Mohinder was very deep in thought as he sat upon a large boulder within the Morrison Formation exhibit zone's main herbivore paddock, watching the various herbivores going about their business. At that moment, he could clearly see every Morrison formation sauropod species out in the open within the paddock. Both diplodocus species could be seen browsing upon leaves from the feeding trees in the forested area at the very back of the paddock, the camarasaurids were drinking from the lake, the apatosaurus and brontosaurus were drinking and bathing, the barosaurus and haplocanthosaurus were scratching themselves against the sides of some of the sturdier trees in the paddock's forested area, and the brachiosaurus were all basking in the sunlight. And as he watched all the sauropods engaging in their respective activities, he calmly thought to himself about the news the park had received the previous week about the Novum Board deciding to give them permission to open to the public.
When he really thought about it, he wasn't entirely surprised. After all, that was what he'd expected. Nevertheless, he wasn't ashamed to admit that he was pretty excited about opening day. After all, what they had achieved here was meant to be shared wit the world.
Then he thought about just how many sauropods were actually at the park, and he nodded his head sagely as he remembered another important reason behind his excitement about opening day. Over the last few weeks, he'd taken note of just how worn out people were starting to get. Kyle had told them one day that Novum were transferring a bunch of new people from various areas of the company into the current major staff divisions. Perhaps he would be training some of the new keepers himself.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Arlo and Shorty, the former immediately recognisable from the healed scars on this back. Even with Arlo's acceptance into the broader Apatosaurus herd, he and Shorty still associated most of the time. They were both adolescents – mostly on the periphery of their respective groups. Mohinder smiled - he'd bonded quite closely with the two young sauropods, and Shorty in particular. The world would change – but then, that was what life was about.
. . . . .
Tina kept a close eye on the direction of the holding area that the female cave leopard Sabor was currently positioned in while she herself worked hard to clean up Makucha's holding area. At that moment, Makucha was currently in the outdoor area of the paddock, with the door securely locked, whilst Sabor, meanwhile, was in her own holding area. But even so, it never hurt to keep her eyes and ears open – after all, complacency killed. And in all fairness, Sabor was currently standing right at the chain-link barrier and staring intently Tina's way right that very moment.
Tina took another look at Sabor, still standing at the chain-link barrier. In some ways, this was unnerving – after all, having a predatory cat of any size stare at you conjured up atavistic fears. But at the same time, she could tell from Sabor's body language that the big cat was more curious than hungry. And in all honesty, even with her guard up, Tina couldn't help but also feel drawn to Sabor.
Tina nodded her head, a small smile coming on her face as she thought of how much in common she had with the female cave leopard – both were rather proud and independent, only letting down their walls around those they respected or cared about. And as she had this thought, she soon noticed Sabor lie down on the ground, seemingly relaxed, eyes still fixed on Tina. Tina nodded her head. "Well, looks like someone's interested in little old me," she said before she then walked over to an area that was just a yard or so away from the dividing wall and sitting down – it always helped to keep a safe distance. "Just giving Makucha's accommodations a good clean."
As she sat down, Tina sighed, "It's nice to ." Tina turned her head towards the reinforced glass wall to her left – a viewing area. Tina nodded her head once more. It had only been a week since the fateful announcement - even now it felt surreal. After all this time, Prehistoric Park would be opening up to the public. And she had to admit, she was feeling quite excited about the matter – this was quite the accomplishment and something the whole world needed to know… but a small part of her that felt a bit daunted by the sheer enormity of it all.
"It is a pity though," she said, a slightly exhausted look coming into her eyes. "This place'll be crowded soon – there's going to be much less privacy than we're used to." She picked up a nearby rubber bone that she'd recently placed inside Makucha's den for him to chew on, examining it with care.
Serendipitously, Sabor growled in seeming agreement, briefly turned her head in the direction of the entrance to a secluded area in her den out of public view, and then looked back at Tina before seemingly nodding her head. Tina chuckled. "Yep, This place is gonna be a bit crowded." She sighed, "I wonder how Cass is feeling – maybe she's excited, maybe she's daunted… I don't know." Sabor growled again, lightly brushing her tail against the floor of her den.
