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This section traces the development and significance of Originium technology. Modern life on Terra is built upon the understanding and use of Originium, so that "technology" effectively means "Originium technology," shaping civilization and even imagination itself. For most of history, no clear line separated Originium technology from Originium Arts; the two only came to be seen as distinct after methods arose that let even unskilled casters control Originium. These methods, called "Modern Industrial Arts," store or conduct Arts via crystalline units and mechanical structures, allowing users to release and convert Originium energy with simple Arts or none at all. Their spread let people with moderate to low Originium Arts Assimilation join manufacturing, enabled standardized, replaceable parts, and with the assembly line greatly raised the scale of production, driving population growth, social upheaval, and consumer appliances such as refrigerators, televisions, and air conditioners. The systems still have limits: their casting circuits are fixed to specific Arts, and recharging and maintenance require specialized engineering casters.
The earliest Originium-powered device was the external combustion engine, which used Originium heat to create high-pressure steam driving pistons. It transformed manufacturing and, with the Steam Knights, the military, but was bulky, caster-dependent, and wasteful of heat, with almost no civilian use. The internal combustion engine, heralded as a second tolling of the bells, ended its dependence on casters and improved efficiency. It powered the first nomadic city built by the Seven Cities' Federation and, once miniaturized, entered civilian transportation. Adoption remains uneven: Sargon and Kjerag still rely on burdenbeasts, while the Gaulish, dissatisfied with the internal combustion engine, developed more efficient methods, including the electric motor.
Refinement technology advanced alongside Originium Arts. Before the Crystal Age, rare high-purity refined Originium became nobles' status tokens—one viscountess died after her inlaid ring cut her finger. Homogenous refinement, in which already-refined Originium acts like yeast to purify more, is hailed as the Crystal Age's most important achievement, supplying industry with fuel, sensitive materials, and conductive ones for Originium electronics. Electronics range from traffic lights to autonomous platforms, but high costs and rare materials mean huge gaps between regions; in some, the concept simply does not exist.
After the Gaulish Empire fell in 1031, its technological legacy spread, sparking civilian industry in the Core nations. The author notes the era's rapid industrial growth coincided with large-scale Oripathy spread and increased Catastrophes, and wonders whether people have simply forgotten how to imagine a land without Originium. A tour of Rhodes Island's Engineering Department illustrates regional approaches: Leithanien uses technology to imitate or augment traditional Arts, while Columbia embraces machines as substitutes.
The Originium Internal Combustion Engine was integrated early into the construction of nomadic cities, where Arts once assisted in controlling the combustion rate of solid Originium fuel and the pressure of high-temperature Originium vapor; improperly handled waste Originium dust sent engineering casters to early graves. Only long after nomadic cities were invented did small-scale engines safe for civilian use spread, with automatic control modules and advanced waste disposal now handling problems that once killed countless souls.
A Victorian scholar once imagined a land without Originium, but the bravest imaginings of A Land without Originium went little beyond a charcoal-powered steam engine. Originium has satisfied humanity's need for power, and modern "technology" is called "Originium technology" because common knowledge of modern life is built on understanding and using Originium. All aspects of human civilization, and even human imagination, are inseparable from its influence.
For most of history, "Originium technology" was not clearly defined, with no clear delineation between it and Originium Arts—sometimes the two concepts mean the same thing, sometimes not. Only after methods arose that let even unskilled casters control Originium were they regarded as separate. These "Modern Industrial Arts" store or conduct certain Arts via crystalline units and mechanical structures, letting users release and convert Originium energy with simple Arts or none at all.
