Just updated the last segment of this chapter a little.
After witnessing firsthand at what Professor Rex has to offer, the three automobiles left the preserve and headed right to the main entrance of the amusement park. It was a huge concrete wall with the "Dino World" sign above it. Beyond the wall was a short road leading to the visitor center which was a huge two-story building. The tops of trees could be seen behind the building. The professor, Ms. Stirling, Mr. Kempson, and the Loud family all exited the vehicles and walked up and through the double doors of the building. The first thing to greet them as they entered the visitor center was a huge, fossilized Tyrannosaurus skeleton. Behind the skeleton was a hallway and two sets of stairs on each side leading to the second floor.
"Cool!" Lynn said gazing up at the skeleton.
"I think this dinosaur's missing its skin," Leni pointed out concerned.
"It's just a fossilized display, Leni," Lori corrected her sister.
"Oh, okay."
"Come along now, children," the professor urged. "There's much to see."
They passed by multiple gift shops and food stands as they made their way down the hall. There was another double door at the end leading into the amusement park itself. There was a man waiting in front of the doors to greet them.
"Welcome back, Professor," the man greeted in an Australian accent. "I see you managed to bring some guests along as well."
"Great to see you, Noah," the professor replied. "How have things been since I was away?"
"We've had a few minor problems, but everything's been taken care of."
"Wonderful!" Then the professor turned to his guests. "Everyone, this is Percival Noah, the park's game warden. His job is to ensure the park's safety and security. He's become one of our top experts on the dinosaurs we have here."
"So, you know all about dinosaurs?" Leni asked.
"I know their diets, their preferred habitats, their estimated speeds, strengths, and growth rates," Noah answered.
"When can we see them?" Lana asked eagerly.
The game warden looked to his employer to give him the go ahead. The professor nodded in approval.
"Well then," he said clapping his hands together. "Who's ready for the grand tour?"
The kids all cheered in excitement and burst through the doors and into the park. They stopped in their tracks as they gazed in awe at their new surroundings as the adults followed. Around them were restaurants and shops. Ahead of them was a monorail station. Past the station was a forest a few stories below. There were three huge structures built on three plateaus located several miles from where they were and separated by the forest below. Two plateau structures were closer and right across from each other and connected by a bridge. The third plateau structure was farther back and could be seen between the two others. Two railroads extended from the station with each connecting to one of the two closer plateaus, after which the two railroads extended past the two plateaus and connected with the third one in back.
"Quite a sight, isn't it?" Noah said smiling at the speechless children.
"What are those over there?" Lincoln asked about the three structures.
"You want to answer that, Professor, or should I?" Noah asked his employer.
"I'd be delighted," Professor Rex replied with a smile. "Those are where we keep our main attractions. The one on the left is called "Herbivore Oasis", that is where we keep most of our plant-eating dinosaurs. The one on the right is called "Pterosaur Peaks", where we keep our avian attractions. And the one in the middle is "Carnivore Canyon", where we keep our meat-eaters. The forest below also has some of our ground-based attractions roaming around that people can see as they ride the monorail."
"There are dinosaurs down there?" Lana asked as she, Lincoln, and Luna looked over a railing down at the forest hoping to spot one.
"That there are."
"Sounds like this place is dino-mite! Get it?" Luan joked much to the chagrin of everyone.
"Very funny," Noah sarcastically responded.
"Here we have quality restaurants, gift shops, shows, play areas for children, a petting zoo, and a nursery," the professor continued.
"Where's the petting zoo?!" Lana asked excitedly turning her attention away from the forest. The chance to touch an actual dinosaur was irresistible.
A moment later, they were led to a stable where they saw little dinosaurs around the size of Lincoln and Lynn roaming around.
"Most of them are just babies around a few weeks old," Noah explained. "We don't keep the petting zoo open all day. Eventually they'll need to be returned to their mothers."
"They're all so cute!" Leni said mesmerized by the sight of young Triceratops, Stegosauruses, Brachiosauruses, Parasaurolophuses, and Gallimimuses.
