Chapter 10

Glancing up, Cathy was glad that the park had optional hats for their uniforms. The sun was particularly vicious today, but that wasn't about to stop her from taking her shift. She would have preferred an afternoon or morning shift, but she wanted to "prove" she could be flexible by taking different hours, so she had to suck it up for a noon shift.

Looking back down, she noted that they were getting a new "wave." The crowd tended to ebb and flow, though the Gentle Giants was usually one of the most popular attractions. People would see some open spots on the fence line and hurry to pet the animals, while others would see the crowding and come back later. Eventually, some of the spots would open up, and the whole cycle would repeat itself.

Putting on her best smile, Cathy started walking towards the fence line, eyes sweeping over the crowd. She spotted a few of the novelty straw hats and a few clutched maps. With a slight cough, she got the attention of the closest guests. "Please remember to keep straw and paper away from the dinosaurs. It upsets their digestion."

She gave a genuine smile as she saw a few guests hastily put away maps, smiling and mumbling apologies for their simple, innocent neglect. She simply nodded, and was about to turn when a voice spoke.

"What do they eat?"

Cathy turned, spotting a young girl looking at her expectantly. It took a moment for Cathy to realize that the girl was addressing her. "Well, it depends on the species."

"What do those eat?" the girl asked, pointing to one of the passing Gallimimus, her little hand stretching towards it. Cathy glanced at the Gallimimus, weighing her options. Technically, they weren't supposed to handle the animals directly unless it was to help someone or to prevent damage. And she wasn't sure how much she really wanted to indulge guests. People weren't her thing.

On the other hand, being seen playing nice with guests couldn't hurt her odds. With that in mind, she fished into her pocket, pulling out some feed. "Well, fossil evidence suggests that they mostly ate plants and insects. Here at the park, we feed them special pellets."

Kneeling down, she whistled at the Gallimimus, holding back the temptation to make a more appropriate sound. Its large, disc-like eyes turned to face her, and appraised her cupped hand. She shook her hand slightly, letting the pellets make a bit of noise. That got it's attention, and it started to approach slowly, eyes flicking around.

"Gallimimus are naturally timid creatures," she explained, watching the way it occasionally flicked its head to one side or the other, alternating which eye it looked at them with. "They have monocular vision, which means the eyes see different things, and they don't have the same depth perception as us. Right now, it's watching to make sure there aren't any threats."

Cathy glanced back at the girl and was surprised to see a number of other guests paying attention as well. Brushing aside their attention, she turned back to the Gallimimus, which seemed hesitant to approach. Gingerly, Cathy let some pellets spill to the ground, and the Gallimimus looked down quickly, then back up, re-enticed. Finally, it closed the last section of distance and began to eat from her hand.

"If you look closely, you can see that their bills have small grooves. Paleontologists think that they most likely sifted through mud in order to dig up plants and insects," she explained. Movement in the corner of her eye made her turn, and she could see the girl stretching to touch the Gallimimus.

Sighing, Cathy reached into her pocket, fishing some more pellets out. The Gallimimus watched as she poured a few into the girl's hand.

"Now, hold your hand very still. Any motion might upset it. Gallimimus are herd animals, and the way they react to danger is to run. So you have to hold. Very. Still," she instructed seriously. The girl nodded slightly as the Gallimimus approached, chirping slightly.

Interest, and hunger, if Cathy was hearing right.

Finally, it put its mouth into the food and the girl smiled, but to her credit, kept still. Cathy chuckled slightly at the sight, lightly dusting the residue off her hands. She'd have to wash her hands later, but that probably got her a couple of points. Glancing over her shoulder, she could see Mr. Ryde looking over at her, a light smile on his face. Upon meeting eyes, he nodded slightly before turning his gaze, looking out for trouble.

"Thank you!" the girl said, catching Cathy off guard.

"Uh, sure," she replied lamely.

"What's its name?"

"What?"

"Does he have a name?"

Cathy laughed slightly. "Actually, Jurassic World makes all of its dinosaurs female. It's a her, and I don't think they have names."

"Why not?"

Her immediate response of "they're not pets" danced on her tongue, but she held back for a moment. Now she was in foreign territory. She wasn't used to playing nice for this long, and especially not with kids.

