Life Finds A Way

The jeeps drove to another building with a lily pond on the other side of the road. This one had three cone-shaped grass roofs, separated into sections. Sculpted on the entrance doorway was the same skeleton on the park logo; the Tyrannosaurs Rex.

A sign off to the right read Jurassic Park Visitors' Center.

The doors opened to reveal a large, two-story rotunda where the split sections roof were built into a glass dome to allow in extra sunlight. At the center were a couple of mounted dinosaur skeletons; a T-Rex and an Alamosaurus.

Circling the room was a staircase to the second floor, which Hammond began leading the entourage up. Scattered around were more people in hardhats adding extra touches here and there.

"The most advanced amusement park in the entire world!" He monologued. "Incorporating all the latest technologies, and I'm not just talking about rides, you know. Everybody has rides. No, we've made living biological attractions so astonishing they'll capture the imagination of the entire planet!"

"I'll believe that," Harry murmured to Hermione. "All except theirs."

He gestured to the Dursleys who were ignoring him as the Grangers placed a hand on their daughter's shoulders.

Meanwhile, Grant and Sattler eyed each other cautiously, while Malcolm and Genarro kept theirs forward.

"What are you thinking?" She asked.

"That we're out of a job," Grant replied.

"Don't you mean extinct?" Malcolm rephrased.

Upstairs, Hammond led them though another pair of doors, where a sign above read Showcase Theatre. Inside was a small auditorium with lap bars in front of the seats and a movie screen showing the park logo carved in stone.

Grant, Sattler, and Malcolm took up the front row, while the Grangers and the Dursleys filled up the second. Genarro sat in the back row, while Harry glanced around for a seat. The closest he could find was the first row's aisle seat, next to Grant.

"Do you mind if I join you," he asked, cautiously.

"Not at all," Malcom replied, still beaming.

Dr. Sattler presented Harry with a warm, maternal smile, yet Dr. Grant still looked hesitant, though his hat hadn't claimed the seat next to him.

Hammond stood next to the screen as the image of him in a suit was shown on the screen, coming into view of the audience.

"Hello," Screen Hammond welcomed.

"Say hello," Hammond instructed.

Phipps and Fobbs watched expectantly as the members of the audience waved awkwardly, only Dr. Sattler managing to say it.

"Hello John," Screen Hammond greeted.

"Oh, that's right," Hammond realized. "I've got lines."

He fumbled around for a stack of cards, finally pulling it out in time for his next cue.

"Well, fine, fine I guess," Screen Hammond continued. "But, how did I get here?"

"Well, let me show you," Hammond offered. "First, I'll need a drop of blood; your blood."

The Hammond on screen extended his finger, while the real Hammond pinched his thumb and index finger together, reaching towards the finger on screen, pretending to prick it like a needle."

"John, that hurt!" cried Screen Hammond.

"Relax John," Hammond reassured. "It's all part of the miracle of cloning."

The Hammond on screen began to multiply into more Hammonds to illustrate, while muttering was heard amongst the audience.

"Cloning?" Harry puzzled. "Is it really possible?"

"Don't you read the news?" Hermione asked.

"The Prophet is the only column I can get near," he reminded her.

"Well then, perhaps you need the voice of an expert," Hermione suggested, gesturing to the trio next to him.

Harry leaned in as the three of them muttered animatedly amongst themselves.

"Cloning from what?" Grant pondered. "Loy extraction has never recreated an intact DNA strand."

"Not without massive sequence gaps," Malcolm added.

"Paleo-DNA? From what source?" Sattler reiterated. "Where do you get 100 million year old dinosaur blood?"

On the screen, a swirl of colorful animated balls emerged from Screen Hammond's finger, growing a set of arms, a pair of eyes, and a mouth before tapping him on the shoulder.

"Mr. DNA!" Screen Hammond cried. "Where did you come from?"

"From your blood," Mr. DNA replied. "Just one drop of your blood contains billions of strands of DNA; the building blocks of life!

Mr. DNA addressed the audience, using more animation to illustrate.

"A DNA strand like me is a blueprint for building a living thing!" He explained. "And sometimes animals that went extinct millions of years ago, like dinosaurs, left their blueprints behind for us to find! We just had to know where to look!

A hundred million years ago, there were mosquitoes, just like today. And, just like today, they fed on the blood of animals. Even dinosaurs!

Sometimes, after biting a dinosaur, the mosquito would land on a branch of a tree, and get stuck in the sap!

After a long time, the tree sap would get hard and become fossilized, just like a dinosaur bone, preserving the mosquito inside!"

