Simon Masrani straightened his tie, as he checked his reflection in the mirror a final time. He was not a vain man, although he did care somewhat about his appearance and presentation when it came to dealing with the public. This was going to be one of the most exciting moments so far of his last few years running the Mesozoic project. There had been a few bumps along the way, but he was sure that things were going to be different now.
Granted, there had been some unfortunate necessities, like getting rid of Grady. He had not wanted to, but that Carnotaur incident had forced his hand. It was not official yet, but it would be in the coming days. It was just too much of a liability. Still, he had liked the man, he did not bear him any ill will, it was just that his judgement left something to be desired sometimes.
Masrani finished his last preparations, even as he would step out the door of the dressing room. There were cameras already outside, and he was glad for it, as he would step along the walls of the sanctuary. It was rather impressive, the sheer size and scope of it. This was something that he had been dreaming of for a long time.
The sanctuary was located not that far from the raptor enclosure- although that would not ever be a subject of press at this time. The decision had been made to place it there due to ease of travel. Or rather as Grady had said during planning stages, that it would be better to have the Raptors close by in case anything went wrong. Although he was sure that nothing would. He had planned this moment, this day, very meticulously as he would be sure of his plans working. At least, he was sure that he had overthought it.
The sanctuary was huge, he had personally funded it through a subsidiary of Masrani Global, and managed to broker a deal with the United States Government. They had agreed to donate a subsection of national park land to him, in exchange for assurances that this little problem could be dealt with in a safe and humane way. Most of it was land areas of the parks that had not really seen too much tourist traffic, which was probably for the better. Best of all, it would not require too much infrastructure or maintenance, as it was meant to genuinely be a habitat for the animals.
There were no fences, not as such, for he did not want to provide any artificial barriers. The only indications were metal pylons, spaced a hundred feet or so apart. These had been most of the expense around getting this place up and running. Their sonic barriers interlaced with the chips were part and parcel of even managing to get as much of the animals under control as they had. It was one of the ways as well, he was thinking that would make it easier for the animals to stay within the space.
They were standing in front of one of the pylons, as he would be once again, ready to go onto a podium. Jessica was there, as was Claire. He smiled at them both, although as he passed her, he paused. She had wanted to tell him something right? In all of the preparations for getting this up and ready, he had let that slip his mind. "Claire. After this is over, maybe we can have a bit of a chat?" He saw the way she stopped, paused and digested what that meant. Well, it was to be understood, he was her boss.
Claire looked at him again, shaking her head as she held out a hand. There was a look in her eye he couldn't quite identify, but he made up his mind to. Ask her later. "Sir. Mr. Masrani. I don't think that this can wait-" she said, as she would try to step forward, trying to say something else, before he held out a hand.
"Claire. I'm sure whatever you have to say can wait." He said, more than a tad annoyed right now at her behavior. It seemed that she was anxious about something. She kept looking in Jessica's direction, and he was not sure what was going on there.
Clearing his throat again, he found that surprisingly his head seemed relatively level now. No trace of worry or doubt, as he saw Jessica was already almost finished with leading the audience in preparation for him.
Stepping up, he waved to the crowd, taking their applause as he smiled wide. "Thank you again for being here. For being here and believing in me through this journey. When I began the Mesozoic project, my goal was always to lead to this moment, to find a place where these animals might be able to coexist with humanity once more."
"It's been almost two decades now. Since the beginning of John Hammond's dream. I don't think he would ever have imagined when he first created these animals that we would be here." He was fine with flexing the truth a bit in front of these people, although by now most were aware of the facts of the Nublar and Sorna incidents.
"Of course, he never believed that his animals would ever get off the island, but for the past few years we have been living with this reality. That dinosaurs now walk
among us, not just back from the dead, but alive and thriving very well in our world."
It had been a great change overall, and he had seen it now fully on display, as would the rest of them. He had been assured that everything would go according to plan overall. The audience seemed pretty attentive, the reporters in the front all had their cameras and laptops out as well. To the side there was a detail of security from Cooper and the rest . He felt that he could not be too careful, particularly with something like this. There was no guarantees regarding the show today, he had been told that.
"It is my fervent hope that once we formally start to bring more animals into this preserve, that we will be able to make the world a safer place." He cleared his throat again, looking around.
That was the cue, as he heard the sound of a chopper nearby. That was the plan he had worked over with Cooper. There was a large crashing sound, as he turned halfway to see the trees beyond the pylons swaying. Another titter followed as a flock of pigeons flew out of the trees, flying to and fro, before flying above their heads.
There was a murmur among the front row, as Masrani held his breath. He had been waiting for this, as he could see the other people on stage turning. Claire seemed to be nervous, he could tell, although Jessica seemed calm and collected. Their postures could not be more different, as he shook his head and just decided to focus on what was ahead of him.
A large reptilian head emerged from the shadow of the trees, as it sniffed the air, it was huge, but it did not move, staring out at the crowd with cold reptilian eyes.
He could hear Claire next to him swear under breath. "God- it's as big as a house," she was shaking, at the same time he was sure that this would just be momentary. After all, he would be lying if he said that he was not impressed by that animal in front of him as the chopper buzzed in front of the animal back and forth.
The animal continued to sniff, as it seemed reluctant, a low growl escaping it, as it would turn finally, stepping forward into the clearing, as he continued to go slow. The Tyrannosaurus Rex continued walking, almost pacing around back and forth between the trees, and the crowd.
"If there was one animal that deserves to be the very first, it would be the Tyrannosaurus Rex. The Tyrant King… " That was Jessica saying it, he realized, raising an eyebrow. Not quite what he had been about to say, as he would know just what was supposed to happen next here.