"Well, they're not like a dog or cat," she started, trying to think of a good answer. "They're more like...wild animals."

"Or like farm animals!"

Cathy could see where that misinterpretation could come from. "Not quite. Farm animals are domesticated. These ones are just...well-behaved."

"But you can ride them, can't you?" the girl asked, confused. Cathy could see her looking at one of the other children who was doing just that on a baby Triceratops.

"Yes, but that's because they're young and trained," Cathy explained, turning slightly so she could look at the exhibit better. She scanned the animals quickly and settled on one of the baby Stegosaurus. "You see that Stegosaurus?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, right now, it's about as tall as you, but it weighs a lot more. If you hugged it, it would barely notice. But if it got scared and bumped you, it could knock you over easily. That's why they file the points on the thagomizer down."

"Dragonizer?"

"Thagomizer," Cathy corrected. "It's what they call the spiky part of the tail. Adult Stegosaurus use it to defend themselves from predators."

Cathy immediately regretted her choice of words as she realized what she had said. She had just implied that dinosaurs killed dinosaurs. How would a kid handle the concepts of killing and death? How would-

"Oh, like the movies!" she pointed out. "The Stego swings its tail and attacks the mean dinosaurs!"

Or she could be a kid, Cathy reminded herself with an ironic smile. "Mostly correct. Carnivores aren't really mean. They're just trying to survive. After all, the Gallimimus you're feeding was what we call an opportunistic carnivore. That meant that it ate meat when it was available."

"Really?" the girl asked, looking down with a hint of fear.

"Don't worry. The most it could do to you is tickle your hand," she assured. "It doesn't have the strength or tools to bite you. But if it found another dinosaur's...hunt, it might eat some of it."

"Why do they hunt?"

"They need to eat," Cathy explained. "Take our Tyrannosaurus, for instance. In order to support her body, she needs to eat. Meat is simply one kind of energy. It's very densely packed with energy, and once they eat, they don't need to eat for a while."

She didn't need to hear the part where the same Rex had eaten several people. Instead, she simply let the girl spin her wheels for a moment, looking at the dinosaurs silently. Idly, Cathy wondered what was going through her head, but settled for looking at the other dinosaurs.

"That's super cool," the girl finally said, smiling brightly. "How did you learn so much?"

Cathy coughed slightly, covering her surprise. "Well, I...read a lot of books. Watched a lot of videos."

It was the technical truth, which worked well enough for her. The girl smiled, and nodded. "I'm going to read a lot of books so I can know a lot about dinosaurs too!"

"You do that," Cathy smiled, taking that as her chance to stand and finally exit the situation. She appreciated the girl's enthusiasm, but she didn't like everyone else looking at her. She was all too aware of how many people and phones were looking at her. "Take care, kid."

"'Bye!"

Cathy waved lazily as the girl left with what she presumed were her parents, and Cathy quickly made her escape then, backing away from the fence. She tried to ignore the lingering feeling of cameras on her as she busied herself with her job.

Finally, she could begin to feel the last of them turn away and made a mental note to trawl YouTube later so she could report any uploaded footage on privacy claims. Best of both worlds; positive rep with her superiors, and she still kept the trail as contained as possible.

She turned her thoughts back to watching the animals, knowing it was only a matter of time before something went wrong. The new arrivals had finally been added, and so far, the handlers seemed to have done their job, as the new ones were almost indistinguishable from the old ones, aside from their size.

Even so, they were taking some precautions, much to Cathy's amusement. Someone with an iota of common sense had realized that letting guests stress out the new arrivals instantly was a bad idea, and a close eye was maintained on the newer ones. No one was allowed to ride them yet either.

Not for lack of trying, she noted as she saw a couple of kids move towards one of the new Triceratops, only for Mr. Ryde to head them off and gently inform them that the new animal was still getting adjusted, and suggest that they play with one of the others. Being the children they were, the distraction worked perfectly, and they were soon headed to bother a different, more adapted animal.

Cathy merely shook her head. Kids came in all stripes it seemed. Not that she really cared much. The thought of interacting with them rarely crossed her mind. She could do it for a job, but why everyone found them so damned adorable was beyond her. They were just small, uneducated humans.

