Page 3 of Dark Shaman: Love Found (The Children Of The Gods #99)
KIAN
K ian closed the file he'd been going through and glanced at his watch. It was almost three o'clock, and Kalugal should arrive at any moment.
His cousin rarely scheduled formal meetings, and since becoming a council member, Kian couldn't remember Kalugal ever requesting to meet in the office.
The fact that he'd requested a specific time slot through Shai meant that something was brewing in Kalugal's mind that he wanted to share with Kian, and Kian alone.
"Come in," he called when the knock came at precisely three in the afternoon.
Kalugal entered carrying two coffee cups, the aroma of freshly ground beans wafting through the office. "Figured we could both use the caffeine this time of day." He set the cups on Kian's office desk. "Don't you find it strange that even immortals experience an afternoon slump? "
"We are part human." Kian removed the lid of the cup nearest to him. "And we are not machines."
Kalugal's smirk indicated that this had been precisely what his cousin had been leading him to say, but so far, Kian couldn't begin to guess what was swirling in Kalugal's brilliant mind.
"You are correct. We are not machines, but we are very good at using them.
" Kalugal leaned back in his chair. "I have a feeling that you will want to have the rest of this conversation on the roof over cigars and whiskey.
" His lips lifted in a crooked smile. "I timed this meeting strategically so it would be proper for us to enjoy both without you feeling like you are breaking the rules. I know how important those are to you."
"I was wondering about that." Kian opened the desk drawer where he kept his stash and pulled out a box of cigarillos. "Will these do, or do you want the real thing?"
"Those will do just fine." Kalugal waved a hand. "What I have to say will not be long enough for a Cohiba."
Kian put the box in his pocket and pulled out two shot glasses and a bottle of whiskey that was still half full. "Let's go."
Kalugal eyed the two cups of coffee. "Should I bring these up?"
"Sure," Kian said.
Once they reached his rooftop sanctuary and settled into the lounge chairs, each holding a lit cigarillo, Kalugal took a moment to puff on his before speaking.
"I've been thinking about our conversation regarding the robot army you want to build with the help of William, Kaia, and the blueprints from Okidu's journals. "
Kian's interest sharpened. "What about it?"
"William and Kaia are going to take forever to develop a prototype, and then it's going to take even longer to produce the robots in any meaningful numbers. We're talking years, maybe decades, before we have a force capable of standing against my father's new and improved army."
"I assume that you didn't come here to point out all the ways in which this is an undoable plan. You thought of an alternative?"
"I did. And my idea's brilliance is in its simplicity." Kalugal's eyes lit up with the enthusiasm of someone who'd been itching to share what he'd come up with. "Exoskeletons."
"What about them?"
"Think about it." Kalugal puffed on his cigarillo. "The suits are equalizers. It doesn't matter who is inside the suit as long as they know how to use it. They don't need to be powerful or indestructible. The suit makes them so."
Understanding dawned. "You're suggesting we outfit humans with exoskeletons."
"Exactly." Kalugal leveled his intense gaze on Kian. "The mechanical augmentation brings everyone to the same level. A human in a well-calibrated exoskeleton can match an immortal's strength, even an enhanced immortal. And with the right modifications, they could even exceed it."
Kian leaned back in his lounger, his mind going through the possibilities. "The suits we have are built for immortals. They are heavy and difficult to maneuver. The modifications to make them suitable for humans will need to be extensive."
"Which is why we need to steal some excellent engineers," Kalugal said casually, as if stealing personnel and their knowledge was a typical Monday afternoon activity.
"Who do you have in mind?"
"There's a robotics company in the Bay Area—Mechanicals Inc.
They've been developing military-grade exoskeletons for the Defense Department.
Their top engineers have decades of combined experience in exactly what we need.
" Kalugal leaned forward eagerly. "We have two options.
We can steal their people along with their knowledge, their experience, their design innovations, and years of R&D, or we can buy the company. "
"I prefer to buy. Are they selling?"
Kalugal shrugged. "Does it matter? I can make them eager to sell.
