Can technology corrupt a person's soul? Can a culture break free from mechanical objectification? Might resisting technology lead to a better understanding of self? Having escaped the Staines parish poorhouse, Stormbuckler rescues a crucial worker of the newly arrived multimillionaire American steam-mill owner named Lindwürm. The American has set-up mills and manufacturing plants in Staines. After saving Lindwürm's worker, Stormbuckler is offered a job by the steam-millionaire. Mayotte, employed as a parlour housemaid by a notable Middlesex family, hopes to better herself. Having left her life of servitude with the Staines Oldcorne family, she begins working as an administrative assistant at the town's machine plant, owned by the American steam-mill owner. At Lindwürm's steam-plant, Stormbuckler and Mayotte uncover a deception. They discover that the multimillionaire American's industrial empire is cruel and hides dark secrets. Residents of Staines are found to be vanishing. Stormbuckler and Mayotte learn that Lindwürm has hired a crew of vicious, armed goons to protect his secrets. Furthermore, Lindwürm's second-in-command appears to have a wicked personality and nefarious schemes of his own. Yet, Stormbuckler gets pulled into Lindwürm's exciting world of steam tech. He gives his all to his duties, developing a growing obsession with Lindwürm's unstable creations and the American's wildly ambitious ideas. What awful creation is being built at Steam Shed Seven? What terrible secret did the Ministry Agent uncover? What brings an American tribal chief to town? What is the mysterious connection between these threads? Will Stormbuckler's tech obsession help Mayotte? Are Stormbuckler and Mayotte related in any way? Will the tribal leader reveal their relationship? Can the teens endure the perils of a steam-powered future? Or will they submit to Lindwürm's steam-powered mechatronics and the temporary thrills of modern technology? How many more people must die before Lindwürm's terrible delusions become a looming reality?

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