Daniel is def going on that expedition 😭😭😭
Never underestimate the power of a woman.
You’re doing great OP, please keep it coming.

Contd





"That's the only way it could be explained to a natural mind and make sense", Ellinaz Ivanovo said and smiled as she took the outstretched hands of Udi Daniel.

The scientist led her towards a cane chair in a well manicured lawn. He was poised to talk her out of her understanding of existing forces that could manipulate "living machines".

"You actually think the built-in controller in Adiam might have changed the humarine to a monster?

"That's not what I meant", Ellinaz Ivanovo said as Udi Daniel bent to sit on the cane chair.

"I create monsters! That's what you imply Ellie", Udi Daniel said to rub in his point.

"I said the programs that controlled the mind of Adiam got bugs and it generated error codes that transformed Adiam", Ellinaz Ivanovo said.

"What's the difference?" Udi Daniel asked, "If you can believe in a bizarre transformation process that could have turned the humarine to a monster in the Coral Sea, why do you find it so outlandish, that invisible intelligent forces could manipulate machines?"

Ellinaz Ivanovo stood up from the cane chair and said, "It's alright for now Dan, who knows, we might have a common position", the scientist just stared at her. "Let me show you around, we can talk more about it later".

Udi Daniel rose up and followed her around the mansion. They rounded a corner and he could see an olympic-size swimming pool, a mini football field, a luscious garden, a plush lawn tennis court and a small zoo.

Ellinaz Ivanovo pointed to some adjoining structures and told him what they were meant for. She could see that the scientist was looking stressed. She turned around and they walked back to the main mansion. Ellinaz Ivanovo decided to access the eight-storey mansion with a lift.

Udi Daniel was all smiles as he saw expensive beautiful paintings and well sculptured images. He froze all of a sudden as he walked behind Ellinaz Ivanovo into the master living room on the eight floor.

"What!" The scientist expressed in shock.

"What's what?" Ellinaz Ivanovo pretended like she did not get it.

"You molded my image, and you had to make it this big?"

"Don't you know who you are?" Ellinaz Ivanovo asked with all her strength.

"Ellie, what are doing to me? Udi Daniel said in a confused state and headed to a sofa. He fell on it and started daydreaing with the book "The Great Loss", in his hand.

Contd





Udi Daniel no longer felt secured with her in her display of affection. He had thought she was only being poetic with the "You're my god" thing, but he could no more think so, It was going beyond obsession to madness.

She had clearly used one of the best artists in the world to create his image. It appeared so real like life. Was she going to be worshipping the image practically. He could feel it that something could be behind the idolization, but where it was coming from, he could not point it. He raised his face as Ellinaz Ivanovo walked into a room and slammed the door shut.

He snapped out of his daydream to reality and stood up. He moved around and saw portraits of himself and Ellinaz Ivanovo along the corridor of the floor. He saw a room with a door marked, "For my god", he pushed it open as he heard the noise of a shower.

He was dazed by what he saw in the room. A part of his brain processed everything he had seen and changed his mind about Ellinaz Ivanovo being crazy. She was in love, undiluted, intense and pure. He realized he could never so no to her for anything in the world, except recovering the stones in the Indian Ocean. He returned to sit on the sofa.

He fixed his eyes on the door to the room, where Ellinaz Ivanovo had entered, as it opened slowly. She came out ravishingly beautiful from her head to her toes. She was putting on a designer skimpy blouse and a short blue jeans. Her radiance so magnetized the scientist and Udi Daniel could not understand how he was pulled to her with an unbelievable speed.

She had removed the ribbon that packed her hair. Udi Daniel ran his hand through her blond hair, that glistened in the blue light of the living room. He restricted himself from doing what was in his mind. He was not going to rush her. As friendly as she might look, she operated with strict codes. They moved hand in hand to the center of the living room.

"Ellinaz", Udi Daniel said as he took his seat.

"You're a goddess", the scientist confessed.

"But I don't have supernatural powers".

"You don't have to get supernatural powers, to become one".

"So I'm a powerless goddess, ordinary human being".

"You call me your God right?"

"Uhooh".

"What can of supernatural power do I have,?"

"Your case is different Dan, you speak to science and get things created".

"I only bring my imaginations to reality".

"It takes a god to do that".

"Must you always win an argument", Udi Daniel asked as Ellinaz Ivanovo let go of his hand.

"I'm going to get something for us to chew", Ellinaz Ivanovo said as she walked away.

"Are you ordering?"

"Nope! By the way, do you like it here?"

"It's a palace!" Udi Daniel said as he picked the book, "The Great Loss"".

Ellinaz Ivanovo could hear him flicking the pages of the book as she prepared cookies in the kitchen. Her thoughts swung from one extremity to the other extremity over a range of things. Most crucial among them was how she could subtly soften the heart of the scientist to submission. She had found that arguing with him and rubbishing what he believed, would not bring out the results she wanted.

Damn! Daniel is whipped to the core 😂😂😂 dude literally have no option than to say yes to the extraction 😭😭
You’re doing well OP

Contd





Udi Daniel got so drawn into the book that he did not notice when Ellinaz Ivanovo dropped the tray of the dish she had prepared on the dining. She tiptoed towards the sofa and looked down at him as he concentrated on a particular page. She distorted his assimilation with a sudden loud clap, and Udi Daniel cringed, the book fell off from his hand to the floor.

Ellinaz Ivanovo could not help laughing as she flung herself on the scientist. Udi Daniel sat upright and shifted to one end of the sofa, as she stretched with her head resting his lap. Udi Daniel beamed with genuine smile; he had not loosened up this way in a long time. Ellinaz surely knew how to draw him out of himself.

"That's not funny", Udi Daniel said as he picked up the book from the floor.

"You didn't blink or turned your neck for about six minutes, I've been watching you".

"Ellinaz, I was only minding my business".

"You lied!" She said with a suspicious smile, "You weren't aware of my presence. It's like you have found something that screwed you to the book".

"You know, I love history, and I admit that, it's a catching and well detailed piece of history".

Ellinaz Ivanovo smiled broadly at Udi Daniel, showing her snow-white set of teeth with a middle gap. She fancied the inventor was feeling the same vibe with her. She had waited for this moment to come.

"Do you really think such quantity of precious stones are somewhere in the Indian Ocean?" Ellinaz Ivanovo asked the scientist, faking a casual interest.

"The history seemed too authentic to be flawed. The book contains maps and references, and it's even a revised edition, implying that the story is being constantly updated".

Ellinaz Ivanovo could not wait, she took her shot, "Are there any chances that the stones could be recovered, if NextTech deployed its humarines?"

"See, Ellinaz, the situation here is different from that of the Coral Sea. The Lost Ship went down into the Indian Ocean more than four centuries ago, the ship must have been covered with sediments or decayed under the water, over the years".

"What are the chances?" Ellinaz Ivanovo reinterated her concern.

"It's indeterminate", Udi Daniel responded looking away from her.

"If the body of the ship had decayed, the precious stones would still be down there, wasting and waiting to be recovered", Ellinaz Ivanovo said as she used her right hand to turn the face of the scientist towards her.

Udi Daniel responded as he got up from the sofa,
"Ellie, we have only discussed a hypothetical situation, I've not said NextTech will handle it".

"What would NextTech lose if the machines were deployed?"

"Ellinaz, I don't want us to go back and forth.The situation remained fluid, anything can happen".

"I don't know what you mean", Ellinaz Ivanovo stood up to look directly into his eyes.

"You know what I have just been through, I need sometime to gather myself and to think through the proposal to recover the stones, Udi Daniel said with pleading eyes.

Ellinaz Ivanovo nodded her head slightly up and down to show understanding and said, 'You definitely need rest, much rest, but do this for me and I will never demand anything like this from you again".

"It involves more, Ellinaz".

