Thousands of sparks

Chapter 1
In a dark alley, a small yellow wildflower emerges from a crack in the bricks.It is trying to grow upwards, trying to catch a beam of sunlight leaking from the pointed tower with its gray-green leaves.

Its leaves are already very close to the sun, and it seems that after a while, the leaves stained with dust and mud can be bathed in mild sunlight.

A gray-brown leather boot smeared by the mixture of water and coal ash in the corner was suddenly stepped on, and the small flowers in the cracks of the bricks were crushed and crushed into mud.

"Tsk." The owner of the leather boots spat vulgarly on the ground with a mouthful of saliva mixed with tobacco.He lifted his foot, then rolled down again and again.

"The purpose of the master is not to kill that woman." I don't know when, a person leaning against the wall appeared at the entrance of the alley.He wore a rain-proof cloak, a high hat on his head, and a large bunch of assorted wrenches and keys pinned to his waist. "Our mission is to scare her away and get her out of Orin - not to do anything unnecessary."

"That woman killed one of my best 'hunting dogs'." The owner of the leather boots cursed angrily, "I'm going to skin her alive!"

"Don't do unnecessary things." The man leaning against the wall repeated what he had said before with an emphatic tone, and then spread his hands, "Go and find another idle hooligan on the streets of the dock area. Your hound is not Is that how they all came from?"

The owner of the leather boots suddenly stopped. He turned his head to look at the person by the wall and said, "No, I must skin that woman! You can stop if you want me to, but for the cost of this business, I have to pay for it." Add ten gold pounds."

The man leaning against the wall didn't agree, but he didn't immediately refuse either.He just asked, "Are you sure you want to break the rules for a dead hound?"

"Don't scare me with the rules." The owner of the leather boots spat on the ground again, "Give me the money, the rest is my private business! That hunting dog is the most convenient for me to use. It's not impossible for me to let go - I have to pay more!"

"Bang!" With the sound of opening a bottle of high-end sparkling wine that seemed to be of a good age, beside the quagmire where all the petals were crushed and mixed in, suddenly there was a broken expression with "surprise" and "horror" human face.

The dark red blood was mixed with pieces of white clots, quickly spreading half the alley.

"Don't blame me, you broke the rules first." The figure leaning against the wall stood up straight at the beginning, and he retracted the high-pressure steam pistol in his hand, and waved his hand along the way.The wrench and the key on the waist collided with each other, making a crisp sound.Dispelling the white water vapor floating in front of his eyes with his hands, he showed a somewhat embarrassed expression towards the pair of boots soaked in blood and muddy water, "The little girl in the building has been booked, she has to go to a mining union place where the body can't touch, and then complete that invention completely."

Talking to himself stopped abruptly, he suddenly raised his head and showed a very bright smile towards the upstairs window.

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Polina knelt on the floor and shivered, throwing the wrench and bolts on the ground.Leaning her back against the wall below the window, she tried her best to shrink herself into the blind corner below the window, Polina felt a little out of breath, and her heart was throbbing with pain.

She had just witnessed a murder in a back alley through the windows of her studio.What frightened her even more was the smile that the murderer showed her.

She was very sure that the murderer's eyes met her own.

Polina took several deep breaths. When she was hesitating whether she should immediately go to the safety cabinet not far away to get the weapon, there was a sudden sound of footsteps outside the door, and a bunch of metal wrenches and keys were swinging and colliding around her waist. movement.

The sound of footsteps and movement is getting louder and louder from far to near.The voices finally stopped outside the door.

"I know you're in the house, Ms. Polina." The man's voice came through the crack of the door, like a gust of cold wind blowing in - and Polina trembled more violently.

"You were attacked in the dock area three days ago. After a struggle, you took the weapon of the assailant and stabbed him back." The male voice outside the door said slowly, "After you escaped, the assailant only The 16-year-old lad died."

The shaking of Polina's whole body stopped suddenly, her eyes widened, and her whole body froze.

"Of course, you don't need to worry about any... trouble. In the back alley just now, I have already dealt with all your problems." The male voice continued, "My master asked me to convey my greetings to you, He advises that you should take your invention with you and leave Olin at once—and never return."

The male voice outside fell silent, and just after Polina felt that the other party had probably left, the sound of metal clashing sounded again, and a brown paper envelope suddenly protruded from under the door.

"This is my personal gift." The male voice rang again, "Here is the boat ticket to Newsail, and we will leave tomorrow night. With your ability, it is not a problem to find a tutor job in Newsail—" —It’s not bad to go on like this for the rest of your life. Anyway, please don’t go back to Olin again.”

After a long time, until Polina gradually felt that her joints began to ache, she slowly crawled to the door and picked up the brown paper envelope.

Inside the envelope was a ticket, and a notice for governesses cut out of a newspaper.

"Baroness Androni is looking for a tutor. She hopes that the teacher has sufficient experience and solid knowledge, and is suitable for teaching 10-year-old boys about the basic principles of machinery and other related knowledge."

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"Humans have mastered the second kind of power besides animal power, which is the fundamental reason why the world can become what it is today." The warm sunlight shone in the room, and the old man with all white hair combed back was wearing an old tuxedo .I don't know if it's because of his personality, but the old man's tone of voice is steady and unwavering, with a unique...mechanical flavor.

