The Morning hit the sky and Emery was dead to the world.
At least, that's what Callum decided as he mercilessly shook him awake.
"Five more minutes" Emery groaned, burying his face into the pile of blueprints beside his bed.
Callum didn't budge. "Zafira called an emergency meeting. You need to get up."
From the doorway, Feng and Chen stood, holding plates of food, grinning like fools.
"Damn, you look awful" Chen said, biting into a meat bun.
"Should we be worried our great inventor is on the verge of death?"
"More like on the verge of genius" Callum muttered.
"You did just invent the world's first electrical engine. How does it feel to change history?"
Emery smirked despite himself. "Feels like hell."
Lianfei appeared behind them, arms crossed. "You brought this on yourself with the whole motor thing."
Emery sighed, sitting up. "I wouldn't have it any other way."
Before he could even stretch, Zafira's voice cut through the morning haze.
"Now that you're awake, let's get to business."
She stood at the doorway, arms crossed. "Winter is ending, and spring is on the horizon. That means it's time to start the operation dojo."
Haoran and Renshu stepped forward, nodding. "The business side will be handled"
Renshu assured him. "Our loyalty is absolute."
Lianfei, Chen, and Feng exchanged glances before grinning. They had long since converted to Emery's way of thinking—science and invention over tradition.
But that didn't mean they had forgotten their roots.
Chen raised a hand lazily. "Do we still need to practice martial arts once the dojo opens?"
Zafira smirked. "At least one of you has to be a student there—for marketing purposes."
Chen and Feng groaned in unison, while Lianfei just chuckled, already considering which one of them would be the unfortunate volunteer.
Zafira smirked. "It's a good thing anyway. Honing your martial arts won't kill you—believe it or not, your teacher, scrawny as he is, has also been training. He just wants to be stronger physically, without all the Qi nonsense."
Chen and Feng exchanged glances, looking betrayed. "Wait, Emery's training? Since when?!"
Zafira shrugged her shoulders. "Since he realized science doesn't make you immune to getting punched in the face."
Lianfei, Chen, and Feng all turned their heads slowly toward Emery, their expressions a mix of disbelief and betrayal.
Chen narrowed his eyes. "So you've been sneaking off to train while telling us to focus on science?"
Feng crossed his arms. "Hypocrite much?"
Lianfei just smirked. "I have so many questions."
Emery sighed, rubbing his temples. "Alright, alright—first of all, I wasn't sneaking off. I just happened to fit it into my schedule when I wasn't, you know, revolutionizing technology. Second, I'm not learning martial arts to fight. I just want to be stronger physically. It's practical. You know, lifting things without needing that Qi huu ha."
Chen squinted at him. "So you are sneaking off."
Emery groaned. "You all are impossible."
Lianfei tapped her chin. "So, let me get this straight. You, the man who lectures us about logic, science, and progress, are willingly engaging in a practice that you yourself have called 'unscientific nonsense' in the past?"
Feng held up his fingers. "Wait, wait, let's really process this. Are you telling me that while we were calculating coil efficiency, you were off doing push-ups in a field?"
Emery's face twitched. "…I mean, yes, but—"
Chen dramatically fell to the floor. "Betrayal!"
Callum simply leaned back against the table, smirking. "Honestly, I saw this coming. I mean, science doesn't stop you from getting your ass kicked."
Emery facepalming himself. "You all are the worst team of apprentices ever."
The meeting took about an hour to conclude, and with no time to waste, the team jumped straight into experimentation.
The Relay Breakthrough
Day 1: Emery created a simple coil, proving that electric currents could create magnetism. Lianfei optimized the coil winding, reducing energy loss. Emery couldn't help but feel pride watching her work. She had a knack for adapting new concepts quicker than most.
Day 2: Callum prevented catastrophic overloading, ensuring they didn't melt wires again. (Chen and Feng had almost electrocuted themselves—twice.) Emery made a mental note to keep them away from anything that could explode. "I swear, you two are a hazard to technological advancement."
Day 3: They experimented with different iron cores, figuring out which material held magnetism the best. Soft iron won. Feng, in awe, muttered, "So… metal remembers?" Emery chuckled. "Something like that. Think of it as training the iron to respond faster."
Day 4: After dozens of adjustments, they successfully built the first electromagnetic relay. When the switch was flipped, the circuit engaged without failure. For the first time, they had reliable electrical control.
Emery stared at the relay in stunned silence, the weight of the moment settling in. He reached out, flicking the switch again, and watched as the current obeyed, transferring seamlessly through the circuit. The relay clicked into place, responding instantly. It was more than just a simple switch—it was control over electricity itself.
His fingers trembled slightly as he turned to the team. "Do you realize what this means?" he said, voice barely above a whisper. "With this… long-distance communication is no longer just a dream. We can send signals across entire cities, even further if we refine it. The world doesn't know it yet, but we just made instant communication possible."
Callum, usually the most composed, let out a low whistle. "So, we're not just making machines anymore—we're building a new way for people to talk."
Lianfei folded her arms, watching the relay cycle flawlessly. "It's not just communication. This means automation. Controlling machines from a distance. This is the foundation of something far bigger than just an experiment."
Chen and Feng exchanged a look before Feng grinned. "I vote we celebrate before our brains explode."
Emery let out a breathless laugh, still staring at the relay. The implications swirled in his mind—
Factories running on coordinated electric commands, messages sent across mountains and rivers in an instant, a connected world unlike anything before.
For the first time in weeks, exhaustion gave way to something else—pure, unfiltered exhilaration.
The future had just opened its doors.
Emery didn't hesitate. He turned on his heel and sprinted out of the lab, nearly knocking over a stack of notes in his haste. Callum barely had time to react before he shouted after him
"Where the hell are you going?"
"Zafira!" Emery called over his shoulder. "She needs to hear this!"
Down the corridor, past the mess hall, Emery found Zafira in the war room, deep in discussion with Jun and Seraphine over tactical formations. She raised an eyebrow as Emery burst in, breathless, his excitement barely contained.
Jun frowned. "You look like you saw a ghost."
"Worse" Seraphine muttered. "He looks like he discovered something dangerous."
Emery leaned on the table, eyes gleaming. "Not dangerous—revolutionary. We just built a functioning electromagnetic relay. We have control over electricity. Do you understand what this means? We've just made long-distance communication possible!"
Zafira's expression was unreadable for a moment. Then, slowly, her eyes narrowed as realization struck.
She wasn't a scientist, but she was perceptive—ridiculously so.
"You're telling me," she said carefully, "that you can send messages instantly? No couriers, no waiting days or weeks for news?"
Emery nodded vigorously. "Yes! A relay network once built. could send signals across entire cities. If we scale it, we could communicate across kingdoms, maybe even farther. Wars wouldn't be fought blind anymore—commanders could receive orders in real time. Trade routes could be adjusted on the fly. People wouldn't have to live in isolated pockets of information anymore!"
Zafira exhaled slowly, crossing her arms. "That also means governments and warlords will fight for control over it. Information is power, Emery. You didn't just create a machine—you created leverage. If the wrong people get their hands on it, this could shift the balance of power overnight."
Jun let out a low whistle. "She's not wrong. The first person to control this technology? They'll control the flow of information itself."
Seraphine tapped the table. "We need to keep this under wraps until we decide how to use it. This isn't just an invention—it's a weapon."
Emery swallowed. He had been so consumed by the possibilities that he hadn't considered the consequences. "Then what do we do?" he asked.
Zafira smirked. "We plan. And we move faster than anyone else."