The next morning, at the official U.S. jury room in Washington D.C., crowds of people were changing outside for some sort of will to live. They were holding up signs and billboards with pictures of dinosaurs painted and drawn on them. The people were, of course, demanding that something should be done with the prehistoric beasts before they become a major threat to their society. They already had to deal with a living, breathing Tyrannosaurus Rex before in San Diego. It wouldn't happen again.
"These dinosaurs deserve to be extinct!" one protestor cried out.
"InGen should've gone bankrupt in the first place!" another protestor exclaimed. The policemen were trying to back away the crowd from the jury building before any more chaos starts. Inside the jury building, a rather large court was sitting in their benches. The judge, who was an honest black man that looked almost similar to Ray Arnold but with more wrinkles. He hammed his gavel on his bench, quieting the crowd of onlookers.
"Dr. Claire Dearing, you have been brought here for the major cause of the Indominus Rex attacking Jurassic World three years ago," the judge spoke. Sitting in the defendant's seat in front of the judge was Claire Dearing herself. Around that time, she agreed to people demanding a new dinosaur in Isla Nublar's park. With her team of researchers, she made the Indo Rex happen.
"How do you plead?" the judge asked.
"Mr. Winchester, please," Claire answered, a drop of sweat running down her face. "I'm innocent. It wasn't my fault that the Indominus was more clever than any of us. I wasn't responsible for the consequences…" A clamoring of people echoed over the courtroom, with responses mostly negative. The judge hammered his gavel again, silencing the jury.
"Your Honor, you can't sentence me to a lifetime of prison," Claire continued. "I have a young boy to take care of… who's going to look after him if I'm accused guilty?" The crowd in the courtroom fell quiet, and no one knew what to think. Claire's nephew, Gray Mitchell, sat among the crowd without his parents to look after him.
"Your Honor, if I may," a voice spoke from the crowd. Standing up as attorney was Dr. Ian Malcolm himself, one of the past veterans that appeared in the original Jurassic Park when it first opened. He appeared much older than before, and he was sporting gray hair and a beard after 25 years of semi-retirement.
"I agree with Ms. Claire," Ian objected. "After all, she is the only one who can take care of her nephew after complicated life issues happened to him. Like she said, she wasn't responsible for the deaths of hundreds." The doctor looked over the crowd, who were all clamoring quietly. They then stopped to let Ian Malcolm finish.
"If you want to pick someone for accusation of this killing machine, blame it all on Vic Hoskins," Dr. Malcolm continued. "He was the one who decided to use the dinosaurs as bio-engineered weapons, which is probably why the Indominus went a little crazy after escaping from that cage. My point is, Claire Dearing didn't know what would happen and simply signed papers for acceptation while the research scientists did the rest. She just happened to be the face of InGen Security at that time. Go after Dr. Henry Wu as a witness. I've heard that he was responsible for the creation of the Indo Rex and probably was good friends with Vic at that time. Just let Claire go and… for the love of God do your research a little better."
"Case dismissed," Judge Winchester confirmed as he hammered his gavel, knowing not a single other person in the courtroom had a counterargument. The crowd of people exited the courtroom, including Claire, Malcolm, and Gray. The policemen were outside during that time, helping lead the three witnesses into their yellow taxi and preventing them from being attacked by the angry protestors. As soon as the two doctors and the kid sat in the backseat, the taxi drove away from the jury building.
"We lost them for now," Dr. Malcolm sighed, looking back on the protestors as the taxi continued driving.
"Thank you so much for helping us," Claire sighed. "I would've been tossed into the slammer if it wasn't for you. But we can't keep living like this. Every day we spend here feels like somebody wants to kill us over the wellbeing of these dinosaurs. InGen has been around on Isla Nublar for 25 years, and only now are people disappointed in their safety." Ian looked away from Claire for a while, looking past the car's window to his right.
"Before I get off once you two are gone for today, do you want to hear what I thought when I first came to Jurassic Park?" Malcolm asked.
"The first time I… uh… found these dinosaurs living and breathing, I knew how far we have come as a species. I mean, the ability to bring a long-extinct species back to existence is incredible! " Malcolm continued. "It was like a stepping stone in our life's history. Nowadays, business companies are trying to buy these creatures like property because of how much they're worth, not even knowing how they would survive in a timeline millions of years later from their own eras. The ability to switch between genders is also a big thing because life… uh… finds a way."
"Aunt Claire?" Gray Mitchell asked. Claire turned to her right to see her nephew looking at her. After the traumatizing visit to Jurassic World, Gray had to deal with his parents going through the divorce they were talking about ages ago. By that time, Zach was the only one left to take care of Gray, but that was short-lived as he went away to military camp two years later. For possibly the rest of his life, Gray was left in Claire's care, and he never let go of that painful heartbreak ever since. Even if Gray was about to go through his teenage years, he could not get rid of this situation.
"It's okay," Claire whispered, placing her right hand on Gray's face. "You're gonna get through this…" As son as the taxi stopped, Claire Dearing and Gray Mitchell stepped out, leaving Dr. Ian Malcolm in the vehicle.
"By the way, if you ever need me, please give me a call. I'll be there," Malcolm reminded, giving Claire his phone number and e-mail address written on a white card.
"Any time your boyfriend's coming home?" the doctor asked as the taxi was ready to drive off.
"He usually spends most of his days at the countryside, building retirement homes by himself," Claire answered. "Why are you asking?"
"Just curious," Ian responded as the car window rolled up and the yellow cab drove away. Claire and Gray then started walking into a brick-red hotel. They arrived at their apartment, which wasn't the greatest penthouse but was luxurious enough even for a person who used to work for a billion-dollar company. The big-screen television was on the moment they got home, which was broadcasting a special news bulletin. Claire sat down to watch the news while Gray went to his bedroom.
"After the events of what had occurred at our local jury courthouse, witness Dr. Claire Dearing was dismissed from the judge, angering a large crowd of protestors that wanted the dinosaurs dead," a female news reporter addressed. The news reporter was sitting behind a desk, wearing a blue suit and sporting black hair. A helicopter was piloted over the protestors, with the camera zooming in on them.
"Archeologists have also reported that Isla Nublar's once-dormant volcano would soon be erupting, which would be tossing out more than ten tons of TNT throughout the island," the news reporter continued. "Earthquakes alone are bad enough, but in an estimated week the island and its prehistoric inhabitants will see rivers of lava and powerful ash clouds that would sink the Isla Nublar entirely and kill any remaining survivors. These protestors may be in luck if nothing is done about these dinosaurs. Those who disagree with this angry crowd would have to transfer all survivors to a safer, uncharted island. That's all for now. Channel D.C. out." The news channel's intro wiped across the TV screen, and Claire was rather worried. Would she risk her life protecting these creatures like all other animals, or would she leave them to die and live with the only people in her life she truly cared about?
Meanwhile, Gray sighed as he plopped face-first onto his bed. The kid then turned around to look up at the ceiling, which was white and bland. Gray slowly grabbed a photo frame on his left desk, and he looked at the picture taken.
In the photo, Gray was being thrown his 10th birthday by his brother Zach, who was testing out his U.S. Army uniform. Aunt Claire was the one who took the photo. Now there was no one from his family outside of Dr. Dearing to take care of him. Gray pressed the photo frame close to his chest and closed his eyes.
"Where are you, Zach?" Gray whispered. "I miss you. Please come back."
