This Map Holds Secrets

Zero’s Forge, Creed’s Coffin, and the Miracle Machines

Jun 24, 2025

Remember the map of Anna's laboratory that I shared in a previous newsletter? Now, it's time to highlight what's in it.

Anna Lynn Boyd, co-protagonist of Bodacious Creed: a Steampunk Zombie Western, and protagonist of my upcoming novel, Anna: Daughter of Creed, is a brilliant inventor whose innovations have ushered in a technological revolution in the 1870s.

She's also the young madam of the restaurant and upscale brothel, The House of Amber Doves. Underneath her first-story bedroom hides a huge basement, Anna's secret laboratory.

Top Left Corner: Zero's Forge

In the side room, Anna's automaton assistant, Zero, forges prototype parts. Pipes in the walls carry the forge's smoke out the restaurant chimney upstairs. There's always a fire in the hearth, even in summer, to discourage suspicion.

Center of the Room: The Operating Table

Anna built this operating table after installing a small unit behind Jonny's ear to help him heal from a traumatic brain injury. Later, they used it to resurrect her father, James Creed.

Bottom of the Map: The Coffin

That’s Creed’s original coffin resting on the table at the bottom of the map. Anna, Jonny, and Zero secreted it to the laboratory after, well, stealing him from his grave in order to resurrect him. It's usually covered with a sheet under the operating table.

Books, Cabinets, and Secrets

Anna loves to learn. Science and philosophy books fill the bookcases. Mechanical parts, experimental devices, and various healing unit types fill the cabinets.

Soundproofing

Sound proofing, powered with celestium alloy, covers the interior walls and muffles the sounds of Zero pounding at his anvil. It takes someone with enhanced sense, like James Creed, to hear what's happening on the other side of the room, whether inside or outside.

Now you know.

Until next week!

Jonathan

Have you read The Adventures of Bodacious Creed yet? If not, check out the series by clicking the image below! It’s available in Kindle and print formats, and free to read on Kindle Unlimited!