One morning, Elkay brought Ellie down to what had once been an underground lab to show her one of her latest inventions. They moved through the eerily silent halls, ducking down to avoid loose wires and broken pipes.

"It's amazing that this place survived the bombing," Elkay marveled, "The transdimensional gateway machine was smooshed, unfortunately, but we don't really need it, so no harm done."

Ellie pushed a cluster of vines to the side.

"I wouldn't say that. It takes a lot of magic to open portals, so whenever Claire summons one, my power gets drained significantly."

Elkay grinned.

"Lucky for you, I found a new way to conserve your energy."

She opened a small, circular door and waved her claws.

"Behold, the ultimate search engine!"

Inside the restored room was a large machine that looked something like a supercomputer from the eighties. The countless buttons, knobs, and switches gave the whole thing a very cluttered look, yet it also seemed to be somewhat organized, since the hundreds of blinking lights flashed in a mesmerizing sequence. Above the bulk of the system was a large screen, which Ellie decided was some sort of monitor. Of course, she was terrible with technology, so she couldn't ascertain much more information from simply looking at the system. Something told her that Elkay would be trying to explain it to her in roughly three seconds.

"Ignore the gadgets and gizmos: they're mostly just for show," the dragon said breezily, "All you really need to understand is the keyboard. It's under those spinning disc things. All very technical stuff, of course."

Ellie trotted up to the keyboard and rubbed her chin.

"Okay, I have no idea what we're doing. Explain how this thing works."

Elkay grinned proudly.

"Almost every scrap of information in the universe is stored inside of this machine, because it runs on your magic. It's more efficient than searching up things directly, so your 'starpower' will be more or less conserved."

Ellie blinked.

"So, basically, you built me a giant Google."

Elkay frowned defensively.

"This thing is a million times better than Google. Ask me why."

"Why?" Ellie asked flatly.

"You can talk to it like a person, and it actually understands you."

"So, basically, you built me a giant Siri?"

Elkay flattened her ears.

"I think you're missing the point. Give me something to search."

Ellie rolled her eyes.

"Kangaroos."

Elkay snorted.

"Pick something more obscure."

"Echidnas."

Elkay frowned and started typing.

"I'll begin by asking it how many times you've said the word 'amazing' in your lifetime."

She pressed an orange button, and the monitor displayed a large number.

"See? It's one hundred percent accurate."

Ellie hummed.

"Great. I'll use it whenever I need to look up stats."

Elkay grabbed her by the collar as she turned to leave.

"Hang on, missy. We're not done yet."

She started typing in more commands.

"The machine can also handle complicated requests. I'm asking it to provide a list of the most frequently used comparisons the men of Isla Nublar use when talking about their junk. I'm making a special request to omit Alan, because lord knows I don't need to read about what my granddaughter is up to, and I'll also specify that I want our closest friends to show up first. Should we restrict it to similes, metaphors, or both?"

Ellie shrugged.

"I don't really care."

"I'll go with metaphors," Elkay said with a quick nod, "Press enter, and . . . voilà!"

A list of names lit up the screen. Elkay scrolled down them.

"Whose results would be the least damaging to hear?"

Ellie held up her hands.

"We don't have to-"

Elkay clicked on Owen's name. She looked up at the screen and raised her eyebrow.

"Microscope? What the hell? I'm guessing that was Claire's idea."

Ellie winced.

"Close it. Close it, please."

Elkay hummed.

"I mean, it's weird that it's the first result, right? It's higher than 'raptor' and 'motorcycle'."

Ellie pressed the clear button.

"Okay, I understand how it works. How does this help me?"

Elkay put her hands on her hips.

"You need all the energy you can get, since you made the mistake of limiting your own power."

"It wasn't a mistake," Ellie said quietly, "I don't want to have another incident."

Elkay folded her ears back sympathetically.

"Ellie, I know you're scared, but tell me this: how are you going to be a proper Queen if you put limits on your magic?"

Ellie looked away guiltily.

"I can't lift my rations yet. Not until I'm sure that nothing bad will happen. Can you try to understand?"

Elkay nodded, but Ellie was certain that she had her doubts about her choice.

***TSJWFEW***

Simon Masrani was grateful to be alive. Having died once in his lifetime, he could say without a doubt that he would not want to repeat the experience again. Of course, being alive had a few downsides. Actually, there was only one downside, namely the fact that he was a tiny, white tiger.