"You're the greatest scientist throughout history, to this moment, that has ever lived, you're not my god for nothing. There's nothing you can't create. You're Ogidi Udi Daniel, you came into this world to summarize science".

"Who are you?" Udi Daniel asked Ellinaz Ivanovo obviously dumbfounded.

"I'm who you know, did I scare you?"

"Is it actually you that's talking, Ellinaz, or is someone talking through you".

"I'm Ellinaz Ivanovo, it's a pity that you have no idea of the stuff you're made of".

"Really? Do you know all of me?"

You're transparent to me, and I can see through you, into your past and future".

"Ellie, tell me truth right now? Do you have contacts with any supernatural force or forces?"

"I'm only a goddess with no power".

"It had better be so".

"Now, prove your love for me. Prove to me that you're the creator of minds, one more time, and it will be all over", Ellinaz Ivanovo said as she flew to touch the lips of Udi Daniel with her's.

The scientist took three steps backwards to be sure it was her, the manner she had spoken reminded him of the angel that had guarded him from the Big Bird to the Pacific Ocean, to Papua New Guinea and back to Australia. He could see it was Ellinaz Ivanovo, only that her skimpy designer blouse now exposed more of her flat belly, causing her curved burgeoning hip to be irresistibly inviting.

All of a sudden, the magnetism smashed them together and Udi Daniel could feel her tongue probing him. He felt the electricity burning his body and he desired more. He pulled her more to press against his chest as he felt very hard "two pieces stone", and suddenly, Ellinaz Ivanovo disconnected from him.

Contd






'Ellinaz, why?", Udi Daniel directed at her as she walked away to an executive leather chair, near a fancy glass table.

"What did I do?"

"You know what you're doing to me, you set me up on high, and you leave me crashing to the rocks".

"I desired it more than you ever wanted it".

"Then why did you stop?"

"I still have my pride, Daniel".

"Who says you don't", Udi Daniel asked as he walked towards her, "Now tell me, what's the pride?"

"I need you to marry me!"

"Only that?" Udi Daniel asked as if it's a child's play.
"Yeah, just that", Ellinaz Ivanovo responded as she grabbed a mini laptop on the glass table.

"I'm going to take you any where around the world, just to marry you! Even if you like it out of this world, I would get a space vehicle from SpaetriX, and take you to space".

"You promise?" Ellinaz Ivanovo asked with a girlish mien.

"Anywhere, just name it".

"Alright, I like it in Indonesia, specifically in Northern Sumatra, after everything".

Udi Daniel took a seat beside her and said into her ear, "Now, I know where this is going, why you torture me with your love".

"It's not what you're thinking".

"Ellinaz, you said earlier that I should prove my love to you by accepting the proposal to recover the precious stones in the Indian Ocean. It's too bad that you think of love this way".

'I''m not playing with your emotion to embark on the recovery mission in the Indian Ocean. We confessed our love for each other before you had left for the recovery operation in the Coral Sea".

"But that's what you're doing right now, you're weaponizing love".

"It's not true", Ellinaz Ivanovo said as she moved with the mini laptop, to seat on the handle of the chair Udi Daniel sat on. "Dan, I want to show you one of the strongest reasons, why I continued to think that even if it's a risk, it's worth it. It's why I have used any means to get you drawn into it, I wouldn't lie to you my god!'

"Ok Ellie, spill it".

Ellinaz Ivanovo passed the computer to the scientist and he saw the lists of the recent amount in dollars per carat of the various precious stones in the official market. His jaw dropped as he scrolled down the computer.

"There are one hundred and twenty of the boxes full of the stones in the Lost Ship", Ellinaz Ivanovio said to make it sink more into him as she saw his eyes dilating.

"I know so", Udi Daniel responded, "This is why you have gone mad".

"If you the calculation, only ten of the boxes of blue diamonds, would make nextTech richer than China, the United States and the whole of UK put together. Will we rule rule the world!"

Udi Daniel looked away from the computer for some minutes and stared at the screen again. He did not respond to Ellinaz Ivanovo as she looked at him in the face, expecting him to say something. He dropped the computer and walked to sit in the dining, and began to mulch away the cookies in silence.

Ellinaz did not push him, she knew that a chord had been struck in the mind of the scientist. Udi Daniel thought hard on the things she had said in the dining. Ellinaz Ivanovo got up and joined him with the palmtopr. She took the seat directly opposite him.

Ellinaz Ivanovo had said things that Udi Daniel considered very strong. She had no doubt about his skills,, but when she had asked him to prove himself to her, with this one, he taken it as not a direct challenge. She had craftily tied her marriage to the operation in the Indian Ocean. Udi Daniel was going to take another bar of cake, when the palmtop beeped. Ellinaz Ivanovo checked it and found that a new mail had come in. It came from Ali Garabed. He would be coming to iWashington DC the next day. Ellinaz Ivanovo read the mail to Udi Daniel as he continued mulching.

"It's alright, update me tomorrow after your meeting with him", Udi Daniel said as she finished reading the mail.

"Should I take it that you're in soul and spirit?" Ellinaz Ivanovo asked smiling broadly and conquishly.

"First thing first", Udi Daniel said with no emotion.

Ellinaz Ivanovo walked around the dining table and grabbed him by the neck and hooked his lips with her's with fervor. She pulled him up to his feet and led him away.

Daniel is getting weaker and weaker by the day. That's a poor resolve from a man who called himself one of the greatest scientist to ever lived. But what do I know, what a desperate woman wants, she gets. But I expect Daniel to see through this ruse of a marriage thingy with Ellinaz tho, she is weaponizing her love for him which is not supposed to be so.
You're doing so great OP, please keep it coming 🤝🫂

@YoungBruzzy, I agree with you on the sleeky tricks of Ellinaz. She's pulling down all the defence of the scientist, killing him softly from both ends. I'm not sure I could even stand up to her, so smart and crazy. But then, Udi Daniel must choose the future he wants to see. He can't forget his past experiences so quickly.

Ttidal7:
@YoungBruzzy, I agree with you on the sleeky tricks of Ellinaz. She's pulling down all the defence of the scientist, killing him softly from both ends. I'm not sure I could even stand up to her, so smart and crazy. But then, Udi Daniel must choose the future he wants to see. He can't forget his past experiences so quickly.

Every signs is pointing towards that but I guess if Daniel did not fall in that abysmal love, the story will not have its perfect ending
You’re doing well boss

Chapter Thirteen





Udi Daniel sat on the edge of his bed in the morning, as Ellinaz Ivanovo perked him on his chin before she hurried out for a board meeting in NextTech, in expectation of Ali Garabed. Udi Daniel seemed to have been conquered by her smooth operation. At times, it appeared as if she had cast a spell on the scientist.

Udi Daniel reflected on some of the things she had said to him the previous day. How could she say, she could see through him into his past and future, and yet claimed she had no supernatural power or had no contacts with some forces. How could she have known he had come into the world, to summarize science and of him being the greatest scientist throughout history, that ever lived.

He had earlier thought she had only said the things she had said to massage his ego, to take up the challenge, but the more he dwelled on it, he felt she might be under some influence, without her knowledge, like the devil had used the serpent to talk to Eve, in the Garden of Eden, according to the christian Bible. He would never want to be the greatest scientist that had even lived, or being the one that would summarize science.

If NextTech would eventually accept the proposal of Ali Garabed, the humarines would need to be modified, to execute the recovery mission in the Indian Ocean. Udi Daniel was poised to not leave anything to chance, that would give room for some angel to bring him messages from an unknown world.

He continued to hope that the angel would appear to him and tell him he was now free from the powerful invisible forces that had held him ransom between Papua New Guinea and Australia. He felt he could work on his Machine Mind Technology, to make it impossible, for any external force to manipulate the minds of his machines. He was not so sure, jike creating perfect machines, incapable of "Commiting Sins". He got up from the bed and prepared to leave for his Neuron Laboratory in NextTech.