Many of the younger Loud kids were already in the stable interacting with the baby dinosaurs under the watchful eyes of supervisors. Lincoln was feeding a Brachiosaurus some leaves given to him by a supervisor, the animal licked his face in gratitude causing him to giggle happily. Lynn was riding on a Triceratops howling in excitement. Lola rode on a Parasaurolophus pretending she was royalty riding on her steed. Lana was eating leaves alongside a Stegosaurus. Lisa was curiously observing a Gallimimus and it was doing the same with her. Lori took pictures with her phone. A young Brachiosaurus walked up to the fence to where Rita stood holding Lily. The youngest Loud child reached out to try and pet the animal.
"Don't worry, ma'am, these are plant-eaters," Noah assured Rita.
The mother held out her baby a little more allowing her to pet the dinosaur. Lily giggled happily and the Brachiosaurus seemed to do the same.
"If I had a heart, it would be bursting with joy," Lucy said in her emotionless monotone voice.
"Say, Noah, why don't you keep the petting zoo open all day?" Kempson asked curiously.
"If we keep the babies away for too long, their mothers get agitated," the game warden explained.
"I see," the lawyer understood.
"Well, who here is interested in how all of this came to be?" the professor asked his guests.
The Louds all voiced their interest simultaneously. They really wanted to know how species who had been extinct for billions of years had suddenly come back to life.
"Alright then. There is a show that is scheduled to start in a few minutes that will shed some light onto all your questions. Follow me."
Professor Rex led the family and the lawyer to a nearby theatre. Everyone started entering and finding seats in front of the huge projection screen.
"Ms. Stirling?" The professor noticed his secretary hadn't entered yet. "The shows about to start and everyone's seated."
"Sorry sir, but I need to make an important call," she apologized. "Go ahead and start without me."
Rather than insist and argue, her employer gave an understanding and friendly smile. She's supported him and his project faithfully for years and was always doing what was best for him and his dream.
"Alright then. See you after the show."
With that, the professor took his seat right next to Lisa.
"I'm looking forward to this," the child prodigy said.
"I know," the professor replied.
Once everyone was in their seats, the lights in the room dimmed and a projector in the back started playing. Everyone watched as a light with pictures shot from the projector and onto the big screen in front of them. A man with black hair and light skin wearing glasses and a white lab coat appeared on the screen.
"Hallo zusammen," the man on the screen greeted in a German accent. "I am Dr. Joseph Heinrich. I was once assistant to Professor Tyler Rex and now I work as chief genetic engineer at Dino World. I helped him research and create the dinosaurs you see here at this amusement park. Now some of you are wondering how we were able to bring creatures who have been extinct for millions of years back to life. Well, let's get right to it."
Meanwhile, outside the theatre, Ms. Stirling was standing alone by a railing separating the area from the forest below holding her phone to her ear. She was making a private call and wanted to make sure no one would be able to hear her conversation.
"Yes, Mr. Powls," the secretary said reassuringly to the person on the phone. "With guests finally here, the whole plan is ready to go."
"Good," the voice on the other side of the call known as Mr. Powls said satisfied. "Are the other members of your team in position?"
"The two you've sent should be arriving tomorrow," she replied. "Do they have any way of preserving the embryos during transport? They're of no use if they're not kept cool."
"They're bringing a special cooler for that. You just need to make sure they know where to go and can get past security."
"That won't be a problem, I have two inside men on my payroll that will make sure they can do their part without any issue," Stirling assured. "By the way, the guests consist of a family of thirteen, two parents and eleven kids."
"Is that going to be an issue?" Powls asked suspiciously.
"No sir, not at all," Stirling assured without hesitation. "I just wanted to make sure that wasn't an issue with you."
"I don't care what you have to do in order to complete your mission, just make sure you get me what I want."
"Yes sir, it will be done, I promise," she confidently assured with a slightly malicious smile. "I've spent the last couple of years planning and preparing for this."
"Do you have a plan on beating security?"
