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Eric stood up, hooked his glasses around his ears again, and took up the older’s chant

“Build it so strong that it will never fail, we risk building too heavy Build it light, we ht build it too weak”

“Eric’s aof essence He knows forty types of steel that didn’t even exist in my day”

Bell was still studying the telescoped wreckage of the caboose stuffed inside the boxcar when an intriguing idea struck his were made

“Could you er?” he asked

“Beg your pardon?”

“You were talking about telescoping and steel, and I ondering whether the blade of a sword could be hidden inside itself then extended to ”

“Like a collapsible stage sword?” asked Mowery “Where the actor appears to be run through but the blade actually retracts into itself?”

“Only this one would not retract It would run you through”

“What do you say, Eric? You studied y at Cornell Could you make such a sword?”

“You can ot the money,” Eric answered “But it would be difficult to ”

“Strong enough to run a h?”

“Easily strong enough to thrust Strong enough to pierce flesh But it could not endure lateral impact”

“Lateral impact?”

Mowery explained “Ericit sideways in a real sword fight against a real sword”