Viewed with a modern lens, Arts-based hand manufacturing suffered from high cost, low efficiency, small scale, variable quality, and limited adoption; only exceptionally skilled casters with exceptional Arts Units could make complex goods, and common handmade items were crude. Modern industrial Arts allowed those with moderate to low Originium Arts Assimilation to participate in manufacturing and enabled standardized, replaceable parts in large batches. The assembly line raised the ceiling of production scale; Originium industry brought explosive population growth and social upheaval, which in turn guided technology through consumer demand, bringing refrigerators, televisions, and air conditioners into average life. Still, the control methods in modern industrial equipment remain fixed: when Originium forms specific casting circuits, its use is fixed to one type of Arts, and processing, recharging, and maintenance still demand specialized engineering casters. An old joke noted that where newcomers once asked for the best restaurant, they now ask for the most reliable recharging station, and tabloids still carry headlines about casters blowing up clients' equipment—though decades ago accidents from newly emergent equipment were the media's favorite. Over the past century, Terran attitudes toward Originium technology have changed; these attitudes guide or at least reflect technological development, and balancing the costs, benefits, and growth of Originium Arts versus Originium technology is a dilemma every nation of the Crystal Age must ponder.
Originium, with wide applications, renewability, and high energy density, now powers most of Terra, but before the Crystal Age it was not mainly a power source. The earliest Originium-powered device was the Originium External Combustion Engine, which used Originium's heat to create high-pressure steam in a boiler driving pistons—heralded as the bells ringing in the dawn of the Crystal Age. Steam-belching machines took over manufacturing, and the Steam Knights brought such innovations to the military. Yet these engines were large and cumbersome, depended on casters' Arts, wasted heat energy, and overheated boilers, leaving almost no civilian application. The following decades saw a renaissance in Originium-powered technology, and the internal combustion engine emerged: independent of caster support and far more efficient. It was heralded as a second tolling of the bells; the first nomadic city of the Seven Cities' Federation ran on several large versions of it, and miniaturized engines found civilian transport use. Spread remains uneven—Sargon and Kjerag still use burdenbeasts, while nearly a century ago the Gaulish, dissatisfied with internal combustion efficiency, developed more efficient methods, chiefly the electric motor, one of which powered the tram that carried the author to the port of Basseuse leaving Victoria.
Perhaps the history of Originium refining began when an ancestor cracked an inert crystal shell and found the pale yellow core eased the guiding of Arts, teaching that processed Originium was more efficient. Refining and purifying technology moved in step with Originium Arts, each broadening and spurring the other; regional methods are intertwined with local Arts systems, mostly manual, focusing on high-quality Arts units and luxury crafts. Before the Crystal Age, lacking systematic knowledge of the mineral's danger, rare high-purity refined Originium became tokens for nobility; the Royal Museum of Londinium holds a Gaulish wedding ring inlaid with refined Originium, glimmering pale yellow-green, whose owner, a viscountess, began her path to the grave when the stone cut her finger. Refined Originium now appears as Orundum, but refinement now targets massive industrial systems rather than lords and ladies.
Manual refining cannot satisfy modern industry, so research shifted from color and texture to scale and efficiency. Homogenous refinement is the most remarkable result: refined high-purity Originium acts like yeast, triggering convergence and purification of unrefined Originium's crystalline structure under specific catalytic conditions; the product can itself serve as yeast. This breakthrough is often hailed as the most important technological achievement of the Crystal Age, supplying raw Originium for industry, high-purity fuel, and the Originium-sensitive and conductive materials needed for high-precision electronic units. Originium electronics—from timed traffic lights to intracity network servers to intelligent platforms with autonomous learning—broadened the mineral's potential, though uptake is limited by high costs, rare materials, and complex processes, and where development is immature, "electronics" simply does not exist.
The author had meant to end on a light tone, but A Land without Originium disturbed his mind. After the Gaulish Empire's end in 1031, its technological legacy spread, triggering new industries in the Core nations, Victoria at the forefront, where previously only the military-industrial sector had developed under Gaul's suppression. Doubters of industrial development were mocked as old-fashioned; an old professor's late-life papers expressing worry mostly went unpublished. The author now shares some of his crisis-awareness: rapid industrial development has coincided with the explosive spread of Oripathy and a notable increase in Catastrophe rates—yet, enjoying a cold drink from a freezer on a cozy tram, he consoled himself that surely there is no definite connection. Aware his opening statement was not rigorous, he still did not amend it: perhaps people were once able to imagine a land without Originium, but now cannot, and never will again.
