Eliza straightened the papers on the desk in front of her. “My first thought is to follow the paper trail, check shipping records, that sort of thing.”

“Are those records public?”

Eliza gave him a curious look, “No, you’d have to hire someone to break into each major corporate or family office and check their records.”

Dellen did not have the first idea who to even approach for something like that. “Do you have a contact that could arrange such an…” He looked for a polite word to encapsulate her suggestion, “Endeavor?”

“No, you’re a noble, and business owner, do you not have someone on staff who handles the… Grimier side of commerce for you?”

Dellen shook his head in response, Eliza had some colorful ideas of what his life must be like. “I want to inspect the city supports directly and see if they’ve been sabotaged.”

Eliza’s face went a shade paler. “That’s not something that I’m going to do.” She said.

“Can you research who might want to attack the city? While I try to get under it?”

“You’re making her very uncomfortable,” Gilgamesh observed.

“I can do some research.” Eliza allowed.

“Capital.” He said. “I’ve been in a building whose structure extends under the cogs. I don’t know how it was built, but I know that there are people willing to go under the city.”

“Most likely criminals,” Eliza said.

“Yes,” Dellen agreed, “There was an ironclad boxing match involved.” He leaned in and lowered his voice. “Do you know anyone attached to that world?”

“Can’t you just ask Marcus and Miranda?” Gilgamesh said.

Eliza shook her head regretfully. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m sorry to tell you that my time here hasn’t introduced me to anyone like that.”

Dellen nodded at her. “In that case, can I trust you to do the research you can while I follow up on my own avenues?”

“Yes, you can,” Eliza said with a firm nod. “What’s the best way to reach you if I learn something?”

“Send a sealed letter to the Northcote estate, or come to see me in person.” He said. “I’ll check back in no more than three days.” He turned to go. “Oh, and remember, don’t mention the specifics to anyone unless necessary. I believe there are some very dangerous people involved; I don’t want to see you getting hurt.” He tipped his head toward her and ducked out of her cramped office.

“Where are you headed now?” Gilgamesh asked.

“We’re going to try and see if any carriages will take us under the city.”

“You think some of them might have more pluck, like that Edmund fellow?” Gilgamesh said.

“Unfortunately, I had to push Edmund, even when there was clear and present danger. It’s a credit to the man that he acted in the moment, but without lives hanging in the balance, I cannot imagine that he will willingly take us under again.”

“What about Tristan?” Gilgamesh said, “Maybe he’d be willing to carry you.”

That was a good suggestion. Dellen took a moment to think it over. Tristan seemed to feel like he owed him for the aetherforging, maybe he could lean on that. “It’s a pity I can’t make a flight suit like his. That would make all of this a lot simpler. Thaddeus said that the closest that an aetherforged like myself could come is magnetism.” Dellen paused, “Come to think of it, magnetism would have been very useful the first time, climbing up the cog, just being able to attach myself to any exposed metal rather than having to find a handhold.”

“Not all metals are magnetic,” Gilgamesh said.

He was correct, but iron was magnetic, and Dellen was reasonably certain the cogs had a great deal of iron in them. They stepped out of the Copperopolis Chronicle, and Dellen found a carriage to return them to the Aetheric Cultivator’s conglomeration of ships.

As on previous visits, Tristan flew out to their carriage, recognized them, and directed them to a landing area for members. Upon landing and stepping out of the wind, Dellen waited for Tristan to walk over.

Before Dellen could ask about exploring beneath the city, Tristan was apologizing for earlier in the day.

“No need,” Dellen said, cutting him off. He held up his hands, “This goes all the way up my arms. I am delighted. Wouldn’t you be?”

Tristan did not look convinced. “Still, I just want to say if there’s anything that I can do, please just ask.”

Dellen pretended to hesitate. “Well, there is one thing.”

“Anything.”

“I need help exploring the chasm beneath the city.”

Tristan’s face went from open and somewhat hopeful to guarded and surprised. “That’s…” He struggled for a while, “Unorthodox.”

“If you’re uncomfortable, just say so,” Dellen said.

Tristan held up his hands too quickly for his words to be entirely accurate. “It’s not that; you just caught me off guard. I don’t know anyone who’s been beneath the city.”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Dellen thought to himself, even if Tristan did not know it. Technically, he had been under the city as he had fallen into the chasm, triggering a new loop. “Then we could be the first.”

“Why do you want to do this?” Tristan said.

“I don’t want to do this,” Dellen said. “I’ve heard from my mercantile contacts out of Copperopolis that there is a plan to plant explosives under and around the city and to trigger them.”

“Did this airship explode?” Gilgamesh said.

Dellen’s eyes went wide. If the Aetheric Cultivator’s ships had exploded, that meant that sometime in the next week, there would be a bomb aboard the ship he was standing on if there wasn’t a bomb already aboard. The idea made his skin crawl.

Tristan’s eyes were as wide as Dellen’s. “You think someone might want to attack the city? Why haven’t you alerted anyone?”

“Because I don’t have proof,” Dellen said. “I need to find an explosive or catch them being placed. Who’s going to take me seriously otherwise?”

“So, instead of warning anyone, you want us to explore the darkness beneath the city together?”

“He seems to have an excellent grasp of the situation. I regret assessing him to be a dullard of unexceptional talent with the face of an illiterate farmer.” Gilgamesh said.

Dellen glanced in his direction; sometimes Gilgamesh could be… Distracting.

“Yes,” Dellen said. “Will you help me? And if so, when can we go?”

“My frame isn’t designed for the weight of two.”

“Can we modify it so that it is?”

Tristan’s hands clutched at his frame. “I would rather not.”

