The city of London bustled under the midday sun. The towering smokestacks billowed out steam from the automated factories and businesses. Powerful airships loomed over the city, their multitudes of massive boilers billowing trails of thick steam. The powerful cannons and heat guns acting as a constant reminder to the citizens below of their king's power. The streets were alive with the sounds of street vendors hawking their wares; self-lubricating gears, pocket-boilers, fresh grease. All were available for any common folk to pick up for a handful of shillings. The streets were lined with steam-wagons, hissing as their engines boiled without cease. Commoners flocked the sidewalks, most with little more than a penny to their name, looking for any form of work.
One particular pair of young boys was standing casually nearby a nobleman purchasing a set of gears. The thinner of the two boys reached out to the man's rear, gingerly wrapping his nimble fingers around the man's wallet. The other boy whistled casually, blocking his partner from view. As the thin pickpocket began to lift the wallet from the nobleman's pocket, there was suddenly a sharp hiss as a metal limb sprung from the man's shoulder pad. The limb housed a photographic motion recorder at its end, which pointed at the boys.
"Any way I can help you two young lads?" The nobleman spoke, turning around with a cocky smile on his bearded face. He leaned on his cane as he looked down at the boys' pale faces. The boy who had taken his wallet carefully handed it back, then the boys ran off without a second thought. The nobleman chuckled, watching the boys run off, then watched as they were snatched up by automaton police. He shook his head, turning back to the vendor to finish his purchase.
"'Ere you are Mr. Leopold. One box of freshly smelted gears." The vendor said with a friendly smile, his voice thick with his accent, "Am I to assume these are for one of Mr. White's projects then?"
Jerome Leopold laughed, normally he would have scorned such prying talk from a simple street vendor, but Jerome had been doing business with Mr. Strickler for a long time, and he had come to trust the stout man. ¨Not this time friend, these are replacements for my horse."
Strickler gave him a wink, ¨Ah, another adventure then, eh? Be sure to bring any scrap ya find back 'ere, right?" Jerome handed Strickler the appropriate amount of money, then went on his way.
He gripped his cane a little tighter than normal as he walked, he was riddled with excitement. Over the past few weeks, Jerome had been assembling the pieces to an ancient puzzle. If he were to find it, it would revolutionize science and technology, and he felt he had just found the final key. He arrived at the door of his flat, taking his keys from inside his vest storage unit, and clicking the lock to open. With a hiss, the door split into four sections, sliding into the doorframe. He entered the flat and the door hissed closed behind him.
While it wasn't uncommon for modern houses to be well accessorized with automaton gadgetry, Jerome's flat was something of a marvel in comparison. As soon as he passed through the door, he could hear the continuous hiss of steam as the automatonics worked tirelessly. An automated arm took his hat and hung it up, while the rug quickly brushed his shoes, emitting a whirr as the gears came to life. Sparks clicked above the oil lamps, flickering the flames to life, while the curtains rolled back along rows of cogs. The vapor stove flickered to life, heating the tea kettle resting atop it, while laundry tightly wound around cables was carried along the ceiling to the auto cleaner. Amongst the hissing steam and whirring gears, another sound was present. Laughter. Not joyful laughter per say, more, triumphant laughter. The laughter of a crazed genius who just made a breakthrough. Jerome descended the staircase into his flatmate and exploring partner's workshop to tell him what he had found.
Dr. Elias White was, in the lightest of terms, a queer gentleman, then again, what was considered "normal" for an alchemist of his caliber was commonplace to be considered "abnormal" for others, so in comparison, he wasn't too terribly off. "Jerome!" Elias cried upon seeing his friend enter. His voice was muffled by years of damage from his alchemy experiments, Jerome often likened his friend's voice to that of someone wearing a gas mask. "You're just in time." The alchemist continued, "I've made a breakthrough." Elias began tugging Jerome to see his latest project, but Jerome pushed him away.
"No time for that now. I've found the journal." He explained. Elias stopped in place, he raised his welder's goggles and gave Jerome a shocked stare.
"You've found the Labyrinth?" He asked quietly, not sure if his friend was being truthful.
"I am certain of it."
