Author's Note: Yup, you totally read that summary right! Downton Abbey is meeting Jurassic Park today. Specifically, we've got a Modern AU that'll have many of Downton's ensemble battling against newfangled technology, obnoxious brats, dinosaurs and a particularly scheming servan––technician!
Now, if you're skeptical of this concept, I completely understand. Here's the best part: you get to decide if this continues. With everything going on in the world today, I only want to share this if it'll make a difference for you.
Disclaimer: A lot of the script/scenes will be borrowed from Jurassic Park. Some of it will not. Almost all characters will be from Downton.
Warning: Seeing as how Jurassic Park is involved, there'll more graphic description than normal (Hence, the T rating). Moreover, liberties have been taken with characters, ages, personality, etc.
And, now, allow me to present what would happen if Life ever Found an Abbey...
_._
The wind rustled through dark greenery, a combination of the evening breeze and ominous machinery softly whirling through the land. In the frost of the night, dozens of workers stood anxiously at the ready. Despite their calm exteriors, every individual contained within them a raw adrenaline that feverishly craved the quick completion of this task.
Surrounded by sweltering lights and soldiers, two stern women stood in the center of it all –– armed with blood curdling weaponry as they coldly stared off into the distance. Undoubtedly the most dogged individuals of the bunch, they were hellbent on controlling every aspect of this operation, unswervingly committed to tonight's mission.
The sudden mechanical outcry of truck delivering a necessary shipment stirred them into movement. The very thing that required all this hostility, the reason they were all lurking about, soon came into sight.
With it, adrenaline crawled into a new level of terror.
Orders were barked out as an enormous container, one with impenetrable bars and barriers at every exit, was deftly maneuvered to the ground. One of the two women kept a beady eye on the transport throughout it all, disinterested in letting anything else distract her. The other, the stouter of the pair, remained determined to keep every aspect of the operation within her line of sight –– not willing to risk anything.
Isla Nubar, an island located 120 miles west of Costa Rica, could not afford any sort of mistake. And as the container was mechanically lowered to the floor, soldiers and workers alike would soon discover why that was the case. From within the metal crate, fierce snarls and ragged snorts sounded. Whatever was inside that steel prison had no desire to remain there for much longer.
Peering out into the harsh lighting that came with unforgiving fluorescent lights, the creature spotted the two members of this pack adamantly bark out commands. She unswervingly recognized merciless leadership, scanning the individuals before her for any signs of weakness.
"Push in team, move in there!" Beryl Patmore sharply ordered while May Bird bellowed, "I want tasers on full charge!"
As the workers diligently scurried over, far more interested in the money they'd be receiving for this than anything else, piercing shrieks emitted from inside. Undulated terror broke out amongst the group, hardly helped by Patmore's "Steady!" and Bird's ruthless "Go on! Step back in!"
Somehow, this rally of harsh encouragement and biting instructions managed to march them back into step. Against the odds, the odds now quaking in the face of this adversity, the workers did not back out of their respective assignments. They dared to carry on despite a petrifying terror strangling their nerves and silencing their common sense.
Accompanying shouts came from those ready to take on the mantle of the situation, those who were to push the container into an even fiercer prison. Guns were perched at the ready for any sign of trouble, the unlucky few designated for this spine-chilling task persisting in forcing the steel trap toward its final destination.
"We're locked!" Patmore cried out in relief as Bird took the helm, "Loading team, step away!"
Onto the next stage of this suicidal mission:
One lone worker climbed to the top of the container, perspiration rapidly developing from panicking instinct. It was her job to maintain a safe transference of whatever was inside that container, at whatever cost.
"Joanna," The shorter of the two leaders called to her, "Raise the gate!"
The worker did so, the excruciating atmosphere crackling with tension as she pushed open the gate in question. But at the horrifying encore of piercing shrieks from the cage below, as the creatures inside outright stormed out of their prison, she lost her balance and toppled to the ground.
As though a fierce wind had grabbed Joanna, the woman found herself screaming as she was forcefully pulled backwards into the cage without warning. But this was no benign wind of the island. This was nothing but a tornado of predatory determination spiraling out of control.
"Block the opening!" Beryl roared, racing to help Joanna escape this God awful nightmare.
"Don't let her get out!" May's voice was far harsher, reminding them all of the priority: the creature inside could not escape. Joanna had known the risks and knew her life would be at stake; in Bird's eyes, the worker had become collateral damage the moment she'd lost her step.
Priorities or not, Patmore couldn't just let the woman die. Racing to reach their gatekeeper, she desperately ignored Joanna's agonized screams, unending shrieks that came from being eviscerated by the creature inside. Determined to help a fellow comrade stay alive, she continued to fight to take hold of Joanna, to do anything to get her out.
But it was too late.
Guns and tasers succinctly fired into the cage,over the harsh demand to "Work her back!" A cacophony of animalistic screeches pierced through dreadful groans and the scorching attack of tasers led to a horrific, penetrating sound of electricity finding its prey. Even with May screaming at the soldiers to outright shoot the creature, enough chaos in the air to overcome anyone, Beryl still felt Joanna's limp hands drop their hold on reality as the worker was deftly dragged back into the cage by that deadly creature...
