Chapter 76: Issues in the Home State
Kingdom of Aragon — Spring, 1795
City of Calvaria
The brass doors of the Calvaria Industrial Assembly groaned open as Prince Lancelot entered, flanked by guards in polished blue coats bearing the lightning insignia of the Crown Engineers. Inside, the hall buzzed with low voices, clinking glasses, and the rustle of paper. Delegates, factory owners, city magistrates, and scholars had gathered at long wooden tables arranged in a crescent facing a central podium.
A gas-electric chandelier hung above them, humming faintly. The entire room was now powered by the hydroelectric lines from the Upper Ebro Complex—this was the first building in the country lit without fire.
Lancelot moved to the podium and tapped the speaking crystal.
"Gentlemen—and ladies," he began, nodding to a few seated nuns from the teaching orders and two industrialists’ wives. "We stand today not just in a hall, but in a furnace—where the future of Aragon is being forged, wire by wire, wheel by wheel."
A murmur of agreement rippled across the room.
"The turbines in Ebro turn still," he continued. "And already, they bring light to thousands. But light alone is not vision. Power alone is not prosperity. That must be shaped—by law, by will, and by you."
He gestured to the scrolls laid out before them.
"I am convening the first National Infrastructure Council. Your charge is simple: map, manage, and multiply. We will draft legislation to standardize electric use, ensure safety, and train the next generation of engineers."
A hand rose from the back—an older man in a fur-trimmed robe.
"Your Highness," said the Duke of Lerida, "you speak of multiplication. But what of balance? These wires carry not just power—but influence. Shouldn’t Parliament be the one to regulate where they go?"