Dellen sighed. “Fine, can we construct a new frame with a greater lift potential?”

“Yes…” Tristan said, drawing out the yes, “However, I won’t be able to fly for as long, and I’ll need more rests. I cannot handle much more Steam Aether than this frame uses.”

“Can we make that frame here?”

Tristan tapped at his chest and spoke with pride. “I made this one here.” He paused. “It’s a two-man job, though.”

“I’m accustomed to hard work.” Dellen held up his hands, “And, as you know, I’m stronger than most.”

Tristan’s eyebrows descended, forming a sharp ‘V’ on his forehead. “You have an interest in that sort of work?”

“I do. What do you need to start?”

“I believe we have everything on hand, but I’ll need the night and tomorrow morning to gather my materials and review blueprints.”

“Review?” Dellen said, “You’ve already designed a blueprint for this?”

“Well, no, but the idea isn’t new; I’ve seen dozens of plans for two-man flight frames; I’ve just never been interested before. A carriage is usually more practical, or two separate frames.”

“If it would be more practical, I’d happily borrow a carriage from the Aetheric Cultivators,” Dellen said.

“No, you’ve just been initiated; that would raise eyebrows, and what possible justification could I give for needing a carriage?” Tristan said.

“He could also explore under the city for you.” Gilgamesh said, “But if he didn’t find anything, you wouldn’t be able to trust his word, and then it would be extremely difficult to justify getting him to build a two-man frame.”

“You’re right,” Dellen said, he stuck out his hand. “I’ll see you here tomorrow afternoon.”

Dellen and Gilgamesh took a carriage back down to the ground, stopping briefly to check that all was well at Gallow’s Gym before heading back to the Northcote estate.

“You aren’t going to introduce yourself?” Gilgamesh said.

“I would, but I’m hoping to spend this loop investigating the bombs and learning how to make a Steam Aether Frame; when would I have time for more than a few words in passing?”

“What about Finnegan?”

“He wants to explore the chasm beneath the city, not under the city itself.”

“I feel like you should be doing more,” Gilgamesh said, his voice pensive.

“There’s a lot to learn.” Dellen said, “You know, you could fly under the city and tell me what you see.”

“Actually, I can’t. My maximum height is only about seventy or so feet above solid material; if I floated over the edge, I’d go screaming into the chasm.”

“Would you be screaming?” Dellen asked, his voice curious.

“Well, no, it would be a gentle descent, and I’d stop seventy feet up from the bottom, but I don’t know how I’d get back up.”

“Come on then. Let’s go back to the estate and see if I have any clothes more suitable for a day working by a forge.”

The next afternoon Dellen and Gilgamesh arrived at the landing bay on the Aetheric Cultivator’s airship, prepared for the task. Dellen had dressed in sturdy, practical clothing suitable for the day’s work.

Tristan gestured for Dellen and Gilgamesh to follow him as they left the landing bay. It was the first time Dellen had seen Tristan out of his frame, making it more obvious that, like Dellen, Tristan too, had forged his arms.

He led them to a large, open space, a mechanical wonderland filled with tools and machinery.

Dellen’s eyes darted around the workshop, trying to take in everything at once. His gaze lingered on a clockwork mechanism that, for some reason, made him think it was designed to control the flow of Aether. Then he saw a finely crafted set of gears, the tolerances on their cuts so fine that the metals seemed to meld together as they spun.

They walked through the workshop, and Dellen couldn’t help but reach out to touch various components, feeling the texture and weight of the materials. He stopped to stare at a steam-powered engine, its pistons pumping rhythmically.

“Have you found a new playground?” Gilgamesh asked.

“This is your workshop?” Dellen asked.

“No, this workshop is open to those who’ve been with the order for a few years. Not everyone has my interest in the craft, so it is sometimes just me in here.” He waved a hand at some blueprints before them. “Let’s get started on the frame before you get too distracted.”

Tristan brought a finger down on a blueprint on the table before them, smoothing out some wrinkles. His voice turned more businesslike, “Alright, this is the design we’ll be following to build the Steam Attuned Flight Frame for two.” He pointed at the various components on the frame, explaining their functions and how they would fit together. “These are the main support structures that will carry our weights. These coils are for Aether distribution, ensuring the frame remains stable and balanced during flight.”

Dellen leaned in, studying the blueprint intently.

“We’ll be using several specialised tools for this project. Some are for shaping and joining the metal components, others for the Aetheric work required to mainting the internal components affinity to Steam Aether.” Tristan gestured to a nearby tool rack with a wide array of hammers, tongs, Aether-Infused chisels, and delicate engraving tools.

A rush of memory flooded into Dellen. Another day, another project, he had been working on a prototype that used metal imbued with an affinity for Electrical Aether. To keep the metal’s affinity strong, he had been forced to flood it with Electrical Aether while coating it with unimbued metal. The memory faded and Dellen blinked his way back to the present moment.

“Now, the Aetheric theory behind the Flight Frame is fairly straightforward,” Tristan explained. “We’ll be using Steam Aether to generate lift and propulsion. This is achieved by precisely controlling Steam Aether flow, manipulating its pressure and temperature to generate the desired force and direction.”

Tristan looked over at Dellen, making sure he was following along. “We’ll start by forging the main support structures. Once the basic frame is assembled, we’ll move onto the task of mating the steam-imbued iron with the frame, then creating points of contact so that I can send Aether through the imbued iron.”

“What does the steam-imbued iron do?” Dellen said, thinking he knew the answer but wanting to hear it from another.

“It has a multiplier effect on the Aether I feed into it, allowing me to do more than I otherwise could.”

Dellen nodded, eager to begin. “I understand. Let’s get started.”