The chopper continued swiveling around, as the Rex followed it. He was not worried. The chip technology was working perfectly like a charm. The Rex was being pretty well contained. Not being controlled outright, but he was being guided by the sonic impulses. Cooper had explained them, not that he was too familiar with the details. Masrani had always left these things to other people.
"Don't worry! The pylons in front of us keep us safe from the Tyrannosaurs, and vice versa. They serve to keep people away from this area so that they may live in peace no matter what happens. This is our future. A future that we can believe in. A future that we can trust." He had his arms out now really enjoying himself.
This felt right, this really did feel like something that he was meant to do, and seeing the Rex out there, made him believe that he was right in his coming out here, and using the Rex.
The Rex roared at the crowd, theatrically, and he felt pride… pride in his ability to be able to get things under control. He had been assured so many times that what he was doing was folly, but this was a chance to change things. Reassure everyone that this was going to be a new world that would not just rely on one person's choices, but all of theirs combined together.
The Rex leaned upwards, roaring louder, as it snapped up at the Chopper. Then it turned around looking back at the forest. He was not so sure what was going on. But he looked over at Cooper. The man shrugged, as he was speaking into his radio, probably talking with the chopper crew, trying to figure out what was wrong.
It was probably nothing more than a little hiccup, and he thought it should be something easily fixed. The Rex's roar was met by another sound, the sound of cawing somewhere in the trees. Another flock of birds was flying to and fro, and Masrani felt himself stop slightly.
That was odd, he thought to himself as he could see a dark shape emerging from the tree shadows. It looked like a large and leathery bat, as it glided over the trees. It shrieked as it did so, landing on the branches of a tall tree. It was huge, probably the size of a man, but it was at least a hundred feet high, it's head extending from a protruding crest to a sharp and forboding beak.
The chopper swiveled abruptly, turning in place to face the new animal, as it would shine the animal with a spotlight beam. Cooper was on stage too suddenly, as Masrani looked at him eyes wide. "Is this one o yours?"
He did not exactly remember it being on the list. Maybe somewhere he had read of something like this. Cooper shook his head, and Masrani swallowed. He noticed that Jessica was no longer standing to his side. But he had more pressing concerns on his mind right now, as he frowned. "Tell the Chopper to chip it-" he said.
He might not be exactly sure what was going on, but he was sure that he would have it sorted. Turning to the crowd, he forced a smile. "Don't worry. It's all part of the show-" he said to them.
There was another cawing sound, and he spun around, there were two of them now. What the hell was happening? The chopper drew closer, as it he could see one of Cooper's men aiming a rifle towards the animal.
One of the animals began to caw louder as it launched itself from it's perch on the tree. The man fired once, at the animal, they all heard a soft whoosh of air, as they would hear the animal cawing again as it launched itself through the open door.
The chopper veered to the side, as it began to sway. Behind him, he could already hear the press tittering, as the Rex was roaring up at the flying reptiles. Masrani was stepping away from the podium, scarcely believing that this was happening.
This was getting out of control, he thought as he held out a hand to the audience. Cooper was handing him a remote, as he waved it towards the two animals. "People, people… settle down…" And then he saw the other reptile, it was soaring above, no gliding- that was what it was doing, catching the updrafts of the wind, as he could see it.
It looked like the biggest bat in the world. Pressing the button frantically, he continued waving it. Nothing. Nothing at all. He realized in that moment that the animals weren't chipped. His eyes went wide, as he turned and ran. The trailer. The trailer he would figure out what to do from there.
To his left, there were people running any which way. Claire was running alongside him, they were both heading for the trailer. So close to it, he thought, as he heard a sudden thump, and realized the animal was right behind him. It was walking on it's knuckles, it's wings stretched out, as it was turning left and right.
It launched at him, knocking Claire out of the way, as she was thrown to the ground. Masrani put up his hands In a vain attempt to protect himself. He screamed as the beak tore into his arm, cutting right through the fabric of his suit.
There was another primeval shriek, and he could see Cooper in front of him, firing an electric prod at the animal- that Pteranadon he supposed it was. It was the first thing that his mind shot to as he got up to his feet. Stumbling a bit though, as he held his shoulder.
It was bleeding, he was bleeding, and he found himself mindlessly shouting at Cooper and his guards. Just to deal with the situation, but then Cooper was already running off, there was another one up there, the shadow falling on them. Masrani decided he was not going to wait, as he saw the trailer ahead.
Breathing hard, he would stagger forward, as a hand reached out for his. Claire. It was Claire, he saw, as she helped him along, the two of them staggering towards the trailer. Claire reached for the handle, as he started to relax. Only to find that it was locked. What the hell was happening?
He spun around, thinking, as he heard Claire pounding on the door. Someone was inside, he knew then. But who, he could not figure it out. Leaning back on the door, he called out. "Open the door or you're fired!" He sighed, groaning he would not ordinarily say something like that to his employees. Although he was in a life or death situation right now. Then there was a clamor on the roof, as Claire screamed.
The animal was on the roof, they both realized, s it was looking down at them, it's claws hanging onto the edge. Oh shit…oh shit, he thought, as he backed up. In the back of his mind, he knew that he still had his car out there. If he could just get there. He turned and tried to run.
However, that was exactly what the animal had been waiting for, as it was suddenly on him in a flash. The creature screeched again, as it drove it's large beak down. His back felt like it was driving and searing with pain. Masrani fell on the floor, feeling the grass against his face. Suddenly it felt like it was something that was happening to someone else, as he managed to roughly turn himself over.
He could hear footsteps rushing forward, but they would not make it in time. He could see the fabric of his suit on the creature's beak, as it seemed like the world was rushing in slow motion. Masrani screamed one final time, as the Pteranodon's beak dove down home towards his heart.