Chapter 11

Cathy had no trouble admitting that comparing herself to a predator was not entirely inaccurate. She was cold, calculating, and meticulous. Even the professors she had gotten along with had said something of that effect to her. There wasn't a moment of her life where she wasn't focused on her self-appointed task.

But now...here in this moment she felt fear.

The lab around them seemed to stop existing, the geneticists fading into the icy blue background, leaving only Dr. Wu and his pure black shirt. His pale skin was thrown into stark contrast, making him seem to almost glow with a cold light even as he smiled.

It was habit that forced her from her stupor as Wu offered a hand. She offered hers in return and was snapped back into reality by the touch of his hand on hers.

"You must be Ms. Bowman," he said without changing his smile. He looked her up and down once, before nodding. "Thank you for coming so quickly. It's nice to see such punctuality."

"Of course, doctor," she replied automatically, almost throwing in the 'doctor' at the last minute. Wu's smile widened slightly, and she could see a hint of genuine pleasure in it.

"And a proper recognition for titles. You would be surprised how many people seem to assume I prefer 'sir' to 'doctor'," he commented with a shake of his head. "But enough small talk. Let's go somewhere more private."

He stepped to her side, one arm in the space behind her as if trying to prevent her from leaving, while gesturing to the same door they'd walked through during the tour with his other. She stepped forward mechanically, mind racing.

The first thing she needed to do was get a hold of herself. She needed to act natural, and strong. Not confrontational, but assured. She wasn't in trouble-at least, not yet. His greeting had been polite, and arguably even kind.

The second was to find out exactly why she was here. If it was routine, then she doubted it would take long, and Wu would be blunt about it. If it were something else, then asking would sort that out rather quickly.

"Why did you need me, doctor?" she asked as they walked, letting him lead by a half pace.

"It's nothing wrong, I assure you," he said calmly and she could see the slightest curve of a smile on his face. But he said nothing more, making her think it was likely the second possibility.

The only thing she'd done in recent memory was the incident with the baby Apatosaurus. He could simply be congratulating her, but it was delayed, and he was head of Genetics, not Animal Care. Besides which, if he cared enough to congratulate her, he could have just sent a message or something. No need to handle it personally.

Had he figured her out? She didn't think it was likely. No one had seen her, and no one could have heard the recording. Maybe if they had touched her, they could have felt it, but no one had come in contact with her, and certainly no one that would report it. Besides, that would be specious evidence at best, and no one would make the leap of logic to assume that it was due to a recording of dinosaur infrasonics.

So it had to be something else. No easy answer made sense. Maybe she was getting moved to intern with the Genetics department, but considering that hadn't been part of her focus, she doubted it. Unless they were really low on genetics interns, but there had to be hundreds of people lining up for the opportunity a year.

Cathy felt her tension rise as they headed down the hall towards a door she'd seen on her way through the first time: Dr. Wu's office. She hoped they were headed somewhere else, but he stopped right next to his nameplate and opened the door, gesturing inside formally. "Please, have a seat."

"Thank you," she replied politely, moving to take one of the seats opposite his. Quickly, she looked around the office, not at all surprised. She'd seen it a couple of times in promotional images, but the precision of it all still shone through. His shelves were occupied entirely with either his own work, or relevant texts, and his desk was arranged functionally, with a side desk for what seemed to be personal experiment records.

"So, Ms. Bowman," Wu started, sliding into his seat behind the desk, lacing his fingers in front of him. He looked every bit the confident, cool, collected geneticist he made himself out to be. "I am told you were involved in an incident in the Gentle Giants enclosure a few days ago."

Cathy started to prepare a response, but Wu continued, lifting up a paper to skim the contents through the bottom of his vision, alternating precisely between reading and fixing her with his gaze. "According to Mr. Ryde, you were instrumental in calming down a young Generation 18 Apatosaurus."

"I was just doing my job," she replied politely, trying to smile. Maybe if he thought she was the humble type, this would be over faster and smoother.

"If only everyone's definition of just doing their job was as professional as yours," he commented, picking up another paper. "You're quite a regular and hard worker, according to many of the staff. Their reports paint you as a determined, focused individual. You pull at least one shift every day, often more."

Wu paused, glancing back at her with a smile. "I can certainly admire that. It's clear that you've got a goal in mind, and you're pursuing it to the best of your abilities. And I can tell your abilities are...many fold."

The pause made Cathy nervous, as did the slightly knowing smile. Wu was dragging this out longer than was necessary, which meant he was probably building up to something. An idea came to her, and she briefly wavered on whether to enact it. She decided to try it. "It's a very competitive job. You have to work harder if you want to get noticed."

She noted Wu's eyebrow cock appreciatively before he smiled. "That it is. Our industry is a highly competitive one, both internally and externally. Many people are content to simply stay the course, but Jurassic World has been founded on improvement and experimentation. There are many that would like to know half of what we know."

