Mirai walks Makoto over to one side of the bustling baggage area. The noise of excited chatter is the only break between the calm waves of the waters brushing against the nearby shore. The various employees are all quickly collecting their belongings and moving on to the shore. There, a bright orange bus with animal adornments is parked and waiting to give employees a ride to their respective areas. Upon closer inspection, the cab appears to resemble the head of a tiger. Makoto smiles a bit at this before returning to the task at hand, as Mirai walks him to a table with a female boat crew member.
"May I please have your name?" She asks Makoto with a smile, already getting Mirai's baggage for her. It seems that the green-haired guide is quite well-known around the park.
"My name is Makoto." Makoto replies, and the crew member turns to look through a neatly organized collection of bags and belongings. She eventually returns with two large duffel bags, struggling a bit to get them on the table, and some books relating to animals and animal care fall out. Makoto quickly jumps in to lend her a hand picking up both the bags and the fallen books, and she scans the bags with a small hand-held tablet. There are a couple of soft beeps as she does so, before a pleasant jingle to indicate that the bags are good to go.
"Ah, my apologies sir, your last bit of baggage was kept inside, for obvious reasons. Let me go get her now." The crew member steps into the cabin of the boat a moment before returning with a medium-sized tan kennel. Inside of it, a light pink ribbon can be seen around a fluffy grey coat of fur. A series of excited mews emanate from inside as the kennel is brought to Makoto. "Here she is! She did quite well in transport. She slept almost the entire time." The woman says with a polite smile.
"Ah, Cookie! Thank you so much, I appreciate you taking such good care of her!" Makoto smiles as he opens her kennel and gently pulls the small grey cat out, holding her close in his arms and petting her a few moments. Even though it was only a few hours, the trip seemed longer, and surely even more so to Cookie. Cookie cutely meows and purrs while she rubs into Makoto's arms tenderly.
Mirai smiles softly as she walks up beside Makoto. "My, my... Your friend certainly does love you. That is truly something wonderful to see." She nods and gently pats Makoto on the head, making him blush slightly and smile as well. "May I pet her?" She asks as she watches from a short distance.
"Ah, yes! Cookie is such a sweet girl. I found her one day while I was out camping. It was the middle of nowhere, and she didn't seem like she had anyone to care for her." Makoto recalls to Mirai as he scratches softly behind Cookie's ears, making her bob her head a little and rub into his hands. "Of course! She loves to be pet, especially on her ears!" Makoto holds Cookie out a little so that Mirai may also pet on her. Mirai softly strokes along Cookie's back, and she stretches out a bit, clearly enjoying the loving attention. After a while of reuniting with her, Makoto gently tucks her back into her kennel with her soft, plush blanket.
"Now that we have all your things, we should go to meet with the others. The busses are picking employees up every ten minutes or so. They will take you to your assigned areas for training. You are a caretaker, so you'll be with me. Our first stop is to Park Central. We will be going to attend one of the lectures put on by some of the leadership and myself, so I trust you will be on your best behavior!" Mirai winks at Makoto with a playful smile.
"I-I see.." Makoto drifts a moment in thought, clearly a bit nervous before jumping to a reaction. "O-Of course! I look forward to it!" Makoto cheerfully smiles as he lifts his bags up and onto his shoulders before picking up Cookie. It's not long before he realizes that this may have been a bad idea, as the bags drag along the dock. "T-Too heavy... Why did I pack so many books?" Makoto says with an overwhelmed expression on his face.
Mirai leans over a bit, quickly pulling one of the bags up and onto her shoulder with ease. It seems she's quite used to this. "Makoto... You should be careful! It won't do you any good if you get hurt, you know?" She says with a stern look, but then gives a small smile. "I'll help you to the bus, okay?"
Makoto gives a quick nod as he follows close by Mirai, eventually making it up the dock ramp and to the waiting bus. Makoto gently loads one of the bags from his shoulders while Mirai loads the other for him. Mirai and Makoto close the doors to the trunk, then board the bus and take their seats. Makoto seems quite excited that he has one of the front seats. "Oh! You can see so much from here!" He exclaims happily, looking out the window as he sets Cookie's kennel on his lap. Cookie seems to be fast asleep once more, clearly still tired from the long journey.
Mirai smiles at Makoto's eagerness as the bus doors close, and the bus departs from the dock. "Now, Makoto, the bus driver will take both Cookie and your bags to the dormitory where you will be staying. Our stop should be just a ways down this road." She gives a soft nod as she confirms this with the bus driver, a younger woman wearing a safari uniform and cap, who returns the sentiment. Mirai stands up and takes her microphone, holding onto one of the rails as an overhead tone plays. "Attention caretakers: We will be heading to Park Central, to the main auditorium specifically, for a welcome presentation by the senior park staff." Mirai goes on to reiterate the same information she explained to Makoto.
The employees on board all excitedly chat with one-another about the presentation. Some ask one-another questions, others seem to inquire about who the leadership of this massive park are. One of the more stubborn remarks comes from a younger male caretaker in the back mentioning something about Mirai being "hot". This is met with a rather sharp glance from Mirai, as the caretaker's face goes stark white. He sags low in his chair, remaining that way for a few minutes after, as an awkward silence grips the air. Makoto struggles to stifle a chuckle at the situation, but then resorts to enjoying the quiet for a moment.
