The Illusion of Control

Back at the Visitor's Center, everyone gathered in a dark room, seated at two long, black tables that had been pushed together and were sitting in black swivel chairs;

Hammond sat at the head of the table with Harry, the Grangers, Dr. Grant, and Dr. Sattler on the left side. The Dursleys and Dr. Malcolm were all seated on the right, with Genarro at the other end.

Laid in front of them were some rather elaborate place settings;

Atop black placemats was a gold charger with a white plate trimmed in gold with the park logo printed in black. To the left were two forks; one salad fork, one regular, resting on a folded black napkin. To the right were a knife and two spoons; one soup spoon, one regular. Above on the left were two glasses; one small for beverages, one large for water, along with a black mug printed with the park logo.

At the center of the table was a platter filled with various fruits; mangos, guavas, kiwis, grapes, and numerous types of berries.

Men in black aprons printed with the park logo came to the table, pushing carts carrying two pitchers; a plastic one with a halved lemon containing water and a metal one with a halved lime containing some sort of cocktail.

As they stepped in to fill the adults' beverage glasses, they poured a can of Coca-Cola into each of the children's glasses.

Right across from him, Harry saw Dudley guzzling his glass of coke down before lunch had even been served. When he put it down, he glanced at his father expectantly; Vernon grinned at his son as he slid his glass over to Dudley so he could have a sip of the cocktail.

But Harry wasn't the only one to have his attention drawn to this; Neither Hammond or Genarro were watching, but the way the others stared at the Dursleys was understandable.

The meal was finally served on black edged salad plates; the Chilean sea bass was soaking in lemon jus with string beans, topped with shredded sweet potatoes and halved cherry tomatoes resting on the side.

Hammond and Genarro casually began to break their bread, but the others hadn't even picked up their forks. It was either that display of primeval butchery or the sight of the Dursleys forking all their food together like kebabs.

Instead, they were glancing up at screens hanging from the ceiling. Hidden between them were projectors showing sketchy-looking paintings, watermarked Future Attractions, oneof them appearing to be a jungle river boat ride.

"None of these attractions are ready yet, of course," Hammond explained. "But, the park will open with the basic tour you're about to take, and then other rides will come online six or twelve months after that. Absolutely spectacular designs! We've spared no expense!"

The projectors switched to showing various graphs showing fiscal projections; Genarro grinned, for this was what he was waiting for.

"We can charge anything we want! Two thousand a day, ten thousand a day... people will pay it!" he commented. "And then there's the merchandise; I can personally..."

"Donald, this park was not built to carter only to the super rich," Hammond interjected, grandfatherly. "Everyone in the world's got a right to enjoy these animals."

"Sure, they will, they will," Genarro grinned. "We'll have a... coupon day or something."

This elicited a chuckle from the Dursleys, especially Dudley, who Vernon nudged in the arm.

"My boy still knows his money's worth," he chuckled.

As the Dursleys and Genarro had a good laugh, Harry glanced at the screen behind them to see an advertisement being displayed, showing a Continental Airlines plane flying above a beach scene.

But few seats down, he noticed Dr. Malcolm drumming his fingers on the table, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Gee, the lack of humility before nature that's been displayed here... staggers me," muttered Malcolm, keeping his head down.

"Thank you, Dr. Malcolm," Genarro replied, dryly. "But I think things are a little different than you and I feared."

"Yeah, I know," Malcolm agreed. "They're a lot worse."

Dudley glanced back at his father, his eyes getting watery.

"Are they, Dad?" he gasped.

"Course not Dud," Vernon patronized, before turning back to the others. "Now look, we haven't seen the park yet..."

"Mr. Dursley, let him talk," Hammond begged nervously. "There's no reason for this. I want to hear every viewpoints. I really do."

"Don't you see the danger, John, inherent in what you're doing here?" Malcolm began. "Genetic power is the most awesome force the planet's ever seen. But you wield it like a kid who's found his dad's gun."

"It's hardly appropriate to start hurling generalizations..." Genarro intervened.

"If I may," Malcolm continued. "I'll tell you the problem with the scientific power that you're using here; it didn't require any discipline to attain it. You know, you read what others had done and you took the next step. You didn't earn the knowledge for yourselves, so you don't take any responsibility... for it. You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could, and before you even knew what you had, you patented it, packaged it, slapped in on a plastic lunch box, and you're selling it! You want to sell it!"