They then cut to footage of people in white coats drilling through the sap.

"This fossilized tree sap, which we call amber, waited millions of years, with the mosquito inside" Mr. DNA continued. "Until Jurassic Park's scientists came along!

Using sophisticated techniques, they extract the preserved blood from the mosquito, and...

Bingo! Dino DNA!"

After showing the blood being extracted, Mr. DNA was shown monologuing in front of moving arrangements of nucleobases.

"A full DNA strand contains three billion genetic codes!" He detailed. "If we looked at screens like these once a second for eight hours a day, it'd take two years to look at the entire strand! It's that long! And since it's so old, it's full of holes! That's where our geneticists take over!"

They cut again to people in the lab, this time working at computers, some wearing wired goggles and gloves.

"Thinking Machine supercomputers and gene sequencers break down the strand in minutes," Mr. DNA continued. "And Virtual Reality displays show our geneticists the gaps in the DNA sequence!"

The film then cut back to animation for its remainder.

"We use the complete DNA of a frog to fill in the holes and complete the code!" Mr. DNA concluded. "Now we can make a baby dinosaur!"

"This score is only temporary," Hammond interrupted. "It all has very dramatic music, of course. Our own march or something, it hasn't been written yet. And then, of course, the tour moves on."

Hammond pulled out a remote control and clicked it, pulling down a series of lap bars.

More grumbling and even some whining was heard in the middle row from the overweight beach balls whose legs wouldn't fit.

The auditorium moved past a large pane of glass, where three round signs hung behind, reading Genetics, Fertilization, and Hatchery.

Underneath the signs were numerous people in white overcoats placing slides under microscopes, peering through the lenses.

"This is overwhelming, John," Genarro whispered. "Are these characters... auto-erotica?"

"Oh no, we have no animatronics here," Hammond denied. "These people are the real miracle workers of Jurassic Park."

Mr. DNA's voice still continued over speakers planted at the corners of the theater,

"Our fertilization department is where the dinosaur DNA takes the place of the DNA in unfertilized emu or ostrich eggs..."

Next to Harry, Grant, Sattler, and Malcolm were leaning forward to try and get a better look.

"Wait a minute!" Grant called. "How do you interrupt the cellular mitosis?"

"Can't we see the unfertilized eggs?" Sattler requested.

"Shortly, shortly," Hammond promised.

But the auditorium just kept moving, this time into a room filled with people at computers.

"Can't you stop these things?" Grant demanded.

"I'm sorry, it's kind of a ride," Hammond explained.

Still, that didn't stop the trio of scientists from pulling up their lap bars, squishing Harry's legs as they left the row.

"Sorry," Grant apologized, blankly.

"Excuse me," Sattler requested.

"Excuse me," Malcolm repeated.

Harry watched them exit the still moving auditorium through a blue metal door up ahead. Naturally, he followed, not noticing the lap bar behind him being pushed up.

"About bloody time!" Vernon growled.

The Dursleys pushed past the Grangers, squashing their legs without so much as asking for a pass, except for Dudley whining,

"Move it!"

Needless to say, the Grangers themselves weren't looking too pleased.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" Paul demanded.

"Paul," Jane scolded.

"Dad!" Hermione repeated.

But Paul stood up, rubbing his knees, escorting his wife and daughter out of the auditorium.

"They can't do that!" Genarro insisted. "Can they do that?"

Hammond clicked the remote control again, causing the theater to stop as he and Genarro stood up to join them.

Passing through the blue door, they walked down a metal stairway into the room behind the glass. Bathed in white light, a young man with cropped black hair, appearing to be of Asian descent, was taking notes, wearing the same white coat as the other workers.

"G'Day, Henry," Hammond greeted, tipping his hat.

"Oh, good day sir," he replied, tipping his pen.

"Everyone," Hammond introduced. "This is Dr. Henry Wu, our chief geneticist."

Grant, Sattler, and Malcolm stepped in to shake Dr. Wu's hand, each introducing themselves, but Harry'e eyes were caught by a robotic arm just a few steps away. It was looming above a round apparatus filled with green mosses, picking up some gridiron football-sized eggs.

"Hermione, look at this!" He called.

Hermione crouched to Harry's right, her eyes also widening, as something brushed against Harry's left shoulder; Grant was leaning in to have a look for himself, Sattler to his left, adjusting a pair of round glasses.

"It's turning the eggs!" she gasped.

At the sound of her voice, Malcolm, Wu, Genarro, and Hammond followed behind, Paul and Jane gathering next to her daughter.

