Notes
The satirical image mentioned at the very beginning of the chapter can be seen on my Deviantart page (check the link in my profile), in the Fan Fictions section. It has A few loose animals it's not that bad as a title.
Hypothetical casting:
Lara Jean Chorostecki as Margaretha.
-o-
A satirical image, created by an Internet user whose sweet pseudonym was Reichu, made the buzz in July 5. A variant of the David Goodenough (*) meme, it spread like wildfire on social media and, in the evening, it appeared on Guillaume Vuillier's screen as he checked his news feed while drinking at the Perth Castle Pub, a bar on Geary Street, a few bus stops from the World De-extinction Monitoring Center and its director's apartment.
Guillaume was sipping his beer sullenly, concerned about the recent news from Costa Rica. Not only had InGen's Site D been sabotaged by an eco-terrorist organization, the train attacked by mercenaries, Claire Dearing and Owen Grady arrested by Costa Rican authorities after being accused by InGen of treachery and murder, and to top it all off, a carnotaur was roaming the countryside freely, like the meme on the phone said.
During the previous night, Toro had encountered motorists while crossing a road near the hamlet of La Lindora, nearly five kilometres southwest of the famous tourist town of Monteverde, Burgo Nuevo's great rival. Startled by the car and dazzled by its headlights, the carnotaur had stopped to roar at the vehicle, which stopped just in front of his legs. While the passengers were frozen with surprise and fear, Toro had moved closer to the windows and leaned down to look at them. While they thought he was going to attack them, the predator just snapped his jaws and then let out a menacing growl before following his path, leaving the passengers frightened but unscathed. As one of them had filmed almost the entirety of this encounter, he had uploaded his video as soon as he arrived in Monteverde. Many Internet users following with interest the news related to InGen and its dinosaurs, they were amazed to see the video appear in their threads and had naturally shared it in their turn. InGen soon learned of its existence and reacted in the morning, denying the rumour about the escape of a carnotaur during the ecoterrorist attack. Alistair Iger even went so far as to claim that the video was fake and that the carnotaur appearing in it was a CGI animal and not a real one. On Twitter, that declaration was met with a GIF showing Pinocchio's nose growing. Meanwhile, Toro had left the province of Puntarenas and entered that of Guanacaste in his advance towards the northwest.
Tired, Guillaume turned off his phone, put it away and took another sip of beer while looking up at the television above the bar. National news were broadcasted and the WDMC director could not help but let out a small sigh when he saw that InGen's big operation was also talked on it. The report showed footage of InGen's ships taken at night as they entered a Mexican port for refuelling, Manzanillo, located halfway between Costa Rica and northern California. The report located the port on a map showing the Pacific coast of North America and the fleet's route, represented by a red stripe. Then appeared images of one of the cargo planes chartered by InGen to transport the rest of the animals. They also had been taken at night but in the United States, at Arcata-Eureka airport, near the same city where the Arcadia was going to dock in a few days. Near the gigantic plane, a large semi-trailer with a cage mounted on a long bed was waiting.
Having heard someone enter the pub alone, Guillaume turned his head towards the door by reflex but when he recognized the man who was advancing inside the pub, he rolled his eyes.
"Oh putain…" he said quietly in an annoyed tone.
"Ah, Mr. Vuillier," said the drawling voice of an elderly man approaching him. "I didn't expect to see you in this pub. What a coincidence!"
"I don't believe in coincidences," Guillaume answered coldly.
He took a small plastic bag out of his pocket and put it on the counter. Jeff Rossiter raised his eyebrows slightly when he saw its content, a small black disc the size of a fingernail or a coin.
"I discovered this little tracker the night after Malcolm's lecture at Berkeley," the Frenchman added. "It had been slipped into my phone case. I would recommend you to be more careful the next time you'll choose your spies because the guy you stuck to me seems to be quite a moron."
"Mr. James is certainly not the sharpest knife in the drawer but he is good at obeying without asking questions."
"Still, I've been carrying this shit around for over a month and hanging around waiting for its owner to come retrieve it and talk to me instead of having me followed."
"We've both been very busy lately."
"Oh, please. You are retired."
"Sure, but between leisure, various errands, care, visits to relatives, keeping an eye on Biosyn and Lewis… it's not totally easy, especially the last part…," the retired CEO specified as he sat next to the WDMC director. "It wasn't easy to find a slot. I wasn't going to break into your house. You would have reacted very badly, and rightly so. When I noticed that you went often to this pub, which I know for a long time, I waited for you to come again and here we are..."
The bartender, a man in his seventies, approached them.
"Hi, Jeff. What can I get you?
"Hello, Clint. A glass of whiskey for me and one for our French friend."
"Okey-dokey," the bartender replied.
"No thanks, my beer is enough for me," Guillaume stopped him.
"Come on, it's on me," Rossiter said.
The WDMC director got angry.
"I am not your friend, Mr. Rossiter! You are seriously starting to annoy the hell out of me! I don't mind talking in a civil way but try to fraternize with me again for the probable purpose of corrupting me for Biosyn's benefit and I'll call the cops and tell them about the tracker's situation."