Genarro and the Dursleys silently laughed at Malcolm, the others sharing the same looks they'd put on in the hatchery. Hammond, however, maintained his grandfatherly gaze.

"I don't think you're giving us our due credit," Hammond insisted. "Our scientists have done things nobody has ever done before..."

"Yeah," Malcolm shot back. "Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could... they didn't stop to think if they should."

"Condors," Hammond interjected. "Condors are on the verge of extinction..."

"No..." Malcolm groaned.

"If I was to create a flock of condors on this island, you wouldn't have saying anything to say..." Hammond finished."

"Now hold on," Malcolm intervened. "This isn't some species that was obliterated by deforestation... or the building of a dam. Dinosaurs had their shot and nature selected them for extinction."

"I don't understand this Luddite attitude, especially from a scientist," Hammond dismissed. I mean, how can we stand in the light of discovery and not act?"

"Oh, what's so great about discovery?" Malcolm grumbled. "It's a violent, penetrative act that scars what it explores. What you call discovery... I call the rape of the natural world."

Hammond shifted his look back and forth between the other adults at the table. Dr. Sattler, who sat to Hammond's left, was adjusting her glasses.

"Well, the question is how can you know anything about an extinct ecosystem, and therefore, how could you ever assume you can control it?" She rephrased. "You have plants in this building that are poisonous. You picked them because they look good, but these are aggressive living things that have no idea what century they're living in and will defend themselves; Violently, if necessary."

Over to Sattler's left and Harry's right, Dr. Grant sat, staring off into the middle distance, his eyebrow raised.

"Dr. Grant," Hammond pleaded. "If there's one person who can appreciate what I'm trying to do?"

"The world has just changed so radically and we're all running to catch up," Grant sighed. "I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but look; Dinosaurs and man... two species separated by 65 million years of evolution... have just been suddenly thrown back into the mix together. How can we possibly have the slightest idea of what to expect?"

"I don't believe it!" Hammond laughed. "You're meant to come down here and defend me against these characters and the only ones I've got on my side are my the bloodsucking lawyer and his trio of suburban yuppies!"

"Thank you," Genarro replied, blankly.

Vernon grunted again, although it sounded more like he felt complimented.

Harry and Hermione glanced at each other, knowingly, for they had experienced this before with someone else back at Hogwarts. Hammond, over to their right, glanced at their expressions, raising an eyebrow, until another man in an apron leaned into his ear and whispered.

"Well," he announced. "They're here."

"Who?" Harry asked.

Hammond stood up and motioned for the group to follow him out of a set of double doors, back down the stairs.

"Mr. Potter," Hammond began. "I reckoned you and Ms. Granger could do with a spot of company out in the park; some more members of our target audience."

Downstairs, running across the main floor were two more children;

On the right was a small boy with strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore a balance-striped t shirt in orange, green and light blue under a light blue collared shirt, a pair of khaki shorts, red socks, and white New Balance trainers with a navy blue bandana tied around his neck.

He was a few years younger than the other child; a pretty girl about Harry's age with blue eyes and dirty blonde hair pulled back into a braided ponytail. She wore a purple paisley tank top, blue jeans, and pointed dark brown boots with a purple baseball cap atop her head.

"Grandpa!" They cried, seeing Hammond on the stairs.

"Kids!" He replied, holding out his arms.

Rushing up the stairs, the two children threw their arms around Hammond and tackled him to the step like a couple of gridiron football players.

"Hey, careful with the old man!" Hammond chuckled.

"We missed you!" cried the girl.

"Thanks for the presents," the boy added.

"We loved the presents!" the girl continued. "They were great!"

"And did you enjoy the helicopter?" Hammond asked.

"Yeah," the girl replied, quickly. "It went down and then we all went..."

"Whoosh!" the boy continued, overlapping the girl.

"...right back up!" the girl finished.

Hammond laughed as the two children helped him back to his feet. Dr. Sattler smiled like her heart was melted, Malcolm watched uneasily, and Grant was trying to look away.

Hermione and her parents watched, smiling themselves, while the Dursleys shot Harry a nastier grin, knowing he could only watch with envy.

"May I introduce my grandchildren," Hammond began. "Tim and Lex Murphy. I thought they'd like to get away from all the... action at home, so to speak. Maybe they'll help the rest of you lot get into the spirit of this place."