"One of my guys is a very skilled hacker with a few financial problems. With the right motivation, he'll be able to ensure this operation goes off without a hitch. After tomorrow, your company will be able to catch up on nine years of Professor Rex's research."
"Make sure you deliver what you promised, Stirling," Powls said in a threatening tone. "You know what happens to people who can't deliver on their end of a deal."
"Of course, Mr. Powls," Stirling replied calmly and confidently. "You have nothing to worry about."
With that, the call ended. Stirling put her phone away and gazed out at the forest and amusement park structures all around her.
"A part of me is almost going to miss this place," she said to herself with a cold grin.
Back inside the theatre, everyone was watching and listening intently as Dr. Heinrich explained everything in the film.
"As we all know, dinosaurs existed millions of years ago," the German scientist explained in the film. "But other creatures did too, like mosquitos." A picture of a mosquito appeared on the screen. "And like today, they fed off the blood of larger animals. Blood is important. Why? Because a single drop of blood contains billions of strands of DNA. And as we all know, DNA are the 'building blocks of life'." An illustration of a DNA strand appeared on the screen. "Think of them as 'blueprints' for building life, and sometimes animals that went extinct millions of years ago, like dinosaurs, left their blueprints behind for us humans to find. The question was 'where do we look?'" An image of a tree leaking sticky sap appeared on screen. "Sometimes, after biting a dinosaur, a mosquito would lad on a tree and get stuck in the sap. After a long period of time, the tree sap would harden, become fossilized, and turn into amber." An image of a mosquito encased in golden amber appeared onscreen. "Preserving the mosquito inside." The Loud family's eyes widened a little more as some of them were starting to put things together. "Professor Rex came up with the idea of using sophisticated techniques to extract the preserved blood from the mosquito and…" A clip showed a younger-looking Professor Rex drilling into a piece of amber, then sticking a needle through the hole and into the fossilized insect's abdomen. Then the needle started extracting the ancient blood preserved within the bug. "Eureka! We have Dino DNA!"
"Wow!" a few of the Louds quietly exclaimed in amazement.
"I would've guessed time travel, but this works too," Lisa whispered.
"Unfortunately, the DNA strands are very long and incomplete." A clip showing scientists viewing and manipulating computerized DNA strands on computers and in VR simulators was shown. "That's where the most skilled geneticists and gene sequencing technology comes in. They are able to break down a strand in minutes and see the gaps in the DNA sequence." Then images of different types of birds, amphibians, and reptiles started flashing across the screen. "Since birds are direct descendants of dinosaurs, we used their DNA, along with the DNA of other reptiles and amphibians, to fill in the holes and complete the code. And now, we can create our very own dinosaur eggs." An image of a dinosaur egg appeared onscreen. Then a picture of the amusement park's front entrance appeared. "And with these newly resurrect dinosaurs, Professor Rex was able to build Dino World, the very theme park you are all enjoying where humans can come and see these amazing creatures that existed before our time and get a taste of what it was like to live in their world. I'm Dr. Joseph Heinrich, and I thank you for coming." With that, the film was over, and its audience erupted in applause.
"I have no idea what that movie was about, but we have dinosaurs!" Leni commented.
"I want to see them all!" Lana said excitedly.
"Amazing!" Mr. Kempson had to admit.
"This is like a dream come true!" Lincoln said feeling like he had just entered theme park heaven.
"I'm literally going to take selfies with every dinosaur here and send them to Bobby!" Lori excitedly declared.
"I have to say I'm impressed, Professor," Lisa complimented. "Even a genius like me never thought anyone could pull this off."
"Thank you, Miss Lisa," the professor replied gratefully.
Soon the group exited the theatre.
"So do you keep all your dinosaurs down there and in those three buildings?" Lynn Sr. asked.
"Not all of them actually," Noah answered. "Some of the newer ones are kept in pens outside the park until they are properly domesticated."
"Would anyone like to see them?" the professor offered.
Professor Rex and Noah took the family and Mr. Kempson to a heavily secured animal pen outside the park.
"This is one of the high security pens and paddocks we have out here," the professor explained. "The new ones are kept in them until they are safe enough to be transported into the park."