"Alright. Alright... It's up to you. I just wanted to show sympathy," Biosyn's former CEO replied softly. "One whiskey then, Clint."
The bartender nodded and served him. As Rossiter began to sip his drink, Guillaume looked at the shirt he was wearing.
"Is your shirt Italian?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Just like the costume you wore at the reception... AttoliniEnthusiast, wouldn't that be you by any chance? Because it would suit me in the current situation. I don't have a lot of time for a game of Guess Who?..."
"Yes, I sent you this email. You've got a fine spirit of deduction, Mr. Vuillier. So what's the result of your research on Bethany?"
Guillaume sighed, trying to remember the research he had done after receiving the email.
"Bethany may be related to Elizabeth, but which Elizabeth? There's plenty of them, it's a dead end," he said as Rossiter nodded softly as he listened. "But if I remember correctly, Bethany is also the English name of a village in Judea where Saint Lazarus originates in the Bible. For anyone with a minimum of general knowledge, the relationship between Lazarus and de-extinction is obvious. InGen has been involved in it for more than forty years and it is no secret that Biosyn would like to have its share of the treasure. I deduce that this Bethany project, whatever it is, is closely or remotely related to de-extinction and/or one of these companies. Where are you coming from? Why are you asking me to investigate?"
"I can't tell you. It wouldn't be a game."
"A game?" Guillaume repeated irritably. "I don't want to play. I've got other fish to fry, dammit!"
"You might be not fond of games but you are curious."
Rossiter then put an envelope on the counter.
"This envelope contain the elements that will allow you to enter into the second part of the investigation," he added. "If you take care in your research, you will begin to see the light at the end of the dark tunnel in which you are now. However, it's up to you to continue this game or not. But think about the possible consequences of your inaction…"
After a shrug, Guillaume opened the envelope and took out a small sheet, on which Rossiter had written a small list of names:
Darcy Karpyshyn
Milo Sheen
Yvette Strahovski
Adam Wibberley
Jerry Bulloch
Darren Logan
Ted Morrison
"Who are those people?" The WDMC director asked. "Their names don't ring any bell to me."
"Internet is your friend, as the kids say," Rossiter replied, taking another sip of whiskey. "I won't bother you any longer," he added a few seconds later, standing up to leave the counter.
As the retired CEO walked to another part of the pub to finish his drink, Guillaume hailed him:
"Hey, I think you forgot something…" he pointed out, showing with his head the small plastic bag with the tracker.
"Ah, the tracker… Do whatever you want with it. Those little gadgets are quite remarkable. Just log into the associated mobile app and you can track someone or something across an entire city or even a state… I left the associated codes in the envelope if you ever plan to use it… Good evening, Mr Vuillier."
Rossiter then disappeared into the pub's crowd, and seeing that he had left his seat at the counter, a short, slender thirtyish woman with long red hair and a pleasant angular face headed for it. It was not the first time that Guillaume had seen her, because he had already glimpsed her two or three times, each time sitting a few tables away from him. Just like those times, the red-haired woman had frequently glanced in his direction and he had noticed that. When she passed him, she smiled at him, then sat down in the seat vacated by Rossiter. Guillaume put the tracer, the envelope and its contents in his pockets, looked at the woman and said:
"Can I offer you a drink?"
"Uh... Gladly," she replied, smiling again.
This evening might not be totally shitty after all..., he thought.
"You come here often?" He then asked her. "Because I see you every time I'm here..."
When he awoke the next morning, Guillaume Vuillier turned his head to look at the other side of the bed. Seeing that the blanket had been lifted on that side, he sat up and noting that there was nothing left but his clothes at the foot of the bed, he moaned in disappointment and yawned before wiping his tired eyes. Picking up his phone, he saw that it was almost eight in the morning. Fortunately, it was Saturday and the WDMC being closed on weekends, there was no rush. However, he doubted his one-night stand had locked the door behind her when she left, and after putting on boxers, he walked around his apartment to check that everything was in order. Picking up his keys where he had left them a few hours earlier, he went to lock the door, then thought for a moment about going back to bed. But looking at the daylight filtering through the curtains, his sleepiness faded and instead of going back to his room, he went to take a shower.
A little later, just as he was about to take his breakfast, the WDMC director saw that a sheet had been left on the table. He took it and read the note written on it:
Hey,
Excuse me for leaving like a thief while you were sleeping. I'm working today and I had to go home to take some stuff. I think you'll understand.
But I've spent a great evening in your company. We'll start that again whenever you want, my Frenchie!
I've left my number on the back. Call me ;)
Margaretha,
Guillaume smiled dreamily and turned the sheet over to see the phone number. He then carefully put the note away and while having his breakfast, he consulted the latest news related to InGen and its animals.
-o-
Notes
(*) David Goodenough is a recurring character from french Youtube series Le Joueur du Grenier. Inspired by a programmer from the video-game X-Perts and portrayed by Sébastien Rassiat, co-creator of Le Joueur du Grenier, David Goodenough is depicted as a lazy man quick to tone down any unpleasant situation with a "Oh, it's not that bad!", often in order to excuse a botched job.