Isla Sorna, 207 miles off the coast of Costa Rica
Setting foot in such a place was not exactly anyone's first call at the time. But, of course, there were questions that needed to be answered. A riddle that needed a solution. Something had been going on underneath InGen's nose and they would soon have to find out what exactly these Biosyn characters were up to. But their curious minds were put on hold when viewing the tragic sight of this island. None were prepared for what they had found.
What they had just landed on looked like something that had come straight from the era of World War II. The ground was darkened and charred with ancient soot, that looked as if there had been a major fire several years prior. There were sections of jungle, of course, but most of the island was a heartbreaking memory of what these bombs had unleashed. Devastating. Some of the plant life looked as if it were starting to get sickly as if there were some part of this destruction that was causing them to whither.
The group could feel the cold air around them when departing from their boat and onto dry land. Each of these people had witnessed people getting eaten by Dinosaurs before, but none of them had seen the destruction caused by Nuclear bombs. Their eyes brought to them a sight that caused them to feel a mixture of sorrow and horror.
The only other sound that the group could hear besides the wind were their footsteps walking across the crusty, burnt ground. There was no sound you would normally hear within the jungle. The rugged mountain ranges that held such vibrant colors of green were now no more than just barren rock. No chattering birds. No peeping frogs. No chirping crickets. Nothing. A wasteland of destruction from long ago. You would think that it would have cleared up after this long, but no. Oh, how wrong you would be.
No signs of Dinosaur life could be found when looking at this Island. There were no large footprints in the ash-mixed dirt beneath their feet. Signs of nuclear bomb explosions were found at various places. It looked as if there could have been some sort of war here. That, or perhaps something far worse. Playing God by itself was enough of a crime, but destroying one's own living creations on this kind of scale was another in itself.
Claire headed through what was once a field with Maxin and Sattler. Franklin, Ian, and Zia were trudging up a smoldered hill while Grant stayed behind Claire's trio with his arms folded. Sattler knelt down to a small, green plant that was growing among the black, charred ground. "Lady's Fern." She said. "It looks about as healthy as if it just started growing."
"It's a wonder how something like that could've survived what happened here," Claire said as she knelt down to it along with Maxin.
"Wait a minute." Sattler lifted one of the Fern's leaves and began to examine it. "See these fronds? Ferns have two kinds of fronds: The fertile fronds and sterile fronds. But look here. If you look closely, you can see what looks like a different kind of pattern of fronds along the edges. During me and Alan's time digging in Montana, I found something similar to this. I looked in books regarding all the found prehistoric plant life, and I found only one with the exact types of fronds as this one. It's called Polypodiophyta Triassicus, and by the looks of the sample we had found then, they survived what looked like a fire-based calamity, most likely an erupting volcano."
"Which would explain why it's growing in a place like this," Claire looked around at her surroundings with a forlorn expression. "Henry, what in God's name have you been doing?"
"Claire!" Came Zia's voice from atop the hill. Claire, Sattler and Maxin all looked up to see her, Franklin, and Malcolm. "You're gonna have to come see this!" From the tone in Zia's voice, whatever she and the others needed her to see, it was very urgent. And not in a good way.
She hurried up the slope with Grant and the others in tow. And when reaching the top, she let a gasp that only said that what was on the other side was extremely shocking. There was another field where their eyes had frozen, but it was much less of a field as it was a graveyard. All about the area, there was all that remained of a large number of very unfortunate Dinosaurs who had the displeasure of being caught in what had happened here. Some of them were full skeletons while others were scattered all about the place.
As if the sight of the wasteland that had once been Isla Sorna was not spirit-breaking enough, now they had to see a whole graveyard full of the poor animals caught in the crossfire. The troop stayed quiet as they stared out at the foreboding sight. Digging up Dinosaurs at a dig site where a natural disaster had occurred long ago was one thing, but seeing the result of this disaster was far to much for any of them to bear.
"Henry…" Claire said under her breath as she watched this. Watching an Apatosaurus succumb ti its injuries was what had started her compassion for these creatures, and now she was regretting everything she had put them through. "Henry."
"I-uh," Malcolm said as he put his hands on his hips, watching the scene. "I have to say, this is a much different experience than my last visit."
"I think that stands for all of us." Grant sighed as he folded his arms.
"Wait a minute." Claire had wiped her face clean of the tears this tragic scene had caused her. "The research center. Ian, when you were here, did you-"
"Well uh, I can honestly say I didn't see any kind of research center." He shrugged. "But hey, if you think there might he one, be my guest. But I doubt there'd be any-"
"There is," Grant spoke up again. "I saw it when I was here. Me and the ones I came with. Let's just say it didn't end too well. However, with it changed this much, I doubt it's even still standing."
Maxin folded his arms as he stood there contemplating whatever thoughts had gone into that veteran mind of his, he turned to see if Claire was still with them. To his surprise, she was not next to him anymore. He then saw her heading towards the East direction, in the same direction the wide mountains had begun to line across the land. "Dearing, where you going?"
Claire turned back to the group. "If there's any chance that the research center's still around, there may be something Biosyn left behind. Anyone who wants to come is welcome. Those opposed, the boat's right where we left it." She then began to trek into the dead jungle, her footsteps clumping further and further.
Maxin turned to Zia. "Rather tenacious isn't she?"
"Try working with her." Zia sighed as she and the others followed behind Claire as they walked through the ruined terrain. Maxin pulled his backpack over his shoulders as picked up his pace, walking beside Franklin, making the intern rather skeptical.
"So, about when all this is over…" Franklin tried to make talk with this intimidating man as they followed after Claire. "What do you plan on doing when we get this done?"
