Notes
Soundtrack suggestions:
Before the auction's beginning:
- Theatre you're writing – James Newton Howard, King Kong (Up to 02:00).
Claire and Owen talk about their regrets:
- Claire A-Culpa – Michael Giacchino, Lost: Season 3.
- Helen and Paris – Gabriel Yared, Troy (rejected score).
Owen's proposal:
- I Am Hers, She's Mine – Ramin Djawadi, Game of Thrones: Season 2.
-o-
Shortly before four o'clock, Guillaume Vuillier crossed the gates of the Lockwood estate and went to park his vehicle alongside those of the other guests at the auction on a lawn which acted as an additional parking spot, located just before the stone bridge that led to the manor. On the lawn across the bridge, an AgustaWestland AW139 in InGen livery had landed and disembarked Susan Lynton, Alistair Iger, Dominick Silverman and a dozen other members of InGen's elite and board of directors.
When he left his car, the WDMC director took out his phone to look at the tracker's location. Since his dinner break, it had not moved, and on the map, a blinking dot still indicated the top of the ridge behind the mansion. Guillaume looked in that direction for a moment, remembering that a cabin stood at the tracker's coordinates, then he took the driveway that led to the manor, crossing the bridge.
He quickly arrived at the tents and after passing a security guard, he went to a small open tent which acted as a reception. Under the tent, a stand was manned by a young receptionist, and nearby, the mayor of Orick was deep in conversation with Susan Lynton and another member of InGen's board of directors, a tall, bearded sixty-something man named Cabot Finch. Guillaume had also met the latter during the March reception, when he went see Lord Francis Clayton after speaking to Benjamin Lockwood. Finch had then told him that he had started at InGen as a simple trainee in the early nineties, but Lord Clayton had added on a joking tone that he could thank his mother for that, as the latter was then a member of the board.
Half-listening them, the WDMC director heard the mayor talking about a warning email he had received, written by Enrique Ordóñez, mayor of the Costa Rican town of Burgo Nuevo. When the American mocked his Costa Rican counterpart, Guillaume pinched the top of his nose. Arriving at the stand, he took out his invitation and showed it to the receptionist.
"Good afternoon Mr. Vuillier. I see you received my invitation," InGen's CEO noted.
The WDMC director turned his head to look at her.
"Mrs. Lynton," he said with cold politeness.
"I hope you'll have a pleasant evening with us," she wished him with a big smile, mocking in his eyes.
"We shall see…"
InGen's CEO left him and everything being in order, the receptionist returned Guillaume his invitation and gave him a booklet. While walking to the auction marquee, the WDMC director flipped through it and realized it was a hard copy of the auction's slideshow. There was one batch per slide and the latter included the batch number, the number of animals, the species concerned and even the names of the individuals as well as one or several pictures. This file also allowed buyers to know the exact progress of the sale and to be able to make certain arrangements without running the risk of being absent when the animals that interested them were auctionned. He noticed that among the first animals put up for auction, there were the apatosaurs, the shantungosaurs, the two acrocanthosaurs, Asterion the carnotaur, Yuriko the therizinosaur as well as the triceratops and the stegosaurs, the largest and the most magnificent specimens… and also the most expensive, with some worth over a hundred million dollars. By doing so, InGen would create significant competition between the buyers at the start and would encourage those who failed to acquire those large animals to fall back on the smaller and perhaps less spectacular species.
Guillaume entered the marquee and, anticipating the course of the evening, he looked for a free place among the last rows of chairs. Almost all the seats were taken, as the auction was going to start any moment. Opposite the entrance, there was a platform on which tables and chairs had been set up for the auctioneer and his assistants. Recognizing from afar the puny figure and bald head of the Dinosaur Protection Group's founder, the WDMC director noticed that Alexander Singer was seated in one of the middle rows with Franklin Webb. Guillaume found a place next to Lord Francis Clayton.
"Hello," he said to him as he sat down.
"Hello," the aristocrat replied politely.
He looked at the Frenchman.
"Your face is familiar to me," Lord Clayton recalled. "Have we met before?"
"Yes, at the reception in March."
"Oh yes, I remember. You asked me questions about my sponsorship and Claire."
He looked around the marquee.
"Have you seen her?" He asked Guillaume. "I heard that Lockwood had integrated her into the operation. Oh, maybe she's at the paddocks..."
