Pathway Machine: Book I - Prologue

Adaequatio Intellectus Nostri Cum Re [Latin] - Conformity Of Intellect To The Fact

How shall the love of God be understood by those who have been nurtured in sight only of the greed of man? - Jacob Riis

Sigmund Lehrer left Germany for America, probably sometime in 1850. It could be argued that he never made it to the land of milk and honey because he never made it past the tenements of New York City. Nevertheless, it was there he would set in motion the events that 234 years later would conclude the Global Revolution.

To Sigmund the milk may seemed to have spoiled and the honey may seem to have been contaminated but they did what they had to do. He and his young wife Victoria toiled in the sweatshop and eventually they were able to scrimp and save to buy their own sewing machines. Of course, at the time they had no idea that their business would eventually become a worldwide corporation of unprecedented technological innovation which would eventually have more assets than most countries.

Sigmund and Victoria's three children joined them in their struggle and would expand operations significantly, especially their eldest son Brandeis and his young wife Ilina. Their only son, Elias, was born on Monday, January 1, 1885. Tragically Ilina would die during childbirth and over the next decade Brandeis would slowly spiral into a frequent alcoholic stupor. Elias learned the trade of the sweater until his father was too far gone to work or take care of him. By the time he was eight he was living on the streets; rushing the growler (delivering beer in a pail), or selling pencils, rags and eventually newspapers.

At ten years old he would ride the orphan train to Galesburg, Illinois where he was placed and eventually adopted by Charles Sheen, a wealthy mercantile owner whose wife, like Elias's mother, had also died during childbirth. By the time "Eli" came along Mr. Sheen's daughter was a young Christian missionary with her husband in Tanzania.

In 1901, at the age of 16, Eli would enjoy a brief visit with his adoptive sister and her husband in Tanzania's Ngorongoro Crater where he would be enthralled by the Maasai people. Their colorful presentation, fierce independence, bravery and apolitical nature made a lasting impression on the young man. He was only in Tanzania for a little over two months when Mr. Sheen had a temporarily debilitating stroke and they returned back home to aid him in his recovery and take care of the mercantile.

With no family nearby and Elizabeth busy with the missionary work the bulk of the family business fell into the surprisingly capable hands of young Eli. The timing and his experience, from an historic perspective at least, was extraordinary. He had been ingrained with a work ethic, he had learned the game early, he knew the hustle.

He had a working knowledge of the sewing machine and the domestic and industrial benefits which were at the time, staggering. It not only drastically reduced the time needed to make clothes for the family but also provided employment opportunities and the possibility of superior quality in manufacturing for the growing supply that was becoming more and more necessary. He was also aware of the very real negative aspects of the trade. The sweatshops and mechanization, for example.

Galesburg was a railroad town. Eli, inspired by Montgomery Ward and Sears, began a catalog and mail order business. He could scarcely keep up with the demand. By the time Mr. Sheen had recuperated enough to help, Eli had already expanded the mercantile and hired over 100 people in ordering, shipping and stocking, as well as warehouse and clerical workers.

Eli's wife Genevieve gave birth to their first son, Felix, on Friday, March 31, 1911. He would expand Sheen Company internationally, and later change the name to Lehrer/Sheen. Though not immediately apparent, the future of the company would change dramatically when Felix witnessed a robot called Elektro at the 1939 World's Fair.

The corporate structure, as it were at the time, at Lehrer/Sheen, did not share Felix's enthusiasm for robotics, seeing it at the least as a novelty and potentially worse as inherently evil mechanical monsters. Felix conceded that their technophobia wasn't entirely without merit, but by the early 1950s had successfully implemented the technologies division for research and development of robotics including hydraulic and pneumatic applications.

And so began the technologies division of Lehrer/Sheen. The branch of learning the science of craft. They were already manufacturing and/or distributing sewing machines, typewriters, radios, refrigerators and vacuum cleaners as well as many other household electronic devices, but by 2010 the manufacturing of these would diminish considerably and robotics, including androids and gynoids would be the primary focus.

Beginning in the 1980s Wendell Lehrer would begin quietly expanding the company through acquisition of fixed or non-current assets (land, buildings, machinery, equipment, patents, trademarks). They began acquiring a great deal of agriculture, manufacturing, real estate and mineral rights (unified and split). His son Dietrich would continue this practice. It wasn't profit they were after, it was land.

In the 2000s Lehrer/Sheen began working even more quietly on a prototype of a space station. On Monday, November 5, 2035 Dietrich Lehrer and his grandson Christian, along with a human and robotic crew, boarded the space station Laurasia.