Suppressing a sigh, she realized that one of her co-workers was "surreptitiously" approaching her. Catherine Langley, one of the other interns. Cathy had only really had a couple of real interactions with her, but she already didn't like her.

She was the definition of a social butterfly. She had been one of the people starting the unofficial social groups. Specifically, she was in the afternoon shift, if Cathy's memory served. The worst part of it though was their shared name, which Catherine had been quick to point out, and Cathy had been quicker to ignore.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were afternoon shift," Cathy asked conversationally, knowing there was no way to avoid it.

"They wanted more people on staff with the new animals, so I volunteered," she explained. "That was really nice of you to do, by the way."

"What did I do?" Cathy asked, turning in confusion. Had she done something for Catherine? It had certainly not been intentional if so.

"With the little girl? That was above and beyond," Catherine complimented. "Didn't realize you were so sweet with kids."

"I'm not," Cathy responded instantly, before adding, "It's just easy to talk about dinosaurs. She...seemed to like them."

"They're so cute, aren't they? Look at their little horns!"

Cathy resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The idea that anyone would find a dinosaur "cute" was beyond her.

"Oh come on, you don't find the babies cute?"

"Nope," she responded honestly. "Small, and young, yes, but cute, no. They're just small versions of the real deal."

"Ah, I see, you're more of a big dinosaur person, aren't you?"

"You could take it that way. I just prefer the adults. They're more interesting."

"But the babies are so inquisitive! Look at the way they look at people, and the way they eat and play. It's just so innocent."

The first thought that came to Cathy mind was of a baby Tyrannosaurus. Specifically, the one involved in the San Diego Incident. Most people hadn't seen the interior hull footage wherein the then-Head of InGen had been killed by the young Trex after its mother had bitten off his leg.

Inquisitive, indeed.

"So what do you want to do if you weren't at the Gentle Giants?" Catherine asked.

"Not sure," Cathy answered honestly. "I can do whatever job they need me for."

"But something tells me what they need you for might not be what you want to do," Catherine noted.

"Not quite," Cathy agreed. "But in the end, it doesn't really matter. I'm happy just to be here."

"Important place to you?"

"Kinda."

The conversation fell off after that, and Cathy was surprised when Catherine didn't seem to have anything more to say than that. It was a strangely welcome silence. Turning her gaze back upwards, Cathy looked at the blue sky and sighed.

"Hey, hey, hey!"

Cathy instantly snapped to attention, trying to spot the source of the problem. Mr. Ryde had moved, and was on the other end of the pen, near the back corner. In the corner was one of the new baby Apatosaurus, and for a moment, she thought that maybe a kid was harassing it, but she quickly saw that Mr. Ryde was cordoning it off, not trying to pry a kid off.

Judging by the way it was flicking its tail, it was agitated. There weren't any predators, or threats, so why was it getting set off? Her thoughts were cut off as Catherine rushed passed her, moving to help Mr. Ryde.

"It's okay, it's okay," they both assured, trying to calm the Apatosaurus, but it wasn't having it. Its tail flicked with a slight crack, and she could see Mr. Ryde move his arm to keep Catherine back. Even as a baby, the tail could cause some serious harm if it was truly upset.

She could hear the crowd starting to get worried, and she hesitated, wondering what she should do. The murmuring was starting, and that would only raise tensions. It wasn't until then that she felt it.

Just an undercurrent, way lower than any of them could hear; something was making noise. Maybe the Rex, maybe the Mosasaur, but something was making noise, and the baby, not used to the sounds, was upset.

It was no wonder they couldn't calm it. They thought that something they could hear had spooked it. But the sound that had set it off was infrasonic, and now it was getting more frightened.

She realized that her hand had slipped into her pocket, where her phone was. The phone that contained dinosaur calls. She hesitated, looking around. No one was looking at her, their attention focused on the baby.

This could be her chance to really test it. To see if her theories were correct. The thought made her grip her phone tighter, fighting the impulse. But ultimately, her need won out, and she quickly turned it on, cranking up the volume.

Navigating the folders with speed and precision, she found the apatosaurus file, and scrolled until she found the file she was looking for. ApatInfraCalm. Direct, simple. Pressing play, she could feel the vibration, but no sound came out. Perfect.