Cathy smiled, feeling a little more confident as the topic diverted away from her. "I can only imagine. From what I've read, your work has been instrumental in pushing the park forward."

"It's true that what I do is a large part of Jurassic World's continual lead in the industry, but we can shed the flattery," he dismissed easily, throwing her a smile as easily as he threw her off-guard. "After all, I didn't invite you here to talk about my abilities."

Once again, he picked up the paper outlining what she presumed was her performance. "I wanted to talk about your thesis. Dinosaur communication: rare field."

Cathy felt her blood freeze even as she forced herself to keep smiling politely. It was possible he'd simply done some digging on her after the incident and just so happened to be interested in her work, but she doubted it was a coincidence. She tried to think of a response, but fortunately, Wu seemed more than content to remain in control of the conversation.

"I took the liberty of reading over your thesis. It's quite brilliant work, and very thoroughly laid out. Your examination of displacement was simply masterful. It's an often overlooked part of language development theories," Wu outlined, looking almost...proud?

"It's one of the fundamental parts of language," she agreed, choosing her words carefully. "It just seemed right to investigate it."

Wu nodded almost absently, as if he could tell the line was bullshit. "I would say you'd be surprised, but something tells me you wouldn't when I say that not many would think of such a topic. You're quite observant."

"Thank you, doctor."

"I pride myself on my ability to see things others don't," Wu continued, moving over to his bookshelf, perusing the titles. "I'm sure you're aware of my work in the field of genetics."

"I've read An Evolution of God's Concepts. One of the landmark books in frontier genetic research."

Wu nodded approvingly. That had been the right answer. "I'm glad to hear you appreciate my work. Seems you're a student of many fields. Not many have read my book. Tell me, what did you think was the most important part of the book?"

Cathy bit back a curse. He'd turned her strategy against her. In praising his book, she'd played the fact that she was more than passingly familiar with genetics. If she went with a lowball answer, it would lose her all the credit she'd earned so far, but if she went too far, it would certainly damn her.

"I was fascinated with your production of the karacosis wutansis," she explained, gesturing to the small plant growing in the corner of his lab. "It seemed remarkably practical compared to many genetics papers I'd read."

Wu looked down at her for a moment, before glancing at the plant himself. "The wutansis was just to show the validity of my research, but you're in the right direction. Many of my colleagues are content to dwell on you're someone who deals in practicalities," Wu continued, turning to face her directly. "How things actually work. I can tell from the way you wrote your paper. I believe one of the closing remarks was something to the effect of 'focused testing would be able to conclusively prove the aforementioned elements'."

"It could technically disprove it," Cathy pointed out.

"I wouldn't sell yourself short. After all, we both know that's not true," Wu dismissed. He closed the file quickly, and set it down before sitting back down at the table. "So tell me, Ms. Bowman; where do you see your internship with Jurassic World going?"

"Mostly I just hope to get hired," she explained, semi-honestly.

Wu actually chuckled at that, and she couldn't help but smile at the joke. "That is very fair. But I meant what would you hope to do if you did get hired?"

Cathy thought over her response carefully. There were surely dozens of people who came here to study the dinosaurs, even though the place was technically an amusement park. That was a safe answer. "I'd want to study the dinosaurs."

"I assume you'd want to study their communication?" Wu pressed.

"If it's possible," she agreed evasively.

Wu was silent for a moment, seemingly weighing options in his head. "I'm sure you're aware that our animals are park bred, and thus, the results are only applicable to them, correct?"

"Yes, doctor. However, they are the only dinosaurs in the world."

"Aside from Sorna," he corrected. Cathy had to admit she was surprised that he would mention that, and he smiled as if reading her mind. "I'm sure you can gather I'm not like many of my colleagues. Many of them refuse to talk about Sorna and the San Diego Incident, but it certainly happened."

"True," Cathy agreed slowly. "But Sorna's under quarantine. So Nublar is the best place to go."

"Of course," Wu nodded. After a moment, he collected together some of his papers, setting them aside. "Well, I think that covers it. Thank you for dropping by."

"Did you need anything else?" she asked, surprised at the sudden shift.

"No. You more than answered my questions," he smiled. "If I need anything else, I'll let you know. Keep up the good work."

Cathy nodded her thanks, standing up. She was headed for the door when Wu spoke again. "Oh, I just recalled. Security sent around an email earlier. Something about upping security at the beach. We've had some rowdy guests lately, so it's just a precaution. Figured I'd give you the heads up, while you were here."

Out of all the things Wu had said, that one made her the most uncomfortable. It was entirely possible that it was coincidental, but she didn't believe in that. And as she turned to look at him, she could see a predatory look in his eyes behind his smile. One that said "Check. Your move."

And Cathy wasn't sure what hers was.

Cathy sat on the edge of the bed, staring straight ahead.

Her hand twitched as she fought the urge to throw her room out of order. To take all her careful plans and just dash them.

