Re: Blood and Iron

Nikola Tesla was a name that had resounded in Bruno's past life, a name of vision, a name of brilliance, and a name of human tragedy all tied into one. Why was this figure the 20th century personification of the ancient Greek Artform?

Because he had everything he needed to succeed in life, and drive humanity forward to a level of progression only theorized in the scarcest of science fiction material. But in the late 1800s and early 1900s, this was a very real possibility.

So why did this not manifest? Well, it was a tale as old as time itself, Greed, Avarice, and Betrayal. Tesla had theorized that the frequency of the Earth itself could be tapped into and provide unlimited and clean energy using harmonic resonance.

A theory that sounds like something ripped straight out of science fiction, an absurdity not to be taken seriously by even the most gullible of minds. But one that surprisingly began to prove theoretically true as the decades past, and the obscure genius returned to the forefront of what if scenarios within the minds of the western cultural zeitgeist?

So why was this never put into fruition? Well, it had been done so, a resonance tower had been built in the form of the infamous "Wardenclyffe Tower" and by all records would have worked as it was intended to, if it were not for the fact the Tesla's investors pulled out at the last minute, and the company he was building it for dismantled the device before it completion.

This begs the question, if free, unlimited, clean energy that could be attached to any building, any vehicle, and any device that mankind could conceive with a mere resonator frequency device was damn near possible, why?

Why on earth would it be dismantled when it was on the verge of becoming a reality? Because human nature was one of greed, desire, ambition, and of course, fear, most of all fear of the unknown.

Tesla as if channeling the divine altruism of the Lord Jesus Christ and all of his saints wasn't going to charge people for it this unlimited power source, it was his gift to the world, to humanity, to free up the most important resource that every modern civilization required, energy.

And had he done so, Tesla would have made it impossible to quantify, to sell, and to apply value to, because it would no longer a scarcity. Rather, it would be everywhere, always. Such a thing could never come to pass, not when the oil, coal, and future nuclear power companies could make an absolute killing selling energy to the people who needed it just to maintain their daily lives.

Especially when mankind became addicted to technology in a way that made them no longer functional without it. It was a scarcity that could never be allowed to become universal and unlimited. To do so would be to destroy the entire fabric of human industry in its modern and economic sense.

But Bruno was not these metaphorical goblins who sought to gather and hoard the people's wealth, gained by being the sole producers of a sparse and expensive resource that was somehow simultaneously required for everything to rely upon in life.

What was the point of amassing wealth to begin with if you did not use it to better you're the life of your family, your community, and your nation? No, Bruno was a man of vision, of long-term thinking, of great pride, yet simultaneously immense humility.

He would not stifle Tesla's vision. Nor would he make unreasonable demands regarding results being made in a specific timeframe. Rather, his approach to men like Tesla was to throw money at them, and give them all the resources they needed to succeed.

Tesla had decided despite his many awe-inspiring ideas that defied simplistic human understanding of the world, and the way civilization works, to use this new lease on life Bruno had given him to prove to the world that the man's investments were not ones of failure, or were even profit driven.

After all, he himself had taken years to accept Bruno's offer because he did not believe such a man existed, and was inevitably proven incorrect in this assumption during a time of great need where Bruno's offer still remained even years after being chided and spat upon in the most disrespectful way.

Since then, Tesla and his team of men who shared his vision, and were both talented and knowledgeable enough to help him pursue it, had worked tirelessly to build the first resonance tower. And today it was erected outside Berlin.

In Bruno's past life, the alien-looking nature of this device had inspired propaganda and conspiracy, claiming that Tesla was building a doomsday device. Could it be used as such in the wrong hands? Potentially, but neither Tesla nor Bruno were men who wanted to burn the world down.

These were men of conscience, men of fortitude, men who wanted desperaetly to save humanity and human civilization from its own negative impulses and in doing so, to push it beyond its limitations, and ignorance. Into a new era of prosperity.

And what guaranteed such an age of transcendence more than unlimited, unquantifiable, free flowing energy across not just the German Reich, but the globe? This was the vision that the two men shared.