Or I can make their key personnel offers they can't refuse.
Companies do it all the time." He cast Kian a mocking glance.
"I know that you want to do everything by the book, but luring away key personnel with lucrative offers is only called stealing.
There is nothing illegal about it." He smirked.
"We make them offers that are too good to pass up, and the chance to work on cutting-edge technology without the government red tape or budget constraints.
For the ones who need more persuasion...
" He shrugged. "We might have to come up with creative ideas for making their employment package more attractive. "
Kian took another sip of coffee, using the moment to think.
The plan had merit, but it wasn't as simple as Kalugal made it sound.
"Even if we acquire the expertise, mass production is another challenge.
We'd need facilities, supply chains, and quality control systems. All of it would have to be hidden from both human authorities and your father's network of spies. "
"We can spread the manufacturing across multiple facilities, with no one location producing enough to raise suspicion."
"What about the assembly? The training? You can't hide an army of humans training to fight in exoskeletons in a warehouse in Detroit."
"No, but you can hide them on an island.
" Kalugal's smile turned predatory. "My father did the smart thing and bought an island for his army of immortals.
What's to prevent us from doing the same?
We find one that is private and isolated, and where we can easily control access.
We can set up the final assembly and training facilities there. "
"Your father's island would be perfect for that," Kian said. "Except we need the army to take the island in the first place."
"Precisely." Kalugal pulled out his phone, scrolling through something.
"Private islands go up for sale more often than you'd think.
The Caribbean alone has dozens of possibilities.
We'd need something with infrastructure—power, water, basic facilities—but sufficiently isolated that our activities won't draw attention. "
Kian uncapped the Scotch and poured it into the two glasses he had brought with him. "How many suits are we talking about? A hundred? A thousand?"
"The end goal is tens of thousands, but we can start with five hundred." Kalugal took his glass. "That's enough to test the idea with a significant force, but not so many that production becomes impossible to hide. We can scale up once the systems are in place."
"Five hundred humans trained to operate military-grade exoskeletons." Kian took a sip of the Scotch. "That's not a small undertaking. Where do we find that many people willing to disappear and join a private army?"
Kalugal waved the hand holding the cigarillo.
"Don't worry about that. There are plenty of aimless males who are looking for something to give their lives meaning.
Ex-military are ideal. They often find it difficult to reintegrate into civilian life, and they are also disillusioned with traditional service.
" Kalugal swirled his drink thoughtfully.
"We'd need to be careful with screening, of course, but that's not a problem given that we can get into people's heads.
If Edna is willing to help, her probe could be very beneficial as a secondary screening.
We have to be careful not to recruit anyone connected to existing power structures. "
"Or anyone who might balk when they realize they're training to fight monsters, which is what the enhanced super-soldiers are," Kian added.
Still, he liked the idea more than he was willing to admit to Kalugal. He could have the army he needed to defend the village and fight Navuh's forces much faster than he'd ever thought possible.
"Those are details we can handle as they arise," Kalugal said. "The point is, this is more feasible than waiting for William and Kaia to perfect artificial soldiers." Kalugal leaned back, studying Kian over his glass. "What do you think?"
Kian was quiet for a long moment, weighing the proposal.
It was ambitious, risky, and would require resources on a scale they'd never attempted before. It was also their best shot at creating a force capable of standing against Navuh's enhanced soldiers in a reasonable timeframe.
"Those engineers from Mechanicals Inc.," he said finally. "Do you have specific targets in mind?"
Kalugal's grin was answer enough. "I may have done some preliminary research.
Dr. Sarah Weng is their lead mechanical engineer She specializes in joint articulation and power distribution systems. Marcus Ross, software integration.
He's the one who solved the latency problem between human movement and suit response.
And Judy Torres, materials science. She developed a composite armor that's forty percent lighter than previous versions while maintaining the same protective qualities. "
"You've done your homework. "
"I've been thinking about this for a while," Kalugal admitted. "The Odu project is brilliant, but we need something we can implement now, not in five years or a decade from now."