Billy's press conference was scheduled for noon local time on Isla Nublar. Claire's first order of business that morning was speaking to Jurassic World PR about the potential firestorm to come. Billy made good on his promise to email the InGen PR contact, and the two departments spent most of the morning in a conference call. Claire also went to see the new marketing director to discuss the challenges she foresaw. Everyone she told looked back at her with panic in their eyes. Simon Masrani was literally on the other side of the globe, and Claire had a low moment of cursing his name and wondering if she could really do this job now. She was convinced that this was why Enrique left and her promotion was pushed through, under-the-table, in less than 30 days. Claire had been so thrilled by Masrani's ego-stroking offer, making her feel special and important, that she didn't ask "why." PR and risk management contacted her for an emergency meeting at 11:35am.
Sitting in the same conference room where she met with the three men the night before, Claire put on her best possible stone face. The others were not doing so well, but she was their leader, the face of park operations, and had to look calm, cool and collected. Claire was also beginning to realize that her marketing background for the past several years, living and breathing Jurassic World day and night to an obsessive degree, made her uniquely qualified to understand and handle this situation. She relaxed even as the others appeared to get more spun up. Her brave face faltered, however, when Harry, the director of risk management, declared, "You can't have any interactions with Research Division staff."
"What?" exclaimed Claire. The intensity of her response startled the others. They had discussed the idea in depth and had all concurred it was the best course of action. They looked at her quizzically. Claire bit her lip and grounded herself before clarifying, "I mean, we need the public to trust us. Trust that the park will keep them safe. People need to know that the park and InGen are working together."
"Eventually," Harry replied, "But not now. We have to emphasize to the public the separation between InGen and Jurassic World. It's why InGen PR is taking the lead here. They've known about this for a while. They are ready. We have to focus on not losing revenue right now. The public doesn't really understand the difference between Jurassic World and InGen. They don't grasp our separate-togetherness. Billy will make clear the separation. The media will come to us - and you, specifically - right after he stops talking today. Our response is that we trust InGen to manage their independent project. Let them do the damage control for now. Let Billy Brennan go toe-to-toe with Alan Grant." Claire took a deep breath before Miranda, the head of PR, added, "You met them last night, for the first and only time, correct?" Claire suddenly felt like she was being interrogated and nodded silently. Miranda breathed a sigh of relief, "Good. Let's keep it that way until this thing blows over. As far as we're concerned, Owen Grady is a scientist leasing space within our perimeter fence to conduct research." Claire stilled at the mention of his name. He was even more enticing now that he was forbidden fruit. She knew that their plan was logical. As Claire left the conference room, the same question repeated in her mind and carried levels of meaning: when will this blow over?
Claire made a beeline to the control room and tuned one of the screens to the press conference. The room fell silent when the InGen executive in San Diego said, "And now, live via satellite from Isla Nublar, Billy Brennan." Lowery Cruthers was puzzled, turned to Claire, and asked, "You weren't invited?"
"Just watch," she said simply.
Billy handled himself marvelously. He'd honed his media skills after more than a decade in the public eye. InGen knew he was special and could be "turned" from the Alan Grant path after he nearly got himself killed over stolen raptor eggs. InGen got to Billy while he was still recovering in the hospital, and he'd been a stateside spokesperson for them ever since. Billy effortlessly used the royal we and emphasized "our care and respect for nature." As Claire watched him, listened to him deliver his talking points with finesse, even she had to admit to feeling reassured that InGen was trustworthy. Billy was the perfect face for the project's announcement. Like Henry, he well-utilized the wisdom gleaned from past missteps. Eventually, Billy turned to singing the praises of the project's lead scientist. He spoke of Owen Grady as a decorated Naval veteran who spent the last five years of his military career studying and training marine mammals. Owen himself was not present, and Billy made a point of telling the press that Owen needed to focus his energies on studying Robert Muldoon's journals and meeting with the current experts on velociraptors. Billy then proclaimed that Owen himself would be the world's foremost expert on velociraptors in a very short time. He said that it would be Owen's decision when to take the embryos out of cold storage. Until then, the paddock would be designed and built and all precautions would be taken to ensure the safety of Research Division staff, all inhabitants and visitors to the island, and the raptors themselves. The press conference then moved to a brief Q&A. Claire's felt her heart in her throat when the first question was about her. A nationally known investigative journalist asked Billy how "newly appointed" Senior Assets Manager Claire Dearing was prepared to handle the new dinosaurs. Billy was ready for this question. He informed the media that, while he and other project representatives had met with Ms. Dearing in advance of today's announcement, she and her Jurassic World staff would have no involvement with the raptors. Billy told them that he had the utmost confidence in Claire's leadership of the park just as she fully trusted InGen to manage its newest assets.
Claire breathed a sigh of relief but knew that she would be a target of further questions. She reluctantly accepted the plan of having no involvement with Research Division staff but wondered if Owen had any idea of the media frenzy that awaited him. Claire questioned at first why Billy wasn't leading the research project himself, but it was clear to her now. Aside from Billy's hotshot lifestyle stateside, he did not want the scrutiny this job would bring. Being isolated on the island and within the perimeter fence would protect Owen to an extent, but his character and integrity were about to be called into question worldwide. Claire hoped he didn't have any skeletons or old girlfriends in his closet.