Ellinaz Ivanovo received a message in her phone from Udi Daniel as she took charge of the board meeting in the conference room of NextTech, on the 23rd administrative floor. The production of the excavants was ever increasing and warehouses were ever expanding, to meet the demands across the world.

She looked at her wristwatch, as the meeting was stretching beyond schedule, in expectation of Ali Garabed. Th e business magnate had notified her that he was already in the United States and would be at NextTech in thirty minutes time.

Ali Garabed at last arrived NextTech and was ushered in to meet Ellinaz Ivanovo. The office was spacious and decorated with expensive paintings of great scientists from time. Ali Garabed walked in with a briefcase and Ellinaz Ivanovo stood up to meet him in the middle of the office. They hugged and shook hands warmly before she led the way to a corner that housed her office bar, with pouch seats.

"Lovely office set up", Ali Garabed commented as they settled down nicely.

"Thank you ", Ellinaz Ivanovo responded.

"NextTech was so easy to locate", Ali Garabed as Ellinaz Ivanovo stood up walked towards the bar.

"How you like it", she said pointing to a cabinet full of different kinds of wine bottles.

"Anything red with strong spirit", Ali Garabed responded.

Ellinaz Ivanovo returned with two glasses and shared the wine with him. Ali Garabed's mind had never rested since he had bumped into NextTech in Canberra. He could not wait to get things signed off. He bypassed all official formalities and went for the kill after emptying his glass of wine.

"So, what's the deal? Ali Garabed asked with a business tone, "Have you discussed with him?"

Ellinaz Ivanovo kind of liked his direct approach to business as she replied, "NextTech is ready to ride, with the right terms and condition",

"Bring it on?” Ali Garabed said confidently.

"There's only one way nextTech would be involved", Ellinaz Ivanovo said as she looked at the framed photograph of her god on the wall.

Ali Garabed was going to ask her to name the price, when Ellinaz Ivanovo stunned him.

"NextTech would take half of the stones, as its cost for the operation".

Ali Garabed could not conceal his facial expression. He was completely taken aback. He hated the young lady all of a sudden. He wished he had other options. He thought hard and long on it, before he responded. He realized that the sooner this was over, the better for him, he was losing his mind. The thought of the stones in the Lost Ship, had continued to occupy him and it was affecting his health.

"It would be foolhardy to say no for the sharing formula of a treasure, that has not been found", Ali Garabed said thoughtfully.

"I take it that you've accepted the terms", Ellinaz Ivanovo said it, with panache.

Ellinaz is more dangerous than I thought. What! Half the stones and I’m sure Daniel is not in on that sharing formula yet.
Her greediness will lead NexTech into a serious trouble
You’re doing well OP
Thank God, Nairaland is up and running again

Contd






"Let's get past the first hurdle young lady", Ali Garabed said, trying hard to conceal his temper.

"nextTech isn't operated like that. We aim once and shoot".

"Getting half of the stones, is outrageous for the cost of operation".

"In that case, NextTech has pulled out".

Ali Garabed noticed a change in her countenance as he asked, "How soon could NextTech start the recovery operation, assuming we have reached a deal?

"A mail to notify you of the time, would be sent to you about it".

"I wouldn't mind splitting the stones equally, if NextTech, could do it in the shortest possible time", Ali Garabed responded with other ideas in his mind.

Ellinaz Ivanovo gestured to him to follow her as she walked out of her office. They headed to NextTech Legal Department in the tenth floor, where the contract terms and condition were drafted. Ali Garabed had not met a business negotiator so mean. She proved to be very smart, but she had no idea that she was dealing with one the most tricky billionaire businessman, in the world.

Ali Garabed signed the dotted lines and left the Legal Department alone. He felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulder. He traveled to England from the United States to await the mail that would set off the operation.

Ellinaz Ivanovo had practically bamboozled him to align with the agreement. She left the Legal Department and went straight to meet Udi Daniel in his Neuron Lab, on the ground floor.

The scientist was sweating out with networks of life neurons, systematically linked and compressed into capsules. He realized that it would take him at least three years, to fully understand the decision signals, message signals, processing signals and modification signals of the different networks, to create the mind of the super intelligent machines and the nature-based operating system that they would run on, not mentioning having the mastery of the mathematical and biological functions, and modelling of each of the layers..

He continued the documentation of different output and input signal strength, for each of the various Natural Neural Network, NNN, and tagging the results of trained processes and functions, for each of the networks, when Ellinaz Ivanovo pushed open the door to the lab.

He did not look up from his workbench even as Ellinaz Ivanovo get around. She stood up there for close to three minutes before Udi Daniel said, "I hope this day is good". Ellinaz Ivanovo saw new drawings and devices connected to pins that were attached to different capsules. She was a regular visitor to the laboratory but she had not seen this kind of set up. She had always seen neural chips connected to devices and not capsules.

"I presume you're working on something new, I haven't seen this before", she said waving her right hand over the workbench.

Udi Daniel responded, "It's been around, even before we developed the excavants".

"What are you doing right now?"

"I'm testing and recording the functionalities of various Natural Neural Network".

"Aren't you overworking yourself?" She asked in almost a whisper as she moved around the workbench closely, to observe the work of the scientist.

UdI Daniel pointed to his drawing and said, "I'd need to implement that before I rest".

"What's in the drawing?” Ellinaz Ivanovo asked as she raised the cardboard to level with her eyes.

"It's a nature based computer with components of live Neuron Networks".

"Why are you doing this now? You need rest. I beg you to narrow your targets".

"This is very important, especially now".

"How do you mean it?"

"Artificial Intelligence (AI) isn't good enough to fix many problems. Natural Intelligence (NI), is the way to go. NextTech will in the near future deploy the technology that would replace all systems built with artificial intelligence".

"Why now?"

"NextTech needs it now".

Ellinaz Ivanovo cast her eyes on him the way she usually would do, when he talked about impossible things. She had doubted him in the past, but he had always proven her wrong, times without number, and now she doubted him again.

"Can you really pull this off?" Ellinaz Ivanovo asked as she placed her left hand on his shoulder.

"I like the challenge ", Udi Daniel replied and added "I've made progress on it already, and I'm sure that the first set of processing network, of the naturally intelligent system, would be ready under one year".

Ellinaz Ivanovo drew a chair to sit on and she opened a folder to bring out the contract that Ali Garabed had signed. Udi Daniel collected the sheet of paper to glance through as Ellinaz Ivanovo looked at the work of the scientist intently.

"Ali Garabed wants to know when NextTech would hit the ground running, for the operation", she said as Udi Daniel kept the sheet of paper on the workbench.

"As soon as the first natural intelligent system is rolled out", Udi Daniel replied.

Ellinaz Ivanovo looked lost as she gaped at him, "How do you mean? She pretended as if she did not understand him the first time.

"I know you won't understand, but it's a cautious move to avoid unforeseen problems that might befall us after the operation in Indonesia", Udi Daniel reasoned.

Ellinaz Ivanovo stood up at once and said, "I hope this isn't about the monster thing. We've agreed to let sleeping dogs lie. "By the way, how soon would the first creature with natural intelligence come out?"

"In the next two to three years...”

"Ali Garabed can't wait for that long",

"In that case, tell him to look elsewhere".

Daniel need to steer clear off this babe. She is too greedy gosh
You’re doing well OP

I can't call Ellinaz greedy for being so smart, it's business.
Lawyers do the worst when they know that their clients have a good case, but can't afford legal bills.

They get you to sign 50/50 deal or more, if the case is finally decided in your favor. The world of smart people.

Ttidal7:

I can't call Ellinaz greedy for being so smart, it's business.
Lawyers do the worst when they know that their clients have a good case, but can't afford legal bills.

They get you to sign 50/50 deal or more, if the case is finally decided in your favor. The world of smart people.

