The Inspection Tour
After five years of hard work, Jurassic Park was nearly ready for the Grand Opening. The opening was conveniently at the start of the summer holidays, giving hope to Jurassic Park administration that school children would bug their parents into a weekend at Jurassic Park. The reason why the park was nearly ready lay in the dinosaurs, some of which were too vicious. For instance, the Allosaurus had killed six workers and maimed two before it was trapped with a Snagger Tank. Even the Ankylosaurus, a herbivore, had somehow clubbed a worker to death with its club-ended tail. These incidents worried Management, for if the dinosaurs were to get loose, they knew it would be a bloodbath. Which was why John Hammond was perpetually in the Control Room, observing the dinosaurs within their enclosures. The phone rang and his Nedry picked it up. "Hammond, its Gennaro. Says he's gotta talk to you," said Nedry, burping loudly. Hammond took the receiver from him, "What do you want, Gennaro?" "Your investors are snapping at my heels, Hammond! I had to promise them a very thorough on site inspection. Ian Malcolm, Alan Grant, and Ellie Sattler have agreed to visit the island." "Donald, you know how I hate inspections. They slow down all the works!" Hammond growled. "I understand your feelings. Nevertheless, be ready for the four of us. We'll be there for 48 hours this weekend. A warning: no inspection, funding gets pulled," said Gennaro flatly, hanging up. Hammond slammed the receiver down, turning to Arnold. "Tell the workers to ready five hotel rooms in the Hotel Triassic. We're having some pre-opening guests," he said, rubbing his temples.
Several people were clustered around a Velociraptor fossil, using brushes and chisels to remove sand as well as rock that were covering the fossil. Doctors Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler were among those people. "Wonder when Hammond's gonna turn up," said Grant to Sattler. "Dunno, probably he's lost," she replied. Both of them grimaced at this. The badlands near Montana were ever changing, contrary to normal belief, hence it was easy to get lost. Out of the blue, a helicopter came down not thirty feet from the dig site. "Cover it, quick!" yelled Alan, making a beeline for the chopper. He slapped the windscreen, "Shut it off! Shut it off, damn it!" Just as soon as the engines shut off, an old man dressed in white stepped out. He hurried to Grant, shook his hand and introduced himself, "John Hammond, pleased to meet you."
An enraged Doctor Ellie Sattler stormed into the team's storage caravan, shouting, "All right, who's the jerk!" Grant caught her before she could do anything drastic. "This is John Hammond, our sponsor. He wants us to visit his park," he explained. She stared at him, "Why would he need us, paleontologists, of all people?" "Don't worry, my park's right up your alley," he said. "And now, my jet's waiting at Choteau. Have you packed your things yet?" he asked, smiling.
An Hour Later
The two paleontologists were seated in Hammond's personal chopper, together with Dr. Ian Malcolm, a Chaos Theory mathematician, InGen's legal counsel Donald Gennaro, and Hammond himself. "You will be amazed by the wonders of my park," said Hammond, "And please sign-off on the my park if its to your satisfaction. Ah, there it is!" The chopper was approaching an island, lush and green. "Watch out, the wind shears are quite rough!" warned Hammond, as the chopper made a rough descent between two cliffs. Malcolm noticed a cluster of buildings on a low hill at the centre of the island, overlooking a lake. He thought he saw some strange moving shapes, but put the thought out of his mind when they made a touchdown.
Two jeeps were waiting, a Tyrannosaurus skull and the words Jurassic Park emblazoned on the doors. A man hopped out of the jeep, grinning like a Cheshire Cat. "Welcome to Jurassic Park! I'm Ed Regis and I'm your guide," he said. The very puzzled scientists, lawyer, and mathematician were ushered into the jeeps, which headed along a tarred road through not one, but three electrified gates. "You keep heavy game here?" Malcolm asked Hammond, gesturing towards the gates, which were labeled 'Do Not Touch! High Electrical Voltage! 10 000 Volts', followed by a picture of a hand and a lightning bolt. "Just wait and you'll see," chuckled Hammond. After a left hairpin turn, the jeeps were trundling through open fields, with clusters of trees and forest here and there. Ellie Sattler was looking through a brochure Hammond had given her, "Are these ride names? I'm seeing exhibits named after dinosaurs." Alan suddenly grabbed her head, turning it to her right. She opened her mouth to protest, but was silenced by the sight she beheld. A herd of Apatosaurs were drinking from a lake, with dozens of Parasaurolophus drinking and bathing at the same lake. "How in the name of Pythagoras did you accomplish this!" exclaimed Malcolm. Gennaro was dumbfounded, saying, "We're gonna make a fortune with this place." Grant and Ellie had run towards the lake, followed by Hammond. "How is this possible?" asked Grant in an awestruck voice. "I'll show you," said Hammond, shooing them back into the jeeps.
The jeeps parked at the buildings Malcolm had seen earlier, which Hammond explained was the lab and Visitor Center. They entered, and were greeted by a Tyrannosaurus fossil suspended in an attacking pose over a brachiosaurus fossil. As they walked up the stairs, they saw a banner that read, 'WHEN DINOSAURS WALKED THE EARTH' Hammond and Regis led them to an amphitheatre, seating them in chairs with locking bars. The screen came to life, showing an image of John Hammond. "Hello John," the image said. The REAL John Hammond replied, "Hello, John. I'll be needing a sample of blood. YOUR blood." He then proceeded to prick the image's finger and explain about the miracle of cloning. The show then went on with the images of Hammond multiplying into two, four, eight, sixteen, and so on until the screen was full of John Hammonds. The Johns were then replaced by a DNA strand named Mr. DNA. "Hello, you cowpokes! I'm here to explain how our dinosaurs are made! We first extract DNA from amber encased mosquitoes. These mosquitoes we examine, in the hope that they might have sucked dinosaur blood before landing on tree branches, getting killed by oozing resin, and become amber encased. The dinosaur DNA which has been preserved for millions of years remained there, until Jurassic Park scientists came along.