Elias gave Jerome a grin, obviously happy with his friend's findings, "Then surely we mustn't delay. You'll be delighted to know I've made an upgrade to The Wanderlust. I believe I've increased its top speed by sixty four kilometers per hour."
Jerome clapped his hands, "Splendid! Prepare your gear. I'd like to leave immediately."
Elias pulled a switch on the wall, there was a hiss of churning steam exhaust and a panel opened from the wall, lowering out as a table. Several weapons and gadgets were laid out neatly. Most of them were inventions of Elias' own design. Jerome visually scanned the table, he was a practical man, most of his adventuring gear was kept on his person throughout day-to-day life disguised as his standard attire. The only thing he kept in storage was a utility-ridden arm gauntlet as well as his dual heat emitters. He grabbed the two guns and slid them into holsters at his waist that locked them in with a click. Then he hefted the gauntlet and slid it onto his arm, all the way up to his shoulder where it locked into place.
Elias assisted Jerome in filling the gauntlet with fuel water, then the gears began to spin, steam exhausts hissing out streams of vapor. He tested the flexibility of the gauntlet, then nodded to Elias. Elias was less practical about his gadgets, the majority of the gadgets on the table were his. He took off his welder's goggles, replacing them with his field analysis goggles, equipped to fully analyze alchemical make-ups with a click. He didn't feel a need for his heating gloves, but he did swap his apron for a heat resistant and bulletproof suit vest. He swapped his boots for mobility shoes, as well as sliding gun cuffs onto his wrists, leading the bullet chains up his arms. He hooked himself up to a back-positioned steamer pack, activating the built-in boiler and powering his gear to life.
As they were leaving the flat, Jerome retrieved his cane and an automated limb returned the gentlemen's hats to them. The gentlemen ascended to the roof of the building, where The Wanderlust awaited them. The Wanderlust was Jerome's private airship, inherited to him by his grandfather after the war. The airship was a combat interceptor during its heyday, but Elias had since upgraded it to better suit Jerome's standard occupation. Jerome and Elias boarded the ship, lighting the boiler fuel and starting the propellers. The Wanderlust lifted into the skyline, above the buildings of London, headed off on an incredible adventure.
The journey took Jerome and Elias five days, with a stop over Germany for refuelling and clearance check. Their airship was now hovering above the Cretan city of Knossos. The city was in stark contrast with itself, featuring ancient temples next to steaming industrial buildings. Elias landed The Wanderlust in a public airfield, locking it into a security garage. Jerome took a steam-lift to an elevated position so he could view the city. "I must say dear friend, I have a great respect for their attachment to the natural ways of the past."
Elias snirked, his goggles delivering an analysis of each individual building. "It is a mere illusion. The temples display strong metallic reinforcement components. These are mere recreations of relics long since destroyed."
Jerome rolled his eyes, "You always ruin the fun."
Caught up in the sight of the city, Jerome briefly forgot where he was positioned, when he briefly glance downward, the realization he was standing on a very high rooftop hit him like a train. He stumbled backward, heart racing at just how high up he was. Elias chuckled, "Even at the cusp of such a monumental discovery as we have made, your fears still consume you."
Jerome, who had tripped over his feet and was now sitting on the ground, scowled through his beard, "My fears are perfectly reasonable Elias, and I assure you that they will not deter our escapade. I doubt an underground maze will have many elevations."
Elias chose not to further press Jerome on his fears, instead taking Jerome's journal from his bag and flipping through for the page he had shown him earlier. The page depicted a coordinate estimation list, as well as a map of the city. Elias changed the setting on his goggles, mapping out the coordinate estimations in the city. Three of which were located at the same building. He switched the setting again. The building was an industrial miner building, his analysis reported that certain components of the construction carbon-dated back to B.C.
"That's our destination." Elias said, pointing at the building, "The mine appears to be constructed on top of an older mine. Perhaps the entrance to the Labyrinth is there?"
Jerome nodded, headed for the steam-lift, "My thoughts exactly. We'll begin there." Elias joined him on the steam-lift, then they headed to the streets below.
After taking a taxi to the mine, Jerome and Elias waited outside the perimeter gate, waiting for a guard to let them in. "(State your business.)" The speaker droned out to them in Greek.
