Simon Masrani looked up from his desk as the tall woman approached him. He quickly finished the draft of the email, took one last look to make sure that everything was in order- and then he pressed send. Still, he couldn't help but think that he wished he had more time… "Ms. Dearing. So good to see you," Masrani said as he sat up in his chair, as the she approached him.
Claire Dearing. His head of operations, a thirty-something redheaded woman, who had managed to graduate with honors from Harvard business school. He'd watched her for a long time before hiring her, and she'd been very promising in her management style, so much so that when he'd received her application initially, she'd receive a letter of interest shortly in return, indicating that he was ready to offer her a job for an entirely different position.
"Mr. Masrani. I have the latest reports from the Mesozoic Project. Our latest projections are that we can currently account for at least half of the large megafauna species that are being reported. The trackers are working as intended, and success in finding nests has been somewhat markedly improved from last quarter-" Masrani let her speak, as she would inform him of the progress of the project.
"However, I want to say that public satisfaction of results is not high at the moment, the last poll in USA Today, was 40 percent approval." Masrani frowned. He really did feel that he was doing his best, but forty percent? That was low. The court of public opinion could be very fickle though, and he wanted to ensure that he was providing people with a boost to public safety. It was what the project had been built on after all.
He sat up straighter, looking her in the eye, as he got the sense she was not telling him everything. With a motion of his hand, he'd move the monitor towards her, showing the computer screen. On the screen was a news site with a large picture of the Pachycephalosaur crashing through bumper cars. He saw how her expression changed, as she looked at him. "What are they saying about this?"
"Mr. Masrani- that specimen was tagged. Tagged and the last location we had traced it to was New Mexico-" She couldn't help but notice the banner under the headline, where it read 'Terror in Texas'. That was pretty self-explanatory, in a way few things could quite be, really.
Masrani sighed, and rubbed his eyes. He already had a pretty full plate as it was, and this was just the shit cherry on top. "At least tell me that they are responding well to the task force," he said, as he looked over, scrolling down, as he saw a picture of the velociraptors. A chill went down his spine involuntarily. He'd never been quite comfortable with these things, no matter what everyone said- especially after the testimonies of the Island survivors.
Dearing seemed to compose herself somewhat, as she would take a seat. She seemed somewhat relieved, and pained, as she made herself comfortable. "Mr. Masrani- The Dinosaur Protection Group…the DPG- it was tracking the animal in a different way. At least according to Grady. There were multiple civilian reports on police bands of an animal, and that's how they were able to make such a rapid entrance."
Masrani shrugged, something was still bothering him. He didn't know what about it was bothering him to this level, but there it was. The thing about all of this that didn't quite fit. That he didn't think he could make it fit. "Good for Mr. Grady- but the DPG- I thought they weren't supposed to be in that area?" He really thought that this thread, pulling this thread was where he should be heading. He wanted to avoid the mistakes of Mr. Hammond, at least, he hoped that he could.
Claire started to rifle through the papers in her folder, and she handed him a copy, as he looked it over, scanning to make sure that he did not miss anything. There was supposed to be some sort of live demonstration in Texas, thing for publicity. Gallimimus or two, nothing out of the ordinary. And yet it had gone… upside down.
"I want you to talk to him-" he said, immediately noticing the look on Claire's face change. Something in her posture as well, he couldn't figure it out. Maybe he could never figure out exactly what it was. The moment he mentioned the man at least, something in her shifted entirely. Odd… he thought, but there was also something else about it, he thought.
"With all due respect Mr. Masrani- I don't know if I'm the best person for that." There it was, a change in her tone, very imperceptible, but it was there. Masrani paused, giving a second before replying, as he looked at his monitor, than back at the woman. There was no doubt about it, it was definitely a public relations issue, as he figured it could've been worse. A lot worse.
"Please. These raptors…they were not meant to be out like that. At least not for another six months. At least that's what he told me last time I spoke with him. But you…you seem to have a way of convincing him I never could." There, he had seen it before, she had been the one to pull his file after all, his work with Dolphins in the Navy had been unparalleled, almost exactly what they were looking for, at least he was told.
"I will try. Believe me. I don't know if I'll get excuses again…I know his methods are unconventional. But they work. What that article won't tell you is that there was not so much as a scratch from these raptors." It was true ,and had seemed like a miracle almost, that the media hadn't picked up on what had happened yet. Most of the media seemed to think the raptors had been contained in the incident.
Nobody knew the truth yet, and thankfully it looked like it might stay that way. But both of them knew that was not a state of affairs that was likely to last long. The media was always hungry for a story- especially these days. Public tension over the dinosaurs had not reached it's breaking point, but it was only a matter of time. Especially with the raptors… "Just… I don't know what hold he has over them…but you and I both know that this needs more time."
Thankfully she agreed, a wordless nod, no need to fight there. Indeed, they were very much on the same page. It had only been a Pachy after all, if it had been a larger carnivore… well, than he knew that the Mesozoic project was working. The government was happy, the people were happy…and when both of them were, that meant that he was in no danger of having the contract revoked, which was good. He wanted to keep it that way, keep that status quo for as long as he could. But it was a fine line.
He indicated for her to get up, as he had a few more things. "One thing- I was talking to Ms. King, and she really wants to get pictures of Grady's project for the next press packet. So when you're out there- make sure to get some good shots." He didn't need to add that in, but privately, he wanted to see them too. See how the project that he had funded was coming along. It had all the hallmarks of a fools errand, but in an ideal world it would all work out.
Getting up, she nodded, as she would leave the rest of the file on the desk. He would have ample time to read it later. Still, he would watch her go, before he stood up, looking out the window with his arms behind his back. Over on the horizon, Masrani could see some storm clouds, but he was hoping it was not portentous. He was not a superstitious man, far from it- however, that did not mean that he never listened to what his gut was telling him.
There was more to this story. Far more, as he would turn around, pressing a button on his office phone. "Please set a meeting with Ms. King for Friday. No…tell her its urgent, this can't wait." He sighed, stepped back, as he thought that should do it. They had a ticking clock, and his gaze fell back on the web article, he could feel that clock ticking just a bit more. All of it was falling into place just a bit too neatly.
But he would be able to resolve these issues, there was a reason that he'd embarked on this mission- that vision he'd always had one was the same as John Hammond all these years ago, yet he would dream it differently. This time, it would be flawless, he thought as he smiled, oh yes it would be flawless.