Aurelia boarded the train hastily pushing a copper piece into the conductor's hands. Afraid of what had just happened and afraid of what she might do, she found a seat at the back of the last carriage as not to be bothered. Not that people would have bothered her anyway. At this time of the day most of the last two cars were empty save for a scattering of people who wanted to be left alone.

Often while waiting on the train and the ride home, Aurelia marveled at what was a behemoth of industrial elegance: the train itself. Its polished brass exterior gleamed under the golden hues of the sun's light in the day and the gas lamps in the night. Adorned with intricate clockwork gears and riveted steel plates, puffs of steam billowed rhythmically from exhaust pipes, harmonizing with the rhythmic chugging of pistons. Massive wheels arrayed in iron, gripped the steel beams of the tracks with mechanical precision that sung to the clack of the pistons while steam vented through pipes and whistles.

As impressive as the totality of the train was, Aurelia found her eyes glued to the windows; stained glass reminiscent of a bygone era depicting scenes of the failing jungles of Asha. At some point she considered the whole thing ironic that for the modern marvel of the train to take its place, the nature of Asha had to die. For some reason she didn't understand, the notion made her feel sad. It felt as it was personally her fault things were turning out the way they were. She hated the sad feeling. When she felt it coming on, she would think of Goldendale and her daughter in a vain attempt to distract her long enough to leave the train.

Today as the train clacked among the track, Aurelia found herself pondering the past few minutes. Silently, she stared hard at her calloused hands carefully examining them for any signs of the red hue that had graced them earlier. However, try as she might, they were the same hands as always. Her short fingernails that barely moved passed the surface of the skin were unchanged. A small dark ring of dirt dug itself barely below the surface, but that was nothing new. In a little while, she would take a hand brush and scrub them, but their cleanliness would last long enough for the whole process to repeat itself with the next work day.

Aurelia's eyes repeated the process for her palms, fingers, and the backs of her hands. They too frustratingly revealed similar results. The same dirt that embedded itself into her nails, caked her bronze exterior. Just to be sure, she rubbed some of the dirt away hoping it might reveal its secrets, but all she received for her efforts was a little pain from the friction she caused upon her own skin. By the time the train was making its way into Mythwood, she sat back in her chair with an exasperated sigh certain she had imagined it. Still the notion persisted.

Are you sure, she asked herself. Reak saw it too. Why else would he have been so afraid? I guess it could have been the sun's setting light, but if that was the case, wouldn't I have seen its shimmer before? Then again, it doesn't explain what happened to the table...oh this is going to get me into trouble, I just know it. Maybe I should tell Xara. Asha what is going on?

The ride from Mythwood to the Beachwick was short. At normal speeds the train would have made the journey in less than a minute, but given the denser population between the two districts, the train's speed was reduced by a significant amount. Still, it was her signal. Absentmindedly, Aurelia rose to her feet and made her way to the door. By the time she pushed forward, the Saintians sharing the carriage with her were already lined up, all save for a human female she didn't know.

"Evening Ms. Warbol," the human greeted her. "On your way home?"

Aurelia greeted the human warmly, but eyed her suspiciously. The barely of age human couldn't have been a completion more than her daughter, but the woman's audacious outfit screamed attention in a way she was sure Kesi would never dress. Upon her form sat a corset crafted from polished leather, adorned with intricate brass gears that hugged every curve. Strategically placed lace offered glimpses of exposed skin whereas a short, tiered skirt of deep emerald silk billowed with each confident stride, revealing the intricate clockwork garters that adorned her fishnet stockings. Completing the ensemble were high-heeled boots with brass embellishments echoing the rhythmic clicks of her confident taps upon the train's wooden floors.

"I'm sorry, youngling. You look familiar, but your name escapes me."

The female smirked back as if she thought the small exchange funny. "Eliza," she said. "I don't think we've met, but I've seen you around. I work at the orphanage with your daughter Kesi. My Pappi owns the place."

Aurelia turned away as the train came to a full stop. The small crowd in front of her started to file out, but she could feel Eliza's gaze continue to bear down on the back of her neck. As she navigated the stairs, she continued to address the young woman. "Your Pappi does good work. Between helping the young and keeping the older employed, the Beachwick is very lucky to have him. He must be proud to have you as a granddaughter."

"Proud is not the word he'd use," Eliza responded.

By then Aurelia had reached the bottom of the train and boarded the platform. Confused she turned back towards Eliza giving her a quizzical look. "Oh?"

"Impertinent is his favorite word, but disrespectful and ill-mannered often roll off his tongue. The old coot is just stuck in the past. You're not like that are you Ms. W?"

Aurelia wanted to slap some manners into the youngling, but Eliza's valorous tongue left her flabbergasted.

"But you know, someone's gotta teach the younglings. Anyway, I gotta go before the old man's heart gives out. If I'm not the one to do it, then I'll never forgive myself." With a winked, Eliza turned on her heel, then flipped her blonde hair as she walked down the main street into the Beachwick.