All her planning hadn't helped when Wu had cornered her. All the documents in her room, every map-they hadn't helped.

Taking a deep breath, she tried once more to compose her thoughts. She needed to take stock. List what she knew, and what she needed to do next.

Wu hadn't overtly threatened her. What did that mean? If he had wanted to kick her out, he could have. He hadn't. Which meant he didn't want to. At least, not yet. But what that meant, she didn't know.

He knew about her prior research, which combined with the fact that he knew where she was going, was enough to believe he knew about at least part of her focus. At the minimum, he likely knew that she was far more capable of deciphering dinosaur behaviors than anyone else.

So where did that leave her?

She tapped her finger against the map she was holding, trying to think it through. He knew she had information, and yet he hadn't asked for it. Did he intend to steal it? Cathy glanced at her materials, suddenly aware of their bulk. That would be...difficult. Not only were the hallways monitored, but anyone wanting to steal her materials would be hard pressed to get that much material out of the building. Not to mention the fact that she would most definitely notice if anything went missing.

But that didn't mean that it wouldn't go missing. Or they could break into her room and copy the materials. That wouldn't even be hard to arrange, she realized. All it would take is one crooked security officer, and they could sneak into her room. Take pictures, back up the drives. Or Wu could even frame her, if he wanted to badly enough.

Well, she wasn't going to let that happen. Before the night was over, all the drives would be backed to the Cloud, then wiped. Fried, even.

That took care of one of the possible problems, but the documents were another. She couldn't just destroy them. There was so much she still needed from them. A thought started coming to her. She could simply take pictures of them and back them to a Cloud. It was certainly tempting, and the reasonable thing to do. She was hesitant to destroy such important documents, but it might have to be done.

There was another factor: portability. While having all the documents online would work well at whatever base she established, having them on the move would be hard, since there was a high risk of damaging her devices if she brought them into the wilds. After a moment of hesitation, she made up her mind. She would have to save only the most vital, and move them elsewhere, then destroy the rest.

It was a tough decision, but the right one.

Carefully, she made sure to check her door was still locked before propping a chair under the handle. If someone tried to come in, she'd have advance warning. Suddenly, she was glad she didn't have a room with a balcony. While she doubted they'd be so bold as to go that way, she wasn't about to take chances. Even so, she locked the windows and drew the shades.

Just her and a room full of secrets that quickly needed to disappear.

As she began sorting, she let her mind wander back to Wu. There were still many more questions she had about him. If he wasn't trying to destroy her immediately, what was he doing? When they talked, he sounded almost...approving, in his own way. He had certainly shown a certain respect for what she had studied.

The brief thought that he might even support her flashed through her head, and she just as quickly dismissed it. She doubted that. It was just too...impossible. Otherwise, why would he threaten her? If he approved, wouldn't the better option be to simply invite her to share what she knew?

No, he had made it seem like she should keep it quiet. But why would he give advice to his enemy? If that was the case, he didn't see her as a true enemy. Maybe a risk, given his dissuasion, but not an enemy. But he didn't help her, so he wasn't an ally.

Which put her back at square one: not knowing what he was.

She shook her head, refocusing. Maybe she was looking at it from the wrong angle. He was the head of InGen's genetic division. It wasn't his job to deal with animal handling, just creation. Maybe he was interested, but couldn't step in officially. The threat could be his way of making sure she didn't step out of line. But if that was so, then he would have given her more advice on how to progress in her track, or offered to talk in a non-official capacity. Instead, he had called her to his office.

Which meant anything said would be tracked by the internal recording software. But he worked for InGen, which meant that it wouldn't be shared with the park. She paused in her work, the thought sticking in her mind. He worked for InGen, not Jurassic World. His interests were InGen's interests. He had alluded to it as much with his distinction between his acknowledgement and Jurassic World's feigned ignorance.

Wu was a man who considered everything. The plants on the island were harmless, at least, as far as normal plants. The dinosaurs were carefully bred to be passive and calm, even the carnivores. He was meticulous. Anyone who read his book could tell that without having met him. Which meant that everything was according to plan-just like her.

So something about what she was doing worked for him. And judging by the conversation, it was something to do with her activities, and dinosaur communication. There were obvious usages for dinosaur communication at the park, but this was larger than that. He wanted it for something else.

Maybe training? The raptors in the park were in the early stages of training. Being able to understand their communications and potentially even talk back would rapidly develop the program. Even she could see the military applications of that. It hadn't been officially stated as such; just a science experiment. But she knew better.

And so did he.

She smiled to herself at the thought. She may have played some of her hand to Wu, but so had he. In his pride, he'd unveiled some critical information to her. She was valuable to him in some fashion, which gave her leverage. And if it had to do with dinosaur communications, she was the only one with that skill

And once the files were gone, she would be the only one capable of getting them.

Stacking papers, she couldn't help but think to herself:

Check, Dr. Wu.