When In Erebus

The Michelson-Morley Experiment gives a positive result. Light is indeed transmitted through aether.

Forty-five years later, the residents of Erebus (formerly New York City) live under the unending darkness made by aether-sucking machines. Although they were originally created for war, these apparatuses have been repurposed for the Erebus Project, a show of dominance over day and night themselves.

Lucian Prestwich is a skilled aether mechanic. Despite his interests and the cultural attitude towards Erebus, he’s always found the Project unsettling, a feeling that’s only reinforced after he’s sent to the city for a job. When his new friend Walter introduces him to Dielism, a rebellious artistic movement centred around imagery of the skies the city’s residents have been denied, he vows to help end the age of Erebus.

This mission proves fraught as his sabotages run the risk of discovery. And though Dielism is booming in popularity, some of its new followers seem to see it as nothing more than a collection of pretty pictures. In his quest to return the aether to the skies, it seems Lucian is bound to lose everything…

This story contains:

• Weird fictional physics
• Actually punk decopunk
• The dangers of stripping politics from art and reducing movements to aesthetics
• Internal sabotage
• And M/M romance (subtle but it’s there)!

Content warnings: Mentions of war, alcohol, and guns.

Length: 15K