The Factory was as large as a gymnasium. Mii used the key she had been entrusted with to unlock its heavy, closed doors.
"I’ve heard the interior is cleaned regularly."
Jin noticed it wasn't as dusty as he had expected; it seemed the facility was indeed undergoing periodic maintenance. He stepped inside, his curiosity piqued.
"Oh...!"
Jin found himself looking at something unexpected: machine tools. They were vastly different from any he was familiar with, but there was no mistaking their purpose.
"...Jin-nii, what are these?" Elsa asked.
"They're machine tools," Jin replied briefly.
As if he had suddenly become oblivious to his surroundings, he began moving restlessly between the units. Only Reiko followed close behind him.
"U-Um, Master Jin?" Mii, taken aback by his sudden intensity, tried to call out to him, but Elsa stopped her.
"It's no use right now. He won't hear a word you say."
"I-Is that so?"
"Mm. We might as well take a look around on our own."
Elsa slowly approached one of the machines.
"Is this... a lathe?"
The concept of a lathe existed within Elsa's knowledge—essentially, a machine designed for turning and carving rotating objects. The unit before her looked more like a woodworking lathe than a metalworking one, its structure specialized for shaping the exterior of a piece.
The mechanism was designed so that a component—the workpiece—would rotate when someone turned a manual handle. Rather than being secured by the jaws of a chuck common on modern Earth, the workpiece appeared to be attached with wood screws.
"Wood screws...?"
Even though she knew of them in theory, it was the first time Elsa had seen actual wood screws.
"No wonder Jin-nii is so captivated."
Next to it stood what appeared to be a band saw—a machine that utilized a rotating metal belt with saw teeth. There was also a drill press, a mechanical drill specifically for boring holes.
All of them seemed to be manually powered; they were equipped with handles that had to be turned to make the machinery operate. Elsa gently turned the handle of the drill press, her thoughts wandering to the past.
"But if they're manual, why did they stand still... Ah!"
Elsa realized the truth. The ones meant to turn these handles likely weren't human. The handle was far too heavy for her own strength.
"The power source... it must have been golems."
"I think so, too."
Jin answered Elsa’s murmur, having returned before she realized it.
"I’ve finished my initial walkthrough. These are wonderful machine tools. It’s a terrible waste that they aren't running."
Jin tried turning the handle of the drill press Elsa had been touching. He quickly gave up and called out to his most trusted daughter.
"Reiko, could you give this a light turn for me?"
"Yes, Father."
Reiko placed her hand on the drill press handle and began to rotate it.
"Eh!" Mii couldn't help but cry out.
The handle, which had been so heavy that Jin and Elsa could barely move it, began to spin effortlessly under Reiko's hand, as if there were no resistance at all.
"Just as I thought. That's enough, Reiko."
Jin turned back toward Mii.
"You mentioned the Factory stopped three hundred years ago. That makes sense. After the event known as the Ether Stampede, the concentration of free ether in the atmosphere dropped drastically."
As he spoke, Jin began walking toward the rear of the facility.
"The golems that stopped working are probably stored in the back room, aren't they?"
"Um, well..."
Mii didn't seem to know that much, and she stammered, unable to give a clear answer. Regardless, Jin strode forward with purpose. Reiko followed him, with Elsa and Edgar close behind. Mii hurriedly chased after them.
The door at the far end of the main floor was a bit stiff, but it opened easily once Reiko applied a bit of force.
"Whoa...!"
Just as Jin had predicted, dozens of golems lay there, covered in a layer of dust.
"Hmm, as I thought—it’s a lack of mana."
Jin went around inspecting the dormant golems.
"Hmm, not this one. Not this one either..."
He appeared to be searching for a specific unit.
"Jin-nii, what are you looking for?" Elsa asked, wondering if she should assist him.
"Well, most of these are power golems. But I figured there should be smith golems or a supervisor golem as well."
Jin reasoned that if the workforce consisted entirely of golems, there must have been a hierarchy or a division of roles. He hoped that if he could find a supervisor golem, it might be able to answer his questions.
"Father, could it be this one?"
Reiko, who had been searching near the corner of the room, raised her voice. The golem she indicated was somewhat taller than the others and wore something resembling a hat.
"Ah, that might be it....Now, how to wake it up...?"
Jin pondered the problem. Without modifying its ether converter, the golem wouldn't be able to function in the current environment. Unfortunately, he lacked the materials for such a task.
"Father, why don't you have an ether condenser delivered?"
If he could double the concentration of free ether within the space of this room, the golem would likely be able to reactivate.
"I guess that's the only way....Reiko, contact Laojun. Tell him to send it discreetly."
"Yes, I understand."
Mii, being an outsider, was busy helping Elsa near the entrance. She wouldn't notice even if an ether condenser were warped in.
A minute later, an ether condenser appeared before Reiko. Jin immediately activated it.
The concentration of free ether didn't spike instantly, but the supervisor golem directly in front of them soon began to move sluggishly. It hadn't been in a state of complete shutdown; since it moved on its own as soon as power was available, it had likely been in a state similar to a computer's "sleep" mode.
"...I... was... stopped... until... now...?"
Upon recognizing Jin's presence, the supervisor golem spoke.
"That's right. Due to an accident, the concentration of free ether dropped to less than a third of its original level, and your ether converters became useless."
"I... see..."
"I'm temporarily raising the ether concentration now. Tell me what you know."
The supervisor golem didn't seem particularly surprised by the explanation. If anything, it didn't seem to fully comprehend the situation.
"I... can... only... give... orders... to... worker... golems... and... power... golems... to... produce... the... items... I... was... instructed... to..."
"Ah, is that so...?"
A flicker of disappointment crossed Jin's mind. The control cores of the golems here didn't seem to store much high-level information. Even Akitsu, the educational automata, hadn't possessed many historical details.
"Then, who is the one who gives you your instructions?"
This was his final question, his last sliver of hope. It proved to be the right one.
"Yes... it... is... the... Factory Manager..."
"Where is the Factory Manager?"
The supervisor golem silently extended its right arm, pointing toward a door even further inside.
"I see."
Jin gave a short reply.
"Reiko, let's go."
With that, he headed for the door in the back.