_._
Jimmy Kent had never had the desire to wind up in the Dominican Republic. Oh, the lawyer liked a nice climate and a good tourist trap as much as the next person, but the DR had never appealed to him. Yet, here he was, standing on what had to be the native's version of a ferry –– a water-craft he honestly found to be pathetic –– and waiting to step onto the only thing of interest: Mano de Dios, an amber mine that was currently responsible for all of his problems.
Really though, he was only here for Crawley.
"What's this I hear," The blond began with a feigned smile, greeting the man who had to be in charge of this operation with ease as the ferry drew closer, "About neither Crawley being able to make it?"
"They send their apologies," A woman interrupted the interaction, inclining her head to send off the man Jimmy had mistakenly believed to be in charge. Right then. He could talk to her anytime if it meant looking at that body of hers.
Business, Jimmy. Focus on the business. There'd be time for that later.
"Well, we are facing a $20 million dollar lawsuit by the family of that worker," Though we should be lucky she wasn't American or it'd cost even more. "And you're telling me that they both can't be bothered to see me?"
The woman was hardly impressed by the whiny quality of the lawyer's voice, choosing not to give him an excuse for her employers' absence –– it wasn't really worth the time or effort, in her opinion.
He, however, had a differing perspective.
"It's just that we need to deal with the situation now. The insurance company––" Resisting the urge to snort at Kent's continued clumsiness, the man gracelessly stumbling through the terrain, Ivy Stuart offered a hand to help guide him through what he undoubtedly thought of as filth.
"You okay?" She didn't care either way, having been unimpressed by him from the beginning. He bristled at the question and the fact that a woman was the only reason his clothes were saved from the disgusting muck around him.
"I'm fine!"
This time, she disguised her snort as a cough.
Kent saw through it immediately. Flustered, now determined to keep pressing on in an attempt to change the subject, "The underwriters feel that the accident has raised some very serious safety questions about the park. That makes the investors very anxious. I had to promise to conduct a very thorough, on-site inspection done by yours truly."
Ivy rolled her eyes, even more unsympathetic and irritated by this update, "Both Crawleys hate inspections. They slow everything down."
Jimmy refused to budge, if only because it was now a matter of pride: "Well, either I do this or they pull the funding." Which is the last thing either of us wants. "That'll slow them both down even more."
But Ivy's attention had long since dismissed the lawyer for a second time. Instead, her focus had been snatched by another worker –– one with whom she conversed in Spanish only to discover her presence was required elsewhere. Without a word to Kent, she followed off into the amber mine itself, enthused about leaving him behind.
Unfortunately, just because she was ignoring Kent didn't mean the man would do the same.
Her only treat that came with this man's obstinate decision was hearing him ineptly smack into a part of the mine, highly unaware of his surroundings.
"Watch your head." Stuart indifferently warned after the fact, not caring what happened to him. Well, now he really didn't care either way about her, having decided that a body like hers was no excuse for her poor attitude. So, once Jimmy made sure his hair was in perfect condition, he only put his attention toward the conversation at hand.
"If two experts sign off on the island, the insurance guys'll back off. I've already got Thomas Barrow, but they think the man's too trendy." She reached out for a piece of amber, the very treasure they were looking for trapped inside, as the man continued to rattle off his facts. "They want traditional, reliable, trustworthy."
In other words, boring. She knew of a few stuffy scientists who'd fit that bill, no doubt. Academia was swarming with them, "And just who do they have in mind?"
"They want Elsie Hughes and Charles Carson––"
"Hughes? Carson?" Ivy scoffed, properly distracted by this. Automatically, she recalled the reputation of those two. Renowned in their fields for a respectable amount of time, they and their team have commanded the attention of the paleontology community for years, to the point where they didn't have to accept projects they didn't care for. "You'll never get them away from their site."
"Why not?"
But she was already calling over her fellow workers to examine the amber in better lighting, no longer focused on Kent.
"Why not?" The lawyer repeated, highly insulted by the lack of attention.
Well, she didn't need to respond. But, seeing as how the situation amused her and she knew Kent would never leave her alone if he was still curious, Ivy figured she could answer this.
"Carson will go wherever Hughes does." That much was clear to anyone who looked into their research: fifteen years of work together proved that the two colleagues were inseparable, no matter the circumstances. And the worker reckoned, contrary to popular discussion, it was Carson who stuck to Hughes, not the reverse. "And Hughes…"
Ivy Stuart stared deeply into the amber, eyes glinting in the mine's light as she carefully studied the piece, coolly admiring the one thing that kept this operation running.
"Hughes is like me." The woman darkly confessed, losing herself to the transparent yellow glow and the creature that lay trapped inside. "She won't stop digging until she's through."
_._
Author's Note: As someone who only commits to a new TV show only once I understand the main set-up, I think it's only fair to do the same here. Therefore, I'll be posting the next chapter in just a few moments!