Disclaimer: Jurassic World is owned by Universal Studios and its disturbers while the elements of Jurassic Park and The Lost World to Steven Speilberg and Michael Crichton's estate.

Author Note: Taking a break from my Rumors of War, where I'd written myself into a corner, I had this idea after reading the viral marketing. Dr. Wu had the desire to expand his DNA sequencing collection with Ice Age-era animals, so really why would a man with a god complex let this desires fall to the wayside?

Edited 05/2018


Chapter I

Retrograde

"There exists a tipping point between gods and monsters." – Shitty Horoscopes Book VII: Magick

July 2013, two-and-a-half-years before the Second Isla Nublar Incident

Twenty-four-year-old Cady Starc could feel the sweat rolling down between her shoulder blades, slithering slowly enough she had to rock her shoulders in a bit of a shutter. Under the bright, cloudless Costa Rican sky, the sun beat down unmercifully on her, even with her Clubmasters everything seemed too bright. It was humid and uncomfortable, a dramatic change from the wet Washington state climate she'd left behind a few hours ago. She couldn't find reprieve in the air-condition sections of the ferry either, them being overcrowded and loud with children and adults alike. Cady would suffer through the heat before sitting for two hours elbow-to-spleen with strangers, all while trying to control the urge to throttle. The situation wasn't helped with what she'd chosen to wear either: a unique cross between 'interview casual,' and 'poor-graduate student' that left her standing head to foot in black, her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail.

Luckily though, the island was close. Closer than it had been twenty minutes ago when Cady had been willing it closer as if she'd just teleport her way into the employment office (did they even have an employment office? Somehow she doubted it was like walking into Target). Instead, Cady was left to bounce on the balls of her feet; hands gripping the railing as the ferry slowly crawled its way into port, and the crews began the docking routine. It was nearly fifteen minutes before she stepped off the boat and onto the dock, surging forward with the crowd towards the park as Cady looked for the person who was meant to meet her. It only took a quick sweep of the large dock to find a woman holding a tablet with her name—CADY STARC—looking slightly bored, and dressed much nicer.

"That's me," Cady called as she all but stumbled to a stop. "I'm Cady Starc."

"Lovely," the woman answered in a soft British accent, sliding the tablet away in a Michael Kors bag. "I'm Zara Young, Miss Dearing's personal assistant. I hope your trip went smoothly?"

The question was rhetorical, and Cady doubted Jurassic World really wanted her to fill out a comment card. Instead, she just nodded, hand gripping the strap of her bag anxiously as people all but sprinted past them on the dock towards the man-eating dinosaurs.

"Great, then if you'll follow me we'll be on our way."

And with those words, Cady Starc was walking into the belly of the beast.

God, Dad's gonna to kill me.

. . .

They didn't take the monorail like Cady had been expecting. In fact, there were no bells and whistles pulled out for her. Instead, Zara showed her to a Mercedes coupe and just…drove her. The air conditioning was a godsend, cooling Cady off to the point where she wished she had a jacket. The ride was quick, and apart from Zara pointing out some interesting things, mostly silent which really was perfectly acceptable to Cady. She was still trying to figure out why she had even bothered answering the request to come to the island at all. What did she know about dinosaurs except what the Land Before Time taught her at age eight? The answer, of course, was nothing. Dinosaurs and long-extinct creatures weren't exactly her thing, but her mentor had pressed her to go, had nearly begged, so she caved.

Plus, who was she to turn down a fully comped trip?

"As soon as we arrive at Control," Zara explained as she pulled the Mercedes into a well-disguised parking lot. "There are a few legal documents you'll need to read and agree to before meeting with Miss Dearing and Dr. Wu."

Cady's mouth settled into a frown. "Nobody mentioned anything like that."

"They're all very standard," the Briton countered as she parked the coupe and turned off the engine. "We all have had to sign one at some point in time working here to prevent security breaches of intellectual property of Masarni Global and In-Gen Technologies."

"How long have you practiced that answer? It was nearly textbook."

There was beat, a moment of awkward silence then—

"A few days," Zara admitted with a real smile, nothing like what had seen on the dock, as she opened the driver door. "There have been a handful of hopeful new hires; you're not the first with reservations."

"Ya'll sure know how to make a girl feel special," Cady mumbled before climbing out of the car.

By the time she had straightened out her clothes—they were already sticking to her skin, god it was sweltering—and shut the door, Zara was halfway across the lot. Forced into nearly a run to catch up, Cady all but slung her bag over her shoulder and booked it. Slightly out of breath and all the more sweaty as Zara unlocked the door with her ID badge, Cady couldn't help but praise any and all mystical god as the air conditioning hit her full force in the face.

"You'd get used to the heat eventually," Zara said as they walked down the hallway.

Cady grimaced. "Considering I come from a place where I see rain more than the sun, I doubt it."

The tone of finality had ended the conversation, and with good timing considering Cady found herself too busy taking in everything around her as they made their way. There was just so much to look at—Is that an actual egg being incubated?—and even though she didn't understand it, didn't mean she didn't find it interesting. So it was a general disappointment when, after taking a rather impressive spiral staircase and double doors, Cady had been led to a significantly sized conference room with a nearly panoramic view of the park.

This is the wow-factor, I guess.