Tina shook her head. "In a way, it's kind of funny. Back when she and I were younger, I might not have really cared. But now? Ever since the shutdown, I've tried to fix things - I know it's not easy for me to express it, but I really do care about her." Sabor nodded her head in acknowledgement, letting out a heavy breath in the process, as Tina rolled her eyes in amusement, "And the park opening isn't the only issue," she then stated, barely hiding the amusement in her voice, "Someone is taking an interest in my sister." At the leopard's confusion, Tina said, "Yeah I know… I was surprised too." She sighed, "Honestly, he seems like a nice guy – however, I've made it clear, if he does anything… he'll know who he answers to." Disinterested, Sabor growled and stalked off, whilst Tina chuckled. "Yeah, I think I've gone on long enough," she said before getting back up to her feet and walking off to resume her work, saying "You were a good listener whilst it lasted".
. . . . .
Cass couldn't help but whistle in both nerves and excitement as she sat upon a log in the main Hell creek herbivore paddock and observed all the paddock's inhabitants going about their day. Even now she couldn't quite fully wrap her head around the news – the park would be open to the public. To be honest, she still hadn't fully processed it – however, she felt largely nervous with a small twinge of excitement.
Even now her mind was racing as she thought about what changes were to come – massive crowds of people, leading to an increased difficulty at getting anywhere without bumping into someone, constant questions, the inevitable rulebreakers and wiseasses, etc., etc., etc. She shook her head side to side – don't dwell on the negative. This was what they'd been working towards.
The sound of groaning and low bellowing from the various herbivorous dinosaurs in the paddock with her caused her to direct her gaze towards them, a weak smile appearing on her face. "World's gonna change for these guys too," she thought to herself. "They'll be seeing more people in five seconds than they have in years." However, they would probably adjust – complex animals could adapt to a great deal of situations.
A low grunting from nearby caught her attention, and she looked to her right in time to see Theo, slightly larger now, looking at her. At the sight of him, Cass couldn't help but allow her smile to become a lot warmer. After all, Theo had at this point become just as much of a companion to her as Einstein. Chuckling, she lightly rubbed her fingers against the horn on the tip of Theo's snout, taking note in the process of how his horns had grown slightly – according to Khatin, studies had found that ceratopsians likely took several years to grow to adolescence – with males not breeding until their horns were fully developed. Smiling at the young triceratops, she said "At least I'll still have you around as my companion when the park opens," she said happily to herself. Eventually Cass decided she'd rubbed Theo's nose horn long enough, and she stopped. And at that, with a thankful snort, Theo turned around and galloped off to rejoin the rest of his herd. As Cass watched Theo return to his herd, she couldn't help but nod her head and smile. After all, in the time she'd just spent with Theo, she'd been reminded of how she wouldn't be alone. After all, she'd still have Theo and Einstein to 'chat' and the rest of her friends on the staff… and even Tina who, in the months since the Shutdown, seemed to have been genuinely making an effort to start repairing their relationship.
Then she thought of Horace, at which point her smile widened and her eyes brightened. She had to admit, ever since they'd first met on the day of the La Brea Tar Pits mission, she and Horace had gotten on quite swimmingly. It certainly helped that they had a lot in common – they were both determined and dependable people who were fiercely defensive of those they cared about. And, even as aloof and terse as he seemed at first glance, she knew the soul within – even his stubbornness, even if a problem sometimes, was a quality that she found admirable.
She let a half confused and half intrigued look come onto her face. She couldn't help but take note that she tended to think of Horace quite a lot these days – others had noticed this too, with Mohinder and even Tina giving hints that they knew something that she didn't. "Are they right?", she thought to herself. "Does Horace like me like that?" She then let a brief blush come on her face. "For that matter," she thought to herself. "Do I like him like that?" She smiled – somehow, the thought seemed appealing…
She shook her head to clear her thoughts – now was not the time to think about this. There was too much on everyone's plate to think about things like that. She nodded her head and stood up from the log she'd been sitting on. "Anyway, what will be will be," she thought to herself, "Focus on the now."
