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of vertical levers . We ’ d ridden from Australia ’ s southern capital of Melbourne to a world that was not only a distance but an age away .
We were surrounded by machines that looked as if they ’ d been around at the time Noah was constructing his super yacht . This was ridiculous . What was the point of these things ? There was no way that they had actually been used for anything serious , not now , not in the past . I looked at my partner , he mistook it for a sign that I needed information . The flood gates were opened .
“ You see , it sort of started with the aeolipile … blah , blah , blah …” he continued as my body slipped into a weird state of subconscious torment . “ blah , blah … blah … James Watt made great improvements … blah … early sixteen hundreds …”
“ Bullshit !” I blurted in disbelief as the now expert on all things steam suggested these things had been around for over four hundred years . “ You ’ re making that up .”
The flood gates were closed so that the stream of information was slowed , yet it kept on coming and was now becoming interesting , as much as a dirty great lump of steel
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