Well, that's for those who are in the law profession but come on, we are talking about deep-sea excavation here, she is just too greedy for my liking. She was even weaponizing love so that Daniel can agree to the exploration. In just hope things turn out well this time

Contd





"Dan, you're not doing this only for Ali Garabed, you're doing it for me, for NextTech, for us".

"That's why I have said Dynabiz must look elsewhere, I need to make sure there won't be any fallout after the operation".

"What fallout?"

"Have you forgotten the hell that broke loose in Brisbane?"

"This operation is happening in Indonesia, not Australia, Dan".

"I'm afraid we would never have a meeting point on this one, it's my way or no other".

"Why do you like a sloshing liquid? One minute you are here, and the next minute you're there?"

"Ellinaz! I never promised you anything. I cannot smell doom, and encourage the only thing that makes me happy in the world, to gamble with uncertainty".

"And what's that?"

"You of course, you're the only source of light in my life, if you go off for one second, I would die".

"Dan, nothing will happen to you, forget what happened in Australia, move on!'

"I can never move on, the experience is permanently engraved in my conscienceless"..

"Ali Garabed has signed the contract, and it's now binding on NextTech. We could be sued".

"It's you that hurried it, you didn't consult me before you signed the execution timeline".

"I'm going to say this one time, if Ali Garabed eventually recovered the treasures in the Indian Ocean, through another means,..."

Udi Daniel stood up and pulled Ellinaz Ivanovo up, and said, "The sky would not turn red!".

"You don't love me one bit", Ellinaz Ivanovo said as she turned around to leave the Neuron Lab.

"Is this really just about the stones?" Udi Daniel asked as she stormed away.

Udi Daniel tried to stop her to reason with her, but she would not turn back. She was the face of NextTech. The scientist could not place his hand on what was pushing her. NextTech was not going bankrupt and needed to desperately to stay afloat.
The sales of the excavants brought billions of dollars annually, and so he continued to wonder why Ellinaz Ivanovo wanted the operation to take place within the shortest possible time. He could not get why she had been so wired up about the whole thing.

He lost concentration in his laboratory and stopped working, to think of how to walk around the fragile fluid situation. He had dragged on the time, for the angel to show up in his dreams but she was not coming. He got up and began clearing his workbench to go home. He recalled how they met, and the sacrifices that she had made for him to get this far.

Udi Daniel got home and saw Ellinaz Ivanovo packing some of her belonguing into a large rolling box. He spoke to her and she nodded her head in response. He walked into his bathroom to freshen up. He returned to the living room, and fell deep asleep on a sofa, into the night.

He woke up early in the morning to a shocker, Ellinaz Ivanovo had dropped her resignarion letter beside him.

Contd






A part of the letter read thus; "It's true Dan, that we can never meet at a common point. I'm a very ambitious person and I'm not afraid of taking risk, that's why I could prevail on you to establish NextTech, even when you did not believe in your potentials".

'Dan, it's so sad that the only man I have fallen in love with, whom I worship, is a gulf away from me, in terms of visionary demonstration of spotting opportunities. I'm going to continue to see you as the greatest scientist that has ever lived. Working with you since the fledgling days of NextTech, made me know that imagiinations are close to realities, if you passed through Ogidi Udi Daniel".

"By the time you're reading this letter, I'm back home. I've officially resigned from every involvement. I'm going to spend a few days with myself alone, and I would know where my passion leads. Thank you for all the breathtaking experience".

Udi Daniel's hands shook as he read the last page of the letter. He suddenly looked like a balloon that had been deflated. He knew she was not bluffing, anything she set her mind to, she doggedly finished it. He rushed to her room and found everything that belonged to her missing, except some of her documents strewn on the floor. Udi Daniel returned to the living room, he felt loneliness flushing through him in the last floor of the palatial mansion.

He remembered Ellinaz Ivanovo saying he did not love her one bit and he had known that she was only playing antics A voice within him, kept ringing in his mind, "Prove your love to her and she would light up your dejection". He felt life disappearing from him as he thought of risking the mission. He recalled he had told her, that the only way he would consider the Lost Ship project, must be his way.

The scientist was bombarded with calls and emails towards the evening from NextTech, most of the emails and phone calls, were from Managing Directors and Project Directors, that needed approval from Ellinaz Ivanovo. He tapped the emails open and found that half of the emails had come from NextTech factories around the world. He could not handle it, he could never run NextTech, nobody could operate NextTech like Ellinaz Ivanovo.

Udi Daniel floundered towards the glass table and took a chair. He felt his brain shifting in his skull, as he searched his head on how to beat the imbroglio. He got lost in his mind, by the time, he got out, he was mentally stressed and torn apart. He relived being trapped between the deep blue sea and the demon, from Papua New Guinea to Australia, and he caught cold.

Confused, not knowing what to do, he picked up his mobile phone and dialed Ellinaz Ivanovo. She did not pick up. He tried again, nine times, but she would not answer. The scientist fell to his knees and collapsed to the floor, and slept off.

Good riddance to ad rubbish
She can go for all I care. Ellinaz is too desperate in my own view. She can’t even wait to reach a compromise with Daniel before sealing the contract with Garrabed
You’re doing well OP

Nobody is helping anybody for helping sake.
They are just helping you to reciprocate it when the need arises.

Kudos op

Contd





Udi Daniel was woken up by the hourly alarm, of a grandfather's wall clock. His mental state appeared sharpened as he grabbed the hand of a chair, and pulled himself up from the floor. It did not take him long to reconnect to the challenge at hand.

A fresh dimension to the impasse that he had been having with Ellinaz Ivanovo, popped into his head without thinking. He realized that the situation could have been handled smoothly without breaking a sweat. He must have been thinking too much, to win a day's old, baby's game. He was Ogidi Udi Daniel! He cheered up as the solution in his head ripened. He walked back to the sofa and reread Ellinaz Ivanovo's resignation letter, and he stretched his hand to pick his phone. He sat upright and began to type a message to her.

"I've seen and read your resignation letter, and it's not accepted. You're the very embodiment of what NextTech is, there's no other place for you to run to. I'm your god, the god of science, and you're my existence. I've stopped "breathing" since I saw your letter, if you don't hurry up and attend to the issues right now in your office, I'm not sure of life".

. "You asked me to prove my love to you, by searching for some stones that had been under the Indian Ocean for over four hundred years ago, which I imagined must have been burried by layers of sediments, if that's what love is, it calls for redefinition.

"I wouldn't comment on your understanding of risk taking and pitching of business opportunities. All I can say now, is that, I've finally given in, to the time frame in Ali Garabed's contract. I'm heading to NextTech's Artificial Intelligence Unit, of my Digital Laboratory, to brainstorm, and I'm going to take the risk for you, to prove my love. If you have any respect for me, you should be at your duty post right now!"

Udi Daniel drove an old Mercedes Beatle that had since gone out of production, zig-zagi, nto NextTech and did the unusual. He walked straight from the parking lot towards the AIU, without signing in. It was considered a very serious offence in the company. The employees on the ground floor could only assume, that he was under the influence of alcohol or something.

The scientist/inventor broke his own rules. They watched him as he struggled to fish his keys from his pocket to open the door to the unit. He got the right key and he grappled again to slot it into the keyhole. His hands remained unsteady as he positioned the key. At this point, he recalled that the access code lock, could still be used. He raised his head and managed tap the right combination.

The door made a grumbling sound and split open.
He had driven out of his mansion with a calm spirit, in the revelation that handling Ellinaz Ivanovo's excesses would no longer be a difficult thing. The Mercedes Beatle, was only about fifty meters away from NextTech, when he had begun to feel his hands and legs jerking. Ellinaz Ivanovo'might be right about him, to undergo another medical investigation. He hated the thought of it. It would afford her the correctness, to rub everything in, should the doctors discover anything.