Tim's eyes widened when he looked up the stairs and saw Dr. Grant, perhaps because of the thick, red paperback book he was carrying. Lex's smile widened when she looked up in that direction as well. Still, Harry waited on the step below Grant and couldn't tell whether or not she was looking in Grant's direction or his.

"Well then, the cars should be waiting outside," Hammond suggested. "And the basic tour commences. Come along, then."

The others followed Hammond down the stairs, his grandchildren merging with the group. Lex merged to Harry's left, Tim slipping not too far behind, still looking up at Dr. Grant. Lex smiled at Harry, who casually smiled back; her smile wasn't like the ones he'd received in the past. Those were much closer to what Tim was doing at the moment.

The doors to the Visitors' Center opened and the group darted down the main entry stairs. With Hermione close to Harry and Lex, a warm, maternal-looking Dr. Sattler gathered them on the left side of the stairway to introduce herself.

"Dr. Sattler..." Harry began.

"So you've caught my name already?" she teased.

"Yeah," Harry sighed.

"If it's all the same, I forgot yours, sweetie," she added.

"Harry," He replied.

"Harry Potter," she concluded.

"And I'm Hermione Granger," she introduced, extending her hand.

"That's an intelligent name," Sattler complimented. "If your parents picked it, they must have groomed you to be top of the class."

"Believe me, what would school do without her?" Harry confirmed.

While Hermione stifled a giggle, Lex stood in front of Harry, still smiling widely, offering a rather adorable wave of her fingers.

"And you I remember," Sattler concluded. "You're Lex."

"Lex Murphy," she detailed.

Dr. Sattler gestured to Dr. Grant, who waited at the bottom of the steps, ignoring Tim, who waited in between him and Dr. Malcolm.

"One of you ought to ride with him," she suggested. "It'd be good for him."

"Maybe," Harry replied. "If he'd have me."

This elicited a giggle from one of the other three, yet Harry didn't see which one. He was sure it was Hermione, but when he saw her, she was covering her face and shaking her head.

"Hermione..." he mumbled. "It was a joke."

"Who was laughing?" she asked.

"You were," Harry replied.

"I wasn't!" Hermione insisted.

"You were hiding it!" Harry reiterated.

"I was hiding a smile," Hermione rephrased.

"Right," Harry mused. "Well... someone had to be laughing."

"Perhaps you should ask her," Hermione suggested, gesturing in Lex's direction.

"Oh, good idea," Harry replied, teasingly.

At the bottom, Lex joined up with Tim, where they heard a low rumbling coming from around the bend.

On the road ahead, three Ford Explorer XLT's pulled up on a track from an underground garage.

All three were painted lime green, fading into yellow with maroon stripes across the tops. Their hubcaps were also yellow, grill guards with searchlights were attached to the fronts, antennae sticking out from the right. Printed across the doors was the splashy park logo.

Like the Jeeps, these cars were all numbered as well; Number 7 at the front, Number 6 behind, and Number 5 at the back.

Harry looked a little closer and saw that the cars appeared to be moving by themselves. He pulled Hermione forward to see, not noticing Lex and Tim squishing in.

"If only Mr. Weasley could make his car do that..." he whispered.

"Shh!" Hermione shushed.

"Now kids, come away..." interrupted the voice of Hammond. "Not too close to the cars!"

Hammond pulled the children away as the cars came to a complete stop and the others stood back to admire them.

"Aren't they lovely?" Hammond fawned. "Aren't they glorious? These will be your transports for the afternoon."

"There are no drivers," Harry remarked.

"Oh no, they're electric," Hammond explained. "They're electric. They run on this track in the middle of the roadway. Totally non-polluting, top of the line. Spared no expense."

"One of them will be ours," Vernon insisted. "And ours only, if you please."

He glanced around before leading Petunia and Dudley to Ford 5 at the back. Vernon opened the door to the Driver's seat, Petunia slipping into shotgun, while Dudley waited at the door behind his father's.

Vernon shot a glare at the others, which Harry recognized, but looked unfamiliar to the others; he quickly ran to the back, where his relatives awaited.

"Come on, boy," Vernon ordered. "We haven't got all day."

Harry stopped to pull open Dudley's door, getting pushed by him as he climbed into the car, Vernon still glaring at him to close the door again. When finished, Harry quietly rejoined the others, who, minus Hammond's grandchildren, stared at him harder, some even scratching their heads.

"Well then," he began, gesturing to the cars. "Shall we?"

The three experts shrugged as Dr. Grant furrowed his eyebrows at Harry, while Dr. Sattler climbed into Ford 6.