Shortly after Billy stepped away from the satellite feed, the news channel cut to its New York studio with its top anchor sitting across from Alan Grant. Most of the control room staff gasped at his bitter-appearing and aged face. Time, stress, and financial troubles had not been kind to Dr. Grant. He had retired from field work a few years ago and lived alone in a remote area of Montana. Most of those involved in the incidents on Isla Nublar and Sorna had either moved on with their lives, started working for InGen or committed suicide. It was obvious that Dr. Grant did not fit into any of those categories. He occasionally guest lectured or gave talks on college campuses, but these appearances had significantly diminished in frequency since Jurassic World had proven itself to be a safe and successful enterprise. Dr. Grant delivered his speech to the anchor as if he'd been practicing it for a decade. In many ways, it was similar to a talk of his that Claire had attended during her undergraduate years. When the anchor started asking specific questions, Dr. Grant appeared weary and less interested. He chose his words carefully about Billy. Dr. Grant had previously been dismissed as emotionally unstable and smarting from Billy's betrayal when he verbally attacked him on national news during Billy's book tour. The anchor asked if Dr. Grant knew anything about Owen Grady, and he said that he'd never heard of him. Claire suspected Grant was being cautious because Billy's earlier statement was accurate. It would take Owen Grady less than a year to learn more about velociraptors than Alan Grant had learned in his entire professional career. Claire wondered if Alan Grant was jealous. If he were a younger man, might he have applied for Owen's job? As if reading her mind, Lowery blurted out, to no one in particular, "I bet InGen wouldn't interview him for the position." Before concluding the interview, the anchor asked Dr. Grant if he had anything to add. Grant looked directly at the camera and said, "The eyes of the world are on you, Claire Dearing."
Claire had to grip the side of Lowery's workstation for support. She whispered, "What the fuck?" so softly that only Lowery could hear. He looked at her sympathetically. Claire's cell phone rang. It was Miranda from PR. She immediately launched into the volume of press requests to speak with her and assured Claire that she was not expected to comment. Moreover, PR did not want her to comment. Simon Masrani was en route to New York to give an interview, speak her praises, and show support for his companies and employees in general. Miranda asked Claire if she'd ever met Alan Grant. Claire told her about attending one of his talks at Dartmouth but assured her that they had never met. Miranda wanted to know if there were any photographs of them together at Dartmouth. Claire didn't think so but began scanning her memory for any group shots or college paper stories about his talk. No, she ultimately decided, there should not be any mention of her in connection to that talk. Miranda hung up to go deal with her busiest day ever. Claire excused herself from the control room to busy herself in her office and distract herself with park business.
Barry ran over to Owen's tent on the beach as soon as Alan Grant's interview ended. Owen had no interest in watching Billy schmooze the press and deliver all the lines he'd already rehearsed in front of him on the private jet that brought them all to Costa Rica. Owen was mildly curious about what Alan Grant had to say, but he ultimately didn't care and didn't want it to adversely affect him. As Billy told the media, Owen was in the midst of reviewing Robert Muldoon's original journals. The journals had been classified and private property of InGen, never converted to any type of digital media. Owen felt like a kid at Christmas being able to pour over them privately and had asked that no one disturb him until he decided to come out of his tent. After all, he was in charge of the project. He would make the final decision about when the embryos would be thawed. Barry busted into the tent with a huge grin on his face, "You won't believe how Alan Grant ended the interview." Owen glared at him and silently expressed his irritation at being disturbed. He was already not thrilled at Barry for teasing him earlier that day about Claire Dearing. Barry knew him well, probably better than anyone living, and had appreciated something new to Owen's demeanor when he asked him about the meeting with the Senior Assets Manager. Barry didn't need to tease Owen very long to confirm his suspicions. He was practically jumping out of his skin to get Owen's reaction to Grant's closing statement. Owen shouted at Barry, "What is so goddamn amusing?" When Barry told him, Owen looked down and breathed out. He felt guilty and regretful even though he didn't objectively need to. Still looking down, Owen said, "That's unfortunate."
Barry smirked, "You should call her."
Owen looked up and raised an eyebrow, "No contact order, remember?"
"That's unfortunate," Barry said with a cocky smile as he walked out of the tent and returned to the others watching the news.
Owen was distracted from his journal reviewing and allowed his mind to drift back to Claire. One of his keys to success at NMMP and in getting his current position was his blemish-free record. The FBI and CIA both tried to recruit him when he submitted his paperwork to separate from the Navy. InGen was up-front with their expectation of his background being investigated as soon as they went public with the project. Owen didn't worry for a second. He wasn't escaping anything or anyone by coming to Isla Nublar. Owen wondered if Claire was similar in that way and if that was a key to her success or the reason for her recent selection as Senior Assets Manager. It was nice to believe that they might have something in common, something to justify his attraction to her. Now, he might never have a chance to explore the possibilities. After being told this morning that he couldn't interact with park operations staff - at least until after the raptor pack hatched - Owen re-dedicated himself to fully devoting his time to the raptors. He suspected, however, that Claire might invade his mind in idle times or lonely nights.
