Page 44 of Dark Island: Rescue
Anandur leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table. "The cliff extraction worked because they thought it was impossible." He looked at those in the room who hadn't been part of the clan when Carol had infiltrated the harem and found Areana. "It was a nightmare of logistics. We'd hired a professional rock climber to scale the cliff next to the harem, but he got injured on another climb right before the operation."
"Bad luck," Jade said.
"Maybe it was actually a stroke of good luck." Anandur cast Kian a smile. "As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. We scrambled for a replacement but couldn't find anyone of that caliber who was willing to scale an un-scalable rock face covered in wet moss. Then Kian had the brilliant idea to teach Okidu rock-climbing by showing him a bunch of climbing documentaries. The Odus learn fast, and they are incredibly strong."
Phinas's eyebrows shot up. "You taught your butler how to climb a rock by sitting him in front of a screen?"
Kian felt pretty smug about coming up with thatidea. "I also gave him a couple of books to scan so he could learn the terminology and equipment."
"But knowing and doing are different things," Kalugal said.
"Very different," Anandur agreed. "And in Okidu's case, there was also worry about his weight. Odus are heavy, much denser than they appear. But we tested him and he did spectacularly. He is, after all, a machine."
Kian cringed at that, even though it was a nearly exact quote of what he had said back then. But that was before the reboot and Okidu's slow but steady growing self-awareness.
"So, how did it go?" Phinas asked.
"Okidu did it," Anandur said. "He climbed that impossible cliff, installed all the equipment that allowed the others to climb with ease, and then right at the top, he lost his grip and fell off the cliff."
"Fates," Jade breathed. "How did he survive that? I know that he's mostly machine, but even a machine can break."
"He went down like a stone," Anandur said. "Luckily, he fell into the water and did not get splattered over the rocks."
"They pulled him out," Kian said. "But before they managed to do so, he completely shut down. They thought he was a goner, but then he rebooted, and a hidden program got activated. That's how Okidu became self-aware, sentient, and he later rebooted his brothers so they could make the journey into sentience with him."
When Anandur opened his mouth to continue thestory, Kian caught his eye and shook his head, a subtle warning to be careful.
Anandur nodded, understanding the message, and closed his mouth.
By now, Kalugal knew about the blueprints Okidu had provided after his reboot, but he didn't know that, in addition to instructions for building more Odus, the journals also contained what could be the secret to immortality. The gods hadn't always been immortal. They had achieved it through genetic manipulation. Kalugal didn't need to know that. Not yet, anyway.
"Fascinating," Kalugal said, and Kian couldn't tell if he'd picked up on the subtle communication or not. His cousin was sometimes too smart for comfort. "So, we'd need to bring Okidu over for another cliff extraction."
"If we go that route," Kian said. "There might be other options."
"Speaking of Okidu," Kalugal continued, "Syssi mentioned missing him. I offered to bring him along with the equipment shipment from the village, but she pointed out that your vacation is almost over, so that would be silly. But now we might be forced to stay longer, and given the situation, perhaps we should bring him anyway."
"Even if we get confirmation tomorrow, we won't need Okidu right away, and there is no reason for us to stay here," Kian said, but he wasn't entirely convinced of his own words. "To execute something similar to what we did with Carol, we would need a submarine, more Guardians, and diving equipment. The submarine will take time to arrange."
"Tula might get discovered in the meantime," Jade said. "Also, what about her partner? Are we taking him too?"
Kian shook his head. "Not if we go with the suicide scenario, which I admit is our best bet and will be the most believable. Anything else might reveal our involvement and implicate Areana. As much as it pains me to say that, it's not likely that we will manage to extract anyone in addition to Tula."
A long moment of silence followed his declaration, and Kian imagined that they were all trying to think of an alternative.
He was open to suggestions.
Jade drummed her fingers on the table. "The cliff approach requires Okidu, climbing equipment, diving equipment, and Yamanu to do the shrouding. Since the submarine is the hardest part, we should start making inquiries right away." She looked at Kian. "Turner?"
He shrugged. "Who else? But I would hate to bother him, only to call him again tomorrow and tell him to drop the search because Areana said Tula was not pregnant."
"We are so close," Anandur murmured. "We can get there with a couple of speedboats."
"That would have been an option if the island had no defenses," Phinas said. "But then we wouldn't have to plan elaborate extractions either."
"We could pretend to be lost tourists," Anandur said. "They are not going to shoot at a civilian craft. I can put on a wig and pretend to be a sexy woman. That would confuse the Doomers. They are not so smart."
Anandur was trying to lighten the mood, but Kian had no patience for his frivolous ideas.