"Depends…"
"On what?"
"On whether or not my kids will be able to stomach the sight of me." Maxin sighed.
As Franklin showed a series of awkwardness on his face at this, Zia walked next to Grant. "So, Dr. Grant, I just have to ask, what was it like going to the first park? You know, seeing dinosaurs for the first time?"
Grant sighed. "At first, when I saw them, I felt like I had stepped into a childhood fantasy of mine. My dad was barely around, I used to imagine I was… back in the cretaceous era. Like I could actually see the Dinosaurs. I had my own vision of what they looked like. Man, I got the Triceratops all wrong. Anyway, after the park went to dirt, I thought I had lost my overall imagination for Dinosaurs altogether. But then, when the Kirby's brought me here, I was reminded of what it really meant to see something like that. Imagination, you know? It gives someone something to do when they got nothing at all. Something to use."
"So, you've been thinking about the Dinosaurs all this time?" Zia asked.
"I have." Grant nodded. "People have always asked me if I would ever go back, but I kept saying no. But that was only half the story. The truth is: I wanted to see them again. There was so much more that I wanted to know about them. And now, with everything as it is, I think I got that and more."
The group continued o for a few moments before Claire had stopped. They had made it. They stared at the large building that stood many miles downhill. It looked almost the same, albeit with much of the surroundings destroyed by the bombs from years past. This sight fit very well with the Island's tragic design.
"Well, there it is," Grant said as they watched it.
"No time like the present," Claire said. She then started to climb down the slope as the others followed close behind. The arrived at the remains of the old village surrounding the large building. Debris lay at their feet in all places. The front door stood right before them as Claire put her hand on the handle and tugged on it. It slowly creaked open, allowing them to enter the darkness. Only the sunlight brought light into the shadows, showing them everything that was inside.
"Well, looks like they left it unlocked," Claire said, her voice echoing into the halls.
"Yeah…" Franklin said as he looked around. "Question is: Where do we look?"
"Well, if we want to find any evidence as to why Biosyn wanted to bomb this island, we'll have to check the surveillance cameras." Claire turned on her flashlight as she checked around for power. "I've only been to Sorna twice, but I vaguely remember there being a control room. Everyone, help me look."
Malcolm used his flashlight to look along the walls as well. "W-well, if it were me who put a power coupling on these kinds of walls, I'd put them, uh, somewhere where it'd take a lot of power to turn something on. Namely, the control room. Y-you know, chaotically speaking."
"Hey, guys?" Franklin's voice came from up ahead in a large room. "Anybody know how to switch on a power box?"
"Let me see it, Franklin," Sattler said, making her way over to the intern. She then shined her flashlight onto the many wires inside the power box. With Franklin holding her light, she began to reconnect some of the disconnected wires. "There, now could someone flip on that switch over there?"
Grant nodded and flipped the switch. Soon enough, the lights turned on inside of the whole building, starting with the control room. Everyone turned their flashlights off.
"Right then, thank you, Ellie," Claire said, looking around the room. "Ok, now we just have to find out how to activate the surveillance footage. "
The group began to look around to see if there was anything they could find that could be useful. They found some very old cassettes stacked up on the tables. There had to have been over a dozen of them found within this room. The dates that were listed on their ranged from the late 80s and 90s, to the early 2000s. There was more than likely one that caught the footage of Grant's time on this island, back when it was not a wasteland.
"Gotta say," Maxin said as he examined some of the cassettes. "These people sure had a lot of time operating this place."
"Must've came back sometime before the second park." Zia assumed. "The public thinks that it was bombed in 2005. But that was just a cover-up by InGen. They came to examine some of the Dinosaurs here, even bring a few new species to the island. "
"That explains why there's all these new Dinos showing up out there." Franklin picked up a cassette which read '11/16/2005.' Of all the hundreds of tapes found here, this one seemed to be the most speculative. "Say, uh, do we have, like, a tape player or something?"
"Over here, Franklin," Grant said as he led him over to a machine that stood on the desk next to the television screen. He inserted the tape and turned on the machine. The television showed static at first. An odd sound could be heard as the static pixelated across the screen. Claire listened to this sound, as if there were something about it that seemed off to her in some way.
"Is there any way we can enhance this?"
"I can, uh maybe." Franklin walked over to the machine and began to examine the panel. "Uh, let me see. Lemme just use zoom in."
As Franklin fiddled around with the buttons, the static slowly became less visible, and the sound had become slightly less ear-piercing. The image began to slightly enhance, and the group could almost make out what it was. It was a face. A man's face. And it almost sounded as if he were saying something. But the image was not entirely rendered. Neither was the sound.
"A little more," Zia said, watching the video.
Franklin held the specific button a little more. Continuing to render, the image became clearer. Then a little more. Little more. And to everyone's shock, they could see who it was on the screen. And they could make out every word he was saying.
"November 11th, 2005. Four years after the Kirby incident on Isla Sorna. We have successfully convinced the public that our government has completely obliterated this situation. We have issued a legal document of proof that we have dropped our nuclear bombs onto InGen's breeding grounds. The first phase is complete. My name is Henry Wu, head of Aerocal Labs. And I am leaving this recording to document my success. To show that even though John Hammond has failed the world, I will not."
Welp, it looks like we know what's happened to Sorna now. The question is: Why did Henry Wu want to bomb the Island in the first place? I'll tell you this much, it's got something to do with his plans involving his alliance with Biosyn. Stay tuned for more of this story in the future! Also, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel MadDino Productions. I've been narrating the first few chapters of this specific story and I would like you all to check it out. Merry Christmas to all and to all, Spare no expense.