A visit to Rhodes Island's Engineering Department, approved by Miss Amiya, followed. In an instrument repair workshop, the director demonstrated a Leithanian 60s viola that could play only one pre-recorded tune, performed by casting Arts with an Originium-painted bow, paired with a playable viola whose tailpiece Arts Unit let musicians without Arts sense cast simple Arts. This epitomizes Leithanian technology: there, modern industrial Arts are used to imitate, complement, support, or augment traditional Arts rather than replace them. Mechanist contrasted this with Columbians, who embrace machines as substitutes for Arts, via highly integrated crystalline components storing complex Arts, or external mechanical structures applying a single technique to different situations. He demonstrated an industrial welding arm that, though less flexible than a caster, independently channels high-temperature Arts and reaches considerable angles through linked-shaft joints and track movement.
Closure's drone collection shows the changes wrought by Originium electronics: a Sargon military drone requiring continuous close-range casting—whose unskilled caster crashed it into his allies, allowing capture of drone and mercenaries alike—and a Yan civilian survey drone operable by anyone via remote terminal, capable of autonomous cruising, real-time imaging, and even mapping the city's best restaurants and booking a table. In the motor pool, exhibits included a Victorian farming tractor, an old Fernand three-wheel motorcycle, and a modified crop sprayer. Closure led the author to a landship deck cleaner with a music player; to commemorate his visit he added a nursery rhyme with lofty ideals, born around the same time as the internal combustion engine—What a Small Land It Is.
EPIGRAPH
What if this land knew no Originium at all? Nothing that uses Originium as a power source would have been invented, or at least it would have to take some incredible new form! Human ingenuity and laziness would most likely still have led us down the road of inventing powered equipment, but steam engines would require charcoal as fuel, and such an engine would be the size of a five-story house. The kinetic energy output relative to its weight would be negligible, making it essentially a ridiculously expensive, completely immobile water pump. Only a man with a deep hatred of forests would use such a machine. —A Land without Originium
COMMERCIAL AUTOMOTIVE ENGINE
RAYTHEAN
When the Originium Internal Combustion Engine was still in its infancy, people rapidly integrated it into the construction of early-model nomadic cities. In the earliest nomadic city engines, Arts were needed to assist in controlling the combustion rate of solid Originium fuel and the pressure levels of high-temperature Originium vapor. However, whenever waste Originium dust was not handled properly, these mobile megastructures would usher their engineering casters to an early grave.
Only long after nomadic cities were invented did small-scale Originium internal combustion engines, which could be safely used by civilians, become truly widespread. Nowadays, automatic engine control modules and advanced waste disposal systems are capable of efficiently handling these problems that once led to the deaths of countless souls.
One Victorian scholar famous for compiling popular works of art once tried to imagine a land without Originium, but the bravest imaginings of that thin volume titled A Land without Originium were little more than a steam engine powered by charcoal. Originium is a great source of energy, one that has satisfied humanity's need for power. Nowadays, when we speak of "technology", we call it "Originium technology", for most of our common knowledge about modern life is built upon the understanding and use of Originium above all else. One could say that all aspects of human civilization, and even human imagination, are inseparable from the influence of Originium technology.
However, for the greater part of human history, "Originium technology" has not been a clearly-defined concept. Since time immemorial, there has been no clear delineation between such technology and Originium Arts. At times, the two concepts hold the same meaning, while at others they do not.
It was only after the invention and popularization of methods that allowed even unskilled casters to control Originium that people started to regard these as separate matters. These Originium control methods are known as "Modern Industrial Arts", referring to the storage or conduction of certain types of Arts via crystalline units and mechanical structures. The user can easily release and convert Originium energy by casting simple Arts or even no Arts at all. This section will mostly discuss these control methods of Originium and their applications.
