JD-76 is the codename for a secret Confederate government project that literally fell into Geraldine Keeler’s backyard one night during an electrical storm.

“JD” was, essentially, a self-propelled ornithopter designed for short-distance surveillance and reconnaissance. The ornithopter was self-propelled by a miraculously preserved human brain in a mechanized canister that controlled the clockwork ornithopter mechanism. jD-76 was struck by lightning that night and crash landed in Miss Keeler’s back yard. The ’thopter went up in flames, but the canister containing his brain was intact.

Geraldine found the canister, removed the dynamite connected to a malfunctioning self-destruct device connected to it, and began to discover the depths to which the Confederacy would sink to gain a technological advantage in the war.

JD is essentially a brain suspended in a strange chemical fluid connected to state-of-the-art electric “actuators” that allow him to manipulate mechanical apparatuses outside of his canister. He was also equipped with electrodes connected to certain synapses that would administer electric shocks if he tried to buck his programming or reveal Confederate mission parameters.

In talking with JD—which was made possible with a special telephony rig hooked into the canister—Geraldine learned that he didn’t know who he was before he was in the canister. He had trouble remembering his previous life. If he tried really hard, he could remember trains and fire.

Later, Geraldine was visited by a woman calling herself “Miss Lavern Stefano” and her cousin “Max.” They claimed to be curious strangers, but proved to be Confederate spies, coming back to claim JD. Word was gotten to nearby Fort 51 and a squad of Union troops arrived, led by intelligence officer Captain Lucius Dalworthington, who captured “Miss Lavern”—who he recognized as Miss Josephine Devereaux. The other Confederates were escorted to the Arizona border. JD was taken back to Fort 51 with Captain Dalworthington so that the Union could keep him safe and so that they could hopefully discover more about him.

About a month later, Captain Dalworthington returned and reported that the scientists at Fort 51 were not making much progress with JD and proposed bringing Geraldine back with him to coax the depressed brain into cooperation. Geraldine, dismayed that JD may be in distress and that the Union was not able to help, agreed.

At Fort 51, she met the lead scientist that studied JD, Dr. Theodore Stranghoener, for whom the two took a mutual instant dislike. He was resentful of being replaced by an “amateur tinkerer in petticoats” and she didn’t like his haughty attitude. She later learned, by studying his “sanitized” notes, that Stranghoener was not doing a very thorough job with JD—either that, or he was hiding his real lab notes. She later managed to acquire the actual lab notes, translate them from Stranghoener’s native German, and was appalled to find that the scientist would apply electric shocks to JD to “motivate” him to cooperate, as his depression would keep him from responding to questioning.

Geraldine began to form a theory that she could remove the electrodes connected to JD and thus the need for negative “motivation.” This may ease his anxiety and depression and allow him to feel more at ease. It was the only humane thing to do. There was a risk however—the longer the brain was out of the strange “suspension component”, the more risk there was of JD losing cognition.

Also during this time, Geraldine made a breakthrough with JD’s memory of his former self. He began to remember his own name—Virgil Caine—and his old personality began to manifest itself. Unfortunately, it manifested itself in such a way as half the time Geraldine was talking to “JD,” a compliant, friendly personality who only wants to help, and the other half other she was talking to “Virgil,” a cantankerous Confederate who is far more likely to be defiant.

Nevertheless, she does learn more of Virgil’s tragic story. He was apparently from a farm outside of Knoxville, Tennessee. He has a wife, Iris, and lost his brother, Levon, to a “Yankee bullet.” He fought in Danville, Virginia, for the Confederates during the raid by Union General Stoneman on the railyards there, in 1865. He apparently was an ornithopter pilot who went down in flames. That’s his last clear memory—and probably why both he and JD fear fire so much. He vaguely remembers ice, trains, a great deal of main, the face of a main with wild hair and a mad gleam in his eyes, and Miss Josephine, who apparently showed him kindness. He also remembers the smell of salt. And the feel of electricity coursing through him, of course.

Virgil is worried about his wife, and nephew Paul, who was his brother, Levon’s son. He hasn’t seen them in over a decade and they probably think he’s dead. In many ways—he is. This feeds into his melancholia.

While at Fort 51, Geraldine worked with “Mr. Eddington,” the head of research and development, to design and build an apparatus for JD to move around with. It is made up of articulated, spider-like legs, a sensory rig, a fuel chamber, and JD’s canister. JD can essentially drive the apparatus like vehicle to get around.

Previous to Geraldine’s arrival at the Fort, JD was treated as a device, a test subject. He was kept in a metal locker when not “in use” and referred to in notes as “Subject 2783.” Now, he is referred usually as “JD” (or “Virgil” when that personality is dominant) and is no longer kept in a locked cabinet. He is in the care of Mr. Eddington. JD, much to Virgil’s consternation, has already turned over his mission parameters to Union intelligence, so he is given free rein of the Fort. While covered in his canister, he doesn’t give people such a fright and most people assume he’s simply a fancy automaton that Mr. Eddington devised.

Union intelligence has determined that Mrs. Iris Caine does still live in Knoxville with her nephew, Paul. Virgil hasn’t figured out what he wants to do with that information yet.