Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 162: Prayer of Steel
Chloe had heard of the Machine Soul for a long time.

Even for a Fire Moth like Chloe who was used to seeing all kinds of weird technologies, this thing was considered bizarre. Awakening the soul of steel was something she had never tried before - no, she had never even thought about it.

Chloe can be considered a master at playing with souls, mainly because her extraordinary path naturally gives her a great advantage in this regard. Whether it is perception or various communication skills, she is more familiar with souls than others.

However, these experiences and skills hit a wall with the Machine Soul.

The Type II machine in front of him was the first steam engine to produce a machine soul. Chloe was very interested in it when she first saw it. She and other Fire Moths studied it for a long time, but the result was... there was no progress.

Chloe and Monica, one of them is good at soul communication, and the other is even the creator of the machine soul, but they both hit a wall here.

They were almost unable to communicate effectively with the Machine Spirit - to put it simply, the Machine Spirit didn't want to bother with them.

On the contrary, Xiusi, although a mortal, always wins the favor of the machine spirit.

"So, you secretly came here to do experiments today. What did you find out?" Chloe asked tentatively.

Monica's face darkened: "Anu still doesn't want to pay attention to me."

This was becoming a major concern for Monica. She had spent a lot of effort to successfully summon Ano, but it ignored her and responded to every request from Zeus.

Monica had tried before. Zeus had told her many tips on how to get along with machine spirits, but for some reason, the results were not good for the two of them.

In other words, only Zeus is good at getting along with the Machine Spirit. Other Banshees and Fire Moths, and even many students in the advanced classes have tried, but they are almost unable to evoke a response from the Machine Spirit.

People originally thought that this was because Zeus had a deeper understanding of machines, but then the Fire Moth came, and Chloe knew a lot about steam engines, but the machine spirit still didn't respond to her much.

Chloe was about to give up. The steam engine with organic soul might not be that much better. It just had the advantage of using pollution as fuel. But she had some different ideas today.

"Monica, have you heard of an organization called the Mechanical Temple?"

Monica shook her head: "Is it also a church?"

"Strictly speaking, it's not a church. At least it doesn't recruit lay believers, and it has never even preached publicly. It's somewhat like an academic organization."

"Academic?"

"Yes, the Mechanical Temple does not have any extraordinary paths, and they are not interested in them. To be more precise, they are not interested in anything other than machinery."

Monica blinked and asked in confusion, "What does this have to do with our steam engine?"

"Some of them, the ones in the Mechanical Temple, seem to have some mental issues. They worship machines as sacred objects and have a very complicated set of prayer rituals."

"Pray? Pray to machines? Didn't they put those machines together themselves?"

"That's why I said they were crazy. They were worshipping something they had assembled themselves. But I suddenly wanted to try their rituals."

"?"

"So, if you want to perform this kind of ritual, why did you call me over?" Gaia said helplessly.

She had just been staying peacefully in the testing ground when Monica and Chloe suddenly rushed in and carried her over without saying a word.

She tried to resist, but the two men were incredibly strong, and before she could react, they were already placed next to the steam engine.

"Steam engine, um, Type II to be more precise. You should have studied it before, right?" Gaia nodded. "Although I majored in chemistry, I also learned the basic principles of mechanics. You don't have to worry about cognitive interference. So, why did you bring me here?"

Chloe and Monica looked away. "Well, it's a ritual, and you're a very important part of it."

"Very important?" Gaia looked at the two people who seemed a little guilty with suspicion. "Isn't it some kind of sacrifice?"

"It's not that important." Chloe quickly waved her hand. "Don't worry. The Mechanical Temple has tested it, and the effect of human sacrifice is not as good as using holy oil."

"There really is a living sacrifice?!"

"That's very outdated technology. They've recently switched to using holy oil and hammering with wrenches."

"."

"Anyway, do you want to try it? Since you're here already?"

"Is that what I wanted?!"

There was a lot of noise and fighting in the room, and outside the room, the two banshees on duty in the factory looked at each other and nodded.

"Go and report to the Lord quickly."

"Okay, I had the same idea. If the three of them get together, something bad will happen no matter how you think about it."

In the dim room, a bright candle barely illuminated a small area in the middle, while the walls farther away were hidden in darkness.

The girl closed her eyes and chanted a prayer softly. The steel machine cast a long shadow, making her look so small. Her hooded face appeared and disappeared in the flickering firelight, giving her a strange sense of sacredness.

On one side of the machine, Monica raised six hands with a serious face, holding sacred objects such as gears, engine oil, wrenches, and pressure relief valves, posing in different postures, like a devout dancer, intoxicated.

At the other end of the steam engine, Gaia was holding a can of grease and applying it to the bearings of the flywheel in rhythm. She occasionally glanced at the door where the audience was gathering, sweating profusely.

She was wrong. She shouldn't have been so confused as to not be able to resist Monica and Chloe's request and come here to perform the ritual of communicating with the machine spirit.

At first it was just the Banshees, then slowly the people from the Fire Moths came, and finally the students. Several of her friends came to watch and point fingers. The last straw that broke the camel's back was Zeus who came with Connor. Shouldn't the lord be very busy? How did he have time to come and watch them playing tricks here?
Gaia felt her calves were starting to cramp. She was so embarrassed she just wanted to cover her face and hide in a corner, but her serious nature prevented her from just running away.

Chloe's voice suddenly rose as she chanted the prayer, her soft whisper turning into a resounding hymn:

Father of Steam, Spirit of Steel, hear our roaring hymns!
We are sons of the forge, true believers in gears and pipes.

The rhythm of the piston is its heartbeat and the roar of the boiler is its breathing.

Steam surges through the veins of steel, and rivets secure the skeleton of truth.

Knowledge is hidden in the scale of the pressure gauge, and glory is cast in the welds of the boiler.

Chloe's eyes shot open, her orange-red hair shooting up like flames.

"Light the sacred cauldron and awaken the soul in the steel!"

(End of this chapter)