Challenge #04296-K278: Essential Parts

They turned off their machines, crawled into bed after turning off the light and slept. And Dreamed. The wizard in their dream introduced themselves as Wraithvine, and smiled. "So, what is your time like?" "A time of peace, I guess, lots of hard work, but, meh, not so bad." -- Anon Guest

[AN: Are you trying to tie my universes together, Nonny? It doesn't work like that. Alfarell has a history incongruent with Amalgam Universe. That glue won't stick]

So many machines invented with the good intention of saving time and labour often end up doing neither. The cotton gin ended up extending slavery rather than rending it obsolete. The spinning jenny ended cottage industry, true, but it also ended childhoods, lives, and the dexterity of more than enough limbs[1]. Printers saved the labor of the typesetters, but it also allowed less effort spent in creating the written word. And as for code made to save the effort of creation itself... the less said about the results, the better.

Most of that has not happened here in Alfarell. Not yet. It could, with different names, but the potential and the need have to meet in just the right way.

Mass production is very different in a world where the right spell and components can just copy something. Nevertheless, machines rise where magic simply cannot suffice. Something is needed to turn the crank, unclog the gears, grease the wheels, or otherwise keep it running. And in that, there's always someone necessary but also looked down upon.

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