Steampunk

Piece of the Week:
I wiped my brow with the back of my hand, leaving a smudge of grease trailing across. "If I force the bolt any tighter," I warned my employer, "then the joint won't be able to move at all."
"It will," he said. "Just do it."
I rolled my eyes. I had promised myself I would never work with know-nothing engineers ever again, and yet here I was in the back of some hermit's den with a wrench in my hand. Hauling a deep breath, I latched my wrench onto the bolt and pushed as hard as I could before my hands slipped off the tool. "There. The wrath of God couldn't budge it now--happy?"
He smiled. I hated that creepy-ass smile. "Yes."
Standing back, we both looked at the completed work. I followed his design directly, despite how many errors there were in it. I mean, it looked exactly like a heap of scrap metal, yet he was determined that it would actually be capable of doing something.
"Okay," I said, finding a rag to wash up with, "I finished it. Now you gonna tell me what this thing is?"
He handed me the other half of my pay and said, "It's going to destroy the sorceress Adliha."
I scoffed through my nose as I chugged a jug of water. "Of course, yes. As I may have mentioned, with no viable fuel source and joints tighter than a tax collector's purse, the only thing it's capable of destroying is a mouse--if it tips over."
"The fuel source it takes is strong enough to move mountains."
"And what is this miracle fuel?"
His smile grew slowly to a grin, baring jagged teeth. "Adliha will fuel it with her own magic...then it will destroy her."
His tone froze me completely in place. He was crazy, clearly, but a madness struck the tone of his voice which rang with sincerity and an underlying knowledge I couldn't pinpoint. Could it be possible that I signed on with some criminal mastermind?

Prompt:
Steampunk. It was suggested to me by poecilia_wing, and I thought I'd give it a go.

Work in Progress:
However much I've tried, my writing mojo hasn't been flowing for any of my current works. I have made some progress on my next Great Drift chapter for runesofgallidon.com, though.

Distractions Used:
None, while writing today's entry. Spooky, eh?

Currently Reading:
Beastly by Alex Flinn, a modern-day Beauty and the Beast told from the beast's point of view.