The sound of something metallic landing with a clatter caused Cass to look to her left in time to see Einstein standing near her unlocked lunchbox, with an apple in his beak! Einstein hooted, a capricious look on his scaly face as he held the stolen apple in his mouth for Cass to see. Cass groaned, "Oh for the love of," before bolting after Einstein, who himself promptly began to run off with a gleeful hoot. "Give that back!" The pachycephalosaur ran off – rolling her eyes, Cass didn't try and chase after him – it had been proven at this point that he could eat it. And, besides, Einstein would provide her with some comfort in the days to come.
. . . . .
Horace, meanwhile, was having very similar thoughts about Cass as he relaxed against a large boulder in the Ice Age Mount main herbivore paddock and watched the inhabitants of *that* paddock going about their day. He shook his head side to side in bemusement, still feeling more than a little bewildered by how it had only been a week since the game changing announcement of how the park had now been deemed worthy of beginning preparations for opening to the public. In some ways, it still felt like it was only yesterday when the park had been deemed far too big of a secret to dare risk exposing to the world at large. But now, as of a mere week prior, exposure to the world at large would indeed be what the park would undergo. And he'd by lying if he were to say that it didn't feel at all surreal.
To tell the truth, Horace still wasn't quite fully certain what to think about the matter. On the one hand, he'd have to be a fool to not understand just how big of a deal the whole business was and just how potentially mind blowing the park could be once it was revealed in all its glory to the public. And with that in mind, he supposed part of him did in fact feel excited about the idea of the park opening to the public. But at the same time, he also was well aware of how things could potentially go south. After all, you could never tell for certain how the public would behave. And that was without considering potential accidents that could occur over the course of the current work being put into getting the park prepared for opening day. And all this, combined with just how much busier he and the rest of the staff had become since the day of the announcement, there was definitely a sizable part of him that felt nervous about what could happen. He sighed. "I really hope Cass is feeling ok with all this," he whispered under his breath.
The sound of various grunts and other noises caused Horace to look more closely in the direction of the various ice age herbivores that dwelled in the paddock. The tarpan, European ass, and saiga antelope were all positioned on the side of the hill that led up to where he was currently positioned, with the adults grazing while the youngsters ran around and played. The coelodonta herd were positioned several yards to the left of the ice age equines and modern day European antelope, with the adults either browsing on bushes or sharpening their horns against nearby tree stumps while the youngsters tussled playfully. The auroch, steppe bison, and modern European bison were all gathered in the center of the paddock, and were currently in the midst of grazing. The elasmotherium were browsing for bushes closest to the front of the lightly forested area at the very back of the paddock, with the single male amongst the crash occasionally pausing to sharpen the tip of his mighty horn against the trunk of one of the trees. Martha and Ellie could be seen having a drink together at the far rightmost end of the paddock's lake while the larger herd was similarly gathered and drinking at the leftmost end of the lake. And of course, if he looked just closely enough, he could just barely see George occasionally moving about further within the lightly forested area at the very back of the paddock while occasionally swinging his trunk against a makeshift 'punching bag' that had been set up within his territory for when he felt the need to blow off some steam.
Horace snorted. The way he saw it, the animals of the park were very lucky when it came to their daily lives would be unfolding over the next few months. After all, unlike the staff, who were almost constantly even busier these days than before, the animals could largely just do what they always did every day unless some sort of particularly noteworthy development to unfold during the preparations for opening day ended up occurring at their enclosure. And a similar thing could be said about how their lives would unfold once guests started showing up to view them. For while the animals that guests could get much more comparatively up close and personal with would probably have a somewhat more visible reaction to their presence, ones that could largely be viewed more from a distance such as the Ice Age Mount main herbivore paddock's inhabitants would most likely largely be indifferent to the guests' presence outside of maybe directing brief curious glances their way upon initial notice before getting right back to what they'd been doing beforehand as if nothing had happened. And over time, just about all the animals would likely eventually get used to being viewed by the public to the point that nothing short of an especially noteworthy incident happening around them involving the guests would get them to react all that strongly to their presence. He shook his head side to side. Times like these were when he honestly felt a bit envious of how the animals had the luxury of just living their lives virtually the same way every day without a care in the world while the staff had to bend over backwards to ensure they both successfully achieved their usual work from before the previous week's announcement *and* made sufficient progress every day in making the needed preparations for opening day. Especially considering just how much hard work he'd been putting himself through not too long before his current much needed period of temporary relaxation.
