Tommy quickly exited the room after the vision… he was still a little spooked but was able to get his emotions under control. He still couldn't believe that the Dino Gems were connected to the Morphing Grid, and he now had a feeling he was about to be dragged back into the ranger world. He vowed to himself that he was going to thoroughly research the Dino Gems, and make sure that they were protected. As a former ranger, he could not ignore the Tyranno Gem's plea.
Tommy went out into the hall and decided to find Anton. The first thing he was going to do as lead researcher was to put additional security measures to insure the Dino Gems' protection. In his distraction, he ran into someone.
The person quickly scolded, "Hey! Watch where you're going, buddy." Tommy was immediately embarrassed and was about to apologize. The guy straightened up, and then quickly said, "Tommy?! I can't believe it's you. What are you doing here? Did Anton hire you?"
Turns out the guy Tommy ran into was Terrance "Smitty" Smith, a friend and competitor of his during their doctorate program days. While the two had started out as friends, they quickly became rivals under their training with Anton. Smitty had always been a bit envious that Anton had taken great interest in Tommy, but still managed to remain friendly as Tommy had always treated him with respect. Tommy felt the competition between him and Smitty helped him as a student, and he graduated from the program with a slightly higher GPA than Smitty.
Tommy quickly replied, "Smitty?! It's good to see you… yeah, today's my first day here. How long have you been working here?"
Smitty answered, "I started working here right after graduation. I've been working on special projects, but I can't do much right now until the Dino Gems are thoroughly researched. I've been asking Anton to get me onto the Dino Gem team, but right now he wants me to continue working on my current projects."
Tommy was getting a vibe that Smitty just wanted to use the Dino Gems to get promoted and was glad that Anton had chosen him instead. Smitty was always trying to make himself impressive to Anton, and Tommy had a feeling Anton could see right through Smitty's act. Smitty's attitude around Anton would rub Tommy the wrong way sometimes… Tommy knew Anton could not stand people kissing up to him and preferred for his students to prove that they deserved their spots by their hard work. While Tommy respected Smitty, he felt bad that Smitty's jealously prevented them from becoming real friends.
Anton then walked up to the two rivals, "Terrance, I see you ran into Tommy. Glad to see my two protégés getting along. Tommy, since it's your first day, I'll show you around the research center, and then we can talk in my office for your plans for the Dino Gems."
Tommy nodded in agreement while Smitty was stunned at the reveal. Smitty kept up with the gossip around the island, so he had heard Anton had recently hired a new paleontologist to join the research team. He felt like an idiot for not figuring it out sooner… Anton had always favored Tommy, so it made perfect sense for the billionaire to hire his golden boy.
Smitty asked in curiosity, "So, Anton, does this mean Tommy's the new addition to the Dino Gem research team?"
Anton turned around, and quickly replied, "Terrance, Tommy's the lead researcher of the Dino Gem team. I hired Tommy because he is the best person to study the Gems. I know you wanted the position, but I feel you are better suited for our Special Projects."
Smitty was stunned by Anton's bluntness… it made him angry that Anton didn't have faith in him to study the gems. What made Tommy so special? He had the same qualifications as Tommy did… the only difference was Tommy had more field experience than he did.
Tommy saw the flash of anger in Smitty's eyes… he honestly felt bad for the guy but had no regrets that he got the position. Smitty had no ties to the morphing grid, so Tommy knew the Dino Gems would not share their secrets with him. But his ranger instincts were telling him he needed to tread lightly with Smitty… the last thing he needed was to make his college rival an enemy. He decided to ease the tension, "Smitty, I know I will need your help. You're better with the technology aspect than I am, so you know I'll be asking for you as I get further along in my research."
That made Smitty smirk a bit… even though he wasn't going to be the person working with the Dino Gems, he was going to make sure that he worked hard to improve his projects. Now that his rival was back in his life, Smitty was not about to let Tommy ruin all his hard work. Tommy had always outshined him during their college days, so Smitty was determined not to let Tommy win again.
Anton and Tommy excused themselves from Smitty. As the workday continued, Tommy was impressed and appreciative to work at such an interesting research center. Thankfully, Anton had agreed to improve the security around the Dino Gems, and reassured that Tommy would have complete control of his team. No one would touch the Dino Gems without Tommy's approval, which helped give the former ranger some peace of mind. After his encounter with Smitty, Tommy knew he was going to have to be careful. Tommy honestly hoped one day he and Smitty could put their college days behind him, but he had a sinking feeling that things were going to continue to be tense between them.