The Alchemist Chapter 25

 

Chapter 25

I sat in my shop, Rachel sitting across from me, Wile next to me, and the girl we picked up standing between us. She put her hands on her hips.

“My name is Jessie,” she said. “I’m an orphan. Parents died in a coal mine accident.”

“You’re pretty cavalier about this,” I said. “It’s your parents.”

“I cried enough already,” said the girl. “Can’t cry at the orphanage. They’d beat me.”

I sighed. No child protective services here in a medieval world. “Okay,” I said. “We got you in. Wile, you can grab the treasure she was talking about without me. I’m going to work on developing these photo negatives I have and get going with my contract with Yonas.”

Wile crossed his arms. “Come with me,” he said. “It will be interesting, to say the least. Plus, I need someone to be my cover story.”

“Can’t you just walk in and steal it?” I said.

Wile turned to Jessie. “The person who has the treasure is Caliph, right?”

Jessie wrinkled her nose. “Yeah. That’s the guy. He owned the coal mine my parents died in.”

“Caliph has his hands in many aspects of life in Brownfield,” said Wile. “He’s been a thorn in the side of justice for some time now.” He petted Jessie on the head. “Tell me now. What’s the treasure that he has in his possession?”

“A box,” said Jessie. “That has a hinge and opens up. It used to light up until it didn’t.”

I had a feeling I knew what Jessie was describing. I took out my smartphone and showed it to Jessie. “Like this?” I said.

“Yeah, yeah, exactly like that,” said Jessie. “Where’d you get that? It’s shiny.”

“It’s an object from my home sphere,” I said. “A phone. It allows me to access information anywhere in the world.”

Wile chuckled. “It’s the reason why I’m here. I wouldn’t have believed a word he said if it weren’t for this device.”

Jessie held out her hand. “Lemme see.”

I handed it to her. “How do I work this?” she said.

“Press the button there,” I said, pointing to the power button. “Then you enter the password. One-five-four-two.”

“Eh?” said Jessie. She turned the phone upside down. “I can’t read.”

“Not even your numbers?” I said.

“Dunno,” said Jessie. “Never went to school.”

I took the phone from her and unlocked it. Then I switched over to a game called Super Dominoes and handed it back. “So, to play this game, you have to match up the colors with each other.”

Jessie played a few turns and then handed the phone back to me. “It’s like the carcakin I played with my friends,” she said.

“And this device can do a lot more,” I said. “You can take pictures,” I said, as I took a picture of Wile. I showed it to Jessie.

“Hah,” said Wile. “There it goes again. Beyond anything I’ve ever seen. I bet you that treasure is worth more than my entire hoard.”

“So why don’t you steal it?” I said.

“Dragons can have living treasures,” said Wile, with an ominous tone.

I tried my best to smile. “Eheheh,” I said. “Anyways. Let’s figure out what to do next.” I turned to Rachel. “Did you build the dark room like I told you to?”

“I did,” said Rachel. “I had a hard time sourcing the ingredients, but I did find everything you told me to.”

I nodded. “Good. I’ll bring the negatives into the room and I’ll be out in an hour with the photos.” I grabbed the chest containing the negatives and brought it to the back of the shop, where the newly constructed walls told of the dark room that had just been installed. Entering the dark room, I made sure that I could see with the special red light and then took the negatives out of the box. I had about twenty negatives, some of the sky ship, some of the dragon, and one spectacular photo depicting the moment a dragon died. If my feelings were correct, this photo had the power to change public opinion about dragon hunting.

It took me about four hours to develop the photos. I had never done it before, but I had researched it extensively using my smartphone. When I was finished, I hung the photos up to dry and then left the room.

Wile and Rachel were having a conversation when I exited. I took off my protective coat and hung it on a rack.

“The photos are going to be ready soon,” I said.

Wile nodded. “I don’t doubt your ability,” he said.

We chatted for a few minutes about various town news, and then I returned to the dark room to recover my photos. I had no official need for the developed photos, as “Woodburytype,” the method of making a print from photos, used a photographic negative.

I showed Wile the photo of the killing of the dragon. He grimaced. “I knew him,” he said, as he looked over the photo. “Is this the one you’re going to distribute?”

“I am,” I said. “Using a method that will create a die for printing.”

“Show me this printing press,” said Wile. “Rachel was telling me about it.”

I nodded, and led Wile to another back room where the printing operations were in full motion. Five workers were fulfilling the orders that we had taken in, using three machines.

Wile examined the device, walking around it with an appraising air. “Hum,” he said. “These work a lot better than I would have expected, considering the newness of this technology.”

“My world has it all worked out,” I said. I held up my phone. “And I can figure out all the kinks using this.”

I turned to Rachel. “Did you get the dichromated gelatin that I asked for?”

Rachel pointed to a small pouch sitting on the shelf. I walked over and picked it up.

“Yes, these are the ingredients,” I said. I looked back at Rachel. “I’ll be in the dark room for the next couple of hours.”