Suddenly, an inhuman screeching noise came from inside the pen startling everyone.
"What's in there?" Lincoln asked.
"Velociraptors," the professor answered.
"You have raptors?!" the boy said in disbelief.
The whole family ran up to the fence around the top of the pen to get a closer look with their host, Kempson, and Noah following. But all they saw was small trees and bushes.
"There's literally nothing here," Lori said disappointed that she had gotten her phone ready for nothing.
Suddenly, the sounds of machinery filled the air. Everyone looked up and saw a crane lowering a small container into the pen. An oinking sound came from within the container.
"Looks like it's feeding time," the professor said observantly.
Everyone watched as the container opened and a pig was dumped into the pen. The swine got up on its legs and cautiously observed its surroundings.
"Aww! It looks like a cute little –" Leni's sentence was cut off by the rustling of trees and high-pitch screeching noises.
The Louds and Kempson all watched aghast as the sounds of vicious screeching, squealing, and flesh being ripped apart filled the air. Rita covered Lily's eyes so that she wouldn't see the carnage before them. Lori ran over to the railing behind them to empty her stomach. Both Professor Rex and Noah were used to this by now. Everything went quite once the slaughter was over. Some of the Louds (Lynn Sr., Leni, Luan, Lola, and Rita) looked visibly shaken. Luan couldn't even find the will to crack a joke.
"Whoa!" Lincoln exclaimed in shock. "They're way different than the ones I've seen in movies and video games."
"You're probably thinking of Deinonychus," Noah said. "We're keeping them in the second pen a couple miles from this one. They're bigger, less feathery, and meaner." A serious expression formed on the game warden's face. He was all too familiar with the Deinonychus. He never forgot that one of them was responsible for the loss of one of his coworkers. "If you want my personal opinion, they should all be destroyed."
"Now calm down, Noah," the professor said. "These things take time."
Lana noticed in the distance, a few miles away, beyond some trees, stood a large metallic and concrete structure. It looked like it had a lot of security measures on it.
"What's over there?" the young tomboy asked.
Noah and the professor both looked in the direction of the structure and expressions of dread washed over their faces.
"Trust me, kid," the game warden said in a tone of uneasy seriousness. "You don't want to know."
"Could you tell us what the growth rate for the Deinonychus is?" Lisa asked the game warden.
"They're lethal at around eight months, and I do mean lethal. I've hunted most predators in my home country, but those things are a whole new experience."
"How fast are they?" Lynn Jr. asked.
"As fast or sometimes faster than a cheetah if they ever got out into the open, God forbid, and they can jump frighteningly high."
"Are they smart?" Lincoln asked.
"They're extremely smart, they solve problems faster than chimps. You should watch out for the Alpha. She's faster, stronger, and smarter than the others," Noah warned. "She can learn a lot about someone just by staring at them. One time, she had all the others attacking the fences for weaknesses."
The guests became a little uneasy as Noah explained the Deinonychus to them. They had just seen what real Velociraptors can do, but these dinosaurs were starting to sound even worse by comparison.
"But the fences are electrified, right?" Mr. Kempson asked cautiously.
"Yes, but they never attack the same place twice," the game warden answered. "They remember."
For a moment, everyone stood in nervous silence. Kempson at first was excited at the idea of a dinosaur theme park, but now the lawyer was starting to grow suspicious of its safety measures.
"Well, I'm feeling a little peckish," Lynn Sr. nervously announced. He just wanted to get back to the park where it felt safer.
"Me too, Honey," Rita agreed reading her husband's mind. "Kids?"
All the Loud children agreed with their parents. They too were just as nervous as them and wanted to return to a more friendly environment. It was clear that none of the guests wanted to meet the Deinonychus. Although, some, especially Lisa, were still curious about what was being kept in the huge paddock very far from them.
Author's Note: While this isn't a crossover with Jurassic Park, some of the OC characters are inspired by some of the characters in the films. Examples: Professor Rex is inspired by Dr. Hammond and Noah is inspired by Muldoon.