Press "Enter" to skip to content

Inexhaustable Supplies of Phlogiston Soon Available

Ladies and Gentlemen of the City and its surrounds:

I am pleased to announce my father and I have begun the final stages of our experiments to tap into an aether gate with the goal of capturing the phlogiston we are certain will be released. Our early tests were significant, and demonstate clear success in the capture and containment of this elemental energy. 

Though some in the city have apparently been taken aback by our methods, it is our confident assertion that what some may whisperingly call “occult dabblings” are simply matters of science yet unexplored. Our interest in the otherworldly gates described by the author Abdul Alhazred in his work Kitab al-Azif is academic, and is neither unseemly nor a cause for concern with authorities in the church or elsewhere.

With my father, Elihu, I can assure all citizens of the city, and particularly our neighbors in northwestern Wheatstone Waterways, there is absolutely no reason for concern. Rather there should be reason to rejoice as the virtually limitless supply of energy provided by a large containment of phlogiston is utilized, fueling further scientific innovations.

Vita brevis, ars longa,
ElvisOmar Oyen
Oakwood Laboratories of New Babbage

Phlogiston Banner

Spread the love

20 Comments

  1. Mumsy Abigail Mumsy Abigail January 17, 2012

    Perhaps this would be a good time for the cat to “verify the functionality” of that Tesla cannon.

     

  2. Gadget Starsider Gadget Starsider January 17, 2012

    “tap into an aether gate”!!!…Oh Bugger, not again already!!!!

    I don’t think much of a man who aint wiser today than ‘e were yesterday.

  3. Sheryl Skytower Sheryl Skytower January 17, 2012

    *munches on piece of coal*

    The more things change…

     

     

  4. ElvisOmar Oyen ElvisOmar Oyen January 17, 2012

    My father and I have been away, Miss Starsider. Would you care to enlighten me regarding the events you evidently reference with regret?

      • Cyan Rayna Cyan Rayna January 17, 2012

        ((Wow I didn’t realize all the Dark Aether stuff started way back in March. Goes to read.))

    • Mr. Arnold Mr. Arnold January 17, 2012

      If you don’t have a lot of time on your hands I can sum it up a little bit faster for you.  The Van Creed were trying to drill into an aether world for unlimited supplies of something they were going to call aether oil and almost destroyed all of Babbage and killed all of it’s citizens.  The writer in city hall can tell you what would have happened had we not changed our future’s less than a month ago (the writer).

  5. ElvisOmar Oyen ElvisOmar Oyen January 17, 2012

    My apologies to the sporty young Mr. Starsider. These weary eyes were merely squinting at the tiny photograph.

    With regard to the mysterious affair that my father and I were so fortunately spared, the events in the time flow in our fair city may well have had an effect on our being stranded elsewhere in time for those many months (as time was measured here).

    In any case, my father and I can assure all citizens that nothing of that nature has any likelihood of happening as a result of our tightly controlled experiments.

    Aether oil, indeed, Mr. Arnold. I could have told them that would be a fruitless and dangerous effort. Phlogiston, as it happens, is immeasurably easier to contain: just a carefully made brass sphere and some precisely positioned rare earth magnets—quite simple, really. I should add that the potential energy stored within the Phlogiston is slightly less concentrated than pure aether, which minimizes the potential hazard should something unexpected occur.

     

    • Tepic Harlequin Tepic Harlequin January 17, 2012

      In case something unexpected occur….. errrr… like someone knocking one of the magnets?

      Tepic checks his pillow armour and reinforces his hat…..

    • Mr. Arnold Mr. Arnold January 17, 2012

      Actually it’s not the oil that was the problem or the resources they were attempting to gather…I don’t think anyone cares about that.  It was that when
      the Van Creed were drilling for their oil through an aetheric portal
      that there were things in that aetheric world that were looking back that wished to kill us.  Something tried to come through that portal Mr. Oyen when they activated that pump, which can be confirmed by the militia and over half the town that was there to see it happen.  Also long before they activated the pump the creatures in that world had sent things we came to call Iron eyes which were spying on us and attacked us.

    • M. Canergak M. Canergak January 17, 2012

      It is not the material which is the danger sir, but what you might unwittingly unleash during your endeavors.  We wish to know that you have taken the proper contingencies to make an operation like this safer from creatures plotting to use your portal for their own gain. 