The scientists drill a hole leading straight to the mosquito. A specialized syringe is then used to extract the contents of the insect, which is then labeled and stored. The extracted stuff is then scanned by our geneticists, who determine whether preserved Dino DNA is to be found in the insect contents. Once the DNA is determined to be present, our gene sequencers show us the gaps in the DNA strand, telling us where and how much DNA has been lost but can be replaced. Taking DNA from various animals, such as lizards and birds, we fill in the holes, and insert the DNA into an artificial egg. Now," Mr. DNA paused dramatically, "We can hatch a baby dinosaur!" The screen showed a dinosaur hatching and stomping around. "Thank you for viewing this show! Enjoy the lab tour you are about to experience! For those who need to 'do business', the toilets are on the left side of the corridor, seeya!" said Mr. DNA, before the screen shut off.
As the group of inspectors entered the lab, a slender Chinese man greeted them. "Hi, I'm Dr. Wu, head geneticist and your lab tour guide. Please turn off cell phones, walkmans, and other electrical gadgets. These might release electrical discharges that can deform unhatched dinosaurs. And remember, see, but don't touch!" They were then led to a room with shelves lining the walls. "This," Wu said, "is the amber room. All our amber encased insects are here, labeled according to species produced, DNA present, and viability. Have a good look, because we're moving on."
The next room contained dozens of stainless steel boxes arranged in concentric circles around four cone shaped towers in the center of the room. "The boxes are our Hamachi-Hood gene sequencers. The towers are the Cray XMP Supercomputers, which power the sequencers, as well as the Virtual Reality DNA gap detectors," said Wu, gesturing towards several men and women who were seemingly playing with thin air. All of them wore plastic helmets with face-covering plates. The Crays hummed with gigantic sized data transmission, filling all room's occupants with awe.
They moved on to the next room. The door was electrically locked, which Dr. Wu had to unlock with a Security Card, a password, a retinal scan, AND a fingerprint scan. The door opened, revealing a second door, which was transparent. A sign on the door caught every visitor's attention. It read: Vacuum sealed door. Electrified with 2000 Volts. Authorized personnel only. Toxic and hazardous substances containment. Fertilized egg storage. Dr. Wu unlocked it with a fingerprint, voice print, and Security Card scan. They entered the room, which contained over a hundred eggs, as well as a computer bank, a wall-length freezer, and a rack of test tubes. "The freezer contains dinosaur embryos, which are kept viable with liquid nitrogen immersion. The computer controls the locks on the freezer, the rack, and the door. The test tubes contain many different toxins, beta-alkaloids, and substances which are too dangerous for humans to even touch. These eggs contain embryos, and will soon hatch. Should the hatchlings be deformed, we use a test tube's contents to….er….. put it out of it's misery," finished Wu, moving towards another door which read 'Hatchery and Nursery'.
They saw several dinosaurs hatching, and a lady was playing with a baby Metriacanthosaurus, which already had its spinal ridge. A baby Velociraptor was napping in a corner, and several baby Pachycephalosaurs were butting each other, squealing happily. "Why do you bother to create more eggs? Wont the dinosaurs breed by themselves?" asked Alan. "All our dinosaurs are female," replied Wu. "How do you tell a dinosaur's gender? Do your workers go out there and look up the dinosaur's skirts?" asked Malcolm, looking at Hammond. "We deny them the 'Y' chromosome before birth. All vertebrates, humans included, start life as females. It just takes a hormone at the precise moment to produce a male," answered Wu, "Well, I've gotta get back to work, so see you later." As he walked away, Malcolm turned to Hammond. "this will guarantee the failure of your park," he said. "Fiddlesticks, Malcolm! I trust Dr. Wu and his team," retorted Hammond. "But anyways, lets head to the computer center, before the park tour begins," the smiling old man said.
They were in the computer center, being entertained by Chief Technician Ray Arnold, when a worker rushed in, followed by two kids, a boy and a girl. "Grandpa!" they yelled. "Kids!" Hammond replied, beaming. Turning to the inspectors, he said, "These young ruffians are Lex and Tim, my grandchildren! They've agreed to join us for the inspection. Their mother's having a divorce, so, here they are! Ah, the tour's starting!" he said, glancing at a clock. As they walked out of the room, Gennaro could be heard cursing Hammond under his breath.
They all waited at the Visitor Center entrance, spotting the two driverless cars that were heading towards them. "These run on buried tracks," said Ed Regis, pointing at a groove on the road. "Spared no expense," chuckled Hammond. They quickly entered the cars, a grumbling Ed Regis sitting with the kids in one, and the other adults sitting in the second. Hammond waved to them as they left the Center, moving down a track to a pair of wooden looking doors. A voice on the car's radios announced, "This is the voice of Richard Kiley. We spared no expense! Welcome to Jurassic Park!" The doors opened automatically, the dramatic effect enhanced by some lit oil torches.
In the twilight, they all gazed in wonder at the dinosaurs, which were nocturnal and therefore beginning their various activities. From the frilled Dilophosaurs that spit at the car to the massive Spinosaurus, the ride went off without a hitch. They then enjoyed a splendid dinner, followed by a 'Night Safari' on a suspension bridge. The next morning, they rode cable cars that moved among the Pterodactyls and the Skybaxes. The ride was followed by lunch on the Jungle River Barge. By the next evening, Jurassic park was endorsed by four awed adults and two squealing children. With their signatures and testimonials, Jurassic Park was declared safe for human visitors.