A groundbreaking manmade metal that retains RMA70's outstanding Originium Arts conductivity, while also demonstrating excellent material strength. Not only is D32 steel used to make Arts units that can withstand a tremendous amount of energy, its aforementioned material strength suits it to the manufacture of outstanding melee weapons. Only the most experienced of casters understand the value of beating enemies with a staff.
If one were to look at the past with a modern lens, using Arts as the foundation of hand manufacturing comes with the issues of high cost, low efficiency, small scale, variable quality, limited adoption, and so on. Only casters with an exceptional level of skill alongside an equally exceptional Arts Unit can manufacture complex goods. The most commonly seen handmade items in people's daily lives are crude and simple.
The spread of modern industrial Arts not only allows those who have moderate to low levels of Originium Arts Assimilation to participate in the manufacturing, but also makes it possible to produce standardized and replaceable parts in large batches. The emergence of the modern assembly line greatly increased the upper limit of the scale of production. The rapid development of Originium industry brought with it an explosive growth in population, alongside drastic upheavals in social structure. These changes in turn guided the development of technology via consumer demand. Once Terra echoed with the rumblings of nomadic cities, common appliances such as refrigerators, televisions, and air conditioners gradually entered the average Terran's daily life.
It is undeniable, however, that the Originium control methods used by modern industrial equipment are still rather fixed and monotonous. When Originium is used to create specific casting circuits, its use is thus fixed to conducting a specific type of Arts. Processing operations, as well as the recharging and maintenance of equipment still demands the Arts of specialized engineering casters.
Before I left for my journey to Laterano, some old colleagues joined me for a meal. A joke came across the table: there was once a time when the most pressing thing you had to ask the natives after moving to a new city was which restaurant was the best in town, while nowadays you'd ask which recharging station was the most reliable. Headlines such as "Inattentive Caster Blows Up Client's Equipment During Recharge Maintenance" will always grace the lifestyle sections of the tabloids. However, several
A flyer for the Prime™ Originium Devices Recharge & Repair stations.
decades ago, accidents caused by newly emergent Originium equipment were the media's favorite.
The past hundred years or so have seen a change in the attitude of Terrans towards Originium technology. During the period of substantial technological development, the changes in people's attitudes, conceptualizations, and cognitions held not only social significance, but even more drastic significance for technology itself. It guides, or at least reflects, the future of technological development. Weighing the costs and benefits of Originium Arts and Originium technology, while balancing the direction and scale of growth for both, are dilemmas that every nation of the Crystal Age must ponder.
Due to its wide range of applications, renewable nature, and high energy density, it is hardly a surprise that Originium is the leading source of power for the vast majority of Terra's nations and regions. But in the long years before the advent of the Crystal Age, its main use was not as a power source.
The birth of Originium-powered equipment led to a radical alteration of this paradigm. The earliest Originium-powered device was the Originium External Combustion Engine. Rather than Originium directly releasing kinetic energy, the engine utilized the heat energy it produced to create high-pressure steam within a boiler. This steam then drove pistons back and forth, powering the engine. The creation of this technology has been heralded as the bells ringing in the dawn of the Crystal Age. From cranes to batch feeders, from cargo trains to industrial grinders, steam-belching machines began to take over all aspects of the manufacturing industry. With the rise of the Steam Knights, Terra's militaries also welcomed these new innovations.
Despite their significance, the designs of these early Originium external combustion engines were obviously flawed. The devices tended to be rather large and cumbersome, and not only did they depend upon the Arts of casters to operate, the vast quantities of heat energy released by Originium could not be fully utilized, often resulting in overheated boilers. These flaws, and myriads more, meant these engines had almost no civilian application whatsoever. In the decades following the invention of the external combustion engine, this land witnessed a veritable renaissance in the exploration of Originium-powered technologies. It was in this period that the Originium internal combustion engine finally made its mark. It no longer depended on the support of the caster, and its efficiency in utilizing Originium-released heat energy was also much higher.