The sound of a high pitched deer-like bellow caused Horace to turn his head to look towards the paddock wall behind him and the boulder he was relaxing against, a warm smile coming onto his face as he saw an animal he'd come to know very well indeed standing nearby and staring his way. As it so happened, that particular wall of the Ice Age Mount main herbivore paddock just so happened to be a point where the paddock connected with the southwestern end of the nearby megaloceros paddock, with only a single wall of immensely reinforced chain-link fencing present to separate the two paddocks and prevent the respective inhabitants from directly interacting or invading each other's space. But said wall certainly didn't stop particularly curious inhabitants from occasionally interacting with each other in limited fashion whenever they both so happened to be close enough to it to see each other. And at that moment, Horace could see none other than the scar nosed young male megaloceros fawn that he'd started forming the beginnings of a bond with on the very same day in which it had first been brought back to the park. The fawn, affectionately named Rudolph, let out his high pitched bellow again, seemingly wishing to interact with Horace now that he could see him nearby. Chuckling, Horace walked over to where Rudolph was standing. "Don't worry little guy," he said. "I'm coming."
And soon, Horace was standing at the dividing wall between the main herbivore paddock and the megaloceros paddock, allowing Rudolph to snack upon some leftover reindeer feed he'd had in his belt. "I'll admit," he said out loud as Rudolph joyfully chowed down on the offered snack. "With all the craziness I've currently gone through this past week, not to mention will end up dealing with in the months to come, it certainly will be nice to have you around for company." And he meant it to. After all, he understood quite well how valuable it would be to have supportive friends and companions to lean on in the upcoming hectic days to come. Granted, he certainly wasn't lacking in companionship at the park. He had pretty strong friendships with Cass and Mohinder and was on slightly better terms with Tina. He was also a pretty good acquaintance of Leon and Adrian and, whilst ha hated to admit it, he was even starting to warm to Jack. And of course, he still had Dermot to hang around with.
Nevertheless, Rudolph was really starting to grow on him. And he could certainly understand why. Whilst, yes, cuteness was a factor, there was something about the little Megaloceros fawn that Horace saw part of himself in. It was the sense of not belonging – of being an underdog. Horace smiled at the small Megaloceros fawn and quietly said, "Us underdogs have to stick together".
The sound of a high pitched equine whinnying and a quite snorting caused Horace and Rudolph to look down the side of the hill in time to see one of the male tarpan foals and the male coelodonta calf heading towards them. Horace recognized them both. The tarpan foal was named Hermey and was instantly recognizable thanks to multiple distinctive blonde streaks in his otherwise coal black mane. The coelodonta calf, meanwhile, was named Cornelius and had a splint on his right hind leg and was moving with a slight limp after an injury three days prior. Now, seeing the two of them running up towards him and Rudolph, Horace couldn't help but think he knew why – the three had associated quite a lot in the coming weeks. "Well now," Horace thought to himself. "It's nice to know that Clarice and I aren't Rudolph's only friends here."
For 1/4 of an hour, Horace watched Rudolph, Cornelius, and Hermey racing each other along the dividing wall. Then the sound of concerned bellowing and whinnying caused the racing trio of youngsters to halt their latest race and look in the direction of the noises. Horace did the same in time to note that Rudolph, Hermey, and Cornelius's respective mothers were looking intently in their sons' directions and appeared to be calling for them to come back, with Clarice quite noticeably standing not too far away from Rudolph's mother while also looking his way as if she wanted to play with him. At this, Hermey and Cornelius looked to Rudolph, snorted as if to say 'another time', and then turned around and began to run off back to where their mothers were waiting. Rudolph looked to Horace, who nodded his head. "Go ahead buddy," he said. "I won't stop you." And at that, Rudolph grunted, turned around, and galloped off to join up with his mother and Clarice, the latter of whom rubbed up against Rudolph while groaning playfully. Horace couldn't help but let his smile widen slightly at the sight of this, as he now couldn't help but find himself thinking of Cass as he watched Clarice bonding in this fashion with Rudolph.