"I'm going to... ride with Dr. Sattler," Malcolm decided.

He too climbed into the Ford, Grant eyeing him like a competitive alpha male. Before he could join the others, he was stopped by Tim, grinning in a way that struck Harry as familiar.

"I read your book," Tim spoke

"Well that's... that's great," Grant replied, nodding his head.

He headed for the car, but Tim wasn't too far behind.

"Do you really think the dinosaurs turned into birds and that's where they all went?" Tim asked.

"Well, a few species may have evolved along those lines..." Grant murmured, climbing into the Ford, Tim joining him.

Harry leaned against Ford 7, watching Tim follow Dr. Grant around like a lost puppy. Still, it seemed like Tim had a right to pester Grant with questions. He seemed to have expertise of his own making, unlike a former professor of Harry's during the previous year.

"What are you looking at?" Hermione asked from behind.

"Dr. Grant," he replied. "He looks just like me in times like this. I'd like to tell him I know how he feels..."

"Harry, what are you going to tell him?" Hermione reminded him. "That you're famous for..."

"Don't remind me!" Harry requested. "Please?"

"Sorry." Hermione whispered.

Their next spat was interrupted as Grant brushed past them, holding the back door open for Tim.

"Then I heard about this thing in OMNI about this, uh, meteor making all this heat," he continued. "And it made diamond dust. That changed the weather, and they died because of the weather. Then my teacher tells me about this book by a guy named Bakker. He says..."

Grant slammed the door in Tim's face, but there was one other standing in his way, fiddling with her ponytail, gesturing to a giggling Dr. Sattler behind them.

"She said I should ride with you because it'd be good for you," Lex told him.

While Grant shook his head, Harry felt a pang going from his chest through his arm as he placed his Costa Rica hat on his head, adjusting it so the text was straight.

"I thought you didn't like the hat," Hermione teased.

But Harry turned his back once he saw Lex and Tim climb into the back of the car. In the front was some sort of view screen that was occupying Lex's attention.

"It's an interactive CD-ROM!" she cried. "You just touch the screen and it talks about whatever you want!"

But the doors were mostly closed, so Harry didn't hear this and he made his way for the front.

"Harry..." Hermione began.

But Harry had already climbed into the driver's seat since Genarro had already claimed shotgun. After slamming the door shut, Hermione looked back at the Ford behind them, where her parents were waiting.

"Why don't you go with Harry, dear?" Jane suggested.

"But wouldn't you..." Hermione argued.

"Don't mind me or your father, darling," her mother insisted.

"We'll be right behind should you need us," Paul added.

Paul climbed into the driver's seat, Jane into shotgun, the three doctors sitting right behind as Hermione shrugged.

"Okay," she murmured.

Hermione slipped into the back, squeezing next to Tim with Lex on the left. Genarro appeared to be keeping to himself, along with Harry, until Hammond came up to the window.

"Are you kids alright in there?" he asked.

"Great Grandpa!" Lex replied.

"Fine, sir," Harry sighed, rolling the window down.

"Please, don't be so formal, Harry!" Hammond chuckled. "In just a few minutes you'll be on your way!"

Harry glanced out the window at Hammond waving to the other cars before going back up the stairs, into the Visitor's Center. He placed his hands on the steering wheel, drumming his fingers, ignoring the chatter behind him.

"What kind of dinosaurs are we going to see now?" Lex asked her brother, pouring through his book.

Harry took a look back at the others before he felt a jerk forward and a sideways tug of the wheel.

"Look at me! I'm driving without a license!" He joked.

"Harry! You're going to get into trouble!" Hermione gasped, humorously.

"I know!" Harry laughed. "I'm such a bad boy, aren't I?"

Hermione shook her head again, but Harry saw Lex trying to stifle a giggle, as opposed to Tim, who couldn't hold it in.

"During most of your tour, the appropriate information will be automatically selected and displayed for you," interrupted a voice over the car radio. "Simply touch the area of the screen displaying the appropriate icon."

"Hey look!" Tim cried, pointing ahead.

Waiting to open was an even larger stockade gate with a flaming torch at either side, the park logo hanging above.

"Are we going to hit that?" Lex whispered.

"I wouldn't think of it," Harry murmured.

"Welcome to Jurassic Park," the voice continued as the doors opened.

"What have they got in there? King Kong?" Malcolm drawled as he eyed the oversized gate.