Makoto reaches into his sling bag, retrieving a small bird field identification guide, which he begins to page through. Makoto always did love birds, especially the bright and colorful ones. He skips through to find a Northern Cardinal, one of his favorites. Mirai calmly glances over from her seat across from him, looking at the pages as well when not monitoring the rowdier crowd near the back of the bus.
A few more minutes pass by, as the bus drives through large construction zones, where huge equipment lifts support beams and even entire walls up to be fitted onto the buildings above. On the nearly complete buildings, solar panels are steadily being affixed to shades and rooftops. A few caretakers make remark of this, and upon hearing so, Mirai's glasses shine.
"That's right! Japari Park's aim is to be 100% self-sustainable and eco-friendly! By doing our part, we can help conservation efforts everywhere!" She makes a peace sign and giggles a bit, making Makoto chuckle a little.
"That's really impressive! It's all so high tech here!" Makoto exclaims, a few other caretakers in the middle of the bus also excitedly chatting about the prospects of an entirely self-sustainable zoo. Especially one the size of not one, but many cities.
The bus soon rumbles to a stop in front of a large glass-front building, the roof of which slopes the further in the building you go. The bus doors swing open, and the automatic doors for the auditorium slide open with signs flashing "Welcome new caretakers! Please find your seats." atop them. Makoto gently pets Cookie once more before he makes his way off of the bus and into the auditorium. In the chaos of everyone disembarking, it would seem that Mirai had vanished. However, the presentation was starting soon, and Makoto did not want to be late. He quickly makes his way down an aisle, finding an open aisle seat about halfway down the aisle.
After everyone has found their seats, the lights in the amphitheater slowly dim. It would seem even the glass tints to halt daylight from entering, as a large screen turns on. "Welcome caretakers, to Japari Park. You all are here for your love and passion of working with animals, and we are very grateful to have you." The male voiceover speaks while the video begins playing, explaining a bit about the goals and layout of the park. It flashes to a map, beginning to identify the many different regions, and some animals that will be located in each. It then gives an artist's rendition of the park once it's opened, with guests all lining the end result of the very construction zones they just passed through. "With your help, we can be a world class institution for animal care and conservation." The video ends with the screen saying "Welcome to Japari Park" before powering down and retracting back into the ceiling.
"Hello and welcome all to Japari Park! My name is Mirai, and I am one of the senior guides who will be helping you to find your way here at the park!" Mirai's voice calls out as she walks onto the stage, presenting some more specific information to the new staff. A few others remain seated in the background, including a girl with long, dark gradient hair, wearing a lab coat.
As Makoto glances around, his eyes meet with the long-haired girl's. She seems to stare at him for quite a few moments, making him nervous as he casually tries to glance away. Eventually, her gaze returns to the stage as well. "W-Who is she, I wonder..?"
"Now then, I will just need some volunteers to demonstrate proper animal handling—" Just before Mirai can finish, there is a loud noise, and the entire building shakes. The power goes off, and emergency lighting turns on, illuminating the auditorium in a red light. People begin nervously shouting and beginning to try to run from their seats in the dimly-lit room. Makoto struggles to get beneath his chair, but stays there as he was trained to do where he lived before during these kinds of events. An alarm sounds as the shaking continues, and an overhead voice reiterates to the panicking crowd: "Please remain calm, place your hands over your head and take a crouching position underneath a sturdy object or doorway." Eventually, the shaking halts, and the regular power returns.
Mirai is still on the stage, and save for some fallen items, everything seems to be intact. She checks the audio system before she starts to speak again. "Sorry for the interruption, everyone. As I'm sure some of you are aware, we are on a series of volcanic islands, and earthquakes are a common occurrence. However, there have not been any recorded eruptions here in thousands of years. All of the volcanoes on the islands are dormant, and our environmental science team monitors them for hazards around the clock." The girl in the lab coat steps up to Mirai and whispers something into her ear, and Mirai nods before continuing. "Now, unfortunately I will have to cut the presentation short so that we can clean things up a bit. Please calmly make your way back to the front lobby, the busses will be waiting to take you to your dormitories." With that said, Mirai quickly makes her way off of the stage and out of sight.
Some employees come by to help people out of their seats, as well as to give them a map and guide book. Makoto takes one of each before proceeding to the lobby. Outside, the construction equipment has all halted operations, waiting for the all-clear apparently. The busses arrive in what seems to be a hurried fashion, and employees usher the caretakers on board quickly.
Makoto compliantly goes along, but not before taking one last look around for Mirai. "I hope that everything is alright. That was quite a quake..." Makoto says to himself before climbing onto the bus and taking a seat.
The bus screen scrolls to its stop, and the male driver makes the announcement as soon as everyone is on board. "Caretaker group A: West Dormitory, now departing." he says as the door swings shut, and the busses all set off on their way.
As the bus passes by more of the construction, a large facility is revealed in the distance, appearing to be made of concrete and glass. "What is that?" Makoto asks the bus driver, who glances a moment in the direction.
"Ah? That is the research facility. It's where the science-y employees work. I don't think I've even been inside of that building yet." The bus driver replies with a chuckle. Makoto thanks him as he looks back in the direction, then notices the volcano in the background. It looks just like the one from his dream.
"It can't be... No, I'm just imagining things, surely." Makoto gently taps his forehead, as if to wake himself back up. "It's been too long of a day. I just need some rest, I think..." He reassures himself, folding his hands over his face as he leans gently against the bar in front of his seat.
The bus continues along the roadway, following a fork that has a sign reading "West Dormitories", and an arrow pointing in the same direction of travel.
End chapter 2