At the thought of Cass, he nodded his head with a confident grin on his face. Ever since they'd first met and gotten to know each other on the day of the La Brea tar pits mission, he and Cass had become quite close friends… and perhaps something more. He thought about Cass every day… about how good of a friend she was to him, and how much he'd grown to like her. He liked the way she laughed. He liked the way she smiled. He liked her determination and care for the animals she worked with. He liked how, in contrast to him, she was so much more talkative and outgoing, openly trusting and friendly, slower to anger, and more clear-headed. Things were crazy and he didn't know what the future held… but he hoped that she would be part of it. Of course, he'd have to gain Tina's approval.
And at that, he nodded, checked his watch, and turned around and headed off to resume his work. After all, at this point he felt his break had gone on long enough. And as he got back to work, he felt slightly better. After all, as crazy as things would soon get for him, at least he wasn't alone. And sometimes, all you needed was a good friend to see you through the hard times.
. . . . .
Kyle, meanwhile, was currently at the veterinary facility – he'd been visiting the vet facility a lot since that fateful day. He shook his head – the news still felt surreal. Now, he'd known going in that the park would eventually be open to the public – that was how they were going to make money. He sighed. However, the sheer enormity of the news was still difficult to process.
Of course, that didn't mean that he wasn't looking forward to it. Not at all. In fact, part of him was quite happy that the day would now come sooner rather than later… but he knew what could go wrong – and would go wrong – once the general public were roaming the place. And he was not looking forward to that.
A low grunting from within the recovery pen attracted Kyle's attention, and he turned his head to see Abrams the ankylosaurus staring at him from within the recovery pen. Abrams had been at the vet offices for a routine checkup – soon he would be transported back to his paddock. And right now, he appeared to have taken an interest in Kyle as he stood relaxing by the recovery paddock.
Kyle let a small grin of amusement come on his face. In a way, it was rather humorously convenient that he'd ended up in the same area as Abrams. After all, from what he'd been able to observe of the ankylosaurus, Kyle had come to notice that, much like how he and Rommel shared a stubbornness and fairly short temper, he and Abrams were both determined and firm, but not unkind.
"There's gonna be a big change soon," Kyle said, looking straight at Abrams as the ankylosaurus, "A lot of people will come to see you – and everything else we've brought back. It's gonna be weird for you… in more ways than one." Abrams cocked his head as if in curiosity. Sighing, Kyle continued, "People can be crazy. They don't behave in ways you expect… in more ways than one" Abrams grunted, almost noncommittally, to which Kyle chuckled. "Glad to see one of us isn't fazed." He looked towards the horizon. "But… it's hard not to worry – in a situation where anything could go wrong."
Kyle sighed and pondered. Fear of the unknown was a powerful thing – sometimes fear of what might happen was scarier than what actually did. This was going to happen – there was no point in worrying too much about it. Of course, it was still something to be worth thinking about, but he would at least try to not be paranoid – it didn't help. Turning to the ankylosaur, he said, "You're certainly a good listener."
Abrams let out another groan. As if to further emphasize this possibility, another reptilian grunting came from the recovery pen next to Abrams. Both Kyle and Abrams turned to see Gideon the stegosaurus standing by the recovery pen. The stegosaurus had ended up in a brief fight over a challenge to his leadership by Striker - Gideon had won this clash, with both male stegosaurs being treated for minor injuries they had sustained. At the sight of Gideon, Abrams grunted, to which the stegosaur replied. Kyle chuckled at the sight of this. It appeared Abrams and Gideon were beginning to form a camaraderie. And he had to admit, it did make sense for such a bond to form between the two – they had similar personalities, after all. Kyle nodded his head. "Good to see I'm not your only friend," he said to Abrams.
At that, Kyle turned his head around to face the horizon once more, a smile on his face. And indeed he had good reason to smile now. After all, his talk with Abrams had allowed him to unload a bit – whilst he was still worrying, he just had to acknowledge that the future was still uncertain… and that was that.
