Mandus, did you just make the 20th century even more horrifying than it was supposed to be?!? Having a huge section of London's capital gutted could cause all kinds of problems in the face of less benevolent powers like Imperial Germany, in addition to demonstrating publicly how Alexander's tools could be used by normal humans.
And Mandus's motivation for going out and searching? One of the few things he can remember are his kids which he doesn't know where they are, and tries to find them, which are soon revealed to be deep within the machine. For one, Mandus wakes up in cage in his room in his mansion for some reason.
It produces a loud noises whenever it's around, and is capable running really fast, being able to catch up with you quickly.