Reincarnated as Napoleon II-Chapter 96: More Technological Wonders

After speaking with the two brothers, Napoleon II and Charles made their way out of their lab.

Charles looked at him as they walked along.

"What is in your mind?" Napoleon II said, without glancing at him.

"Your Imperial Majesty, I am still astounded by your deeper understanding of science."

"You do know that this is how I make money right? From my genius," Napoleon II proudly said.

"May I ask how much you are earning annually from the royalties Your Imperial Majesty, if you don’t mind me asking such personal information. I just want to have an idea."

Napoleon II thought about his question for a moment, and then decided.

"Okay, it’s not like you are going to rob me after telling you anyways. I’ll let you on with how much I earn every year. The rough estimate is about 350,000,000 francs."

Hearing those numbers, Charles coughed.

"I’m sorry, Your Imperial Majesty. That number, I didn’t know you were earning that much from the royalties alone. The Imperial Sovereign Fund is not yet included, right?"

"No," Napoleon II said. "But the fund is only about 70,000,000 per year. You know how it is used right? To maintain the properties of the Imperial families, salary for the staff, operational expenses, and all other things."

Napoleon kept walking, hands clasped behind his back.

They turned a corner into another wing of the building.

Ahead, a glass partition revealed another laboratory.

Napoleon slowed.

Inside, rows of cabinets stood open, their interiors glowing faint orange. Thick glass tubes protruded from metal sockets. Wires ran between panels in organized bundles. Engineers in rolled sleeves adjusted dials and swapped components with careful hands.

A steady hum filled the room.

Charles blinked. "What... is that?"

Napoleon stepped closer to the glass.

"Computation," he said simply.

One of the engineers inside rotated a switch. A bank of tubes brightened. A clicking rhythm followed as relays engaged in sequence.

"It doesn’t look like any calculating machine I’ve seen," Charles said.

"It isn’t," Napoleon replied. "Those tubes act as switches. They control the flow of electricity. On. Off. On. Off. Each state represents information. With enough switches, you can perform complex logic."

Charles stared. "Logic... as in reasoning?"

"As in structured decision-making," Napoleon said. "Addition. Comparison. Sequencing. A mechanical brain made of electricity."

Inside the lab, a technician fed punched cards into a slot. The machine responded with a rapid cascade of clicks. A strip of paper rolled out, ink markings appearing in tight columns.

"What are the applications of that technology?"

"There is a lot," Napoleon II said, not exaggerating it. "Like for example, in naval combat, the sailors would calculate the speed and the direction and the distance of the enemy ships manually but with those computers, it can do it in seconds," Napoleon finished. "Range tables. Firing solutions. Trajectory corrections. All computed faster than a room full of clerks."

Charles leaned closer to the glass. The machine clattered again as another card slid in.

"So it replaces... calculation labor," he said.

"It augments it," Napoleon replied. "Humans still define the problem. The machine executes the arithmetic. Think of it like a waterwheel driving many hammers at once. You still choose where to strike."

Inside, an engineer adjusted a dial. A needle steadied. Another technician compared the printed strip against a ledger.

"In artillery," Napoleon continued, "you feed in distance, wind, elevation. The machine outputs correction values. Less guesswork. Fewer wasted shots."

Charles nodded slowly. "And beyond war?"

"Tax records. Census tabulation. Logistics scheduling. Railway timetables," Napoleon said. "Any system that relies on large volumes of numbers benefits. You remove delay. You reduce human error."

They watched as a technician pulled the paper strip free and pinned it to a board already crowded with figures.

Charles folded his arms. "It hums like a boiler room." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Yes, it’s because it is operating and consumes electricity."

They moved on.

Through another glass wall, coils and antenna frames lined the benches. Vacuum tubes glowed like small lanterns. An operator in headphones tapped a switch. A voice crackled out of a horn speaker.

"...confirm signal... repeat... confirm..."

Charles stopped mid-step. "That came from the device?"

"It’s best if we try it ourselves," Napoleon II said and pushed open the lab door.

"Your Imperial Majesty," one of them said, stepping back from the console. The others followed, clearing a path.

"At ease," Napoleon said. "We’re here to observe, and if possible, use."

The lead engineer gestured to the main radio bench. "The transmitter is active, sire. Linked to the rooftop antenna. We have a receiving station two buildings away."

"Good," Napoleon said. He motioned Charles forward. "Come here."

Charles approached cautiously, eyes scanning the glowing tubes.

"This," Napoleon said, resting a hand on the wooden housing, "is radio communication. You already understand the telegraph, yes?"

Charles nodded. "Electrical pulses through a wire. Dot, dash. Each sequence translates to letters."

"Exactly," Napoleon said. "Now imagine removing the wire. Instead of sending pulses along copper, we send oscillating electrical energy into the air itself."

He pointed to a coil assembly.

"This generates a carrier wave. Think of it as a continuous signal, like a stretched string vibrating. When we speak, the microphone converts sound into electrical variation. That variation rides on the carrier."

Charles frowned. "So... the voice becomes electricity?"

"Yes," Napoleon said. "And electricity becomes a wave. That wave travels. The receiver captures it, separates the voice signal, and converts it back into sound."

He picked up the headset from the bench and handed it to Charles.

"Put this on."

Charles did. Napoleon nodded to the engineer.

"Transmit."

The engineer leaned toward the microphone.

"Receiving station, confirm."

A burst of static filled Charles’s ears, then a voice.

"...confirmation received... signal clear..."

Charles’s eyes widened. He nearly dropped the headset.

"That... that’s a voice," he said. "Through the air."

"That’s it. Now how about the telephone? Good thing they have two here, we can talk to one another. Let’s try it."

Napoleon crossed to the adjacent bench where two wooden telephone units were mounted on opposite sides of the room, connected by a thick insulated wire that disappeared into a junction box.

He lifted one receiver and handed the other to Charles.

"Stand over there," Napoleon said, nodding toward the far end of the table. "Think of this as a direct telegraph line, except instead of dots and dashes, you send your voice."

Charles walked to the other unit, still holding the receiver like fragile glass.

"What do I do?" he asked.

"Speak normally," Napoleon replied and continued. "Into the mouthpiece. Then listen."

Charles leaned in.

"Hello?"

Napoleon II raised his receiver to his ear. A faint hiss came through, then Charles’s voice.

"Hello?" it repeated in his ear.

Napoleon II smiled faintly. "I hear you."

Charles froze. His eyes flicked up.

"You... heard that?" he said.

"Charles, can you hear me?"

Charles jerked upright as Napoleon’s voice came through his receiver.

"Yes!" he blurted. "That’s... that’s you!"

"Soon, this technology will be available to the public."

"So what’s the difference between this and the radio?" Charles asked, still on the telephone.

"Hmm. Radio is for everyone, it’s public. Anyone who has a radio could hear it. The telephone on the other hand is private, it’s connected between two physical wires. Are you enjoying it here in the Ministry of Science and Technology?"

"I feel like I’m on the tour," Charles replied, chuckling. "Well spent for the taxpayers money."

"Now, we should head back now to the palace."

"As you wish, Your Imperial Majesty."