"Heave that beam higher! HIGHER!" Alfred roared at the other Engineers, wiping the sweat from his brow with the back of his metal right hand. He jumped down from the platform he was currently on and past the whirring machinery that kept the Cogs of the Realm spinning, landing hard but neatly on the platform below. Alfred stormed over to the men that were trying to haul a new beam upwards on its pulley system where the Welders were to secure it into place, its job to hold up a broken section of the belly of the Judgement Dial, the Dial where criminals and prisoners were sentenced to life or death.

"We're tryin' Chief!" the youngest of the men cried, yelping as Alfred gently pulled him out of the way and seized the four ropes of the pulley himself. Slowly but surely the beam was lifted by the American and it soon enough reached the Welders above who quickly set to work in joining it to the belly of the East. The onlookers watched in amazement at one man being strong enough to heft a giant, titanium alloy beam upwards by his mere self. But Alfred was no regular Engineer. He was as strong as any and all creatures combined and could easily lift hundreds of times his own weight to any height, he could join two beams together and run along the stretch of the Engineer's Dial in a matter of seconds and he could do any job faster than anyone else. He was Alfred Jones, the Chief Engineer of the Engineer's Dial.

He stepped away once the beam was in place, running an oily hand through his dirty-blonde hair and past his nantucket that stuck up almost awkwardly. His deep, sapphire blue eyes scanned the area before he left them to it, going back up to his office and sitting down to see to some paperwork. Very rarely did Alfred ever do paperwork, only when there was loads to do that he would actually sit down and do it. And today was one of those days.

"Actually..." he murmured to himself, "It can wait for a bit..." the American said, kicking his iron and steel-clad boots up onto the desk as he sat back in his chair. He wore scruffy denim overalls that made him look like a regular, working-class Engineer; but what made him stand out different and made him to be the Chief Engineer was the rest of his attire. A pair of hard-worked, black-tinted goggles rested atop his head that were laced with copper and bronze in the rims to hold the glass in place, their lenses specialised onese so that they would often act like reading glasses. On his left hand he wore a thick black leather glove that protected him from the jets of steam that could undoubtedly rip the skin from his bones while his right hand was encased with a fusion of gold and bronze alloy that covered from his elbow to his fingertips. It was a trait every Engineer of the Clockwork Realm shared, all of them being right-handed, and it was compulsory to have metal fingers on their right hand instead of flesh ones. It was all designed to protect them from the red-hot surfaces they would touch and the sharp jets of steam that would attack them if they weren't careful. Beneath his overalls he wore a grubby white shirt that was tucked into the sides of his denim overalls with metal encasing his sides to also protect him from the steam jets that hissed and would shoot out from the machinery he worked with every day. On his feet he wore heavy-duty boots that were titanium-tipped in the toe to help keep his toes safe from falling metal and slag that dripped from the smelting cauldrons that were hoisted high above them on chains. Both boots had little catchments on the soles, acting as grips on the often-slippery metal of the walkways of the Dial, and bits of metal that curved up his calf muscles – acting as elite shock absorbers for the numerous jumps he would have to do in a single day to avoid machinery.

Alfred sighed as he soon picked up his metal-feather quill and began to write out the latest report from the Dial, only to be interrupted by a familiar cry of greetings from below-decks.

"Ho Alfred!" a man shouted as he entered the Dial, a sack laden with goods slung over his shoulder. Alfred perked up, grinning as he jumped up from his chair, ran from his office and leaned over the railings of the walkway.

"Ho Arthur!" he shouted back, laughing as he grabbed hold of a Down Chain and swung one of his feet into the links, instantly being pulled downwards to the lower levers. The other man laughed too, watching the Chief Engineer's heroic antics as he dived from one Chain to the next in a show of courage and idiocy. Alfred jumped and landed on the deck, smiling brightly as he approached his friend. The newcomer set the sack down onto the deck and embraced his friend with a man-hug.

"It's great to see you again, Clocker!" Alfred said happily, a hand resting on Arthur's shoulder. Arthur smiled, tipping his top-hat.

"And you, Engineer, and you!" he smiled, resting his own hand on Alfred's shoulder in return.

"So, what goods do ya bring for us from up top?" Alfred asked the Englishman, only to receive a mischevious grin.

"Just more food for you all," he said offhandly, "But I did manage to snag this from an Enforcer today!" he said, his grin growing wider as he pulled out a Spring Gun from one of his belt-loops with a flourish and handed it to Alfred. The Engineer's eyes lit up with joy.

"Dude! Seriously?! Do you know how long I've been trying to get my hand on one of these?!" he cried, ecstatic at finally being able to disassemble one at long last. The Clocker laughed.

"I know, dear friend, I know! Ever since the Fall of The Underground, when I first met you!"

"But how did you get one?!"

"While I was running for my worth from Enforcers behind me after robbing a Noble's manor of its food, I saw an Enforcer dealing with a crook in the shadows. The fool had left his Spring in plain sight! So I quickly dived in, grabbed the bleedin' thing and run off again! It cost me a good few seconds I'll have you know!" Arthur explained, his bottle-green eyes sparkling with mischief and joy. Alfred grinned widely as he stowed the Gun into his pocket and gestured for Arthur to follow him up to his office. Arthur nodded, swinging the sack over his shoulder again and waving slightly to the other Engineers as they cheered; the Clocker had returned to them at long last!