A device highly sensitive to Originium activity, able to convert minute changes into electrical signals, allowing for the precise transfer of Originium energy without the use of Arts. Nowadays, bipolar nanoflakes have become a necessary component in all modern Originium devices. It is said that "regular calibration of bipolar nanoflakes is the most boring part of the job for any engineering caster working at an Originium recharging station, bar none."
Londinium, 1085.
The creation of the Originium internal combustion engine was heralded as a second tolling of the bells. The first nomadic city designed by the Seven Cities' Federation was powered by none other than several large-scale versions of these engines. Once these bulky machines were miniaturized in size, they enjoyed a certain degree of application in civilian transportation.
Even to this day, the spread of Originium-powered technology across the various regions still remains rather uneven. The lands of Sargon and Kjerag are still stamped with the footprints of burdenbeasts. Meanwhile, nearly a century ago, the Gaulish had already found themselves dissatisfied with the internal combustion engine's efficiency. Soon after, even more efficient methods of utilizing Originium energy were developed, the electric motor chief among them. It was one of these motors powering the tram that carried me towards the port of Basseuse the afternoon that I left Victoria.
Consider this scenario: One of our ancestors inadvertently chiseled open the inert crystal shell of an Originium ore, and discovered that the pale yellow core within allowed them to guide their Arts more easily. Simply cracking open the shell wouldn't do anything to change the Originium's purity, but it was enough to teach people that processed Originium was far more efficient. Perhaps this is where the history of Originium refining began.
The real technology for refining and purifying Originium moved in step with that of Originium Arts. The former massively broadens the horizons of the latter, while the latter's need for the purest Originium spurs on the progress of the former. The refinement methods of the various regions tend to be closely intertwined with local Arts systems, but most of them still rely on manual labor, mainly focusing on manufacturing high-quality Arts units and luxury crafts.
In the eras preceding the Crystal Age, people lacked systematic knowledge of the danger inherent in this mineral, and rare high-purity refined Originium was often made into tokens for the nobility to flaunt their wealth and status. The Gaulish collection in the Royal Museum of Londinium contains a wedding ring inlaid with
One part of the complicated process of refining Originium. Here, a catalyst is added to the refinement furnace.
refined Originium. Under lighting, it glimmers with a pale yellow-green glow. The ring's former owner was a viscountess, and her path to the grave began when the stone cut her finger. Nowadays, refined Originium can still be fashioned into such emblems in the form of Orundum, but the main target of these refinement techniques has shifted from those few lofty lords and ladies to massive Originium industrial systems.
However, refining Originium by hand is nowhere close to satisfying the rapacious needs of modern industrial manufacturing. And so research into refinement methods has shifted focus from changing the color and texture of the products to the scale and efficiency of the process. Homogenous refinement is the most remarkable result of this path of exploration. I tend to analogize the fermentation of food to describe the refinement process: During refinement, high-purity Originium that has already been refined acts in a similar manner to yeast, as under specific catalytic conditions, it triggers the convergence and purification of the crystalline structure of the Originium that has yet to be refined. The refined Originium obtained this way is of the same purity as that used for "yeast", and can itself serve as "yeast" too.
This breakthrough in Originium refinement technique is often hailed as the most important technological achievement of the Crystal Age. Whether raw Originium needed for large-scale industrial manufacturing, high-purity fuel needed for high-efficiency Originium-powered devices, or the Originium-sensitive materials alongside highly conductive ones absolutely necessary for the creation of high-precision Originium electronic units, they ultimately all come from typical, unassuming refineries.
The influence that the Originium electronics industry has on both manufacturing and daily life cannot be understated. From timed traffic lights to intracity network servers, and even to intelligent operation platforms that possess a degree of autonomous learning and movement; the birth of Originium electronic technology has greatly broadened the potential applications of the mineral.
