Note: To fix the author's mistake, Zhuchengceratops will now be called Sinoceratops.
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[Life Perseveres Beneath the Catastrophe]
In a rare move, the official Primeval Ecological Zone social media account pinned a post from the Giganotosaurus monitor, a man notorious for his flair for the dramatic.
[Holy crap, that was way too cool. The fire was just a backdrop; it couldn't even touch him!]
[I'm dying to know how many cameras got fried in that blaze.]
[Coming here from the livestream, wildfires are terrifying. It spread so fast, the cameras were cutting out one by one.]
[Wait, can we get a fact check? Is this actually biologically possible?]
That last commenter was more observant than most. While the health Carlo lost seemed negligible to him, it was technically enough damage to have cooked both of his parents into well-done steaks several times over.
…
"How exactly do you get different species to... well, you know?"
Hal Osterly, Vice President of the Masrani Global Corporation, made a series of abstract gestures with his hands that nearly caused Claire Dearing to lose her professional composure. She had clearly stated there had been a major breakthrough in genetic engineering, yet this "genius" actually thought they were successfully cross-breeding different species the old-fashioned way.
Inside the underground labs of the Innovation Center, Claire was leading three executives on a tour. Her goal: secure sponsorships for the sub-adult Indominus rex and fund a larger, more secure paddock for public display.
"The Indominus wasn't bred; she was designed."
Dr. Henry Wu, who happened to be inspecting the lab, was drawn over by the vice president's "enlightened" remarks and stepped in to bail Claire out. It was painfully obvious this man had no idea what he was actually sponsoring.
"She will be fifty feet long when fully grown... bigger than the T. rex."
Dr. Wu continued as he paced toward the group. To ensure these laymen understood the scale, he added a pointed comparison.
"Er... I recall you have a Giganotosaurus here that already hit the fifty-foot mark a while ago."
VP Hal might not have been a scientist, but he wasn't stupid. Only record-breaking dinosaurs moved tickets. "Then why didn't you just add Giganotosaurus DNA to her? Make her... an 'Indominus Giganotosaurus'?"
Dr. Wu paused, seemingly surprised that Asset 3's popularity had reached so far outside of specialist circles. "In fact... we did exactly that. But she seems to have inherited other traits from the Giganotosaurus."
This was a total fabrication. While they had included the DNA, the Indominus rex had not manifested the trait for extreme gigantism, neither of the two specimens had. However, to land a sponsor, you first needed results, and second, you needed a good pitch. Since the Vice President didn't know the first thing about dinosaurs, as long as he was interested, the money would follow.
"Every time we exhibit a new asset, attendance spikes. Global news coverage, celebrity visits... the world watches." Claire seized the opening to prevent Hal from digging deeper.
"When will she be ready for display?" Jim Drucker, a balding shareholder, asked with genuine interest.
"She is ready," Dr. Wu replied, his face wearing that permanent, inscrutable mask of confidence.
…
Carlo lay in the shade of a tree, watching the Parasaurolophus habitat nearby. More duckbills were staring back at him now, clearly wary of the unfamiliar scent he carried.
Beside Carlo, a second figure had joined Katyusha: her brother, Karl. He was currently imitating Carlo's exact pose on the ground. In his young mind, Carlo was powerful for a reason; if he copied Carlo's every move, he would eventually become just as strong.
Katyusha poked her head out of the eye socket of the Triceratops skull. This had become her personal fortress; she spent half her time diving in and out of it. It was becoming clear she had a strange obsession with ceratopsians, likely bad news for the local Trike population in the future.
As for Kafka, the third sibling... she was sleeping. She couldn't be bothered to make the trip.
Carlo thought for a moment, then stood up to lead the two youngsters back toward his parents' territory. He wanted to see how the recovery was going. Before he could take more than a few steps, a small bird landed on his head—his "dentist." It seemed the bird wanted a free ride. Carlo didn't mind, letting the creature perch on his brow.
The earth had been stained grey by ash and charred debris. Following the rain, the oppressive heat had vanished, and lime-green sprouts were already beginning to cling to the skeletons of dead trees. However, the grey soil still held the embers of the fire; red-hot charcoal had not lost its fire just because of a single rainstorm.
Carlo moved to stomp out a smoldering patch, but his little "dentist" beat him to it. The bird picked up a small twig, one end extinguished, the other still trailing a wisp of smoke. Then, the bird leaned forward, spreading its wings and tucking the smoky end of the twig under its feathers as if to "smoke-bathe" or "toast" itself.
Left side... right side... left side...
Watching this, Carlo pulled his foot back. He let the glowing twigs finish their smolder, standing still as he watched the small animals of the forest slowly return to the scorched earth.
…
"She's white... you never told me she was white."
Simon Masrani frowned, feeling a chill as he looked at the Indominus rex in the paddock. Most dinosaurs had rich patterns; even the T. rex had colors that blended with the forest, giving them a biological "reality" that told the world they weren't monsters. But this thing? She looked like a ghost.
"You think she'll scare the kids?" Claire walked to the window, re-evaluating her creation.
"The kids? Their parents will have nightmares about her." Masrani's eyes never left the predator. For some reason, he felt he could never turn his back on her, even with a wall between them.
"Is that... a bad thing?" Claire asked, her expression flickering. She didn't want the guests to be too terrified.
"It's fantastic." Masrani had to admit: if Carlo satisfied his desire for something bigger and stronger, this creature satisfied everything he understood about the word "terrifying."
"Can she see us?" Masrani asked. The glass was supposed to be one-way to prevent the dinosaurs from being agitated by tourists, but the asset had been staring directly at them for a long time.
"They say she can sense thermal radiation, like a snake," Claire explained.
"So, is this enclosure safe enough?" Masrani turned his gaze away from the horror, looking at Claire.
"We used the best structural engineers in the world," Claire said, nodding as she walked toward the console, though she avoided a direct "yes." Accidents were, after all, inevitable.
"So did Hammond." Masrani began to pace the length of the glass wall. "A friend once told me: dinosaurs act irrationally because of noise. And you happen to be reinforcing the walls, creating endless amounts of it." He looked at a hairline fracture in the glass, his concern deepening. "He's currently heading a research project for one of my companies. Owen Grady."
Claire rolled her eyes involuntarily at the mention of the name, though she made sure her back was to her boss. "I know him."
The genius who wears board shorts to a date, she added silently.
"His dinosaurs are smart. So he has to be smarter than them." Masrani paced back, scanning the interior of the paddock.
"He certainly thinks he is," Claire muttered.
"Go get him. Have him inspect the paddock." Masrani either didn't hear her or didn't care. "Maybe he'll notice details we've overlooked."
He stopped and turned back to the paddock.
The Indominus rex, however, had vanished.
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