Reincarnated as Napoleon II-Chapter 140: The Exposition Part 1

Same day, in the Universal Exposition.

Napoleon II, along with his wife, Elisabeth, daughter, Elsa, his Imperial Staff Charles-Louis, and his parents, Napoleon Bonaparte and Marie Louise, walked down the central thoroughfare. Guards maintained a respectful distance, allowing the Emperor and his family to move without disrupting the demonstrations.

They passed beneath steel trusses that supported long glass panels overhead. Sunlight filtered through and reflected against polished machinery arranged in disciplined rows.

Ahead, a dense crowd gathered around a communication pavilion.

Two wooden booths stood on opposite ends of the hall, connected by insulated copper wires suspended along ceramic brackets. Between them, a group of foreign delegates watched closely.

An engineer lifted a receiver to his ear.

"Paris central station," he spoke clearly.

On the opposite end of the hall, another engineer responded into a similar device. A second later, the voice echoed from the first receiver, clear and immediate.

The crowd reacted with visible surprise.

Napoleon I narrowed his eyes. "They can hear one another without telegraph code?"

"Yes," Napoleon II replied. "Direct voice transmission. Instead of dot and dash, they’ll hear the voice from the other end of the line."

Elsa stepped closer, observing the mechanism with open curiosity. Elisabeth rested a steady hand on her shoulder.

They continued forward.

The next pavilion had drawn even larger attention.

Inside, a fixed-wing aircraft stood elevated on a reinforced platform. Its steel frame and tensioned fabric wings were held rigid by struts and wire bracing. A compact engine rested at the front, connected to a reinforced propeller.

Foreign officers stood with arms folded, examining the construction.

"There’ll be a demonstration of that later," Napoleon II commented. "But we have to get to the upper deck of the Bonaparte Tower."

"I very much like want to see it later," Napoleon I said.

Further along the corridor, a quieter but equally significant display operated behind a glass partition.

Inside stood a row of electromechanical calculating machines.

Rows of gears, cams, and rotating drums turned methodically as an operator entered numerical inputs through a set of keys. Paper output strips printed calculated results in structured columns.

"What is it?" Napoleon I asked.

"That father is a new technology developed in the Ministry of Science and Technology. We call it a computer."

"A computer? What does it compute?" Napoleon I asked, stepping closer to the glass partition.

Napoleon II moved beside him.

"Primarily numerical tables," he replied. "Artillery trajectories. Naval firing solutions. Railway scheduling. Industrial production forecasts. It performs repetitive calculations faster and with fewer errors than a room full of clerks."

Inside the enclosure, the operator adjusted a series of dials and pressed down a lever. The machine responded with a controlled series of clicks as interlocking gears rotated in sequence. A narrow strip of paper advanced forward, inked numbers appearing in precise alignment.

Napoleon I watched the mechanical motion without blinking.

"And it does not grow tired?" he asked.

"No," Napoleon II answered. "It does not lose focus. It does not miscopy figures."

Marie Louise studied the apparatus with quiet attention.

"So war and industry both benefit," she said.

"Yes."

Charles-Louis leaned in slightly.

"The Navy has already requested units for fleet logistics," he added. "Supply calculations for long-distance deployments."

Napoleon I gave a short nod.

"Then it is not a novelty."

"It is a tool," Napoleon II replied. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

They moved on.

The motor-driven machinery section filled the next hall with a steady hum. Electric motors mounted above assembly stations transmitted rotational force through belts and shafts. Metal presses descended in measured rhythm. Drill heads bored through steel plates with uniform depth.

A French engineer demonstrated a portable motor unit no larger than a wooden crate. He connected it to a grain thresher model, and the device activated immediately, separating kernels from stalks with mechanical consistency.

Farmers from Burgundy and Normandy stood near American delegates from the Midwest, comparing yields and fuel consumption figures.

Napoleon I observed the synchronized operations and he was astounded.

Elsa paused near a display of domestic appliances.

An electric refrigerator unit stood against a model kitchen wall. Frost formed along internal coils as a technician explained the compression cycle. Beside it, an electric washing apparatus rotated garments within a sealed drum powered by a compact motor.

Women examined the devices with practical questions about maintenance and cost.

Napoleon II glanced toward the clock mounted near the hall entrance.

"We must proceed," he said. "The demonstration above will begin shortly."

They exited the machinery pavilion and stepped into the open air at the base of the Bonaparte Tower.

"So this is the Bonaparte Tower," Napoleon I craned his neck as he looked up to the structure. "It’s made of steel."

"It signifies our steel production to the world," Napoleon II said.

"Now how are we going to get up?" Napoleon I asked.

"We’re taking that," Napoleon II pointed at one of the base of the structure where there is an elevator where a steel-framed carriage waited inside a vertical shaft.

The elevator enclosure was reinforced with riveted beams and glass panels. Thick cables ran upward along guide rails, disappearing into the lattice above. An operator in a dark uniform stood beside the control lever.

Napoleon II stepped in first, followed by Elisabeth and Elsa. Napoleon I entered without hesitation. Marie Louise and Charles-Louis followed, while guards remained at ground level.

The doors shut with a firm metallic click.

The operator pulled the lever.

There was a brief jolt, then a steady upward motion.

Through the glass panels, the ground began to recede. The exposition grounds widened beneath them. Pavilions that had seemed massive from below now arranged themselves into ordered blocks. Crowds turned into shifting patterns of color and movement.

Elsa moved closer to the glass, hands resting lightly against the frame.

"There are so many people," she said quietly.

Below, the central thoroughfare stretched like a measured line cutting through the grounds. Steam drifted from demonstration engines. Flags from dozens of nations lifted in the wind.

Napoleon I watched in silence as the carriage climbed higher.

With a final measured stop, the carriage aligned with the upper observation deck.

The doors opened.