"His Majesty the Great Emperor is glorious, and under his protection, the benevolent empire has found a place to live in the sea of ​​stars." The old man's voice continued to be steady and without any waves, but in this sentence, he suddenly broke in. There was a little boy's voice.

The voices of one old and one young began to overlap at the place of "His Majesty the Great Emperor" and ended together at the place of "Land of Survival".The old man's voice was still calm, but the little boy's voice was full of boredom.

"Mr. Ronier, I have memorized this sentence. For the sake of teaching efficiency...can you not add such a sentence after every sentence?" Lie on the desk and said, "Didn't you come to teach me the principles of mechanical design? Why do you have to learn history before teaching the principles of mechanical design?"

"Before learning mechanical design, you need to first study history to clarify the purpose of learning, learn mathematics to lay the foundation of mechanical design, and study the laws formulated by the House of Lords of the Empire to ensure that you comply with the corresponding regulations in the process of mechanical design. These are all It is the content of your compulsory course." The old man's tone remained unchanged, "Mr. Lord, you should not discuss content that is not related to the lecture during the lecture, please pay attention."

"Then let's talk about the content related to the lecture." The little brown-haired boy rolled his eyes and sat up from his seat, "What mineral is the interstellar jumping ability caused by, and how was it discovered? In the beginning, how did His Majesty’s ancestors obtain political power? How did the empire maintain its 400-year-long glory? How did the legitimacy of this regime come about? Is the imperial power ordered by the divine power, or does the divine power need to obtain the permission of the imperial power? ?”

The white hair on the top of Mr. Ronier's head trembled a little that didn't belong to the original mechanical smell.

"Ah, this question shouldn't be brought up, right?" The little boy was keenly aware of his teacher's uneasiness, so he changed the subject and asked, "Why don't you talk about something else? Your salary is one gold pound a week, and The income of the six tutors who worked before you was between [-] shillings and [-] shillings. Is the professional fee of tutors always so high? How about other families who are not nobles and do not have such high incomes? Your own children? Will the empire open educational institutions? Or the church will teach them how to read? Or just let them become illiterate, and then go to mines or factories or something like that, working day and night at one-tenth of an adult's salary , until they are fired as adults or let them get injured or even killed on the job?"

"Could it be that His Majesty the Great Emperor and the benevolent empire don't care about the lives of these children at all, and don't intend to let the common people acquire knowledge? Then where is the greatness of His Majesty the Emperor and the benevolence of the empire reflected?" said Quickly After talking a lot, the little boy let out an "Ah" as if realizing that he had made a slip of the tongue.

"Sorry, I seem to have asked a question that I shouldn't have asked again." The little boy apologized sincerely, then turned to look at his teacher, "Well... there are only the two of us in this room now, teacher, you can answer these questions." Can you explain it to me?"

The non-mechanical vibration reached its peak, and Mr. Ronier quickly closed the book in front of him.Packed all the luggage as quickly as possible, then opened the door and walked out.

As he left the room, he left a powerful remark.

"Farewell!"

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"Mr. Ronier has submitted a letter of resignation. He believes that Mr. Dusand's character is too out of character, and he may be more suitable for development in the direction of government affairs than machinery." In the estate of Baroness Androni in Newsail, The housekeeper reported the situation to the hostess, "A letter was sent from Olin, Great Technician Polina is interested in the position of tutor. But she hopes to have an invention demonstration at the ball before entering the job. "

"I thought she had already declined the invitation." Baroness Androni raised her eyebrows. "She agreed suddenly?"

"Although there is no clear explanation, in the letter, Great Technician Polina vaguely mentioned that she has some troubles." The steward replied calmly, "I think Great Technician Polina may need some protection."

Baroness Androni rubbed her forehead lightly, "It's nothing wrong with asylum, I hope she can get along with Dusande. That invention... what type is it?"

"Grand Technician Polina didn't explain it. She described it as 'the most important invention of this era. Kind of stupid hoax”

"The stupider her invention, the better." Baroness Androni chuckled twice and said, "It's better to be so stupid that even the nobles can see that it's not worth even a penny of investment. In this way, we will find a governess for dear little Dusande who won't resign."

"And there will be more room for negotiation on salary." The butler echoed, "I think a weekly salary of one gold pound per week may be too high. If her invention cannot get investment from other nobles, ten pounds per week Two shillings might be more appropriate."

"If she can make my little Dusande sit down safely and receive an education in mechanical principles, two gold pounds a week will be fine." Baroness Androni's helplessness was beyond words, "He is a Good boy, it's just... I like to challenge the teacher too much."

Mr. Housekeeper also seemed a little helpless. He thought for a while and then suggested, "I suggest not to mention the tutor to Mr. Dusand, but you can tell him the content of the invention and display. Ten-year-old boys have strong His curiosity, perhaps through the demonstration of invention, can make him curious about Ms. Polina."

"Before Ms. Paulina officially becomes his tutor, let him read in the room by himself." Baroness Androni sighed, "I hope the punishment of confinement in the room for a whole day will make him conscious You need to control your words and deeds."

(End of this chapter)