As the final pieces of the generator were assembled, Jason could feel his heart pounding in his chest. This was it, the moment he had been working towards for months. The generator was hooked up to the water turbine, and slowly, as the water rushed towards the turbine, the room was bathed in a soft, glowing light.

For a few seconds, the light flickered and danced, casting shadows on the faces of the men and women gathered around. And then, with a pop and a sizzle, the light went out.

The silence that followed was palpable as everyone turned to look at Jason. He could see the disappointment and confusion etched on their faces, and he couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness himself. But then, a voice from the back of the room spoke up.

"That was amazing," said Otto, the smith who had helped him build the turbine. "I've never seen anything like it before."

The others nodded in agreement, and Jason felt a sense of pride wash over him. Edison would be jealous, he thought. Now to just get a bulb that will last. I wonder what killed this one. He went over to the

The final design of the lightbulb was a far cry from the sleek, efficient bulbs of the modern world. It was a rough, primitive thing, made from glass and carbonized cotton thread, but it was manufacturable in their primitive facilities. It was a start, and they were far from finished.

Undeterred by the temporary setback, the team spent the next few days tinkering with the generator, experimenting with different types of filament, and adjusting the size of the coils. It became clear pretty quickly to Jason that having the turbine running at more than a tiny fraction of its capacity was way too much for the small load that was being put on it. He didn’t currently have a way to gear the generator up or down from the speed of the turbine, an issue he’d have to correct. And it was time to get a massive glassworks going to create blown glass bulbs if his vision for the future was going to have a chance at coming true.

As the days passed, they made steady progress. They discovered that by using a thicker filament, they were able to prolong the life of the bulb - but they still burned out within a few days. Jason wracked his memory for a solution, but none was readily available. He knew modern filaments were made of tungsten but didn’t know where that was mined or what to look for, and those in his inner circle didn’t know either. They promised to send messages to their contacts elsewhere who might be able to find it but no one was hopeful about anything happening quickly.

Jason and his team began experimenting with different materials. They tried using different types of metal, but they all had the same issue. Eventually, they turned to more unconventional materials, including bamboo which proved to be much longer-lasting than the carbonized cotton thread they had been using and provided a more consistent light. It was a breakthrough for the team and a sign that their long days and nights of hard work were paying off.

—

As Jason walked through the ironworks, he couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction at the sight of the enameled wires being produced in bulk. This was a major breakthrough, and he knew that it was time to start thinking about how to take advantage of this capacity.

He made his way back through town to Alex's office, where he found the former merchant deep in thought, surrounded by piles of handwritten notes. "Alex, my friend," Jason said as he entered the room. "I need your thoughts. We must start thinking about a faster way to spread messages throughout our kingdom."

Alex looked up from his work and raised an eyebrow. "You mean the telegraph idea you were telling me about?" he asked. “Where a code is sent over wires?”

Jason nodded. "Yes, the telegraph. But I've been thinking, why stop there? I think I might be able to create a system that allows you to speak into a device and have the sound carried over the wire. Can you imagine how much more efficient that would be? We could bypass the need for training up telegraph operators entirely."

Alex leaned back in his chair and stroked his chin thoughtfully. "It's an interesting idea, my lord," he said. “To be honest, it sounds completely impossible. That is just not how the world I know works. But,” he said with a smirk as he looked back at Jason, “I’ve learned to believe in the impossible. I’ve taken the time to consider the implications of such a system as the telegraph, at least. The kingdom is still growing and expanding, and we would need a vast network of lines to cover all of the new territories. It would be a massive undertaking."

Jason nodded, and Alex continued thinking out loud. “With many messages, it doesn’t matter if it arrives in an hour or a few days. But for some, timing is everything. If a merchant knows a day before their competitor that much of the grain in a nearby city was destroyed in a granary fire, they could take advantage of that and make huge profits…” Alex trailed off while looking guiltily at his King, who had a slight frown on his face. “Or I’m sure there are other very beneficial uses. I would have to run some numbers to determine whether you could charge enough for each message to pay for the system. Still, it seems like it would be hard for the average person to find enough value to make whatever you charge worth it for ordinary communications.

Jason nodded, "I understand the challenge and the cost, but the benefits would be huge. With a voice telephone system, we could communicate in real-time anywhere in the kingdom. It would give us a huge advantage, not just in terms of efficiency but also in terms of military and strategic advantages. I don’t think we can afford not to do this."

Alex nodded. "If you’re willing to invest in such a project, I certainly am in no place to second guess you."

Jason thought for a moment before answering. "I am. We will start planning for the telegraph system, but we will also start exploring the possibilities of a voice telephone system. I want to be ready to move forward as soon as the resources and technology are available. This is the future, Alex, and we must be ready to embrace it."

As Jason got ready to leave, Alex spoke up. "You know, it's been quite some time since we've had any reports of that mysterious illness. I can't help but think that it has almost disappeared since we removed the tainted rye from the food supply."

Jason paused and looked back at him. "You're right," said Jason, "I hadn't thought about it in the last couple of days, with everything going on. But now that you mention it, I can't remember when I last heard of someone falling ill."

"It's a good thing we caught that in time," said Alex, "I can only imagine how much worse it could have been if we hadn't been able to trace the source of the illness back to the rye. And it just goes to show how important it is to have a reliable system for communication and information sharing throughout the kingdom. We need to be able to react quickly when something like this happens."

Jason nodded in agreement and slipped out the door.