Being a feline of minuscule proportions was much nicer than being an ant or a helicopter, of course, but Simon couldn't help but feel that he was often forgotten by his friends. Maybe that's why they came very close to stepping on him almost every day. He wasn't bitter about it, per se, but it would be nice to get a little respect.

One day, Simon returned home, only to find that there was no home to return to. He had been living in a hollow coconut shell for the past year or so, and he had never encountered a single problem with his humble abode. Unfortunately, he had not heeded Elkay's advice to hang his house from a tree, and now it was lying on the ground in several crushed fragments. Simon bounded over to his broken home and felt his whiskers droop in despair.

"What on earth? . . ."

Upon further examination, he realized that he was standing in a massive (relatively speaking) footprint. When he came across the distinct indentation of a stiletto, he knew precisely who was to blame.

"Oh, that foolish woman. She's so busy stomping around and feeling important that she forgets that there are smaller people on this island."

With an irritated stride, Simon bumbled through the forest to speak with Ellie about the issue. Having never traveled this way before, he found that he was running into more obstacles than usual. The roots of larger trees were like logs to him, and he had to make massive leaps to clear them. The jungle was rather dark as well, which meant that it was easy to step on hidden thorns or burs.

Finally, Simon encountered the greatest obstacle of all. A small stream trickled through the dirt, gurgling quite peacefully. To a tiny tiger, it was like raging rapids. Still, he couldn't turn back now, or he'd be wasting a trip. Spotting a small chunk of bark on the ground, Simon ran over and dragged it over to the bank with his teeth. When it was near the water, he stood on top of it and pushed it from behind with his back feet. His makeshift boat slid into the water with ease.

Simon decided that trying to cross the stream had been a very bad idea, indeed. The raft was spinning out of control, and it was barely staying above the surface. Whirling around like a dreidel, Simon felt himself being soaked by ice-cold water. It was a nightmare. His fur jutting out in wet spikes, he dug his claws into the bark, trying desperately to hold on.

After a long journey, the rapids slowed to a gentle pace. Simon hopped off of his raft and dog-paddled to dry land, keeping his head above water. When he reached the riverbank, he lay gasping in the dirt, utterly exhausted.

It was only when he looked up that he lost his ability to breathe.

***TSJWFEW***

"Fairies! Thousands of them!" Simon exclaimed as he stood on a table in front of Ellie and the dragon, "They're living in an old oak tree. They have a magical society with glitter and dust and butterflies-"

Elkay rolled her eyes.

"Fairies. Right. There are real, living fairies on Isla Nublar."

Simon folded his ears back against his skull and crinkled his nose.

"You don't believe me?"

"Nope," she said simply.

"But you're a dragon!"

Elkay nodded.

"Yeah, and being a dragon, I know that fairies are native to Asterpara. Well, unless Ellie somehow created them during her little episode . . ."

Ellie shook her head.

"Nope. I kept track of everything I did. The most significant results were the Candy Forest and Pablo."

A purple raptor popped up behind them.

"Ellie."

He strutted away, his claws clicking against the linoleum floor. Ellie looked over her shoulder casually.

"Where's he going?"

Elkay shrugged.

"Dunno. Seems like certain people show up once, only to never be mentioned again."

"I don't really think that's-"

"Humphrey, Moku-Pa, Vicky, Jules, Sam, Dixie-"

"Okay, point taken."

"-Arby, Roland, Tuhuma, your new kid-"

"Tuhuma died and you saw Tyler yesterday."

Elkay hummed.

"Whatever. My point is, people come and go. Nothing unusual about that."

Meanwhile, on the table, Simon was growing impatient. He stood up on his hind legs and put his paws on his hips.

"Can we get back to discussing the fairies, please?"

Elkay snorted.

"Right, right. Let's waste our time talking about things that don't exist. Other topics include elves, orcs, and Tea Leoni's ability to act."

Simon growled.

"I'm being serious! I saw them when I sailed down the river!"

Elkay rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. On your little bark-boat. Did you bring a zebra, an orangutan, and a hyena with you?"

After a pause, she rolled onto her back and started cackling.

"That joke has so many levels . . ."

Simon frowned and turned away from the laughing dragon.

"Fine. I'm going to find the fairies and prove that they exist, with or without your assistance."

As he stormed away, Elkay lifted her head.

"Ellie, should we tell him that we own a machine that can prove or disprove his claim without much hassle?"

Ellie shrugged.