Behind Harry, the Dursleys seemed to be more occupied with the computers filling the room, Dudley looking through each one. But Harry wasn't the only one to notice their absence.

"Where are your relatives?" Hermione asked.

"Probably deciding which computer to smash after messing with it," Harry replied.

He missed a suspicious blue eyed gaze directly across from him, but Hermione shook her head until she saw one of the eggs start to quake.

"Oh, perfect timing," Wu exclaimed. "I'd hoped they'd hatch before I had to go to the boat."

"Henry, why didn't you tell me?" Hammond chuckled, pulling on a pair of rubber gloves. "You know I insist on being here when they're born."

Harry didn't notice the Dursleys' heads perking up behind him; he was too busy watching the top of the egg crack open.

"Come on," Hammond whispered, holding out his hands. "Come on, little one. Come on, then."

He chuckled as a larger chunk of the eggshell cracked off and a tiny, sticky red claw popped out.

"Very good," Hammond complimented. "Push."

A reptilian head emerged, covered in a strange red goo, followed by the other claw, cracking the rest of the egg open. Hammond slowly removed the pieces of eggshell stuck to the baby's head.

"They imprint on the first living creature they come in contact with," he explained. "That helps them to trust me."

Hearing this, Harry and Hermione glanced at each other. After recalling an old friend when meeting the brachiosaur, this experience was sure to bring back more memories of him. Even moreso, Hammond's comments also would make them recall who helped hatch their old friend.

"I've been present for the birth of every animal on this Island," Hammond continued.

"Surely not the ones that have bred in the wild?" Malcolm stuttered with skepticism.

"Actually, they can't breed in the wild," Wu reiterated, grinning as he leaned in for a look himself. "Population control is one of our security precautions here. There is no unauthorized breeding in Jurassic Park."

"And how do you know they can't breed?" Malcolm queried.

"Because all the animals in Jurassic Park are female," Wu replied, still grinning. "We've engineered them that way."

Wu gave Hammond a few tissues to clean the a baby up as Grant and Sattler continued to fawn over it. Harry and Hermione both leaned in for a touch until they felt themselves being pulled back;

Dudley barged his way through them, making them fall backwards, right into the frames of the other Dursleys. Paul was quick to catch his daughter as she grasped Harry's hand. Petunia stiffly stepped aside, but Harry still fell into the beefy frame of Vernon Dursley.

Vernon narrowed his beady eyes at his nephew, stepping backwards to let him hit the floor.

Missing the thud behind him, Grant picked the baby up in his hands, more concentrated on it than pulling on his arm.

"Blood temperature feels like high eighties, maybe?" He suggested.

"Ninety-one," Wu corrected.

When Grant finally felt the pull, he looked to his left and saw Dudley prying, most likely to get his hands on the baby.

"Hey kid, do you mind?" He murmured.

"Homoeothermic? It holds that temperature?" Sattler queried. "That's incredible!"

As Hammond finished wiping up the newborn, everyone briefly froze, including Dudley, as the robotic arm grabbed the empty eggshell and turned it over before turning away from the nest.

Still, Grant clutched the baby, closely eyeing it, while Malcolm leaned against the nest.

"But again, how do you know they're all female?" He mused. "Does someone go into the park and pull up the dinosaurs' skirts?"

The peanut gallery between Malcolm and Grant snickered upon hearing that, but the one behind him didn't laugh as much after a fall.

"We control their chromosomes," Wu clarified, still grinning. "It's really not that difficult. All vertebrate embryos are inherently female anyway. They just require an extra hormone given at the right developmental stage to make them male; we simply deny them that."

"Deny them that?" Sattler reiterated.

Now, the boy who was pushed to the floor by his cousin looked more affronted. Still, Harry made sure that the girl next to him didn't see his expression.

He glanced over at Malcolm, who had moved over to nearby stool, most likely to take his sights away from all the amazement.

"John, the kind of control you're attempting is not possible," He grumbled. "If there's one thing the history of evolution has taught us, it's that life will not be contained. Life breaks free. It expands to new territories. It crashes through barriers. Painfully, maybe even dangerously, but...well, there it is."

He smiled triumphantly as Genarro and the Dursleys stared at him like he'd blown a microchip. The more civil members of the group, that being Harry, Grant, Sattler, and the Grangers, all looked rather ponderous.

Wu, on the other hand, had all but completely lost his smile by then.

"You're implying that a group of composed entirely of female animals will... breed?" He questioned.

"No," Malcolm denied. "I'm simply saying that life... finds a way."

Malcolm looked back at Grant, who was now eyeing the hatchling even closer than before. He looked like he was seeing an old friend, yet a look of disbelief still crossed him.

