Chapter 23 Syssi
SYSSI
Kian walked through the front door, set his phone on the kitchen counter, loosened the top button of his shirt, and stood there for a moment with his hands braced on the countertop.
Syssi waited.
He needed a moment to transition from one role to another, from the clan's leader to father and husband. Not that he ever completely embodied one without the other, but he needed to shift gears, and sometimes it wasn't easy.
"Daddy!" Allegra barreled into the kitchen at full speed and wrapped herself around his leg. "Playground!"
Kian looked down at his daughter, and his expression softened. He picked her up and kissed her cheek. "Hello, Princess."
"Playground," she repeated. If her request wasn't immediately granted, Allegra just kept repeating louder and more frequently until she got what she wanted. "Daddy, take me."
"In a minute."
"Now."
"In a minute means soon."
"No soon. Now!"
Syssi took pity on him. "How about we all go to the playground? We can take a nice, relaxing stroll through the village and enjoy the beautiful day."
Her words were directed at Kian, hinting that they could talk on the way.
Allegra considered this proposal with the seriousness it deserved, then nodded and patted Kian's cheek. "Daddy push stowler."
"I'll get it," Syssi said.
Five minutes later, they were heading down the path toward the village square, Allegra riding in the stroller that Daddy was pushing and therefore paying attention to her, which was the entire point.
The afternoon was warm, but not overly so, which it would get to be in a few weeks.
A few clan members were out strolling as well, and Kian did his duty and nodded greetings but didn't stop to chat.
Thankfully, no one got offended because they knew their leader wasn't the chatty type, and they respected his need to spend time with his family.
"The call went well," Kian said when the path cleared ahead, and there was no one who could overhear them.
"In fact, it went better than I expected.
They managed to get the phone again despite some hiccups that almost foiled their plan.
We agreed on the terms. We told them that we need them to get the chests out and deliver them to us, and in exchange, we provide sanctuary to everyone they manage to extract, all the necessary resources, and a lab. "
Syssi arched a brow. "Seriously? You are going to entrust Khiann's retrieval to these soldiers you know nothing about?"
"No, not seriously. They don't need us to escape, so we just told them that we need them to get the chests to us, so they would have to wait with their plan and not jump the gun.
We don't want them escaping and, in doing so, triggering an island-wide lockdown before we get Khiann and his companions out. "
"That was smart."
"Of course." He smiled.
"Who is included in everyone?" she asked.
"The scientists, the woman, the eight enhanced soldiers, and whoever else they bring along. Women, children, and anyone else they can get off that island safely. I made it clear that we can't help with the extraction, but whatever they pull off on their end, we'll support on ours."
"How did they take it?" she asked.
He shrugged. "As well as could be expected. They were hoping for more, but they were happy with the terms we offered."
Syssi watched a pair of Kra-ell children chasing each other across the lawn ahead of them. "There's a limit to what eight enhanced soldiers can do, no matter how powerful they are."
"There's also a limit to what we can do," Kian said. "We offered everything we realistically could. Turner can help them figure out the logistics. Once they have the communication device we are delivering to them, they can make contact any time they need us."
Syssi couldn't argue with the logic, but something in her chest tightened at the thought of those women, who didn't even know that the possibility of freedom existed and might never find out that it was denied because of logistical constraints.
And it wasn't only the Dormants and their children who needed saving.
There were even more women in the brothel, all trafficked to the island and forced into prostitution.
But then the world was full of people suffering terrible injustices, and the clan could only do so much.
"How many do you think they can actually save?"
"I have no idea. Turner thinks the practical limit is another ten, fifteen if they really push it.
They don't have a plan yet, so maybe they'll manage to surprise us and get a larger group out.
But given that we want them to believe that they are supposed to get the chests out as well, I'd be surprised if they manage even ten. "
"That's not many," Syssi said quietly.
"It's more than none." Kian sighed. "It is what it is. I made my peace with it. And it's not the end. Once we have the capability, we go back for everyone else."
Syssi nodded. "I know, but that terrifies me. What you are planning is a full-on war with the Brotherhood."
"We both agreed that it's unavoidable. If evil is left unchallenged, it keeps growing and growing until it consumes everything.