"The contracts that need your signature are on the table just here," Zara began, motioning at the table. "You'll need to sign them before your meeting with Miss Dearing and Dr. Wu begins…which should be in fifteen minutes. I'll be back to collect them in ten."

And in the way only personal assistants could move, Zara ghosted out of the room as if she hadn't even been there. It was actually kind of creepy. Huffing a bit in defeat, Cady fell into the seat in front of her and began reading. In a few minutes, she could feel the small prickles of a headache growing on her brow, forcing her to rub her forehead. There was a Non-Disclosure Agree, a Mutual Confidentiality Agreement, and Non-Liability Agreement for Loss of Life or Injury—none of the documents left Cady with the insurance that signing them had been the right choice but curiosity did always win.

Curiosity killed the cat, she mused putting the paper in a pile, but satisfaction brought it back.

True to her word, Zara cruised in and out in precisely ten minutes without a word or a glance. She just swooped in, grabbed the legal folder and fountain pen and walked right back out the door. Twisting about in the chair filled a few minutes, but soon enough Cady was pulling out her phone and checking the numerous messages she'd ignored over the last day and a half.

Lieutenant (6/1/13, 09:45:12): I heard about the university cutting funding, sorry darlin'.

Mom (6/1/13, 10:13:13): I heard from your cousin, I'm so sorry! When will you be coming home?

Lieutenant (6/2/13, 13:23:56): Radio silence isn't going to make it go away.

Really, their faith in her to overcome something as silly as lacking money was inspiring. Sighing, Cady didn't even bother to read the other fifteen messages in her inbox or listen to the voicemails. Instead, she settled for a quick text message back to quell their worries without giving any specifics.

Mom, Lieutenant (10:16:39): Seeing about a job. All good.

Just as she pressed the 'send' button, the door opened and in walked a tall, slender redhead and a well-dressed Asian gentleman in a turtleneck. Quickly Cady slid her phone back into her bag, standing up from her seat to shake the hand of the redhead.

"Claire Dearing, Operations Director," She supplied unnecessarily, taking a seat as soon as Cady released her hand. "Zara just filed your paperwork, so if we can get this meeting going I think we'll all be happier, am I right Dr. Wu?"

"Yes, that sounds about right," he agreed, picking a seat across from Cady. "There's much to discuss."

"…To be honest, I still don't understand why I'm here," Cady admitted as she retook her seat. "I don't know anything about dinosaurs, or frankly how a multi-billion dollar company would hear about someone working in the backwoods of Washington state."

At the head of the conference table, Claire stilled.

"Miss Starc, the first thing you need to understand is Marsani Global and Jurassic World do not make mistakes."—Cady couldn't help to think the city of San Diego would disagree—"And we've brought you here for a unique opportunity on the high recommendation of your mentor, Dr. Niehaus, despite the fact that you haven't published any research in nearly two years. Can you fill us in on what you've been doing since then?"

With both Dr. Wu and Claire staring her down, Cady couldn't help but feel like the question was more of an order than a request.

"My graduate thesis was on the social interaction and hierarchy of the pack, so I lived with the same pack in the middle of nowhere Idaho for three years. After that, I was given a granted position in Washington state raising pups for pack reintroduction, to help rebuild the state's wolf population—"

Dr. Wu interrupted, "In spite of public outcry?"

"Always. Wolves are a commonly misrepresented animal, and historically have been used as a symbol of evil or ill omens," Cady answered growing slightly more comfortable with the subject. She knew wolves, wolves were a comfortable topic choice. "Human survival has always distrusted anything else that hunts in a pack, or lives in a highly organized social hierarchy."

"Why do you think that is?" Dr. Wu questioned. Claire stayed silent, watching the exchange.

Cady's lips curved in an almost-smirk.

"Because we don't trust anything that has the appearance it could be as smart as us. Show a wolf how a door opens, when they see a door again they're going to remember that it opens and how. They remember just as well as us, create bonds in the same way. It's unsettling."

Seemingly satisfied with her answers, Dr. Wu leaned back in his seat and gave an almost unnoticeable nod towards Claire. If Cady hadn't known any better, she might have thought that it was Wu, not Dearing that was really pulling strings. She didn't know much, but she was pretty sure the Lead Genetic Biologist had more leverage than an Operations Director.

"As Jurassic World is such a unique theme park, we have to keep the public interested, and while dinosaurs were good enough in the beginning, we've made efforts to branch out," Claire began. "We've read your research, and after conducting our own thorough background investigation, we'd formally like to offer you the newly created position of Canis Researcher in charge of the Fenrir Project."

Canis?

"Dog research?" Cady asked a bit incredulously, not putting the pieces together fast enough. "Why would anyone here be doing dog research?"

Her question and perhaps confused expression caused Dr. Wu to chuckle. Claire simply pushed an open folder on the table top towards Cady.

"Not dogs," Wu chimed in suddenly. "What do you know about the Dire Wolf, Miss Starc?"

. . .

Author Note: Living with Wolves, the documentary from Nat Geo, really did follow a married couple that lived with the Sawtooth Pack for six years, and is where I draw a lot of inspo from. Largely, I know nothing beyond the basics of wolves and what I wrote about in fifth grade on a research paper because they're my favorite. I'm basing most of my information on what light research I did so basically take it with a grain of salt, we're talking about resurrection biology so there's bigger problems of keeping in touch with reality.