Microscopes and Pumps

Alexander would state the required capabilities of his machine not using horsepower or percentages, but by the amount of work it should be able to do without a certain timeframe.

So in his case, Alexander wanted the machine to be able to draw 250 tons of water from a depth of 10 meters every hour using just 10 kg of coal.

Alexander would make the announcement throughout the city, with detailed diagrams of the machine freely available at the public library.

And seeing this promise of an astounding 1 million ropals, many eager souls would draw themselves to have a try at their luck.

The hype would be such that even Cambyses would come to Alexander to pose, "Why are you offering so much just to lift some water?"

To which Alexander would only enigmatically smile.

For now, though, coming back to Marvin, Alexander felt he had seen all he had to see, and thus decided to end the tour.