Shadow of the Viceroy by Katz Robert I

Author:Katz, Robert I.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-04-10T00:00:00+00:00

“And what is this?”

“Ah…” The blonde woman’s eyes lit up. “A heat exchanger. Set it in a window and it will keep your house cool in the summer and warm in the winter.” The device the shop-keeper held was round, perhaps twenty centimeters in diameter, and made of a black, shiny substance. It weighed no more than a kilogram.

The shopper was a lean man with a short beard, a baker. He scratched his head. “I was under the impression that such devices were forbidden.”

“Not if they are controlled by the application of phrygium. This, the Viceroy allows.”

“How much is it?”

“Ten silvers, and a bargain at that.”

The baker frowned, troubled, and shook his head. “Perhaps next time,” he said, and wandered away.

The crowd at first was sparse, but as the morning wore on, more and more people drifted in. Ten of the communication devices had already been sold, along with four of the heating units.

One shopper, a woman, pointed to a squat round mechanism that sat on the floor, fifty centimeters or so in diameter. “What is that?”

“A cleaning device. Turn it on and it will move on its own, sweeping up dirt and any small object on your floors, which it then incinerates in a small internal chamber.”

The woman stared at it, entranced.

“Would you like to see it work,” the shopkeeper said.

The woman stared at her, wide-eyed. “Please.”

A few minutes later, she walked out, hugging her purchase to her chest.

After that, business was steady. The guards kept a sharp eye on the crowd but nobody caused trouble. Evening finally came. The booths shut down and the market closed.

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