"Meh. The way I see it, if he's telling the truth, he'll probably end up residing with the fairies anyway."

"Why's that?"

"He lost his house, and the fairies are his size. Do the math."

Elkay rubbed her chin.

"Hey, Ellie, have you ever noticed that things always seem to resolve themselves in a clever or poetic way?"

"No, not really."

"Good. I'm sure no one else has, either."

***TSJWFEW***

When Simon returned to the old oak tree, he was horrified to see that Claire was once again in the process of destroying someone's home. She was rubbing her front horn against the tree trunk like a rhinoceros, while the fairies (unbeknownst to her) cowered in the hollows of the oak. Simon dashed forward and climbed up on her front foot.

"Claire!"

She didn't notice him.

"CLAIRE!"

She continued to tear apart the bark.

"CLAIRE DEARING, IF YOU DO NOT LISTEN TO ME, I WILL HAVE TO BITE YOUR TOE!"

Claire frowned in confusion and looked around. Simon growled impatiently.

"Down here. On your foot."

Claire looked down at him, batting her massive eyelashes innocently.

"Mr. Masrani! I didn't see you. What do you want?"

He frowned and crossed his fuzzy arms.

"This tree is the habitat of a colony of fairies."

After a moment, Claire laughed.

"Sorry, did you say fairies?"

Simon nodded seriously.

"You've seen angels and you've seen dragons. Why is it so hard to believe that fairies exist?"

Claire snorted.

"Well, just because someone discovers a flying fish, it doesn't mean you should assume that swimming birds exist."

"Flying fish don't really fly, and you're forgetting about ducks and geese."

"It's just an example," Claire replied breezily, "I'm saying that we shouldn't jump to conclusions, that's all."

"I'm not jumping to conclusions! I saw them!" he insisted.

Claire rolled her eyes.

"Mr. Masrani, there's no such thing as fairies."

One of the fairies that had been hiding behind a tree branch suddenly grabbed its chest and fell out into the open. It landed on Claire's snout, dead as a doornail. Claire crossed her eyes and hummed.

"Oh. I guess I was wrong."

***TSJWFEW***

Elkay and Ellie lifted their heads as Claire trotted through the patio door of the Visitors' Center. Before she could speak, Elkay raised her claw.

"Let me guess: Masrani was right about the fairies, and he's decided to live with them as their elected king."

Claire closed her beak.

"Yes. That's exactly right. How did you know?"

Elkay wrote something down on a piece of paper. She punctuated it with a lively motion and handed it to Ellie.

"Hang onto this for a second."

Claire leaned forward, waiting for a response.

"I knew what would happen because we've become horribly predictable. I can foresee just about every single event that will take place in the near future."

Suddenly, Zara glided down from the sky and collapsed, weeping, on the patio, knocking over several tables in the process. She squeaked and lifted her beak to the sky, wailing miserably.

"Michael chucked me!"

Ellie turned to Elkay with a sardonic look.

"I'll bet you didn't see that coming."

"Read the note," Elkay said flatly.

Ellie raised her eyebrow and unfolded the paper. She squinted and read it out loud.

"Someone is going to show up unexpectedly with bad news, prompting Ellie to make a snarky comment about how I didn't see it coming."

She lowered the paper.

"Real nice."

Elkay didn't so much as blink.

"Turn it over."

Ellie flipped the page and read the other side.

"And then Ellie is going to say something in a sarcastic/disdainful tone of voice."

Ellie gave her a disapproving look. Elkay shrugged innocently.

"What can I say? I'm good at what I do."

They turned as Zara's sobbing grew louder. When they had stared at her blankly for a few seconds, they looked at each other at the exact same moment.

"Should we do something?" Ellie asked.

Elkay nodded quickly.

"Invite Vivian over. Zara will be needing a friend or two."

Ellie wrote something on the paper and placed it in the middle of the table.

"Are you sure you aren't just doing this because of all of the people who haven't been around recently?"

Elkay frowned.

"Shut up."

"Open the paper."

Elkay unfolded the note.

Elkay will say "Shut up.", and Ellie will make a sassy comment.

Ellie shrugged mockingly.

"What can I say? I'm good at what I do."

Elkay pouted grumpily as she strolled away.

"That last part doesn't count, you know!"

"There's another line."

She unfolded the bottom half of the paper.

Elkay will tell me that the last part doesn't count.

The dragon tapped her claws on the table.

"Smartass."