Saint-Étienne, France
Summer 1846
The factory never truly slept.
Even before sunrise, the industrial district of Saint-Étienne was already alive with noise and movement. Steam hissed constantly from pressure valves running along the outer pipelines while workers crossed iron walkways carrying tools, ledgers, and crates of machined components toward different assembly halls.
The deep metallic rhythm of industry echoed across the valley.
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
Massive mechanical hammers slammed down onto heated steel in steady intervals that could be heard from streets several blocks away. The sound rolled through the city like a heartbeat that never stopped.
Smoke poured upward from towering chimneys, darkening the pale morning sky above the industrial district. Rail lines stretched directly into the complex itself, allowing locomotives to move raw materials and finished products without interruption.
Coal arrived.
Steel arrived.
Timber arrived.