      If you are unfamiliar with such methods there are many scientists in this city, including myself and the clockworks at the power station, who specialize in such fields and could assist you.

  6. The Undertaker The Undertaker January 17, 2012

    Don’t let this lot discourage you, Mr. Oyen.

    Full speed ahead, I say!

  7. Elihu Leominster Elihu Leominster January 17, 2012

    Stuff and nonsense, gentlemen! My son and I are well versed in the potential dangers of these aetheric entities. They’ve not troubled us before, and they shan’t trouble us in this endeavor.

    Monsieur Canergak, your offer of assistance is welcome, but completely uneccessary, I can assure you. One of the things that can be said about those of us with experience in the peculiar science of time exploration is that we learn well from the lessons of the past. Indeed, we also take our education from the future, so we have an advantage over the common scientific mind who looks up and down, left and right, but peers only one direction in the river of time.

    All are invited to drop in at our laboratory, where you will see the preparations we have only started. By the time my son opens the tiny portal, all security measures will be well in place and thoroughly tested.

     

  8. Glaubrius Valeska Glaubrius Valeska January 18, 2012

    To the esteemed Elvisomar Oyen,

    You may find it interesting, Mister Oyen, that my group has been producing very small amounts of phlogeston for the past couple of years. Right in Mistress Bergamasko’ building, the Mechanix Arms (she is aware of my experimentations, merely informing me she drew the line at vivisection and cadavers). We find compounding phlogiston very limited, expensive and difficult, yet you propose to do it in small time with unlimited yield. I am astounded. Gobsmacked. Shivered and sliced.

    And also skeptical —- the unfortunate Kitab al-Azif is familiar to me, but it something with which I want nothing to do. My laboratory assistant, Major Oldrich, is much more intimate with these things. Please be expecting him to present you his card directly. He seems to be of the mind that you will be producing what he calls “organic phlogiston”.

    Strident naturalist though I may be, it might be instructive for us all to compare notes on the production of this enigmatic substance. Until we may meet in person, I remain

    y’r ob’d’nt s’rv’nt

    G. S. Valeska

  9. Gabriell Anatra Gabriell Anatra January 18, 2012

    “Kitab al-Azif ?” She mumbles in shock . .

    “I think . . yes, I shall be out of town . . when is this again? ” 

    • Emmanuelle Huntress Emmanuelle Huntress January 18, 2012

      I think I’ll be somewhere other than New Babbage then myself.

  10. ElvisOmar Oyen ElvisOmar Oyen January 18, 2012

    My good Mister Valeska,

    Your associate Major Oldrich is possibly not correct, if my reading of his ad hoc terminology is to the point. Though the gates we propose will tap into what could be called “organic phlogiston”, we have devised a filtration system that isolates the organic essence and permits only pure, elemental phlogiston to pass into the containment. This filtering system is a gesturally woven construct which penetrates the aether, and is derived from works other than those of Alhazred.

    My father and I spoke about your message, and we look forward to your visit. There will perhaps be opportunities to educate one another about our respective work, and also to collaborate. You may often find us in our laboratory between the hours of 8:30 pm and 11:00 pm (as we reckon time in New Babbage) several evenings during the week, and likely later on weekends. Feel free to send me a telegram on the evening in question, and I can wire back to you regarding my availability at that time. Despite our excitement over this set of experiments, there remain other pressing matters that Mr. Leominster and I must also attend to.

    Vita brevis, ars longa (secunda vita brevior)
    ElvisOmar Oyen

    P.S. My typist tells me that his ancestry has roots from Silesia, as well as the neighboring Galicia, though his blood is Germanic originally, and not from the native Slavic families—which from the surname we take yours to be.

    • Glaubrius Valeska Glaubrius Valeska January 20, 2012

      My typist has only recently discovered he was Silesian, having
      finally traced his surname there, though also Germanic, he was somewhat
      shocked to discover his long ancestry is Vandal! It is, evidently, a
      word/name from the eponymous dying language.

  11. ElvisOmar Oyen ElvisOmar Oyen January 19, 2012

    In response to inquiries about the timing of our experiements, I can only say: Not any time in the near future. We are in the midst of a number of issues related to our recent return that have prevented either of us from spending the time we might prefer. When the seems appropriate, we shall be certain to make a general announcement, so those citizens with little trust in science, and our ability to comprehend it, can purchase a ticket for an airship berth out of the city for a spell. 

Leave a Reply