Fidelio's Automata is an alternative history in the "steampunk" genre, set in America in the early 1900's. Historical figures such as Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, and labor leader Big Bill Haywood play a part. A stolen invention threatens his dreams. Fidelio Espinoza, a brilliant and idealistic young Cuban, arrives in 1900's America with the goal of perfecting his automaton, a machine that will free humans from the dangerous, backbreaking work of mines and factories. Here he meets Hank, a cowboy turned Quaker who has vowed to atone for his sinful past. After a prototype of Fidelio's creation falls into the wrong hands, the two men join forces with Nikola Tesla to prevent this creation from being used in the service of oppression.