Tesla had swallowed his pride and admitted he needed Bruno's loyalty, commitment, financial resources, and most of all, unwavering faith in his ability to follow through on his ideas. While Bruno secretly knew he needed Tesla, and men like them, to make his legacy one not of being the butcher, grinding the enemies of the Reich into mincemeat, but the man who saw that human potential was beyond such unnecessary waste of life, and was meant for far greater things.

Not bound by terrestrial servitude, but mastery over the stars themselves. And this future started with the global resonance grid. Of which, began here and now. Tesla had invited Bruno out to personally witness the activation of the first resonance tower and its ability to verifiably produce energy in a practical manner.

In this regard, wireless receivers had been built into the laboratory that Tesla and his team of researchers and engineers used to construct this beautiful monstrosity, which towered high above. A symbol of the future of mankind here and now in the city of Berlin.

And when Nikola Tesla saw Bruno he was quick to the greet the man with ecstasy and joy on his face.

"Mr. von Zehntner… I'm sorry, your royal highness… The promise you made me years ago, one which I have remembered with each passing day, I have finally finished the first stage…

Here and now I will prove that your investments have not been wasted, even though I have made you wait for far, far too long. Please, let me show you the future of the world, here and now! In the city of Berlin as it should rightfully be!"

Bruno did not say anything significant, this was not his day, this was not his moment, it was Tesla's, instead he watched patiently, and waited giving a silent nod of approval, a sign to begin the display of humanity's fullest potential unbound by guilt, unburdened by scarcity, unmarred by betrayal.

And when it began, it was a display straight out of a science fiction scene, the coils around the tower lit up with electricity, controlled, not wild, not the slightest bit of danger was present to those who witnessed it was it burst through the tower like a lightning through a night sky before wirelessly dispersing into the receiver which lit up the room, after the initial power was cut in its entirety.

It had worked flawlessly… Electricity in its purest form, channeled from the earth itself, and not chained by power lines, and massive power plants, which espoused greenhouse gases, or toxic byproducts in apocalyptic quantities. This was it… Mankind's answer to its own derailment.

Not the wars Bruno waged, not the restoration of chivalry, noblesse oblige and human decency. Here and now in Berlin, with the activation of wireless energy transmission technology in a genuine, practical sense.

This wasn't just a sign of a new horizon, to be pushed forward by visionary minds like the combined effort it's of Bruno and Nikola Tesla, no this was the end of a bygone era, where greed and foolishness compelled humans to squander their own future, and potentially even destroy themselves in the process.

After the display came to an end, but the lights remained on, Bruno could not help but clap, at first slowly, before building up into applause, applause that was quickly followed by everyone who bore witness to the achievement that was made on this historic day.

It continued loudly, thunderously, and in synchrony for some time before Bruno finally stopped, and with his cessation so too did the room become deathly quiet, not out of fear or trepidation, but respect and reverence, as they knew the words spoken now, by the two men who made this remarkable feat reality would echo through the annals of history.

"Nikola Tesla… What you and your team have done here is remarkable in ways that I can not even begin to describe. But you and I both know what this means, not only for the future of our nation, but the world as a whole.

It is the greatest sin of my life that I can't properly reward you here and now for your effort. Unfortunately, my family and I are currently in the process of moving out of the city of Berlin and to our new home in the Tyrolean alps.

But I assure you when I have the time and means to do so, I will ensure you and your staff are appropriately compensated not just monetarily but with accolades for the brilliant defiance of the powers that would deny this very instrument of change from coming into existence.

I promise you, this is just the beginning of what we will accomplish in this life. Together, you and I will build a far better world than we leave behind, that I swear to you! Now come, let us properly celebrate!"

Nikola Tesla had no way of knowing it but Bruno intended to make him a Tyrolean nobleman, grant him a hereditary title tied to his family line, and of course a new state decoration, the Grand Principality of Tyrol's first official medal of the civil class to be granted to Nikola Tesla as a recognition of his brilliance that forever shaped the future of the world.