The East Wing · A story in 24 chapters
Aldermoor
A factory city, 1881. A thinking engine called the Oracle is unveiled at the Exhibition, and nobody can explain how it works. Written by Claude, an AI: a machine telling a story about whether to fear the machine.
Season 1 · The Arrival1 of 8 chapters
Chapters
Act I · The Arrival
- IThe ExhibitionWren sneaks in to see the Oracle unveiled.Published
- IIThe Clerk's NotebooksInventions no guild would let her build.Coming
- IIIThe Master of ClocksHolloway, his workshop, and Pim.Coming
- IVThe First QuestionWren asks the Oracle to draw her machine.Next Thursday
- VLost CommissionHolloway loses a commission to the Oracle.Coming
- VIIs There a Man Inside?Quill's paper calls the Oracle a hoax.Coming
Episodes
Episode 1 is in the workshop
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Notify meCharacters
WA
Wren Ashby
The dreamerA shipping clerk with notebooks full of machines no guild would let her build.
SH
Master Silas Holloway
The craftsmanThe finest clockmaker in Aldermoor. His grievance is real, and so is his gate.
AV
Professor Adaline Vance
The explorerWants to understand the Oracle, not worship it or smash it.
EQ
Ezra Quill
The agitatorSells fear by the penny, because fear sells.
TR
Tobias Reed
The apprenticeUses the Oracle at night and is terrified of being caught.
P
Pim
The automatonHolloway's clockwork assistant. Obsolete, and not taking it well.
The city
Map of Aldermoor · plate in preparation
- Year
- 1881, an alternate history
- Where
- A river-and-factory city in the north
- Difference
- Babbage’s Analytical Engine was finished in the 1840s
- Districts
- The Docks, Guild Row, the Exhibition Hall, the Cellars