"Hell no! GMO! HELL NO GMO!"
Laura Sorkin rolled her eyes and blew out a sigh. She was so sick of these mindless protestors. She was willing to bet that most of the rabble outside was the usual modern environmentalists, modern in so far as that they thought that all corporations were evil, technology was the devil and so on. As a geneticist, Laura had put up with idiots like this her entire working life, but that didn't make it any easier. Never mind that the product they were protesting was a super grain that had the potential to provide a renewable, natural, feed source that could feed all the cattle in the world indefinitely. But no, the only thing they cared about was that the new super grain was a genetic hybrid of wheat, fast growing bamboo and a slightly modified grass with more durable seeds.
GMO's were the buzz word of the generation, but it was shocking how little people understood what GMO's were. The fact was that GMO's were nothing that people hadn't been doing for centuries, selecting the traits they found desirable and encouraging them. Only now instead of doing it over the course of generations, they were able to do it in a laboratory. But contrary to popular opinion not all genetically modified organisms were virulent and pervasive things.
Granted, some genetics companies were unscrupulous and did have a propensity to cause troubles for themselves. Companies like Bio-Syn and Monsanto, who modified willy-nilly without regard for the impact of their actions made her sick, they gave genetics companies a bad name that affected everyone. Since she had become head of Genetics at INGEN Sorkin had worked hard to ensure that all of their products were stable, safe and beneficial. Protests like the one going on outside the INGEN crop development office, were so ready to vilify that they seldom listened to the facts. She had offered tours of their facility again and again, but she had always been turned down. After all, why should facts get in the way of perfectly good opinions, right?
Sorkin had flown in from Costa Rica this morning but was already dreading the ordeal before her. Ever since she had become VP of Genetics at INGEN, Laura Sorkin had spent way more time talking to the press than she had in the lab. It bothered her, press was supposed to be Regis' domain and yet it seemed like she was getting called in every few months to make a statement on one thing or another. Today she was supposed to be giving an interview regarding the recent bombing of the INGEN crops department research facility. Some god damned Eco terrorists had broke in and destroyed hundred of thousands of dollars of damage. Ed Regis had his hands full with the campaign for the opening of the Jurassic Park animal park to handle a break in like this.
The first thing she had seen upon driving up to the facility was groups of protestors with signs and slogans like "Earth First" and "no GMO". Erica Fitsgerald, Regis' assistant looked out of the window of the SUV's window. Erica was very perky girl in her early 20's, she was wearing a scoop neck sweater that showed a LOT of cleavage, and Sorkin could tell why Regis had picked her as his assistant. Regis had been married four times and always had an eye open for women with big boobs. Sorkin found Erica's boundless enthusiasm annoying.
"Golly it sure looks like they're mad huh Dr. Sorkin?" Erica chirped cheerfully.
"Yeah." Sorkin blew out on a sigh, "That's probably why they blew up our lab."
"Woah!" Erica gasped her eyes wide, "Like, you think these are, like, the same guys? Why would they come and protest if, like, they had already done the exploding?"
"Nevermind Erica…" Sorkin said blowing out a long sigh and rolling her eyes
Several hours later, Laura Sorkin sat opposite a reporter on the sound stage. He was the usual charismatic, tanned, floating head type guy you always saw on news programs like this. Sorkin found herself staring at his unusually bright white teeth, his words just sort of washing over her. He was asking all the usual questions right up until he announced that they had a special guest on the show and issued in Nick Van Owen, head of Earth First.
Nick Van Owen was a handsome fellow in his early forties, but Sorkin knew his reputation very well. He was the legitimate face for ecoterrorism in the United States, nothing had ever been brought against him but he was certainly very well informed about several corporate sabotage maneuvers over the last ten years. He was casually dressed with a navy blue t-shirt, tan sports coat and Chinos. He smiled pleasantly enough at Dr. Sorkin as he sat down, but she didn't return the smile. She shouldn't be dealing with this guy, this was supposed to be Regis' domain, he might be a worm, but at least he was good at being a worm.
"Now Dr. Sorkin," the host said cheerfully, "Can you tell us a bit more about this super grain. Mr. Van Owen claims that his organization has evidence that the grain maybe hazardous for consumption. Would you care to respond to that?"
Laura sat forward in her chair and steepled her fingers looking over the top of them at Nick Van Owen.
"That's ridiculous. The super grain is a modified, fast growing, high yield, wheat and nothing more. I can personally assure you that we have run extensive testing of the super grain and have not noticed any digestive or other issues in livestock."
"Ah, I see the confusion now Dr. Sorkin." Nick Van Owen said with a smirk, "You see I wasn't speaking of digestive problems in livestock but rather in humans. My studies have shown that the grain is indigestible by humans, there have been several cases of complications caused from eating the super grain."
"Well there's your problem then!" Sorkin said in an exasperated voice, throwing her hands up, "The super grain was designed to survive the digestive system of large herbivorous animals. It was never meant for human consumption. We designed it to be a new feed for cattle, not to make bread with!"
"Cattle?" Nick asked with raised eyebrow, "I wasn't aware that your company was interested in food production. Tell me, if you're developing this super grain as a feed for animals, why is it that it has not been marketed to the farming industry? My sources tell me that IGT is keeping all the super grain for their personal use. And this isn't the first time either, several years ago IGT quietly bought a small plastics company that were making synthetic egg shells. Now Dr. Sorkin, I'd be very interested to know why IGT seems to be prepping for large scale animal production."
Sorkin had to admit, the little twerp had definitely done his homework. This wasn't Sorkin's field, she made genetically engineered creatures. She wasn't a goddam PR person. She knew full well that she didn't have the authority to tell Van Owen the truth about what they were really doing, but it would be really satisfying. Instead, Sorkin plastered a pleasant smile on her face and gave a bit of the official line.
"International Genetics Technology LLC is one of the top genetic engineering firms in the world Mr. Van Owen. We have many different experiments involving animal growth and development. We need the super grain for feed for our test animals and we need the synthetic eggs to monitor embryo development, I can assure you that it is all very straight forward."
After the interview Sorkin was heading back to the limo when she was stopped by the sight of Nick Van Owen standing with his arms crossed over his chest, by the back door to the studio. He nodded acknowledgement and fell into step next to Sorkin.
"That was very interesting what you said back there Dr. Sorkin." Nick said with a smirk, "I really have to hand it to you, that was very good. You were able to tell the exact truth and not answer my questions directly at the same time. Very good indeed."
"I have no idea what you are talking about." Sorkin said flatly.
Nick chuckled and reached into the pocket of his sports coat. He removed a small packet of photographs and handed it over to Sorkin.
"Some of my best work, back when I was a field documentarian. The films a little gritty but you can make them out no problem. See, a few years back I was hired by this wild company named INGEN."
Sorkin's eyes grew huge as she looked at the photographs but said nothing.
"They'd made genetically engineered dinosaurs. Can you believe that? Wild company… They had an island, down in Costa Rica, where I'm told your company has a dinosaur themed amusement park." Nick continued smiling pleasantly, "So tell me again Dr. Sorkin, what are you using the synthetic eggs for?"