Prompt #13 Can't change me; Can't change you

I Am What I Am

Dennis Nedry stayed cooped up in his corner office in Biosyn's headquarters. He had retreated there because if he remained in the conference room, the rest of the team would eventually show up and he didn't want to be bothered with them. He found that he preferred his own company. Over the years, he had accepted that he was a loner in every sense of the word. The InGen staff didn't like him, and he didn't fit in with the Biosyn team. He preferred to work by himself. It was better that way.

Last night, he had consented (or it was more accurate to say that he had caved) to Lewis Dodgson's demand that the Biosyn team capture a live velociraptor from Jurassic Park. Most of the pressure had come from the rest of the team and not Dodgson. Nedry had always enjoyed these heists, especially because they caused hell and chaos for the InGen staff. The first assignment had been successful. The second one…not so much since George Lawala got attacked by a dilophosaur. This third assignment though…Nedry had his doubts about it. Going after a hypsilophodon and a dilophosaur was one thing. Going after a velociraptor had death written all over it. Nedry had not forgotten what happened the last time Robert Muldoon tried to place a velociraptor into the pen. One of his main gatekeepers, Jophery, had been killed right in front of him. As much as Nedry hated Muldoon, he knew Muldoon hated the velociraptors even more.

That wasn't a line he was willing to cross—not even for Dodgson.

By the end of the night though, he had agreed to go along with the plan. There was a hefty sum of money involved, and Nedry was always motivated by the almighty dollar bill. Aside from that, Raúl Lopez and Roland Tembo had worn him down, along with Sonya Durant. George Lawala appeared indifferent to the whole thing, which puzzled Nedry. Lawala had been blinded by a dilophosaur on their last assignment. Thanks to Nedry pestering the InGen staff (and Ellie Sattler preparing them ahead of time), Lawala had received the anti-venin needed to eliminate the poison that caused the blindness. Nedry was dismayed that none of the Biosyn team were concerned about what may happen if they went after a velociraptor. Not even Lawala seemed bothered about it. After an entire day of deflection, avoidance, and constant arguing with the team, Nedry finally gave in.

Now, he was trying to avoid everyone again, under the pretense that he was working on designing a new computer virus for Dodgson to use against another biotech company (since Catch Me If You Can was effective in destroying Cetus' main database), but he knew the ruse wouldn't work forever. It was only a matter of time before they went after him. As though on cue, there was loud knocking on his office door. Nedry sighed in annoyance when he saw them. Lopez stood outside with Tembo who raised his clenched fist to knock again. Before he could do so, Nedry called out to them.

"Come in!"

Tembo opened the door and came to stand in front of Nedry's desk where he was typing away on his laptop. Lopez shut the door behind him. Before Nedry could respond, Lopez came over and closed the laptop lid, barely missing Nedry's fingers.

"What the hell?"

Nedry glared angrily at Lopez and Tembo. There were three spare folding chairs in the room leaning against the wall, but he wouldn't bother offering them a seat. He wanted them to leave as soon as possible. Nedry hated collaborating with them. Lopez was always angry that Dodgson relied on Nedry for their assignments when they invaded Jurassic Park. He also thought Nedry didn't like dinosaurs since he called them "lizards". In Lopez's view, this equated to Nedry not respecting his field of work. Nedry didn't get along with Tembo either. Tembo seemed to enjoy treating the dinosaurs like they were trophies. Nedry called him out on it when they had gone after the dilophosaur—and he had told Tembo to shut up. Tembo didn't take kindly to being told to shut up, or to Nedry insulting him in front of the entire team.

"Last night you finally agreed to do the task," Lopez said.

"In case you forgot already, you agreed to help us get a raptor," Tembo added. "And you're not backing out of it."

Nedry sat back in his chair. "Who said I forgot or that I was backing out?"

Tembo and Lopez exchanged a knowing glance.

"I need you to be on point that day," Lopez continued. "We're heading to Isla Nublar in less than a week, and I'm not accepting failure this time around."

"Which means…?"

"It means you fall in line and do what you're told to do," Tembo said.

Nedry rolled his eyes. "Isn't it enough that I agreed to get the stupid lizards?"

"No, Dr. Dodgson told you to be nice to me and—"

Nedry's harsh laughter cut off Lopez. "That's ludicrous. Be nice to you?"

In the back of his mind, he remembered Sonya Durant telling him to be nice to Lopez. Now he realized who was behind it: Lewis Dodgson. It suddenly hit Nedry: Dodgson played favorites; he enjoyed setting up the team members against each other. Sowing jealousy, mistrust, and encouraging competition was his way of maintaining control.

"I'm working with you to get two of those gross lizards. That doesn't make us best friends." Nedry directed this to Lopez and turned to Tembo now. "What's your role in this?"

"Exactly what I told you before, making sure you do what you're told. Backing up Raúl and ensuring you don't interfere."

Two against one, Nedry thought. "You guys are doing the buddy system, how sweet!" Then he considered everything. "Are we in kindergarten? Dr. Dodgson and Sonya telling me to be nice to you feels like we're in elementary school. I'm not surprised though given your childish love for lizards, Raúl."

That did it. Lopez's face turned beet red, and he slammed a clenched fist on Nedry's desk. "Keep it up, and you'll get sent back to your favorite prison."

"A one-way ticket," Tembo snarled.

Nedry moved his laptop aside, trying to distract himself. Lopez and Tembo knew how to effectively silence him. He tried to tell himself that their snide comments didn't matter, but being reminded of his incarceration was the only thing that embarrassed him to the extent that he had no way to combat it. His heart went into palpitations, and he kept his hands under the desk to hide the fact that he was trembling.

"Good, glad that worked for now. Just shut up and do the job, okay?" Lopez's anger evaporated and he spoke in a nauseating cheerful voice.

"And maybe you'll enjoy your freedom under Dodgson a little bit longer." Tembo's voice was wooden.

Lopez and Tembo gave each other a triumphant high-five as they opened the door to leave Nedry's office. They talked amongst themselves about getting ready for the heist. It would be the most mentally and physically challenging of all the heists they had engaged in so far—and it would end up being the one with the most devastating consequences. Although they had won the battle, Nedry made it clear that they didn't win the war.

"You both can say whatever the hell you want. You can't change me, and I can't change you. I'll start getting prepared for the assignment when I'm ready."

Tembo and Lopez had barely reached the outside of Nedry's office when Nedry bolted out of his seat and slammed the door behind them.