" He wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"That is why it was decided to invest in technology that will make it possible for us to take on the Brotherhood.
Regrettably, we are at least two years away from having the capabilities we need. Probably more than that."
"The humans in exoskeletons who are training in Safe Harbor?"
He nodded. "We don't have nearly enough, and they are proving harder to get than I expected."
"Humans or exoskeletons?"
"Humans. It's a slow process, and frankly, I'd rather use an army of military-grade robots than the humans in exoskeletons."
She tilted her head. "I thought the plan was to produce Odus as household helpers, gardeners, cleaners, etc. When was it decided to produce military-grade Odus?"
"Not Odus. We are too far away from being able to produce those.
But we realized that the market was ready, or almost ready to supply soldier robots, and that we didn't need to develop them from scratch ourselves, only improve on existing technology with some of what we've learned from the Odu schematics.
As I said, I'd rather have robotic casualties than human. "
Syssi closed her eyes briefly. "We are entering a new era, and I don't know if an army of robots will bring peace and prosperity or an apocalyptic bloodbath. The gods found out that using cyborgs in warfare wasn't a good idea."
"Those Odus were not designed for warfare, and converting household Odus into soldiers did not produce the desired results for the gods.
Besides, we know that the Eternal King feared that the rebels would utilize the technology against him, so he used the Odus as scapegoats and banned the technology.
The way I see it, an army of robots might be the only way to save our civilization from annihilation.
In this imperfect world, the way to guarantee peace is to be powerful enough to deter your enemies from daring to attack you.
Before, I could not see a way to do that given our minuscule numbers, but thanks to technology, it might be possible for our tiny clan to hold back the barbarian hordes all by ourselves. "
"That's a little ambitious, my love."
"It is," he admitted. "But you want me to be optimistic, and that's my way of staying hopeful."
"If that's the goal, then I'm all for it. I just hope that another solution will present itself. I'm not looking forward to an all-out war with the Brotherhood."
"Neither am I," Kian said as they rounded the corner toward the square. "But I'd rather be prepared than face annihilation or helplessly watch the subjugation of humans."
Perhaps it was time to summon a vision and see what the future entailed regarding this escape plan, as well as the potential war with the Brotherhood and their role in it. But to actually get something useful, she needed something she didn't have.
Syssi chewed on her lower lip. "On a completely different subject, I would like us to get depictions of the eight soldiers.
We have pictures of Doctor Volkov and Doctor Petrov, and I'm sure we can get a picture of the lab assistant since we have her full name.
What we are missing are those soldiers."
"What do we need them for?" Kian asked. "When they escape, I can ask Eluheed to verify that it's them."
"I just want to know what they look like. We could get Tim to draw them from Eluheed's memory."
When Kian lifted an eyebrow, Syssi knew that he wouldn't be satisfied with her vague explanation.
"I want to summon a vision about the enhanced soldiers and what role they will play in the retrieval of Khiann, the escape, and the future war with the Brotherhood.
I have a feeling that they will be important, and having their pictures may help the vision. "
Surprisingly, Kian did not raise his typical objections.
"This is actually a good idea. A lot is riding on these soldiers, and I don't know if I can trust them.
I'll speak with Tim and arrange for the portraits to be drawn as soon as possible.
" He grimaced. "Not looking forward to it, though. Tim is a pain in the ass."
The forensic artist was prickly and sarcastic but incredibly gifted.
His ability to translate verbal descriptions into accurate images bordered on the paranormal and had been honed over years of government work.
His transition to immortality hadn't improved his talent, but it hadn't dulled it either.
What had improved, though, was his personality, but just a little.
"I wish the communicator we are about to deliver to the island could transmit images, too," Kian said.
Syssi chuckled. "We don't need that. We have Tim."
"We do." Kian adjusted the stroller's sunshade as they entered the open square.
"How is Tim doing, by the way? Have you heard anything through the gossip grapevine?"
"He's doing well. He looks much better since the transition. Younger, healthier, with a full head of hair. He's still sarcastic, but not as mean as he used to be. Hildegard is a good influence even though she likes dark humor as much as he does."
"That's why they get along so well."
Tim had quit his government job and started offering his services online through video calls, and as it had turned out, he was just as good remotely as he was in person, and he was making considerably more money now.