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“They’re not?” Sid asked.
“Nope. We strive for authenticity, but it would be far too expensive to manage an ecosystem this complex. Not to mention dangerous. I’d hate the liability of having this much ocean life so close to guests.”
“So, those fish are drones?” Jayna asked.
“Every one of them. Believe it or not, the Kingdom of Tangaroa has more drones than any other organization in Manutai—even the public works department.”
Emmaline gestured to a group of mermaids sunning themselves on a nearby sandbar. “The mermaids are all real, though, right?”
“Of course. If a job can reasonably be done by a person, then we hire a person.”
Sid shook his head. “Wow. You must pay a fortune in payroll taxes.”
Kalani laughed, and Sid wondered what he had said. He had most likely made a mistake that he wouldn’t have made had he been able to concentrate on the material he should have read between the airport and the park.
“Manutai was founded to provide homes and jobs for climate refugees from around the Pacific. It wouldn’t make sense to have a payroll tax when the whole point of the nation is to increase participation in the workforce. Manutai taxes the automation that puts people out of work, not the people.”
Sid realized this was probably why there were two paddlers on the canoe when one would be sufficient—and a small electric motor would work even better.
Kalani gestured to a towering structure made of giant flexiglass tubes that arced high above the park. “Over there is our new ride called Na Paipu Nui—literally ‘The Big Pipes’. It should be open the day after tomorrow. We were supposed to be ready weeks ago, but we slipped the schedule to make sure the Merathlon venue would be done in time.”
“I appreciate that,” Jayna said.
“You should. Building an aquatic stadium like that was no small project. We had to get permission to attach a double-sized wamo.”
Both Jayna and Emmaline responded with impressed appreciation, but Sid had no idea what Kalani was talking about. He again regretted having not read his brief.
“What’s a wamo?” he asked.
“Oh, sorry,” Kalani said. “Wahi motu. It means ‘island piece.’ The platforms that form the foundation of Manutai are manufactured in different parts of the world. Once they’re towed into place, the blank platform is turned into a proper island module, with buildings and landscaping and transportation infrastructure. Then, when the island module is complete, it’s secured to the rest of the nation.”
“I love the way so many of the buildings look like giant seashells,” Jayna said.
“That’s because it’s all recycled plastic and captured carbon. I don’t understand the chemistry behind it, but almost everything is made from reinforced calcium carbonate.”
Sid looked at the unusual architecture with a new appreciation. “Very impressive.”
“And very different from Realms,” Emmaline said.
“Carter was always complaining about how Kingdom ripped us off,” Jayna said. “But this is nothing like Realms.”
“There are obvious differences,” Kalani said, “but there are a lot of similarities, too, especially in the shows and behind the scenes. But that’s intentional. The original plans for Kingdom of Tangaroa were drawn up by Michael Sterling before he passed away.”
“What?” Jayna asked. “Are you joking?”
“No. We were in early discussions with the Manutai development board when Michael died. Fortunately, he had set up everything for Kingdom as a separate company, so Carter didn’t know anything about it. We decided to keep it that way until we opened.”
“He sued to shut you down, though, didn’t he?” Emmaline asked.
“He did. But before we even started the discovery process, he dropped the suit.”
Sid’s curiosity was piqued. “What made him change his mind?”
Kalani shrugged. “I like to think the ghost of his father visited him in the night and told him not to sue. More likely his lawyers knew they didn’t have a chance and made him drop the suit.”
Jayna leaned forward and placed one hand on Kalani’s shoulder, and the other on Sid’s. “You know the real story, right?”
A jolt of electricity ran down his side at her touch. She was facing Kalani, but Sid could still make out her beautiful profile. She was so close, and her hair smelled amazing, and Sid grew so warm, he wondered if his u-suit was malfunctioning.
