Irony of Karl's Research
Karl Selig is just a doctoral student conducting some surveys of Antarctican icebergs in order to collect research material for his doctoral thesis. Ironically, he accidentally stumbles across an Atlantean point of interest that the Immari have been attempting to locate for decades, making him seem incredibly lucky (or unlucky) or the Immari look completely incompetent.
Irony of Chief Eddi Kusnadi
Eddi Kusnadi is the police chief of the station in Jakarta, and it would be expected, given his position, that he has at least a passing devotion to upholding the law in the name of justice. Ironically, Chief Kusnadi is completely corrupt, and he only holds suspects if he thinks they might give him bribe money to let them go.
Irony of David Vale
David Vale is, nominally, a mercenary, which would typically mean he hires himself out to whoever pays him the most. In contrast to most mercenaries, however, David has a strict moral code, and he devotes much of life to tracking down and stopping a terrorist group. When he meets Dr. Warner, his mercenary life goes out the window in favor of saving humanity.
Irony of the Autistic Indonesians
When Dr. Warner goes around the Indonesian villages in an attempt to find autistic children for her study, the mothers of the villages have no idea what she's talking about when she describes the symptoms of the disease. Flabbergasted, she thinks there might not be any autistic children in the village, but her translator knows otherwise; he forces his way into a home where a "disobedient" child (actually autistic) is tied up to a post. Other "disobedient" children are sent to an abandoned place in the woods. Ironically, these children that the village has cast out as worthless could actually be the key to unlocking the full potential of the human race.
Irony of the Immari's Origin
The Immari used to be part of a monastic religious order called the Immaru. When they broke off, they abandoned the religion in favor of scientific materialism. This ironic origin explains their wholehearted devotion to natural selection and their regressive "survival of the fittest" brand of morality.
