Alan spent a while lost in his memories thanks to the intense white light that blinded him when he interacted with the book on the pillar, it felt as if someone was looking inside his head and trying to figure out who he was dealing with through his memories.
-Hey! What?... Just what are you doing?... STOP! No one told you about privacy or something?
With no good explanation, and even when he asked this “voice” in his head to stop, the voice simply ignored him and kept on searching among his most private memories with no subtlety at all.
-Hey! hello?... I’M NOT INVISIBLE!... Wait a sec… HEY THAT’S PRIVATE!!!... At least invite me to dinner before you go looking inside my head.
Totally ignoring Alans’ reactions, the voice was finally done searching his memories. Having determined what kind of person Alan was, the blinding light, little by little, started to vanish, this allowed Alan to finally realise where he was.
-What? wait don’t go... At the very least say something by the love of god!
The boy was in a sort of cave, dark, humid and filled with all kind of vermin typical of these places, but what really catches his attention was a very loud and weird metallic noise coming from what seemed to be the caves’ entrance.
-What the hell is that sound? And now that I think about it… How on earth did I end up in this cave? Maybe the towns’ madman finished his “NOT-kamikaze” machine of the week? Hah! As if he could actually create something that works.
Alan, excited by this strange new sound, rushed towards the caves' exit without doubts in his mind, and as soon as he was finally outside he saw it… The weirdest traveling cart he had ever seen, with more metallic pieces than wood ones y no horses to move it around. Elegant in its’ own weird way, it reminded him of the gear used by the workers of the old closed mine near his hometown.
After such a sight, the only thing clear at this point is that he was no longer anywhere near known lands. Doubtful he decided to approach the weird cart that was right in front of him, lying in wait for something or someone.
As Alan approached the weird cart, he became intrigued by the peculiar mechanisms on it. The first thing that catches his attention was the backseat, it was empty and was probably meant for a driver, and the open passengers cabin only made it all weirder.
-What a strange cart… the driver seat is behind and it doesn’t have horses… who the hell builds something that doesn’t move in the middle of nowhere?... HELLO! Is someone there?
He yelled at a safe distance, but since nobody answered, he decided to approach the cart and inspect it. When he was close enough to actually touch it, he realised that most of the carts’ external shell was made of some hot and hollow metal. Finally he found out where the weird noise that made him go there in the first place was coming from.
-Oh… this thing is hollow, ok… by the seven hells, who on earth builds a giant kettle in the middle of nowhere?
An exit on the long metallic tubes of that machinery allowed a weird smoke to go out from them, it was too white for something to be burning inside the cart and the smell was very peculiar. Alan quickly realised that the smell was without any doubt coal burning, since in his hometown almost every weekend they used to do barbeques due to the abundance of meat.
-Great… now i’m hungry, lost and have a giant kettle that thinks it’s a cart, in the middle of who knows where.
After going around the cart, the next step for Alan was to examine the front of the cart. There he noticed that the big metallic box in the front was generating absurd quantities of heat, that’s why he assumed that the coal should be inside the box. He was at a loss about what to do and what that weird machine really was. And without any more knowledge about it, he finally made the decision to stop looking around the cart and go inside.
-What would my old man say about this… nah, forget it… he always says out of place comments to the point of being absurd. Still i have to give him credit for something… “it takes a lot of courage to take the first step and a lot of stupidity to always make it go wrong”, so… if anyone is inside, i’m going in.
Since no one answered his warning, he decided to go inside the cart, but was suddenly stopped by someone who took his arm and pulled him backwards. As soon as Alan stopped, the stranger let go of his arm and with the face of someone who’s always thinking about something, he said.
-Good day youngster, it’s not good manners to search among the belongings of somebody else, did you know? Anyway, can i help you out little boy?
Astonished at the strangers’ sight, Alan couldn’t help to wonder exactly where he was. It wasn’t only the cave or the “kettle-cart”, but now a gentleman with elegant but peculiar clothing, weird gadgets and an educated accent which he had never heard before, was right in front of him. After a few seconds, he finally answered.
-Hah! I believe giving a surprise heart attack to an unexpected victim, lacks elegance too.
The elegant gentleman stopped for a while to look at allan from every angle, took a weird pipe from one of his pockets and after lighting it up to smoke a bit, he said.
-Well little one, you’re obviously not from around here… i know every corner of New London and it`s surroundings, yet never before in my life have i seen someone with your peculiar clothes… and let’s not talk about your unique accent.
Alan was very cautious around the stranger, but his curiosity took the best of him. And after looking at his surroundings one more time, he asked the gentleman
-New London? What kind of place is that? And first of all, who the hell are you? You look too fancy to be from a small town, unless it’s a very classy town.
The gentleman completely astonished by the questions, couldn’t help but to chuckle and wonder.
-Hahaha... ok, so you’re definitely not from around here, eh boy? Probably everyone in New London knows about me and without any doubt anyone who lives around here would know where we are right now.
He took a brief pause to smoke, then looked distressed at his pocket-watch, and finally he offered noble-like reverence to invite Alan inside his cart._
-Come inside young one… if your questions were honest, then we have a lot to talk about... i’m usually pretty busy you see, but you’re lucky today… i’m currently waiting for my apprentice to show up, but i sent him towards the woods hours ago to look for some trinkets and he haven’t returned yet.
Without any more words, he entered his cart first, almost as if he was trying to show the boy that he was a trustworthy person. Alan still stunned by the whole situation, decided to follow the gentleman inside. As soon as he was in the cart, he was speechless at the sight of a lot of weird trinkets and gadgets all around the place.
-Wow… this is pretty amazing… it looks like a custom made workshop… by the way, where in this tiny cart do your apprentice and you sleep, sir?