"I don't know if she'll come," the WDMC director replied, watching Lynton, Iger, Silverman, Torres, and Mills climb on the rostrum and the auctioneer and his assistants complete the final preparations. "InGen brought very serious charges against her following the Burgo Nuevo incident."
"I don't know about you, but I don't believe it. Claire is not like that. To quote the good old Arnold: It's a bunch of bullshit."
In front of them, a fifty-something woman and another in her early thirties were talking in Chinese while leafing through their copy of the booklet.
"Which animals do you wish to acquire?" The WDMC director inquired.
"Small and medium species," Lord Clayton answered. "My financial adviser reminded me many times that we did not have the budget for large animals despite the loan. It might not be so bad. It will allow my park's staff to gain more experience with dinosaurs, to proceed in steps, and it will reassure the authorities a little, as well as you I imagine. The only source of concern could be Blue, the Achillobator, the one with which Claire's boyfriend worked... Well, only if I acquire her. Otherwise, she will be someone else's concern..."
"Indeed. You said you were here for the small species? I assume you heard about the recent theft?"
"Yes. They told us. Those who did this are dirty bastards. Among those which weren't retrieved, the Yi qi interested me."
"I was also interested by it," the older Chinese woman suddenly said in English.
She turned to the WDMC director.
"Xun Sung, Director of Dinosaurs' City," she introduced herself.
As they exchanged a handshake, Guillaume remembered having seen the name of the establishment on the list that InGen had sent to the WDMC.
"The museum/park in Sichuan?" he asked.
"Yes"
Her assistant introduced herself, and as the four talked about the theft, Elijah Mills took a microphone and the guests fell silent to listen while the few media representatives present prepared their notebooks and cameras. The manager of the Lockwood Foundation began by welcoming them to the estate and to this event, then, since several people had asked him earlier where Benjamin was, he told them that the latter had been hospitalized. He did not mention the reasons but he did not fail to wish him a good recovery before soon passing the microphone to Lynton, who started with a speech about the evening' importance and the difficulties encountered by InGen. When she said that she had the future of the animals and employees at heart, Guillaume could not help but discreetly roll his eyes, as he had the impression of being at a political rally. InGen's CEO then thanked the Lockwood Foundation and the rest of their financial partners as well as all those who participated in Operation Fallen Kingdom: InGen employees, the crew of the Arcadia, the Dinosaur Protection Group …but also Kenneth Wheatley and his private military company. The mercenary leader was seated in the front rows, just behind Daniel Kon and other board members, and when he met again with him, Franklin had been surprised to see him in a suit and not in fatigues. Next, Lynton wished the guests a good evening, and she passed the microphone to the auctioneer, a thin sixty-something man with a moustache.
"Do you think they'll just turn the press and public opinion against us once they release us?" Claire asked while she and Owen were sitting in a corner of the cabin.
"No. As soon as we'll think that things have calmed down, I'm sure Torres will send someone to finish the job once and for all," he said darkly.
"Or something…" she added, remembering one of her nightmares.
She sighed.
"I'm so sorry Owen."
"Why?"
"For everything. I have a share of responsibility in this whole sinister project. I authorized the creation of the Indominus. In the end, the Indoraptor exists because of me."
"With the IBRIS project, I'm also responsible. I gave them ideas, a basis on which to work."
"It's nothing compared to me. If I had refused to allow the Indominus to be created and exhibited at Jurassic World, that might have delayed their project… That cursed Christmas would have gone differently. The park could have been saved. I let Wu, Hoskins and the board manipulate me like a puppet."
"Again, it's kind of my fault."
She laughed bitterly.
"Don't tell me we're having a contest about our respective guilt? Gods, we're ridiculous! Explain yourself."
"Mountbatten was right, I should never have left you alone when you became director."
Hearing that the former director of Jurassic World was aware of their affair, a surprised expression appeared on Claire's face.
"Arnold came to see you?" she asked.
"Yeah, shortly before he left the island and went to England to enjoy his retirement. He told me that you were alone in a merciless world, that you didn't have many real friends, that you needed real support on a personal level, someone you could really count on, someone you could talk to with an open heart… Someone to guide you, help you keep your feet on the ground, prevent you from making terrible mistakes. He also said that you were playing a dangerous game with Wu, that Masrani was a man-child, and that he was very worried about the future of the park. I still remember his words: "A disaster is coming, Owen. I can feel it. I don't know how or when, but it's coming. ". He went so far as to say that the fall of Jurassic World could sow the seeds of wars. I didn't believe him and ignored his advice about you, continuing to act like Achilles in his tent. I was too prideful! Some things might not have happened had I been by your side..."