The range of uses for this technology is wide, but comparatively limited in uptake. Whether high-purity Originium crystals, highly conductive alloys, or high-precision integrated circuits, every aspect of the electronics industry is accompanied by high costs, rare materials, and complex processes. And so, the differences in electronics development between nations and regions can be huge. In fact, this statement of "differences in development" itself lacks rigor, for in regions where overall technological development is still immature, "electronics" is a concept that simply does not exist.
An excellent conductor of both heat and electricity, with equally outstanding performance in high and low-temperature environments—incandescent alloy is a rising star in materials science, worthy of regard from the domain of electronics technology. Raythean Industries once released a model of mobile terminal that purportedly functions just as well in Sargonian deserts as Sami icefields. From the capacitors inside the battery to the glass-sealed diodes atop the motherboard, incandescent alloys are found all over this product. But even this model will not find a signal in these extreme environments.
I had initially planned to end this section of the book in a light and cheery tone, but the contents of the seemingly boring booklet A Land without Originium have been disturbing my mind since I first read it, to the point that I find myself unable to set down my pen.
In 1031, the Gaulish Empire came to its end. In the decades following its fall, the Empire's technological legacy was spread far and wide, triggering the explosive beginnings of a new industry in the Core nations, with Victoria at the forefront. Civilian
industries in all these nations also enjoyed rapid development, completing the final piece of their overall industrial structure. Previously, under the suppression of Gaul, the military-industrial sector was their only developed industry.
During that time, those who expressed doubt towards industrial development were considered old-fashioned, conservative, and unwilling to face the radiant fruits of a great triumph. There was once an old professor at the college who had found himself the subject of such ridicule at the dinner table. In his later years, he wrote ten or so papers, expressing his worries about industrial development, but very few of them actually made it to publication. Over a long period of time, I struggled to comprehend these worries of his. Today, however, I somehow start to share a part of his awareness of the crisis, but his name has escaped my memory already. The many academic papers and texts I have read led me to note the following: In this era, we have seen rapid industrial development, and at the same time witnessed the explosive, large-scale spread of Oripathy, alongside a notable increase in the rate of Catastrophe. But as I boarded this smooth, cozy tram and enjoyed a cold, refreshing drink right out of the freezer, I subconsciously consoled myself: Surely, there is no definite connection between the two?
At the beginning of this chapter, I wrote, “all aspects of human civilization, and even human imagination, are inseparable from the influence of Originium technology.” I am, of course, well aware that this statement could hardly be called rigorous. Perhaps it is not that people are incapable of imagining, but rather they have already forgotten. After decades living in Londinium, I found myself unable to recall the appearance of the city before it was blanketed by dark clouds. But I still did not amend my wording from the opening of the chapter after all—perhaps we were once able to imagine a land without Originium, but nowadays find ourselves incapable, and will continue to be so, on into the future.
Supplementary Material
The tour of Rhodes Island’s Engineering Department that you had requested has been granted formal approval by Miss Amiya. As for transportation, an operator at our branch office in Laterano will contact you within three days. The Engineering Department looks forward to your visit.
Engineering Department Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals
P.S.: Please find attached a humble gift, personally selected by the Doctor, with which we wish you all the best in your writing endeavors, and to your health.
A popular electric kettle. After undergoing modification by Engineering, it now boasts a spare Originium heat release circuit, and is able to operate even without a source of electricity. Carved into its base is some encouragement from the Doctor: “May you bring life and hope to every corner of the land.”
I began with a look around the most unusual instrument repair workshop, one of the many workshops under the Engineering Department. The director of the workshop showed me a product of Leithanian technology from the 60s, and performed a viola concerto with it. Once the piece was over, the director told me that this viola could only be used to perform this one tune. The tune was pre-recorded into a stereo system built into the viola itself, and the "performance" was simply casting Arts with a bow coated in Originium paint, which supplies the instrument with energy to play the recorded music. Apparently, the original intent behind the design was to allow casters with no sense for music to look as though they were playing it—but the caster had to continuously cast Arts upon it, otherwise the tune would cut out. This was paired with a viola that could actually be played, which had a fast-casting Arts Unit connected to its tailpiece. This unit stores various simple Arts, allowing musicians with no sense for Arts to be able to cast while performing—but the musician had to be sure to point the Arts Unit at the correct target while drawing the bow across its strings.