Sliding the phone back into her pocket, she jogged up, stopping a short distance behind the other handlers. She needed to get closer, take control of the situation. "Everyone be quiet!"
"What?" Mr. Ryde asked, looking at her from the corner of his eye.

"Just, be quiet. It needs quiet." Mr. Ryde looked at her, hesitating for a moment, but nodded slowly, though he still kept close, preventing the animal from leaving the corner.

Cathy stared intently at the Apatosaurus, making sure to keep out of tail range. It was really ironic, she noted; most people worried about the Triceratops' horns or the Stegosaurus' thagomizer, but no one paid attention to the Apatosaurus' tail, which could fight off adult Carnotaurus.

What she did notice was it did seem to calm down a bit, though that was really only evident in how it had stopped swishing its tail. It's head was still thrashing, but it appeared to be looking for something. The source of the sound, Cathy realized.

"Right here," she uttered, moving her arms slightly to catch its attention. The Apatosaurus turned its head so it could focus one eye on her, still moving its feet nervously.

She slowly reached into her pocket for more chow, while using her other hand to open the pocket a little, allowing more of the "sound" out. Enticed by both food, and the source of the strange calm, the Apatosaurus took a step forward. Cathy could see Mr. Ryde move a bit closer, and she smiled slightly, genuinely appreciating the concern, even if it wasn't needed.

"It should be calm now," she said quietly, offering the chow to Mr. Ryde. "Can you handle it? You have more experience than me."

"Sure…" he said at length, appraising her. "I'll get it back in the pen. You need a break?"

"I'm fine, sir," she replied, already stepping away like nothing had happened. He seemed to want to say something, but simply nodded, offering the food to the Apatosaurus. Once it had started eating, he began leading it to the gate, where a couple of handlers joined him in order to get it back to holding.

Reaching into her pocket, Cathy quickly turned down the sound and shut off her phone without looking at it before returning to her job. Still, she couldn't help her smile.

It had worked.

Cathy was just packing up her stuff from the morning shift a few days later when Mr. Ryde came over.

"Just got a message from the guys over at the Innovation Center. They want you to come over to the Genetics Lab once you're all changed."

Cathy froze mid-way through removing her Jurassic World coat. Fortunately, she found her voice quickly enough. "They say any reason why?"

Ryde shrugged. "No idea. Just got the message. Need me to take care of the clock out?"

"Nah, it'll only take a moment," Cathy dismissed. "Thanks."

Mr. Ryde nodded, then left to go do some other task, but Cathy wasn't paying attention anymore. Why was she being called to the Genetics Lab? Was it time to switch jobs? She hadn't heard anyone else talking about it, and she was normally good at catching these things before they were announced.

Her first reaction wasn't a good one. Wu.

But there was no reason to think he would want to talk. After all, she was just an intern, and he was head of the Genetics Lab. Was it the incident a couple days ago with the baby Apatosaurus? She hadn't been the only one. Catherine wasn't here, so it was feasible she was being called as well, but Mr. Ryde wasn't. Thus it was unlikely that Catherine was, unless it was specifically about interns, but the fact that none of the others were involved meant it was probably just her.

Which made her circle back to Wu. Had he figured her out? If so, she was in a terrible situation. If she went, then she'd have to figure out some way out of it. Hopefully this was something routine.

Nothing to do but go and see if she could fix the problem. She didn't even have time to prepare, or swing by her room. The more paranoid part of her wondered if it was intentional. She didn't like being caught off balance.

She kept turning it over in her head as she did her clocking out, recording the times of departure and noting the lack of incidents dutifully. It still didn't buy her enough time.

The walk over to the Innovation Center irritated went quickly, and soon she found herself stepping into the main lobby, a Brachiosaur hologram dwarfing the crowds. With her official hat and badge, it wasn't hard to weave through the crowd to the back of the lobby where the Genetics Lab was. Stepping once more into the dark mouth of the hall, she could almost feel the coldness of the blue light as she reached the glass display rooms.

Flashing her ID to the scanner, she stepped into the cleaning chamber, feeling the quick blast of air with impassivity. Carefully, she stepped through the other door, looking for someone to tell her why she was here…

Only to come face to face with Dr. Wu.