"Do you think our love was as heavy with consequences as that of Paris of Troy and Helen of Sparta? That we are, just like them, the gods' playthings? Do you think we are the parents of the new world which is looming on the horizon?"
He nodded.
"Something like that…"
"It's true that I started drinking after we broke up, and I made fun of Wu while I was under the influence of alcohol. He started to hate me deeply and you know the rest… A badly-experienced break-up leads to the rampage of a monstrous and genocidal dinosaur... It's chaos theory. No, I repulsed you. I was starting to be a horrible person. Dragon Sickness was taking over me."
"Dragon Sickness?"
"A poetic name for greed."
"Okay."
"Anyway, it's too late to feel guilty."
"Indeed."
She sighed.
"And I feel like I've been conned again with the operation!" She complained, speaking in a tighter and tighter voice. "We shouldn't have participated to it. We would be at home, with Sigurd, in peace..."
"You couldn't have predicted that we would be stabbed in the back like this. And you accepted Lockwood's offer for completely valid reasons. You will need as many allies as possible by your side when you'll be summoned to court."
"Since you mention it, I'm sorry about that too. If we're not liquidated and if I'm convicted, you'll have to raise a child alone."
She sniffed and he saw tears start to roll down her cheeks.
"Damn, how stupid I was!" She exclaimed suddenly. "We shouldn't have kept him, it was selfish and cruel of me! A child should not grow up without his mother..."
He gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey. Hey...don't say that. You were neither stupid, nor selfish, nor cruel… You acted out of love. We're going to get our little boy and my mother back, we're going to go home and resume a normal family life," he told her gently, trying to comfort her. "I swear you will see him grow. And those who stand in our way better be careful... Know that I'm ready to do anything to protect you, even face the entirety of InGen Security. I would kill again for us if I must."
"You don't have to. Let me be the one with blood on the hands. People…"
"We don't care what people think. Remember, we're two alphas. We're nonconformists anyway, barbarians in the eyes of today's society. And we're not exactly perfect heroes, we never claimed to be. No, we are survivors and in an unforgiving world such as the one we're living in, survivors have to do hard things to stay alive. The important thing is to do what feels right."
Claire nodded briskly.
"We're going to stop InGen. We're going to save our son and Cait. And if anything happens to them, I will show no mercy," she declared with conviction.
"I will be merciless too."
They were silent for a moment, then Owen came to kneel in front of her. He took her hand.
"If we survive this mess, I promise to propose to you. It's been a while since I keep telling you One day but that there's no follow-up..."
Claire smiled at him.
"We're together, Owen. That's the essential. It doesn't matter if we're married or not... As you said some time ago, we already are in practice."
She took a deep breath.
"I don't want us to get married in haste and in secret, like two rabbits hurrying to copulate in the middle of a meadow before a bird of prey swoops down on them. No, I want a real ceremony, with a banquet, music… in a dream scenery. I want a ceremony where we proudly pronounce our vows in front of an assembly, one where no asshole suddenly says "InGen sends you their regards."" she described.
"I share your wishes."
They remained silent for a few seconds, then Owen sighed:
"And fuck it! I've delayed that for too long..."
He looked his girlfriend in the eyes and in a serious voice, he asked:
"Claire Astrid Elizabeth Dearing, will you marry me?"
Taken by surprise, she stared at him in astonishment for a moment, tilted her head, and swallowed.
"No," she finally replied in a low voice.
Disconcerted, he sat down and disappointment washed over him, he avoided looking at her.
"Damn it! Why did I propose in those circumstances? And without a ring! I should have shut up… I screwed it up!" he muttered.
But as tears welled up in her eyes, Claire burst out laughing and moved closer to him. Taking his head between her hands, she turned it around so that she could look him in the eyes.
"Of course I will, you big dummy!" She said before sniffing. "A thousand times yes! Owen Wolf Grady, I want to marry you."
Reassured, he brought his face closer to hers and they kissed passionately.
"You'll make a proper proposal later, after the end of this shitshow" she added when her mouth left his.
"I will."
She leaned her forehead against his, smiled again, and they stayed like that for a long time, whispering promises and sweet words to comfort each other in this difficult moment.