He settled nicely in his Digital Laboratory, but he was not about to go digging out anything yet. He could feel himself relaxing, his hands and legs were gradually becoming steady and he opened a packet of biscuit and solid milk.

This update is too short 😭😭
Anyways, you are still one of the best out there, ngl
Please keep it coming

Contd






He felt so much better after he had eaten the junk food. He tried to compare his latest experience to what had happened to him, in the Landmarks Hotels in Brisbane, when he could not raise either of his hands to tap the Enter key, to grind the monster.

He could not believe that the strange forces, that had caught him and made the Big Bird, to crash into the Pacific Ocean, were still manipulating him in the United States, and he took it to be most likely a medical condition, but Ellinaz Ivanovo must not know.

He moved to a computer with a very big screen, and pushed the power button, before he drew a chair. For the first time, he tried to switch his brain to connect with the Indian Ocean, but the links in his imaginary lines, were not aligning. He persistently put his head under strain, but nothing was forming. He was not going to see it as one bad day in the office. He got up and made straight to remove a detailed geographical map on the wall, and returned to the computer that was now up and running.

He traced all bodies of waters to as far as tributaries of the Indian Ocean, around the Nias Island and he opened the book, "The Great Loss". He opened to a particular page in the book that briefly discussed the area of the Indian Ocean, where the ship had belted before the monsoon had kicked in, and the anchor chain had snapped.

He translated the geography of the map on the Nias Island, and found out that the book was incredibly correct, about the Lost Ship's, likely position in the ocean, given the direction the monsoon had blown towards, at the historical time. He needed to establish that.

He took another approach to piece together his imaginary links, to travel into the Indian Ocean. He counted seven to zero and he shut his eyes very tight. It worked! He could see all sorts of unnatural
and unnamed creatures, towards the center of the ocean. He moved down perpendicularly at some point, as he hoped to reach the floor of the ocean, but there was no sign that the ocean had a bed.

Suddenly, he returned to NextTech, gasping for breath, as if his nostrils had been deprived of oxygen. He sucked in the air around him greedily to inflate his lungs and balance atmospheric pressure.

He weakly but surely came back to life. He punched two keys at once and the computer displayed a simulation software. He drew his seat closer as he hit a button to clear the work space on the screen. He opened the book to the last page that contained certain estimated parameters of the Indian Ocean, around the Nias Island, and he began to create the ocean.

He wrapped off the simulation and opened a 3-D design application, to make a sketch of the type of machines, that could withstand the roughness and depth of the Indian Ocean. He thought of modifying the humarines, but it would involve a lot of changes. He looked at his wristwatch as his eyes were getting very heavy, time was approaching midnight. He shut everything down and rested his head on a table and dozed off.

Beloved readers, you're all welcome to another year in the making, as our planet is a few hours away from completing a revolution, having us as passengers!

Contd






The scientist woke up in the morning of the next day in the lab, as he heard the first cockcrow. He glanced at the wall clock as he got up and strolled to towards the backdoor. He used the code lock security system, mounted on the door, to gain access to the corridor that connected to the bungalow he used to live in, before Ellinaz Ivanovo had acquired the mansion for him.

He replayed in his head, the problem he was trying to fix the previous day in the lab, and vague ideas took shape in his head.

He got very close to the bungalow and could see lights in the rooms. He wondered who was now living there without his permission. He knew only Ellinaz Ivanovo was capable of pulling strings, without his knowledge. As he walked around to take the staircase, the solution to implement on the humarines, to be able to recover the Lost Ship in the Indian Ocean, flashed across his eyes.

He ran up the stairs and pushed open the door to the most spacious room, that opened to the outside. He found Rogi, Godia, Zodiaz and Illiax and four digger ants inside. He had come to the bungalow only to have his bath and go back to his Digital Laboratory, to rack his brain, and spinout the quickest and less stressful solution. He knew for sure that it had to be Ellinax Ivanovo that had
authorized that the machines be transferred here
.
The machines were supposed to be in the NextTech gallery or showroom or better still, in the AIU warehouse. Udi Daniel tried to interpret the intention behind this move of Ellinaz Ivanovo. What was she going to do with the machines? He did not want to draw any conclusion in his head at the moment, but he felt Ellinaz Ivanovo had moved out of his mansion with the machines.

He hurriedly walked into one of the rooms near the bathroom and undressed himself. His demeanor brightened as the shower rained over his. He had been so used to.cracking up brain rupturing challenges, that problems, he would considered kindergarten, were becoming hurdles. He came out of the bathroom and slipped into his trousers and shirt. As he was about to thrust his feet, a message dropped in mobile phone. It was Ellinaz Ivanovo telling him she had returned to her post in NextTech.

The scientist ran down the staircase and typed a message to two of his favorite technicians and metal material engineers, in the NextTech factory, in DC. He thought about Ellinaz Ivanovo as he walked into the Digital Laboratory. He resolved he would not confront her over the machines he had stumbled into in his bungalow. He could not wait to get the machines reworked, to meet the standard for the mission into the Indian Ocean, and cure her madness.

He pushed the power buttons of four computers, set up in a local area network, and strengthened up to open a packet of crackers biscuit. He rolled on his chair to the computer with the biggest screen, as he stuffed biscuits into his mouth. He remained still for five minutes staring at the ceiling, and before he logged into a computer in the local network. He pulled out the flow chart of the "Decision-Making System" of his MMT, machine mind technology. He broke out a flow and designed a new function and reconnected it to the main flow.

He modified certain files in the other systems and merged them. He then transferred the aggregated file to the mind program of Rogi. He executed a function in Rogi and could see that the humarine was responding perfectly to the training, as modified. He carried out the same modification procedure on a digger ant, and the outcome was flawless.

He had been so deep into the recreation of his machines, that he completely disconnected from time. By the time he managed to look away from his computer screen, the day was almost spent. The scientist could not believe his eyes. He felt the atmosphere was playing a fast one on him. He was poised to finish all the mind-related softwares of the changes, he needed to build into the machines. He would have loved to go all-night to seal up the modifications, but he could feel his body protesting, he needed to rest.

Contd





He woke up very late in the morning of the next day, and he bemoaned the reckless way he had squandered productive time. It was few hours to mid day. He would never realize that he could not cheat nature, and leave without cost, whenever he was on a time-bound project. Straightaway, he pushed the power buttons of the computers in the LAN, as the blazing sun announced its presence in the sky. He rolled on the chair to the computer with the big screen, and initialized his brain.

He recollected where he had paused the process last midnight and logged into the computer leftmost to him and pulled up a loading executable file for MMS, machine mind systems and he updated all the four humarines and four of the digger ants. He performed a local test on each and all of the machines, and nodded his head in satisfaction. He switched his head to the next task, the last thing to be implemented on the hybrid machines he was creating.

He could feel the climax of the project coming in the air as he cleared a workspace on the computer screen, in high spirit, to design and implement "Switching Functions" of the hybrids, and connect it to the 'Decision-Making Systems" of the machines, but he got stuck.

He cracked his head open tiil he made progress past the point, only to get stuck again. He had foreseen this roadblock before he had begun the process. He was not sure now if building the hybrid from scratch, would have taken so long a time. He checked his wristwatch and he made a decision. He could end up spending the whole day only trying to get past training switching functions, in the hybrids.

He clicked open the email sent to him by the metal material engineers and he forwarded the content to the technicians to rework the frontal arms of the new machines. He needed to get the hybrids ready to be able to raise the Lost Ship against the pressure in the Indian Ocean. He directed the technicians to his bungalow to bring the humarines and ants to the AIU warehouse, to implement the modified aspect of the machines.

He returned to fix the interchange of systems functions of the hybrids, and this time, all the knots losen up easily and linked seamlessly. The scientist was learning new things about the way his brain could crack soft and hard nuts. He was going to send the first training signal to the functions interchange switch, between a humarine and an artificial ant, when a new email dropped. The technicians were already effecting the hardware changes on the machines.