Wile was busy inspecting the printing presses.

“Help him,” I said, to Rachel. “Tell him whatever he wants to know.” I left the room and returned to the dark room. I put together an apparatus that shone light through a shield that I had created, generating a steady stream of UV rays. I then overlaid the negative of the most striking photo and used it to create a Woodburytype. The UV light penetrated the negative at different speeds due to the interference of the negative, and when the process was over, I removed all the unhardened gelatin and was left with a beautiful rendition of the photo that could be used to print fliers and newspapers. I achieved everything I was aiming for and more with my first try.

I left the dark room and returned to the printing press room. Wile was still investigating the press, seeming to be even more invested in the machines than before.

Rachel was talking to Wile when I tapped her on the shoulder. “Hm?” she said.

I handed her the Woodburytype. “This is what you need to use to print the fliers,” I said.

Rachel took the print, carefully, and then admired it under the room’s light. “This is beautiful,” she said.

“Hopefully it will work,” I said. “I haven’t tested it yet.”

Rachel inked the print block and then pressed it against a piece of paper.

The resulting print was a lot better than I had expected, for a first try. Rachel grinned, and then her smile faltered. “What is this  a painting of?” she said. She touched the page gently.

“The death of a dragon,” I said.

Rachel frowned. “I’ve never seen a dragon before,” she said. “Is that what they really look like?”

“Can I see?” said Wile. He took the print and looked it over. “That’s amazing,” he said. “You can even see the details of his scales.”

“And we can make more of these prints,” I said.

Wile put the print down. “I appreciate everything,” he said.

Jessie was curled up in a ball in the room’s corner, sleeping. Wile woke her up. “Let’s get going,” he said. He turned to me, as if expecting something. “Are you coming?”

I stopped. “Why?” I said.

“You’re the only one who knows how to operate the treasure,” said Wile. “I know you recognized what it was from the description.”

“Um, okay?” I said. I turned to Rachel. “Can you make as many prints of this photo as possible while I’m gone?” I asked.

“Of course,” said Rachel. “Will we be using this process to make more, um, profitable decisions in the future?”

“This is profitable,” I said. “I was paid a lot of money to print these propaganda fliers.”

Rachel nodded. “I’ll do it.”

I left the house with Wile and Jessie. Jessie had a song in her step as we headed towards the nobles’ district.

There were no physical barriers separating the commoner’s district from the nobles’. We waltzed into the neighborhood without being questioned. Maybe it was the fact that I was wearing very nice clothing. Or maybe it was Wile’s commanding presence. In any case, we made it to the gate that led to the house of Caliph, the merchant.

“How are we getting in?” I said.

Jessie led us to the house’s side, a tight alley that was barely large enough to fit a person. She pointed to a manhole cover between the close walls. “There,” she said.

Wile lifted up the manhole cover. “This leads beyond the building,” he said.

“Caliph hides his most valuable treasure in a basement,” said Jessie. “I can lead you to a secret way to get in.”

“What about the guards?” I asked. f

Jessie took out a blackjack. “I know how to hit someone taller than me,” she said.

Wile pushed the weapon away. “I have a better way. Just lead me to them and I can put them to sleep.”

Jessie shrugged, and then leaped into the hole, disappearing without a trace. I followed. The place was dark, with a layer of water that covered my ankles and smelled of sewage.

“This must be an emergency escape,” said Wile, as he came down behind me. “For Caliph to use if things go south in his mansion.”

Jessie was already a few steps ahead, carrying a storm lantern. “Follow me,” she said.

Wile and I followed. We took a few turns at intersections, and then we came to a small wooden door that was half a man’s height. I bent down and examined it.

“How does it open?” I asked.

Jessie took out a small wire. “Like this,” she said. She fiddled with the door for a few moments, and then the door clicked. She motioned with her hand. “I’ll stay here,” she said. “You guys can go in if you want.”

I nodded at Wile. Wile nodded back, and crouched to enter the doorway. He opened it and passed through.

“Namis,” he whispered, and then two thuds echoed from within. He motioned to me. “The guards are down,” he said.

I followed Wile into the room. The basement we entered was lit by several lanterns, and two guards were laying, sleeping, on the floor. The whole room seemed to be dedicated to a single treasure, sitting in a glass case on a pedestal. I recognized the device instantly.

It was a Windows laptop from circa 2005. I approached it, cautiously. It remained silent, off, without power.

Wile lifted the case from the treasure and placed the glass box on the ground next to the pedestal. On a hunch, I opened a small door beneath the pedestal and retrieved what appeared to be a charging cable. I handed one end to Wile and plugged the other into the computer.

“Can you produce two hundred and twenty volts, alternating current?” I said.

Wile looked confused. “I don’t understand,” he said.

I shook my head. “I suppose I can do it.” I took the plug and tried creating an amount of energy using my alchemy power. The computer started up, and then a picture of a face appeared on its screen.

“Hello,” said the face. “I’m the oracle. Nice to meet you.”