moment. Stop me before it is too late. Please, Ron." Igor pleaded in his broad Eastern European accent.

The machine made a high pitch sound and was shaking on the cart, creating even more of a din. Ron's face changed dramatically; he was sweating from the top of his head as droplets were rolling over his brow.

"Tell me. Where my brother is!" Yelled Emma

"Stop me!" Yelled Igor. The machine roared, and the inverted hive was rocking back and forth. A light started to blink inside the casing. The look of terror on Ron's face was indescribable. He was physically convulsing and sobbing, and tears of fear rolled down his face, his mouth turned down.

"We sold him to Steamspire Royal. Let me go. Please, let me go," said Ron.

"Now, that, I believe," Emma said calmly. Regaining her posture and running her hands down the front of the dress. She attempted to smooth out some wrinkles.

"This is outrageous! Simply outrageous," said Hutchens, and he broke out laughing. Emma cocked an eyebrow at Hutchens, then back and Igor while turning off the machine. Ron took a deep breath and let it out.

"It's an act. Is it not?" Emma asked.

"True enough. I could never make the thing do more than make noise and blow air. Still, for this purpose, good enough, I think." Igor said.

"What!" yelled Ron and Mr. Wolf. Confusion on both faces.

"Just who is Steamspire Royal??" Amelia asked, avoiding any further talk about what she had witnessed.

"The Steamspire Royal Trading Syndicate works for the crown on the surface. It is expensive to transport goods around the Pacific. So, by Royal decree, they trade and are respectable. They keep the South Pacific free of pirates, slavers, and anti-royalists. They are within the law to press-gang anyone from the colonies for two years--not more," said Emma.

"Wonderful. Then all we need to do is travel to the offices and ask them to return Kincade," said Amelia, hopefully.

"Well, we could if they were here, in Wellington, but the office is in Auckland. And, I would wager the train is long gone. He will be put on an airship before we know it, poof," said Emma making the magician gesture for things that have disappeared.

"So, we travel to Auckland. And we will rescue him from there," replied Amelia.

"We could. I have a ship in the harbor. If we can get ahead of steam up, we could be at the Auckland port in two days."

"It's settled, then. To Auckland, we go," Amelia stated.