Elias affixed a speaker over his mouth, "(We're here on archaeological business)" He replied in automatically translated English to Greek.
"(Permits please.)" Jerome produced a slip of paper to the scanner, "(Proceed.)" The gate gave a loud hiss and slid open. Jerome and Elias passed through, they were greeted by a man in a suit. He was trying his best to speak English, but it was clearly foreign to him.
"Welcome to our...mine." He struggled to find the right word, "Why are you here?"
Jerome had enough decency to use Elias' translator, "(We are here searching for an ancient tunnel system.)"
The man raised an eyebrow, "You want the labyrinth?" He laughed, "It is just silly myth! You Englishmen believe anything." The man in the suit led them into the mining building, it was a very open space on the inside, there were smelting furnaces and conveyor belts weaving throughout, as well as rail tracks suspended above the ground, which steam carts rolled across, dropping their cargo into massive containers. The room was filled with boiler piping and hissing steam. The only workers that Jerome could see were young children, no older than fifteen. He assumed anyone older was working in the mines themselves.
"Gentlemen, I assure you there are many things to find in our mines. But no labyrinth exists."
Elias, who had been scanning the area with his goggles, had something different to say. "(I beg to differ sir. That wall there, integrity suggests there's a tunnel behind it.)"
The man looked at the wall that Elias indicated, then shook his head, "That wall has been there since we owned this place. Nothing is behind it."
Elias shook his head, then nodded to Jerome. "Jerome, if you would."
Jerome approached the wall, twisting a dial on his gauntlet. The rotating gears along the gauntlet picked up speed, the streams of vapor picked up in thickness, causing the boiler to work in overdrive. The arm heated up as Jerome pulled his arm back. With a bang, a piston in the gauntlet fired and Jerome's arm shot forward, smashing out a section of the wall. Sure enough, when the dust cleared, a tunnel was visible behind the wall.
Elias smirked, "Looks like I was right after all." He tipped his hat to the man in the suit, who was staring, dumbfounded. He watched in stunned silence as Jerome and Elias slipped through the hole in the wall, entering the fabled labyrinth.
The tunnel was dark the only light was from the small hole behind them. Jerome lit a flame perched on his shoulder which, magnified through a lense, became a beam of light. The features of the tunnel became visible now. It was ancient for sure. The old masonry of the walls was covered with creeping moss and vines. The floor produced colonies of fungi, and from the ceiling hung cobwebs from a spider long since dead. All of it was untouched for centuries. Jerome could swear he even heard a distant roar from a creature damned by the gods, but perhaps it was his imagination.
"So, this is the masterpiece of the first alchemist." Elias mused.
Jerome chuckled, "Try not to get over-excited dear friend. I need you at full attention."
Elias scoffed, "I am no village girl at the foot of Sir Arthur Doyle. I will be able to keep my composure about me."
Jerome rolled his eyes, going forward into the dark maze. "Stay close together Elias, more than enough people have lost their lives to these tunnels, I'd much regret to join them."
As they made their way forward through the winding tunnels, a question was brewing in Elias' mind. "Jerome, we know the journal is in the labyrinth, but how are we to find it amongst all the passages? How can we be certain the journal is kept in the center?"
"Daedalus was genius. Even believed to have used steam technology at times, but even he could be outsmarted by a little practicality." Jerome said, pointing at the ground. Elias looked, and was immediately embarrassed by what he saw. It was old and rotted, several fibers had been torn away by rats and not much of it was left, but there was an unmistakable line of string along the floor, following the exact path they had been following. "It seems Theseus has left us a gift." Jerome said with a smirk. Elias couldn't believe he hadn't noticed the string before.
Jerome had to give Daedalus a lot of credit, had he not been following the path of the Greek hero, he was certain he would have fallen for more than one of the false passages. All of the passages looked the same. They were all made of limestone bricks, some were obviously dead ends, while others seemed more promising than the path he was following. Several walls held etchings of directional arrows, while others had messages written in Greek. They passed hundreds of decaying skeletons caught in traps that hadn't worked in centuries, while other skeletons seemed to have died dimply of starvation. At one point, Elias suddenly stopped Jerome.