He got up in the early evening, and was going to his bungalow when his mobile phone went off. He looked at the screen and found Ellinaz Ivanovo at the other end. He had wanted to ignore her picked up on a second thought.

"Hello Dan", Ellinaz Ivanovo said with a worried voice.

"Where're you now?"

"I'm back at your palace".

"Your project would be done in two days time".

"I'm so sorry Dan".

"You didn't offend me".

"Please come home".

"I can't now, I need to do this".

"I've been lonely".

"It's how you wanted it Ellinaz, I have to go now".

She was going to say something when Udi Daniel cut the call. As he resumed his motion towards the bungalow, he reflected again on some of the statements Ellinaz Ivanovo had made about him, and he felt he had enough of her already, to know that she was not purely acting on her own impulse. He placed the piece of thought on hold, as he undressed himself to enter the bathroom.

He would never think of letting her go, to permanently disconnect from the powerful forces he could never conquer. He was condemned to death by love, but he had escape plans.

Contd





The following day, the two technicians transferred the hybrids to the Digital Laboratory, for Udi Daniel to perform some tests on the arms and joints of the new machines.

He keenly watched as the technicians hinged each of the hybrids on well spaced hangers, in the far right of the lab. He liked the finishing and the shaping of the body of the machines. Without thinking, he named them - EXHUMARINES. But he called them individually by the names of the humarines. He gave thumbs up sign to the men and they climbed down.

The scientist moved to the computer with the big screen and opened the soft-machines representing each of the exhumarines in the computer. He began to conduct all the tests on the hybrids. The way he laughed and smiled as he looked up to where the machines responded to keys on his computer, already told the technicians, that they had done a good job. Finally, he asked them to bring down the hybrids and packed them at a corner in the lab. He waved them goodbye as he pulled out the simulated Indian Ocean in his computer.

No sooner had the technicians had gotte, than the scientist heard a soft familiar footstep, coming through the backdoor of the lab. He already knew it was her. She walked all the way, intentionally stamping her feet on the floor for attention. Udi Daniel did not look back even as she drew near. She stood right behind him with a flask in her hand for about ten minutes, before the scientist made a comment, with his face rivetted to the computer screen.

"Am I safe here, Ellinaz?" Udi Daniel said from the corner of his mouth.

"I didn't come with a gun", she replied him as she tried to figure out what he was doing.

"Have you cleared the logs?"

"Yes my lord".

"Ellinaz, when did you start calling me your lord?'

"My god, or my lord, which one is easier to say, Dan?"

"I don't know, I didn't just like that title".

"I'd stop calling you that, my lord".

"Ellie, you know what you're doing. I don't need any distraction here".

"I didn't distract you, you that started the conversation".

She watched the computer screen as Udi Daniel hit the keys with the force and speed she considered unnecessary. She could feel that the scientist was smouldering in anger. She knew she had really pushed him almost beyond breaking point. She used her eyes to trace his body down to his feet, and she could see that he had dropped tons of weight. He appeared very burntout as well and she felt genuine pity for the man that made her to dream of impossible things. She did not know how to win his heart back, and make him not to feel, that the only reason he mattered in her life, was him recovering the precious stones from the Indian Ocean. She looked at her right hand side and saw empty packets of all kinds of biscuits on the floor. Her mouth opened and she said the words she did not want to say.

"Why did you stop taking care of yourself?" Ellinaz Ivanovo covered her mouth as the words came out.

'What did you just say?" Udi Daniel asked and looked away from the computer screen for the first time.

"It's a slip, Dan, I actually wanted to say I brought food for you".

"Thank you Ellinaz".

She was relieved by his reaction and her spirit warmed up, knowing she was the reason the scientist had sacrificed so much. It was the third running and Udi Daniel could see had made tremendous progress.

Ellinaz Ivanovo walked to a corner and lifted a plastic table near the scientist and opened the flask she brought to the lab. She dipped her hand and took three plates and placed them on the table. She began filling the plates.

Udi Daniel needed to settle the mini soldiers complaining in his stomach. The aroma from the food was bringing so much distraction and he turned his head to the table and began to attack the food. She had prepared his favorite and she smiled down at him as he took down everything..

Contd





As he grabbed a glass of juice to wash down his throat, Ellinaz Ivanovo opened her hand bag and removed a comb. She stood behind Udi Daniel before he could his neck to the computer screen. She held his head with her left hand and pulled it to her chest and used her other hand to comb his hair. He did not resist it. Her feel, and the touch of her hand on his hair, sent chilling waves, that seemed to relax the tension in his head.

Ellinaz Ivanovo could feel his muscles coming to rest. Udi Daniel sharply remembered something that he had forgotten to connect and he turned his head leftwards, but Ellinaz Ivanovo held his head still.

"Ellinaz, I must do something now!"

"Take a break!" She said with a strong voice and began to rub his ears with her fingers.

"I don't want it to skip me again", Udi Daniel said, "I really need to do this".

"I barely recognized you, when I got very close".

"What do you expect?'

"Slow it down now, I've come back to you".

"No! Let's get it out of the way, and lead our normal lives".

"It's ok, you said just a connection", Ellinaz Ivanovo reminded the scientist as she freed his head from her grip.

She looked intently at the computer screen as Udi Daniel pulled out a program from each of the minds, of each exhumarines and linked them to the simulated Indian Ocean, inside his computer. Ellinaz Ivanovo looked around the lab and found a new set of machines at the right corner of the lab, and she knew that when the scientist had said her project would be ready in two days, he had actually meant it. She had not expected this speed of progress.

She felt a surge of guilt as Udi Daniel was connecting the last machine. She knew what she had aimed to achieve from the beginning, and the poor scientist was never going to figure out her moves. She would never ever resign from NextTech, come any debacle. She had used her strength and the weakness of the scientist, to have her way. Though, from the deepest point of her heart, she loved him to death, but the the singular thought of owning a portion of the precious stones in the Indian Ocean, was worth risking everything for, including life and love.

"Dan?" Ellinaz Ivanovo called him affectionately.

"Yeah".

"Do you think we can actually exist apart?"

"It's difficult to answer, I'm not in your mind".

"I don't know what you're thinking, but I want you to know, that wherever and whenever you live, I'd live, samething for death".

"Ellinaz, don't scare me again".

"Have I scared you before?"

"When you said you could see through me, into my past and future, and that I came into this world to summarize science, where did you get all that from?'

"What scared you in my utterance?"

"You're not capable of saying all that, something is likely moving you".

"I don't know what you're saying, Dan".

Contd





"How could you know my past and future, and claimed you don't have supernatural powers?"

"I didnt mean it in the sense that you think".

"What sense, Ellinaz?"

"I did't mean to be literal, i was only playing with words around you".

"Really?"

"You're born a great man, and I don't need a supernatuural influence to know that, it's all over you. Everybody sees it!"

"I don't believe you".

"When I said you were the greatest scientist throughout history that has ever lived, you didn't have a problem with it".

"Is that why you have said I came into this world to summarize science?"

"Not exactly Dan".

"Ellie, I put it to you, that a source had spoken through you, and I need you to be careful".

"If I have a byte of memory in my head, there wasn't a ventriloquist around us, at the time I spoke these words."

"What are you drawing out?"

"Dan, I think you're over-stretching it".

"Do you have dreams at all?"

"At times, especially when I get disappointed really bad, and I take it to bed wiith me".

"Do you know what?"

"No Dan".

"I'm going to watch you more, as NextTech and Dynabiz finilize", Udi Daniel said and looked away from the computer svreen directly into the eyes of the young woman that had occupied all the space in his life.

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Let's just say, I'm watching over what's mine".

"Are you done with all the connections?" Ellinaz Ivanovo asked as she touched the tip of his nose with her right hand index finger.

"It's almost done".

"I see some new machines", she said pointing to the exhumarines.

