When Joseph heard "precision machining," his interest was immediately piqued. "Then I definitely have to go take a look. Where is it?"
"Right in the Engineering Design Institute's workshop." Louis XVI gestured out the window, disappointment once again surfacing in his eyes. With a sigh, he said, "Do you know? A workpiece that machine produces in a few minutes equals what I can achieve after a week of painstaking polishing.
"Perhaps before long, all kinds of machines will be able to do everything I know how to do."
Joseph took his coat from Alexandra and smiled as he pointed to his own head. "Father, your greatest advantages are knowledge, experience, and wisdom. Those are things no machine can ever replace.
"Or rather, no matter how precise a machine is, you will certainly be able to find ways to improve it.
"And even more machines that have yet to appear need masters like you to create them."
Louis XVI froze for a moment, then a smile quickly returned to his face. "You're right. Fine machinery won't just spring out of nowhere. In fact, I have some new ideas about the Sky Axle's main Transmission Gear."
Watching his old man smile like a forty-eight-year-old child, Joseph suddenly felt a wave of relief.
Parents leading fulfilling lives, a happy Alexandra, and carefree Michel—wasn't this exactly the life he wanted most? All of it was the finest reward for more than a decade of hard work.
Louis XVI kissed Michel a few more times, returned the child to the Crown Princess Consort, then pulled the still-reflective Joseph toward the Engineering Design Institute.
The cable-hauled cars that had once run between Versailles Palace and the Engineering Design Institute had long since been replaced by standard Steam Trams—many scholars and technicians who had made great contributions