Page knocked twice and entered my office. "How's it coming, Yak?" he asked. "I'll need your design for the control system fairly soon."
Looking up, I reached into my desk and handed him the plans. "The prototype is in the back room. It seems to be working perfectly, at least according to what you've specified. But I can't be completely sure until I know what it's actually supposed to be controlling."
I had been designing systems for Page for about two years now, and the mechanisms he required help with were becoming increasingly complex, yet modular; evidently small components of a larger system. It was clear from the start that he knew a lot more about technology than his fumbling attempt with the mills had let on. "If it had worked perfectly, how would I have found a new apprentice?" he had said, with that mildly annoying twinkle in his eye.
He looked me over with a fatherly expression. "You're quite right, Jakob," he said. "I'm ending your two-year probationary period. You've earned the right to know just what you've been designing for me. But I warn you, there will be a lot to take in."
"Let's begin with this," he said and took from his pocket a polished grey rock. He placed it upon the table and handed me a small dagger. "Put the dagger on the table, and nudge it slowly towards the rock."
I did so, and as the dagger approached the rock, it suddenly moved of its own accord and twisted to meet the stone edge-on with a clang.
"You see?" said Page, "It attracts iron. But this is the clever part - it uses no magical energy to do so that I can detect. None." I gave a gasp of astonishment. "This effect is simply an inherent property of the lodestone," he continued, "so it can be used by Beings and Creatures alike.
"Now, if it were somehow possible to turn the magnetism on and off, one could arrange them in a circular manner and have a metal shaft constantly rotating under its own power. You could make a gryphonless cart." Not knowing then what I know now, I must admit I laughed at the idea.
Page lead me to a darkened room in the most secret area of the palace.
"Do you recognise this?" he asked, handing me a piece of paper on which was printed a most lifelike image of a peculiar creature, a strange, flat-faced thing vaguely resembling a shaved ape.
"Is it a.. human?" I asked. I had heard legends of such creatures, although it was said that they had died out of our world.
"Indeed it is," said Page. "Occasionally human travellers from other planes become lost and enter our own world by means of dimensional gates.
By good fortune I have had some contact with these humans, enough to construct a charm of concealment, and learn something of their ways. Observe!"
Page took a small golden band and placed it upon his arm. Immediately his form shimmered, and his fur was replaced with pink, hairless skin. His long hair remained, but his muzzle was gone, reduced to a small triangular nose protruding rather foolishly from his face.
"How do I look?" He asked, but I was speechless. I had seen such patches before - they were rather popular with Angels and Demons who needed to live amongst Beings - but I didn't know it was possible to change one's species, especially not into a mythical creature such as a human.
After a few moments Page continued. "Now it's your turn, Jakob. Do you think you can do it?" He gestured to a mirror. Staring hard at him and the portrait, I concentrated and made the transformation.
"Not bad," said Page. "Shrink the nose a little... that's better. Ah, the ears are wrong. Look at mine.. the funny little channels and markings. I think they're unique to each human."
"Page," I said, having got it down pat, "why are we disguising ourselves as mythical creatures? Have you discovered an enclave of humans or something?" There were rumours of a settlement known as 'Haven' although most people dismissed these as fable.
Page grinned broadly. "You could say that. This is likely to be a bit of a shock, my friend, so brace yourself." He took a deep breath before continuing.
"If I may say so myself, my chief contribution to science is my work on the ability to measure things, so that they can be reproduced in controlled conditions. Only in this way can we truly study things.
"In particular I have concentrated on the ability to measure magic, as you are probably aware. But the key breakthrough I made was when I became interested in dimensional gateways."
"My Gods.." I stuttered, realising what he was about to say.
"Yes, quite. By measuring the magical forces around a dimensional gate and after years of painstaking experimentation, I was able to construct a spell which allows me to create a transdimensional portal at will, and manipulate it."
Page was now grinning so broadly it was almost frightening. "You can't imagine how much I have longed to share this discovery with another Creature, Jakob. I particularly wanted a 'cubi, owing to the natural shapeshifting ability of your kind. It's hard to do it alone, you see, and most Beings lack the magical potential.
"I have made a few preliminary expeditions myself. Such secrets I have seen already.." he trailed off and was silent for a few moments.
"Most humans have no magic of their own. Whether they are innately unable to harness the forces you and I take for granted, or whether they can in time learn to do so like other Beings, I am not sure. Most of the humans that find their way into Furrae have done so by taking possession of artifacts created by magical races.
"In the world which I intend to visit they have built such fantastic devices to compensate for the lack of magic. They know the secret of creating lodestones that can be switched on and off at will. This technology gives them light on demand, gryphonless carts, the ability to record sounds and even create moving pictures of an event so that they can watch it again and again. All this is done without using any magic whatsoever.
"I intend to learn how these miracles are achieved, Jakob. By travelling to their world and bringing back some of their technology.. what we could learn would transform Furrae forever!
But I can't do it all by myself. I need a partner to come with me, preferably a shapeshifter. It may also be necessary for us to live in that realm for a number of years to absorb what we need to know. Does this prospect interest you?"
"Count me in," I said, nearly overwhelmed by the possibilities. "A chance such as this comes once in a lifetime.. even for an incubus. But I do have a question - what about the language? Do you know any of the human tongues? And will you be able to teach me in time?"
"We will be going to a land where the humans speak the same language as us. Don't ask me how," he added, seeing my expression. "It's just one of those weird coincidences, I guess.
"Anyway. I brought you here to show you the machine which we've been designing." He opened up a curtain to reveal a pair of large standing stones with a control pedestal in front of it. Beside it was the machine which I had been designing the control system for, a complex mechanism made from cams and irregularly-shaped gears. In effect, a simple mechanical computer.
"This machine allows us to control the gate. The control system you have designed will rotate a set of enchanted crystals in the precise pattern needed to cause the gate to appear. The most important part is that it will do this automatically every 3 hours, giving us the ability to return home easily. This will be less important if we undertake a long-haul mission, but in order to do that we would need to set up a safe-haven anyway, and that would require a number of return trips.
"But as I say, that's a future project. Right now, I'm just interested in acquiring some technical reference books."
Page made the necessary arrangements with his Being staff. He was, after all, the lord of Ha'Khun and it would be necessary for someone to act as regent until he returned. This was mostly a precaution, since we were effectively planning a day trip to the world which he called 'Earth'.