"They're getting set for the mission into the Indian Ocean".

"You're unbelievable!" Ellinaz Ivanovo said as she walked away to closely look at the hybrids.

She went round the machines, running her hands on their bodies, in amazement. She could not stop being stunned by Udi Danie'l's response and creation speed. She turned around and saw the scientist clearing off the computer screen, and she walked back to him.

"We're going to celebrate this!" Ellinaz Ivanovo said behind Udi Daniel as she got near.

"I'm not in a celebration mood, I just want to finish this and clear it off".

Ellinaz Ivanovo forcefully turned his his head and planted a kiss on his lips as she said, "I'm going to get you in celebration mood".

"This can't happen in my lab', Udi Daniel said as he pulled away, "Moreover, we don't have any reason for merriment, not now".

"I think you may be right, Dan, the stones haven't been recovered yet".

She adjusted herself and drew another chair to sit as watched Udi Daniel hitting keys with speed in a programming environment. She stretched her hand and tapped the key of a computer that had slept off, and the image of an exhumarine displayed on the screen.

The image of the hybrid rotated on every two seconds. She zoomed it out and studied the attached forelimbs of the creature, about the size of an average human being. She was going to ask Udi Daniel about the mechanism of the dorsal-attached system, but she dropped it as the scientist was so absorbed in his programming work.

She hit the slide key and another image appeared and was completely taken aback, by what she saw. Udi Daniel had completely simulated the Indian Ocean and designed getty ocean floor. She tapped the key again and another image appeared. It was a test environment.

She hit another button and the four exhumarines appeared on the environment. She tapped the same button and the creatures plunged into the Indian Ocean.

Contd





"One of the creatures isn't swimming as fast as the others".

Udi Daniel responded, "it's just a test environment and the exhumarines know that".

'Do the machines carry their minds in a simulation?"

"Yes, they could feel the environment ever in a test".

"They have feelings?" Ellinaz Ivanovo asked and smiled.

"You wouldn't believe it until I make them males and females", Udi Daniel said with a wicked grin.

The tension that had built up between them for the last few days gradually gave way for the usual casual connection as Ellinaz Ivanovo asked, "You're dreaming in your imaginations again".

"Seriously, it could work if biological coding, such as cell fusion and division, could be emulated and implemented at the levels of DNAs and RNAs in the nucleus of an agile Natural Neuron Network".

"You're a crazy scientist!" Ellinaz Ivanovo screamed and slapped him on his back as she asked, "Why didn't you then create them males and females?”

Udi Daniel replied, "I'd be knowingly causing them to fight to death, to have the females".

"Crazy!" Ellinaz Ivanovo continued to say. "I'm going to report you to the American Society of Science, that you have the potential to become a dangerous scientist. I'm no longer comfortable with you ".

"I mean this; in the near future, I see NextTech being able to develop creatures that can reproduce".

"That's after you have made them husband and wife ", Ellinaz Ivanovo responded with sarcasm.

"I still have work undone Ellie, please let me concentrate".

"I'm not holding your hands".

"It's you that set me on fire, let me keep burning while the spirit is high".

"Alright, just this last one", Ellinaz Ivanovo said as she pointed to the hybrids, "The machines have been going down down, not able to get to the floor

"They're moving deep into the ocean towards the center, that's why they're not hitting any bed".

"Why is that?"

"The Indian Ocean is bottomless down the middle, there's no chance of recovering anything from there, if you don't have the wisdom of the creator ".

"Creator?"

"Nature alone, bears witness, that there must be some supreme designing force in the universe. Even though the concept of God remained vague to science".

"You're sounding like those bunch of believers in the net of charismatism".

"I'm only telling you naked facts".

"Sounds like the Lost Ship could be lost forever if it landed in the center".

"I've fortified the machines to bring results".

"What's bottomless?"

"As applied to the Indian Ocean, it means you can pass through it to space".

"Have you traveled through it to space?"

"Not really".

"So how do you know?"

"When you have come out of the earth into space, through the sky, you would be able to see the bottom end of the Indian Ocean, like a bluish-green water, simmering in a plain glass ".

"I'd like to see that some day".

Ellinaz Ivanovo steered the conversation to something else as Udi Daniel immersed himself in programming the task that the exhumarines would be carrying out for the next three hours in the simulated Indian Ocean. Their conversation naturally ceased as he showed less interest and he soon hit his peak of work flow, but it was not long, Ellinaz Ivanovo's cell phone went off, Ali Garabed was at the far end.

"Hello!"Ellinaz Ivanovo said into the phone and Udi Daniel stopped for a moment to look at her.

"I haven't received your email", Ali Garabed said with a strong tone.

"It's stated clearly in the document after we settled for 4 to 14 days for the execution".

"Yeah, that's why I called".

"But it's barely even the 4th day", Ellinaz Ivanovo said with a note of annoyance.

"Well, it's the 4th day here rolling over to the 5th, in my time zone. I needed to remind you".

"It's too early Garabed".

"It's not Ellinaz".

Ellinaz Ivanovo replied, "Be informed, NextTech is still working on it expect my mail anytime from now".

Ali Garabed breathed impatiently into the phone from the other end, and Udi Daniel could hear it. He wondered what was eating him up as well, over the recovery of the stones. Ellinaz Ivanovo was about to end the call when Udi Daniel spoke up.

"Tell him that NextTech is ready now!" Udi Daniel said with the stress of finality.

"What! Seriously!!" Ellinaz Ivanovo shot him as if he joking.

"I said tell him that!" The scientist reiterated.

"Hey, Garabed", she said. "I've just been informed that the machines are now ready, the ball is now on your court".

The Lebanese could not contain his excitement at the other end. Udi Daniel could feel it.

"That's good of you", Ali Garabed boomed with a heavy Arabic accent and added, "You will hear from me in a moment".

The conversation ended and Ellinaz Ivanovo walked to the corner where Udi Daniel was inserting some neural chips, hot from a 'Neural Trainer', into the limbs of the exhumarines.

"You're damn fast", Ellinaz Ivanovo said behind him before she touched his shoulder.

"It's the way you want it", the scientist responded.

"I don't know what's driving the Lebanese".

"Both of you are in the same boat, headed for an unknown destination ".

"I take exception to that Dan, I know my way ".

Udi Daniel and Ellinaz Ivanovo walked outside the AIU together, towards the parking area, where they caused a little drama. Udi Daniel insisted on driving home in his Mercedes Beatle, but Ellinaz Ivanovo would not allow it. The scientist submitted to her wish, after she had shown him a video clip, as he drove into NextTech. She pulled him into her Bugatti V5 Segrada, and took charge of the wheels.


Chapter Fourteen






At home, Udi Daniel opened the book: "The Great Loss" and again read through the area of the Indian Ocean, where the Lost Ship had anchored, before the great monsoon had blown across. He shut his eyes and tried to make a mental video of the incidence that happened over four hundred years ago, as he tried to prove something in his head, and Ellinaz Ivanovo burst into his study.

He adjusted himself in his sitting position as Ellinaz Ivanovo walked in from a corner. She was to leave for her office but she decided to check on Udi Daniel.

"You look like hell, didn't you sleep a wink last night? Ellinaz Ivanovo asked.

"I've been trying to get two lines to meet in my mind".

"And you did that, all through the night?"

"Haif of it".

'What's it about? The lines?"

"Of course, on the mission to Indonesia".

"I strongly recommend a bed rest for you after this is over", Ellinaz Ivanovo said as she looked him up.

"Thanks Ellinaz, but I'm not feeling tired in the sense that you think", Udi Daniel said,, "It's just that, I don't feel well about this operation; something like a premonition stares into my eyes all the time, as I try to bend the lines to touch?"

"It's just a feeling, you would come off it".

"Can't we call it off?"

"You and I know we have crossed the rubicon ", Ellinaz Ivanovo whispered into his ear and turned to leave.

