The Electric War

Chapter 1 - The Man From Croatia

In the year of 1884 something very interesting occurred. Something that would start a spark, which would light a flame, which would start a blaze most unlike any other. A fire that is still burning today. More immediately, however, this seemingly small moment in time would start a war.

This war would not be fought with cannons, guns, or tanks, nor would it be fought over king and country. This was a war of minds, of man and machine. Though it would not move a single border, nor dethrone any king, this war would change the world forever.

This was the electric war. A war fought between a great wizard and an extraordinary man. Patents, inventions, demonstrations, wires, and dams, all tools and weapons by which this war would be fought, but before we can get to that, dear reader, I must first introduce you to the catalyst of this great war.

In that ever so strange year of 1884, there lived a girl in New Jersey, who happened to work at a place called Menlo Park. This young woman was no one special. She was not wealthy, nor well-connected, in fact, she was nothing more than a poor immigrant girl.

This poor immigrant, however, would become something far beyond her wildest dreams. Those dreams of course, were laced with electricity, as the strange new wonder had filled her every waking thought.

So, as she walked down the old streets, she gazed upward toward the newly installed streetlamps. She could scarcely remember a time when the nights were lit quietly by real flames. Now the only flame that lit the street was the fiery blaze of progress, which unbeknownst to our little protagonist, burned so very brightly within her.

Truly, dear reader, she should've known. She was not as ordinary as she would've thought. Her talent for engineering and business had won her the prize of working for the great Thomas Edison, who at the time, she admired very much.

It was this talent that led her to that fateful morning in June that would change the world forever. There was nothing terribly interesting that had happened that morning, but that was soon to change.

I say that because, as she came in for work that day, she saw something very peculiar. Rather I should say, someone very peculiar.

He was standing outside the building, gazing nervously upward at the letters painted on the wall. As she came closer, she called out to him.

"Do you need help sir?"

The man was startled at her sudden appearance, but ultimately decided he needed the help enough to take a risk. He said something she couldn't quite make out, then tried again.

"Bitte!" he pleaded, hoping to get an answer from her. Suddenly it came to her. German. Her ears pricked up at the sound of her native language. Rushing over she asked him a few questions, all in German, to ease the language barrier.

"What is it, sir?" she started, trying to calm his nerves. "Are you looking for something?"

"Yes, this is Edison Machine Works, yes?" his tension seemed to ease when she spoke. Clearly learning English had not been very easy.

"It certainly is, why do you ask?"

"Thomas Edison, you know him, yes?" he queried, either getting to his point or ignoring her question.

"This is Menlo Park, sir," she replied, gesturing around her. "Who doesn't?" This seemed to invoke a new, better feeling in her strange new acquaintance, which she was most pleased with.

"You can take me to him, then?" he inquired, getting more excited. She furrowed her brow. Who was this man to so boldly ask to see Mr. Edison?

"Pardon me, sir," she answered him, taken aback. "But why do you want to see Mr. Edison?"