His hair was a wild mess, covered in soot. His coat, patched together from all kinds of fabric, flapped as he rushed between his inventions.
Without looking up, he spoke.
"Ah. Right, right. You must be the emperor."
Varian's face gave nothing away. "And you must be the man planning to change the way wars are fought."
The finally turned. His goggles, smeared with grease, hid his eyes. With a quick flick, he pushed them up onto his forehead, revealing a pair of green mayanically excited eyes.
"Planning to? My dear Emperor, I already have."
Veydris cleared his throat. "Your Majesty, this is Edric Valtz."
Edric gave an exaggerated bow—but then accidentally tripped over a pile of gears, landing face-first into a half-built turbine. Sparks flew.
"Bah! That was on purpose!" Edric grumbled, standing up and dusting himself off. "You have to know how something breaks before you can make it perfect."
Varian raised an eyebrow. "You sound way too comfortable with failure."