Udi Daniel was not sure anymore of the technique he had thought he could use to thwart any invisible invisible interplay of forces. At once, he sprang up and braced himself up for any consequence. He followed Ellinaz Ivanovo into the living room. He caught up with her before she could enter the elevator, to get out of the mansion.

"Ellinaz!" Udi Daniel called her out loud even as they stood very close, "This is the last time that I would talk about this to you".

"It's fine Dan. Ali Grabbed's team has flown from England to Washington".

"OK".

"Dynabiz has made available two jet planes for his men and the creatures", Ellinaz Ivanovo said trying to avoid eye contact. "Garabed has gone ahead of us to Jarkata, in his private jet".

"When are you packing up the creatures in the AIU?” Udi Daniel asked with no enthusiasm.

"I'm going to meet Dynabiz personnel right now, they're waiting in my office. They will fly with the machines to Jarkata, and wait for NextTech to join up tomorrow".

Udi Daniel turned around and went back his study and Ellinaz Ivanovo hurriedly got into the elevator. She drove out of the mansion straight to her office where she met the four men Dynabiz had sent. She took them to the ground floor, to the AIU and the men transferred the machines from the Digital Laboratory to the show room, as she opened a drawer. She pulled out the materials to pack the exhumarines.

Dynabiz's men brought the creatures outside and loaded them into a van and drove out from NextTech. Ellinaz Ivanovo followed them behind as the van headed to the Washington International Airrport where two jet planes waited.

As the jets flew off, Ellinaz Ivanovo started her car, and took a different way from the airport. She sent an email update to Ali Garabed communicating the time that NextTech would arrive Jarkata. She did not do anything else in her office before driving home, to prepare for the operation.

Contd





Ali Garabed got overly excited when he received the mail from Ellinaz Ivanovo, that the exhumarines were already in the air, coming to Indonesia. He had flown his private jet to the Nias Island in South Sumatra, and had booked hotel rooms for his men and for NextTech operators.

He relaxed on a chair beside the fanciful swimming pool in Maxima Hotels, in Jarkata. He kept raising his left hand to his face to steal a glance at his wristwatch. He knew the average time that it would take the machines to arrive the Sokoekarno-Hatta International Airport.

A short message dropped in his cellphone as soon as two jets landed in the airport and he knew. He moved to the airport and took a seat in the arrival hall of the airport. When Osman Leon, one of his men that had flown in with the exhumarines came through, Ali Garabed counted it as the first real step that was made. He stood up to meet Osman Leon who was walking towards him. They shook hands vigorously, smiling as if a map to hidden treasures, had been given them.

"Welcome to Indonesia!" Ali Garabed said while grinding..

"Thank you, Thank you".

"I hope the flight was good".

"Very well Sir".

"But you're late by fifteen minutes, I was beginning to think something was amiss”.

"I actually made the call to you that we were leaving the United States, before we loaded", Osman Leon corrected his timing.

"I see!"

"So, how do we go from here?"

"You're heading to Sumatra from here, then to Nias Island".

"Alright".

"I've made arrangement for the jets to land in the Binaka Airstrip on the island".

"Ok".

'I'll be flying in with NextTech tomorrow".

Ali Garabed unrolled a piece of paper that had the name of a hotel and gave it to Osman Leon. The number one trusted employee of Dynabiz turned around and went out through the same way he had come in.The jets refilled their gas and rerouted to Nias Island.

Ali Garabed came out and watched the planes flying away. His mood brightened, as the bid to recover the stones, was taking real shape. The operation was now only a day away, but the anxiety that had left him since he had signed the contract for the recovery operation, returned, with a different intensity.

Hardly had he settled in his hotel room, than he pulled up his laptop and fired and email to NextTech, to speed up action time. Ellinaz Ivanovo clicked the email open and reassured him he could sleep on it, NextTech was committed to the operation, the stakes were equal between Dynabiz and NextTech.

Early in the evening, Ellinaz Ivanovo and Udi Daniel were driven out of their mansion, with a van behind. She turned on the mobile network on her phone and got a barrage of messages from Ali Garabed, acknowledging that the exhumarines had been received in Indonesia. She had read the message the previous day, and could not get it why he had decided to resend them.

They arrived Washington/Baltimore International Airport and Ellinaz Ivanovo received rains of messages from the Lebanese again. She turned off coverage as she got out and waved the van that transported the equipment of Udi Daniel, to a private jet. She assisted in loading them and returned to meet her god. Together they boarded her private jet.

She could not hide her excitement over the operation. Udi Daniel had decided to never discuss his feelings about the operation with her. His face had no expression as he held tightly to two bags. Ellinaz Ivanovo offered to help him to thrust the bags away in a drawer, as he took his favorite position in the jet.

Udi Daniel flipped open the book: "The Great Loss", and began studying it with magnetic concentration as the jet rolled out onto the take off way. Ellinaz Ivanovo tried to get his attention by asking conversation-starting questions, but he would only answer curtly to her. She stopped bothering him and withdrew into herself.

I’m back here again
You’re doing well OP
The beginning of the end has started already, the story is getting to its climax I guess since they are already on the expedition
I fear for Daniel tho
Keep it coming boss

YoungBruzzy😎, you're welcome back from holiday,,,,,,,shout out to EvidenceOfGrace, Calenikan, Silverlinen and all the invisible readers 😅



Contd






She fell asleep after they had traveled for two hours. Udi Daniel continued to read a particular page of the book over and over. The ship that had carried the stones was not the only ship that had taken shelter from the monsoon, on the island in the Indian Ocean. It was specifically built to traverse the Indian Ocean in any condition, and Udi Daniel would not stop trying to connect the lines in his head. The ship had gone down into the Indian Ocean for no apparent cause, after the monsoon had done its job.

The scientist superimposed the perplexity on the foreboding, and the Lost Ship revealed the "fingerprint" that was on the Mystery Diamond he had recovered from the Coral Sea in Australia.
These things would only make sense to him, Ellinaz Ivanovo would never reason inductively on his diagnosis of uncertainties. She woke up few minutes before the jet would cut off a part of the airspace of Papua New Guinea, towards Malaysia. For the first time since they boarded the plane, Udi Daniel related with her on a personal level.

"Did you take any sleeping pill? Throughout the night, to this afternoon, your eyes were shut", He asked as the plane flew into the air zone that had the Pacific Ocean to the right, and the Indian Ocean to the left.

Ellinaz Ivanovo replied, "What do you expect, when you refused to keep me company".
"Ellie?"

"Yeah".

"You see, the two lines I've been trying to cross, have not only eventually intersected, but they coiled.into one another".

"Does it change anything?"

"No, it doesn't, but my mind is made stronger on what I could expect ".

"Dan please! Don't dull my mood with one of those your extemporaneous lectures", Ellinaz Ivanovo said with the wave of her left hand, 'You've said you would never talk about it".

"I wasn't going to say anything relating, but it's fine, I've withdrawn it".

"If it makes you feel better ".

Udi Daniel looked through the windows of the jet on both sides absentmindedly, as the plane floated in the hot steamy air to Jakarta, from Malaysia, with Thailand to the right. Four hours later, the nose of the jet pointed down towards the Sokoekarno-Hatta International Airport.



Chapter Fifteen






Ali Garabed got worried over the fact that Ellinaz Ivanovo had stopped replying to his messages. He could barely think straight. The assuarance oy NextTech was not enough now. He needed a minute by minute tracking even as they come in the air. He knew he was becoming a weirdo. He could not
explain the reason behind his erratic behavior.

He tiredly rose from the bed in his hotel room, and staggered away into the shower to refresh himself. He was in the bathroom when a message fell into his cellphone. He came out naked with soap foams covering his body, and he spied the screen from the corner of his left eye.

Ali Garabed tossed the phone into the bed and hurriedly returned to the bathroom to open up the shower beyond limit!