Chapter 1: The ARC
Oliver Leek looked down at his desk. He was reading through a pile of documents which had been sent to him by Helen Cutter. The documents contained information on how to properly house, feed, and take care of the creatures. There was a file on virtually every species which the ARC had encountered up until that point, from the Giant Worms of the Precambrian to the bat-like Future Predators and the aquatic primate-like Mer creatures from the Future. The creatures were all very diverse, but they all shared one thing in common; they had all travelled to the present-day through the anomalies. None of them were native to the present. They were all creatures from distant times who had accidentally wandered into our time, and therefore, there were no laws or regulations which applied to them. Leek could do whatever he wanted with them.
Leek looked out of his office, peering outside into the ARC. The entire team was gathered around Connor's laptop computer, staring intently at the screen. They were watching a YouTube video. In the video, they could see the camera shaking wildly, and they could make out the blurry image of a theropod-shaped animal.
Connor had discovered the video while surfing the web, and had quickly called over the rest of the team once he realized what the video appeared to be showing.
"What's the title of the video?" Nick Cutter asked, looking up at Connor.
"Living Dinosaur in Colorado", Connor replied. "It was recorded on June 4, 2001, and it was uploaded to YouTube on October 17, 2005."
"Maybe it's just a hoax", Jenny said, looking up at Cutter.
"I doubt it", said Cutter, staring at the screen. "That doesn't look like CGI to me, and I don't think it's an animatronic, either. I highly doubt that two ordinary folks like these would be either financially or intellectually capable of creating an animatronic which looks that realistic."
"So what do you think it means?" Abby asked, looking at Cutter and Stephen.
"You know what it means", Cutter replied. "We all know very well what it means. We've known it ever since we dealt with that Thylacosmilus incursion in Peru."
There was silence. Everyone just stared down at the ground, contemplating what it all meant.
Then Cutter stood up, and began to walk away. "We're going to America", he announced. "I'll go tell Lester."
James Lester was in the cafeteria, eating a sandwich while drinking from a cup of coffee. He heard footsteps. He looked up, and saw Cutter running towards him. Lester was irritated. What could possibly be so important that it would cause him to interrupt my lunch? he thought.
"Lester, we need to talk", Cutter said. He sat down in a chair and turned to face Lester.
"Yes, what is it?" Lester sighed, barely looking up from his meal.
"There is a report of a creature sighting in the United States, and I think we have to go investigate", Cutter replied.
"Creature sightings happen all the time", Lester said. "Probably just some drunks who were having a little too much fun."
"No, this time, it's different", Cutter said. "There is a video of the creature on the Internet, and it clearly shows a living animal."
"OK, fine", Lester conceded. "So what, exactly, are you suggesting? Should we do something, or should we just sit here and relax while sniffing the flowers and watching corny 1980s horror films?"
"No, I really think we should go investigate", Cutter replied. He didn't mind Lester's silly comment. By this point, he had become so accustomed to the sarcastic bureaucrat's witty remarks that they barely fazed him at all.
"If you don't mind, my team will be taking a flight to Colorado, and we'll bring along all of our supplies", said Cutter. "And we will be going, no matter what."
"All right, I agree", Lester said. "But, just to be safe, I shall be sending along a team of SAS soldiers to protect you. And I shall contact the Foreign Ministry, as well, to take care of any diplomatic issues which might arise. You shall be leaving at 8:15, tomorrow morning."
Cutter nodded, and walked away. He ran back to the team, and told them that they were going to the United States.
As they walked back home that night, Stephen and Jenny began to walk next to each other.
"So, have you ever been to America before?" Stephen asked her.
"Yes", Jenny said. "I went on a vacation to Florida when I was 8 years old. How about you?"
"Nope", answered Stephen. "Surprisingly, I never have. Hopefully, this trip will end up leaving a good impression on me."