The story actually begins in 1770, with one Richard Trevithick, engineer, being visited by a stranger swaddled in rags to obscure his face and the precise dimensions of his body. Plans for a steam-powered «road locomotive» are thrust into Richard's hands. «But… but these are far beyond current technology,» Richard whispers, stunned. A voice issues from the rags, manically, too screechy to be completely human, the syllables incomplete, malformed. Years later, all Richard will ever claim to have understood are two words, repeated over and over again. «Puffing devil, puffing devil, puffing devil.»