Aurelia stared at the spot Eliza had been standing for a full minute. She couldn't comprehend that someone so young would speak of an elder that way. Even more, she couldn't believe the woman would freely share the remark with a stranger. Brazen might have been the word Aurelia used to describe it, but it was far from adequate. It wasn't until a passenger trying to board the train knocked into her, did she finally snap out of her shock before heading home.

Like the train ride, the walk home was short. In no time at all, she passed by the orphanage daring a look at the closed doors to see if the audacious human would meet her gaze. Save for a small group of younglings playing in the yard, the area was empty. Glad to have avoided a second confirmation, she quickened her pace. In a matter of moments, she passed an aged female satyr guarding a dilapidated wall that would eventually lead into the heart of the city and her home. On her pass, the satyr bowed low with outstretched hands.

"Greetings Sister," she said.

Aurelia returned the gesture, but didn't stop. Many of the older generation often greeted her this way and like with the stained-glass windows on the train, it made her uncomfortable. She wasn't even sure why they called her sister in the first place and when she asked about it, they would often say, 'it's good manners.' At best, she figured it was an old custom that was dying out. Instead, she continued farther down the brick road until the weather-worn door and the tin roof of her home came into focus.

To Aurelia, the Beachwick was a strange place. Half the town fully embraced the power of innovation and steam. It was a common sight to see street vendors peddling intricately crafted pocket watches adorned with tiny gears, while clockwork automations passed by with mechanical precision. A significant portion of the residents walked along with mechanical pets ranging from robotic birds to steam-powered cats or dogs, all the while wearing gaudy earrings and bracelets of cogs and gears.

Houses contained elaborate piping systems running through walls and ceilings, with visual valves and gauges to control the flow of steam, if they did anything at all. Not everything on a house had purpose. A significant portion of exterior walls were adorned with copper and brass gears, cogs, and pipes. 

Those that did not embrace change, often satyr and female, fully resisted it. They rejected all things steam and technology especially the Syndicate who brought them to the Island of Asha in the first place. Most of their houses, though less and less common, were made of wood and tin. While Aurelia longed for something better and didn't know which group she fell into, by the look of her home, most would have guessed the latter.

It was for this reason, Aurelia's home stuck out like a pig in a jewelry store. Slowly over the completions, the land around her home started to be built up by some of the wealthy merchants of the Syndicate that had embraced the power of innovation. Somehow, she had managed to stay on top of the taxes by skipping meals and selling heirlooms, but she lacked the financial security to make any updates as those living around her. A few had offered to buy her out, but most were offering pittance to what she knew the land to be worth. Not that she sure she wanted to sell it in the first place.

Still, there was something about her home that gave her comfort. On rough days, the weather-worn door was a balm to the soul. She was safe inside its walls from the trouble of the world. On those days, she felt that an other-worldly protection looked after her. Now exhausted and confused by today's events she stepped through the door ready to take in a good soak just in time to see Kesi coming not out of her own room, but hers.

"Mom?" Kesi jumped as if she had just been caught with her hand in the sugar jar.

"Why are you..." Aurelia started to say, but stopped as Kesi turned fully towards her. It was then she got the third shock of the day, eating her own unspoken words. Much like Eliza's outfit, Kesi's was audacious. Upon her lithe form was a bodice of soft, cream-colored lace accented by a whimsical corset featuring miniature cogs and gears expertly weaved into the material. Her skirt, adorned with ruffled layers of white silk fell well short of the knee. It lacked the fishnet stocking Eliza wore, but Aurelia doubted they would have fit over her daughter's cloven hooves. In its stead, Kesi wore white fingerless gloves that extended up the arms while at the same time did little to cover her bronze skin.

"Where did you get that?" Aurelia demanded. "More importantly, how much did it cost?"

Her demand was rewarded with a look of attitude. Quickly, Kesi's demeanor changed with a roll of her own blue eyes and a cross of her glove covered arms. "Cool your steam mother. This is what everyone is wearing. Don't be such a prude."

"That doesn't answer my question youngling. I taught you better manners than that," Aurelia responded sadly. More and more it seemed like their talks were going in this direction. Each and every one made it feel like she was losing the daughter she loved.

Kesi stared back at her with contempt, but said nothing. It was only when she looked away, did she answer, but Aurelia could tell based on her mannerism she wasn't telling the truth. At least not completely. "I got it from a friend who's letting me borrow it. Thinks it might help my chances with the Goldendale scouts. Says it's the latest in fashion there."

Aurelia raised a brow. "You heard from the scouts?"

Kesi went to the communal table and shifted some papers. Scattered upon the surface was an assortment of metal, gears, and glass that Aurelia assumed was being used to build the contraption to impress the engineers who would assess her talents. For the Wildehaven representatives she built an automation roughly the size of a halfling that could pour tea. The two delegates were so impressed they fumbled over themselves with offers of gold and prestige with one getting outright mad when Kesi refused to sell the thing to him. 