This equipment could be considered the epitome of Leithanian Originium technology. From life to thought, from custom to art, traditional Arts forms the foundation of Leithanian society and culture. When the rising tide of Originium technology arrived in Leithanien, its practicality was bound to lie within the framework of traditional Originium Arts. Whether an artisan, a scholar, or just an ordinary citizen, when faced with modern industrial Arts, the first thing a Leithanian will consider is their use to imitate, to complement, to support, or to augment traditional Arts, rather than to replace them.
"Many Columbians, in comparison, eagerly embrace machines as a substitute for all sorts of Arts." Mechanist, the elite operator tasked with leading my tour, added, "The final products might turn out a great variety of oddities, but the logic behind them usually goes one of these two ways: Either they use even more highly-integrated crystalline components to store even more complex and diverse Arts, or they use external mechanical structures to apply a single Arts technique to different situations."
As I was still processing this theory of his, Mechanist gently patted an industrial welding arm using his own robotic arm, before he proceeded to introduce this particular piece of equipment to me.
"For welding work, this robotic arm is nowhere near as flexible as a caster. There's a lot of corners it can't reach. Before these arms took over in Columbia, you could always see engineering casters, drenched in sweat, trying to weld tricky corners together in every factory. Logos would say it looked like 'a bush of brambles born from Originium Arts, that ultimately could not bear the strain of life and ignominiously died partway.' But this one? Not only can it independently channel high-temperature Arts, but it also can achieve a considerable range of angles using its multiple linked-shaft joint structure and comprehensive track movement program."
Supplementary Material
It seems that Closure, who has a special affinity towards drones, has managed to amass an impressive collection of them from all across the map, showing the subtle changes wrought by Originium electronic technology during the years. One of the exhibits is a military drone captured by combat operators in Sargon. It requires a caster to continuously cast Arts within close range to control it—a quite difficult task to perform as it lacks stability. Closure rather excitedly shared a report from that mission with me: The unskilled caster sent the drone crashing into his allies, and we managed to capture both the drone with the busted rotor and the mercenaries with their busted heads.
■ A military drone captured by Rhodes Island. The fractured rotor wing exposes the Originium structure within, which allows casters to control it.
■ An aerial survey drone purchased from Yan. Closure even installed video games onto its complementary remote control terminal.
Parked beside it is an item said to be a civilian aerial survey drone procured from faraway Yan. Even if one lacks any Arts proficiency, one may still use the complementary remote control terminal to manipulate it from a great distance. In addition, this model can also cruise without the need for active control, and send images of what it sees back to the controller's terminal in real time. It can even provide a map of the city's best restaurants and book a table for you. As she listed off the various features, Closure's eyes sparkled like Originium searchlights, which left quite the impression.
Supplementary Material
Walking the Engineering Department's motor pool, I was enlightened on the many applications of the Originium internal combustion engine in civilian life: A small-scale farming tractor made in Victoria, an old-fashioned Fernand three-wheel motorcycle, a crop sprayer that had been modified to release tear gas... Finally, Closure, the lady in charge of Engineering, led me to a Rhodes Island landship deck cleaner. She told me this cleaning car comes with a music player, so as to bring joy to the operators who are working on it. To commemorate my visit, she suggested that I pick out a song to add to its playlist. I was afraid that my choice would not be to the youngsters' liking, and after some hemming and hawing decided against classical music. Instead, I opted to leave behind a simple vision for the future, selecting a nursery rhyme that had rather lofty ideals, born around the same time as the Originium internal combustion engine—What a Small Land It Is.