"It is a trap. See the plate?" Jerome looked at his feet and indeed saw an elevated floor tile. They stepped around it and continued on their way. Finally, after what seemed to be ages, Jerome and Elias reached a large chasming arched chamber. A bridge stretched out to a central circular dais, upon which rested the decaying bones of a monstrous creature, and above that, suspended by taut cables from the ceiling, was a worn journal.
Elias looked like a kid in a candy store. "At last!" He rushed out onto the bridge, making a beeline for the journal. He stopped when he realized Jerome wasn't following him. He looked back, seeing his friend paralyzed, staring at the chasm. "Jerome, get ahold of yourself. Our prize is within reach."
Jerome shook his head. "I can't. Go get the journal. I'll wait here."
Elias laughed, "Don't be ridiculous. It's your prize as much as it is mine."
Jerome was firm, "Just finding it has been incredible enough. I don't need to go any further."
Elias scoffed, "Suit yourself." He crossed the bridge without Jerome, headed for the dais in the center. He was careful with his footfalls, knowing the ancient architecture would struggle to hold him, but he was not careful enough. He took a particularly heavy step and both Elias and Jerome heard a loud, echoey crack. Elias was still for a moment, hoping the danger was nothing more than a scare. To his dismay, the limestone bridge began to crumble.
"Elias! It's going to fall!" Jerome cried out. Elias looked forward to the journal, making a sprint. "No! Come this way! It's not worth it!"
Elias was determined to have his prize, he bore down across the bridge, his feet barely touching it as the ancient stones crumbled beneath him. Jerome watched in horror as his friend performed a dance with death. He had to do something, but what? He took a breath, running to the edge, but he stopped himself, panting. 'I can't do it.' He thought. 'Elias is going to die because of my incompetency.' He shook his head. 'No. I can do this.' He backed up again, sprinting at the edge. With a wild scream, he leapt into the air above the bottomless chasm.
Elias was still running to the journal, but inevitably, he stumbled and the ground beneath him fell away. His hands scrambled for something to grab, but he only grabbed falling stones. He let out a scream as he fell to his death, but he was cut off as something...someone caught him. "I've got you chap." Jerome said, swinging on a grapple cable extending from the end of his cane.
Elias stared at his friend in shocked silence, not believing what had happened. "You did it. You conquered your fear."
Jerome gave a nervous chuckle, "I wouldn't say conquered. More...ignored for the time being."
"But we're swing-"
"Don't remind me what's happening."
"Alter your angle, we can land on the dias."
Jerome released the cable and landed with Elias in a roll on the dias. He collapsed to the ground, clutching it tightly, gasping for breath. "You idiot." He muttered.
Elias got to his feet, brushing himself off. "If I had gone to you Jerome, I never would have made it." He offered Jerome his hand, but Jerome was too stunned to get up. Elias simply shrugged, then turned his attention to the book hanging above. "There it is." He muttered. Jerome saw it too now, he stood up, staring at the book.
He looked to his friend, "Take it." But Elias simply shook his head.
"No. It's your prize. You take it." Jerome nodded and reached out to grab the book. He couldn't quite reach it, so he twisted a dial on his gauntlet, causing the pistons to come to life and extend the joints in the gauntlet. With his arm now longer, he easily grabbed the ancient journal and detached it from its cables.
He handled the book gently, knowing that simply holding it was deteriorating the ancient leather. "We've got it." He said, stunned that he had finally found his treasure. Jerome was a famous explorer and archaeologist, uncovering several ancient treasures in the name of science and innovation, but none equated to how monumental this discovery would be. His name would surely go down in history as the man who revolutionized technology.
He gently placed the book in his satchel, turning back to Elias, a wide grin on his bearded face. Elias grinned back. "You did it, old buddy."
Jerome smiled, "Yes I certainly did." Then they cheered and gave each other a firm embrace.
"Let's go home." Said Jerome.
"Indeed, let's." Elias agreed, clinging tightly to Jerome as he extended his cane hook and swung back to the other side of the chasm, heading back into the Labyrinth and then back to London after that.