For the Lightmount representatives she made a steam powered clock that could whistle the time when a button was pushed. When she explained it trapped moisture from the air to work instead of having to be refilled from a source, the delegates salivated over the possible implications not even caring about the clock. Though Aurelia had no clue what Kesi was building for the Goldendale scouts, she imagined it would be the most impressive thing of all.

After a moment Kesi found what she was looking for then presented it to her mother. "This was delivered today. Looks like they we'll be here the day after Liberation Day."

Carefully, Aurelia took it and read its contents. At the top was a coat of arms featuring a cog, a lightning bolt, and a factory. It certainly looked official. "This is exciting Kesi," she said covering the gap between them. She took the moment to wrap her daughter in a hug, but under the warmth of her own skin, she could feel her daughter tense up and turn cold. She hoped it was just her imagination, but Kesi's response confirmed the truth.

"Mother, you're getting my leather and lace dirty with your filth."

"I'm sorry Badger," said Aurelia. "It's been quite a day. I was hoping to share in your joy. If you want, I can wash it for you."

For the first time Aurelia could feel Kesi soften and with it, she gave into the hug. When she pulled away the malice in her eyes dissipated and her cheeks were red with shame. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure I can get it out. For now, why don't you go get yourself cleaned up."

Aurelia gave her daughter a smile, then turned towards the washroom. Before she reached the door, she stopped. When she turned back, Kesi had sat down at the table and dawned a set of copper goggles that covered most of her face. "Why were you in my room?"

"Room?" Kesi responded looking up. From this angle Aurelia could see that the goggles had magnified her daughter's eyes to make them look three times the size.

"When I came home, you were coming out of my room."

"Oh," Kesi said blinking a few times. Under the goggles' reflection, the simple action looked otherworldly. It reminded her of the insects and bugs she used to catch as a youngling. "When I came home, Mimi was in there. After I fed her and put her to sleep, I went back in to straighten it up."

Aurelia sighed. It was rare for her own mother to leave her room, but with her lack of lucidity, she wouldn't be surprised if her mother had gotten lost on the way back from the washroom.

"How is she doing?"

Kesi sighed herself. "About the same. Was rambling on about a book. I showed her the three you had, but that just seemed to upset her. She seemed pretty sure it was in your room. It took a while to calm her down.

Aurelia turned back towards the washroom and undid the buttons to her overalls along the way. She held them up long enough to walk through the door, but before she did, she answered, "I'm sorry you have to go through this Badger. Maybe after the Goldendale scouts come, you can take a steamship to Wildehaven. I might have a few coins copper coins saved up. You deserve a break."

If Kesi responded, Aurelia didn't hear it. Instead, she turned on the water, then the steamer Kesi had built for them to make the water hot. In a matter of minutes, the basin they used to bathe filled halfway while a wall of steam filled the room. The heat of the water burned a little hotter than she would have normally liked, but its warmth was a salve to her muscles. When the two met, she allowed a moan of pleasure to escape her lips. Slowly, she fully submerged herself allowing the soothing therapy of the water to overtake her.

For a while, Aurelia sat. The weight of the day dissipating from her brain like the steam of the water evaporated from the air. When she was nice and relaxed, she went about the medial task of scrubbing the grime from her body before grabbing a clean towel to wrap herself in, all while allowing the water to drain from the basin. A small hunger started to build in the pit of her stomach. She thought it best to grab one of the loaves of bread she had purchased the night before. By the time she left the washroom, Kesi was engrossed in her work, and she knew better than to bother her daughter when she was in deep in thought.

As silently as she could, she grabbed the loaf of bread from a cupboard, went to her room, and closed the door. Yet, upon entering, an odd sensation crept over her. Something was amiss. The room was subtly out of sorts, as if everything had shifted into the wrong place in her absence. Recalling her earlier conversation with Kesi, she assumed a few things would be mismatched, but the room looked as if it was deeply searched then hastily put back together. Even more confusing some of the more cumbersome items like the desk in the corner, were far too heavy for someone like her mother to move in her frail state. 

Fixing the towel tight to her body, she went about the task of putting the room back together. When she went to shift the desk, the secret compartment gave way dumping the bag of coins she had been saving on to the surface.

No, she thought. Please Asha let me be wrong.

In haste, she emptied the bag of coins and counted twice, just to be sure. However, there was no mistaking it— the bag was precisely two gold coins short. It would take her ten full days of toiling in the mine to amass that kind of money. With taxes looming after Liberation Day, she doubted she could manage it. Silently, she approached the door, cracked it open, and found Kesi still engrossed at the table. Opting to say nothing, she grappled with the knowledge that her daughter had just lied and stolen from her. In that moment all she could bring herself to do was to lie down on the mat and silently cry herself to sleep.