Industry & Intrigue by Ryan McCall

in one
before?”
    “ No, we don’t have buildings
tall enough to justify an elevator in Airdlagh,” he said,
chuckling.
    “ How does it work?” he
asked.
    “ It’s advanced pulley mechanics,
powered by a steam engine, nothing too complex,” she replied. “You
push a button here for your floor.” She reached out to push the
button with the number eight on it. The elevator stopped several
times before it reached the eighth floor, people exiting on their
desired floors. When the elevator dinged and the eighth button
buzzed, Reese and Cassandra stepped out.
    “ U seful device,” said Reese.
    Cassandra
nodded .
“There’s predictions that it’s going to allow for much taller
construction in the future. It could change the entire landscape of
the city. Another money-making invention for the ingenious Alyssa
Huntington.”
    “ I can imagine,” said Reese. “So
it was invented by Huntington.”
    Cassandra had a gleam in her
eyes. “Yes,
I was here during the opening ceremony last year during my visit to
the campus. She said she wanted to her students to have efficient
access to the materials they needed.”
    “ You were able to see Alyssa
Huntington herself?” asked Reese, noticeably impressed. Everyone in
Alkos knew the name of the famous inventor. She had created the
first steam engine in her late-teen years, and its implementation
for trains and ships and had made her incredibly wealthy and
famous.
    “ Of course ,” said Cassandra. “You do know
she teaches mechanics part-time, here at the university, don’t
you?”
    “ She does?”
aske d
Reese.
    “ Yes ,” replied Cassandra. “She doesn’t
spend all of her time inventing anymore. She has an entire company
to do that for her.”
    The two of them made their way
through the book cases until they arrived at the zoology
section. “Ok, we need to find Historical Fossil Excavations by Harris Reddington,” said
Cassandra. “According to the file it should be about halfway down
this row.” She pointed down one particular row of book cases. They
moved down the shelves searching for the book. Reese found the
right category and alphabetical section but he couldn’t see the
book anywhere.
    “ So do you have much planned for
the weekend?” asked Cassandra as they rifled through the books
carefully.
    “ No,” he replied. “I thought I’d
explore more of the city. You?”
    “ I was thinking of checking out
the new Night Circus out at Surrin, it’s been travelling north and
meant to be good. Would you be interested in coming? It’s about an
hour on the train to get out there,” she asked.
    “ Sounds like it could be fun,”
said Reese. “You’re going with some friends?” Reese thought he saw
her flinch, but it could have been the poor lighting
    “ No ,” she said. “My other friends have
already been to see it.”
    “ Ok then,” he said. “Mind if I
invite Michael as well?” It was something his friend would be eager
to see.
    “ That’s fine too,” she said. “So long as he
behaves himself.” Reese had told her about their little adventure
at the magic center.
    Reese gave up his search for
the book. “Not on this side,” he said. “Any luck?”
    Cassandra stood up from the
lower shelf she had been searc hing and shook her head. “Not here either, guess
we’re too late.”
    Reese grinned. “I have something better we
can use.”
    “ You do? What would that be?”
she asked, curious.
    “ Well my father spent his life
doing similar wo rk to Reddington. I have all of his notes and books in my
room. Some of which they don’t even have here. He collected a lot
of documents on paleontology.”
    Cassandra’s face brightened. “Let’s see if
we can grab the other books we need and go check out your
collection then.”
    ***
    As the sun was
setting ,
Brenna and Snar approached the tojitsu academy operated by the
kitsune, Mikono, the true mastermind behind the drug empire run by
Barus Asulius.
    “ Best if I go in alone for