I wish you weren’t so far away, and too physically limited to share this with me in person. Attached are my formal reports, and raw data. As you requested, I have observed without interfering. I have completed my first five years of observations. Not like telling Adaline how he felt about her. Now the military was gone, leaving the island a wildlife preserve, a paradise without people, a land of wonders.Īnd now was the time to report on those wonders. And before that, it had been blasted by atomic bomb tests. It was deserted and isolated, eight hundred miles from Hawaii, thousands from anywhere else.ĭecades before, sailors had used it to store chemicals of war: Agent Orange, mustard gas, sarin. When the time came for his first scheduled check-in, Karl beached himself on his little island.
Though he had yet to declare himself, she would realize his feelings toward her – wouldn’t she? These marvels he recorded, every report a gift to his Adaline. He had seen the bathypterid fish, their fins modified into stilts, walking the bottom like circus clowns… Acorn worms leaving beautifully coiled fecal trails, like Nazca lines on the seafloor… And the oarfish! With its head held proudly, crowned with a crest of fins, with a body so long it seemed to never end, like the cathedral train of a royal white wedding gown. With this and other disguises, Karl beheld the wonders of the deep. This was enough to fool the domino damselfish, who treated him like a floating reef. Thus, he camouflaged his teardrop-shaped body, covering his plastic panels with antler coral and crushed native limestone. He could stay under for years, patiently studying entire life cycles.īut his observations would be spoiled if his presence frightened his subjects. Unlike a human diver, he never tired or ran out of air. Indeed, earlier aquanauts thought nothing of poking shrimp to rouse them from their burrows, or spooking fish with flashing lights to get better camera angles. Observe marine life, but don’t interfere. Adaline Franzen had given him two basic commands:
Emotion octopus full#
This he would do – as everything – in full consideration of his love for Adaline.ĭr. In knowing violation of protocols, Karl squeezed a huge glob of grease onto the tip of a titanium finger. A blob might break off, allowing the water in. Only a smear of marine-grade silicone grease was necessary. This little ring, with a little grease, was all that prevented water from rushing into the sleeve, destroying everything inside.
One of his smallest but more important parts, it fit into a groove at the end of electronics sleeve III. Wrapped around Karl’s finger was a black O-ring. If a vital system failed, no one would rescue him. No poppet or sprocket would escape inspection. He was performing a major overhaul on himself for deep-seaworthiness.
Diving planes, ducted propellers, 5-way valves and 4-way cables all awaited clean-up, tear-down and re-build. Karl 3478 sprawled on the beach, partially disassembled, bits of him scattered across mats arrayed on the sand. In the Absence of Instructions to the Contrary By Frank Wu
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