DISCLAIMERS
1. I DO NOT OWN JURASSIC PARK/WORLD. This is just for fun.
2. This is a femslash story. If you don't like that sort of thing, you won't like this.
PART 2
"OK... let's go through it again."
Claire Dearing groaned inwardly at the CIA agent's comment. They had already gone through "it" three times. And that was just with this agent.
"As Operations Manager, it was your job to keep Jurassic World running."
"Yes," Claire said stoicly.
"And you needed to know everything that was happening with the park," the agent continued.
"Yes."
"That included the animals being kept there."
Claire frowned. "I had to be kept abreast of where they were and what physical state they were in. But as I've already said, I wasn't aware of what exactly went into making the animals. Interms of that, it was just my job to take any requests from Mr. Masrani or our investors and deliver them to the lab. What went on in the lab wasn't my business."
The CIA agent raised an eyebrow. "But you were in charge of the entire park."
"I was under the employ of Masrani Enterprises," Claire said. "InGen was in charge of the science, a completely seperate division. I was... the intermediary between the investors and the lab. It was just... I don't know, convenience the science was done on the same island. As everyone knows, the labs on Site B weren't an option." Indeed, they were not. Isla Sorna had years of untouched dinosaurs running around. Its science department was wrecked by the time Jurassic World was greenlit. In comparision, Isla Nublar's was largely intact. There were far fewer animals on Site A, which also made it easier to bring Nublar back under control in the late 1990s. Sorna was too populated by then to even consider using anymore.
"So you had no connection to InGen?" the agent asked.
"I was just the middle-person," Claire insisted. "It was my job to be in contact with InGen, yes, but I wasn't connected to them. Not legally, not contractually: I was employed by Masrani - not InGen."
The agent turned a page in his oh-so-thick case file. "Where you ever made aware of what went into making the animals?"
"I knew it involved extracting blood from mosquitos in amber," explained the former OM. "And the gaps in the DNA strand were filled in with modern animals."
"That's information every tourist was given," spat the agent. "Did you really not know anything else? No one ever told you what exactly they were putting into these animals?"
At the man's accusatory tone, Claire began to weaken. She had been through this too much. "It... it was classified. I'm not a scientist... I just... " She took a moment to calm herself. "It wasn't my job. The lab just did their work then delivered the final asse... animals. From that point, yes, it was my responsibility."
The agent's demeanour seemed to soften. "Ms. Dearing, you must understand... with Simon Masrani's death and Henry Wu's disappearance, you are the most senior person left. But no one's saying you were responsible for... "
"Really?" interrupted Claire. "Because it sounds like it." Again she paused, trying to rein in her emotions. They were quite paradoxial. She indeed knew it was not her fault what happened with the Indominus Rex... but it damn sure felt like it was. She had to actively keep reminding herself otherwise. "I... I know now how ridiculous the arrangement was. We... I should have been told what exactly InGen was doing. It's just... that wasn't the arrangement. Simon... Mr. Masrani signed off everything. Nothing had ever gone wrong; I had no reason to question the I-Rex."
"Even when it exhibited... " - the CIA agent looked down at the notes - "... 'unusual behaviour'? It killed its sibling - the only other of its kind. Is that true?"
"Yes," whispered Claire. "But you must understand... it wasn't unprecedented. We had Raptor killings within groups, even scuffles between herbivores. They're wild animals - they have their own rules depending on their species." She had learnt that from Owen. "Considering the I-Rex was an all-new species, we... I... didn't think... Don't you see? We had nothing to go on."
"Ms. Dearing, no one's accusing you of anything." The agent's line of questioning made Claire question that. "We simply want to learn the facts."
Claire narrowed her eyes. The CIA was just blowing hot air. It wanted someone to blame, but Claire knew very well she could not be charged with anything. When she first took the job at Jurassic World, responsibility started at the top: both Masrani and Wu outranked her. And with Wu missing - security footage salvaged by Lowery proved he escaped and was not killed - the CIA could not just "pin the rap" on her. And evenso, testimony from Lowery, Vivian, Zach, Gray and even visitors proved Claire went above and beyond when it came to trying to help.
But that did not stop Claire feeling the terrible, terrible guilt.
"OK... " the agent said slowly, "let's go through it again... "
TO BE CONTINUED