"What species is this?" He questioned.

"It's a velociraptor," Wu confirmed.

"You bred raptors?" He reiterated.

After Wu nodded his head, Grant carefully handed the baby raptor to Harry, who began to eye it like a snake he'd once eyed at the zoo. The baby even seemed to be looking him, almost directly in the eye.

"Where are they held?" Grant demanded.

"Just out the back, up the road," Wu replied. "Down the stairs, through that door."

Wu directed Grant up a ramp to a railed platform at the edge of the room, out another metal door, followed by Sattler and Malcolm.

"Dr. Grant!" Hammond called.

But now Dudley was dragging his parents after them, laughing ecstatically. It didn't take long for Harry to grab Hermione's hand and pull her in the same direction once he'd placed the baby back in the nest.

"Mr. Potter?!" Hammond muttered.

"Hermione!" Jane cried, overlapping with Hammond.

"Harry, what are you..." Hermione tried to protest

Harry dragged her up the ramp, out the door, through another door reading, Back Stairs, AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.

They traversed down another flight of stairs before finding another door with a crack of light passing through the window.

Outside was a pathway through a cleared section of brush that Grant and the others were passing through up ahead.

Harry kept pulling Hermione along, not hearing extra footsteps behind them. They followed the path until they reached a large pit with electric fencing at the top and a modest-looking watchtower off the side, where more men in hardhats were watching.

Once they caught their breath, they saw Grant standing off the the side watching overhead; A large crane was carrying a bull attached to a harness.

"Merlin..." Hermione whispered, to make sure Grant didn't see them.

But the three of them didn't even see the others catching up behind them; first the Dursleys, then the Granger parents, followed by the other experts, and finishing with Hammond and Genarro.

"Hermione!" Jane shouted. "Don't you ever do that again we..."

"Ah, there you all are," Hammond interrupted. "Dr. Grant, Mr. Potter, we've laid out lunch for you before you head out into the park. our gourmet chef, Alejandro..."

"What are they doing?" Harry questioned.

"Feeding them," Hammond replied once he saw the bull being carried. "Alejandro's prepared a delightful menu for us. Chilean sea bass, I believe. Shall we?"

Everyone rushed up to a viewing deck, surrounding the pit as the bull was lowered in. They looked into the brush, Dudley leaning in rather close as the moans of the bull were drowned by the rustling of the brush and the screeches of its hidden inhabitants.

Harry looked to his left at Dudley, who was crying gleefully at the sound of the carnage, turning the others' heads as well, striking looks of disbelief. He then looked at Hermione, who was holding on a familiar look of petrification.

"Are you taking Care of Magical Creatures next year?" he whispered.

"Yes," she replied. "You?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Looks like it should be interesting, doesn't it?"

"They should all be destroyed," interrupted another voice from behind.

Climbing up to the deck was an athletic-looking man decked in khaki safari gear.

"Meet Robert Muldoon, my game warden from Kenya," Hammond chuckled. "Bit of an alarmist, I'm afraid, But he's dealt with the raptors more than anyone."

Grant stepped forward, shaking Muldoon's hand, following his idea of an introduction.

"Tell me, what kind of metabolism do they have?" He asked. What's their growth rate?"

"They're lethal at eight months," Muldoon replied. "And I do mean lethal. I've hunted most things that can hunt you, but the way these things move..."

"Are they fast?" Harry interrupted.

"Cheetah speed, kid." Muldoon continued. "Fifty, sixty miles per hour if they ever got out in the open. You ought to hang onto that hat of yours. They're also astonishing jumpers."

"Yes, yes, yes," Hammond interjected, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder. "That's why we take extreme precautions..."

"Do they show intelligence?" Grant asked, brushing Harry aside.

"They show extreme intelligence, even problem solving," Muldoon confirmed. "Especially the big one. We bred eight originally, but when she came in, she took over the pride and killed all but two of the others. That one... when she looks at you, you can see she's working things out. That's why we have to feed them like this. She had them all attacking the fences when the feeders came."

"But aren't the fences electrified?" Hermione reminded him.

"Yes, young lady," Muldoon replied, charismatically. "But they never attack the same place twice. They were testing the fences for weaknesses. Systematically. They remembered."

The bloody, torn up remains of the harness were pulled out of the pen, at which the others looked away in disgust; all except Dudley, who maliciously applauded the damage, his parents patting him on the back.

The three experts who had just met the Dursleys now shared an equal look of disdain with those that already knew them.

"Yes," Hammond muttered. "Well... Who's hungry?"