Italicized text can represent several things (dialogue in another language, inner thoughts, flashbacks, etc.) please be aware of this and the context to better understand what is happening!
Jack learned the boys' names were Zach and Gray.
Gray was a year younger than Jack, and Zach was three years older.
Gray was obsessed with numbers and dinosaurs.
Zach was more interested in music and girls.
Zara, their babysitter, didn't really seem to care or pay attention to what they were doing, frequently checking her phone or reading her book. It was an Ian Malcolm book. Jack had read it a few times—okay so he skimmed it a few times, but Ian liked to use big words and phrases that he didn't really understand. He did, however, like looking at the pictures and at the graphs that were in the book. What else was he supposed to read when growing up the only books his parents had around were theoretical science books, medical history books, or dinosaur books?
"Why are you here?" Gray asked suddenly beside Jack. "I mean," Gray explained, looking at the world through his disposable camera, "Our aunt works for Jurassic World. What about you? Your mom is Sara Webb?" He fired off questions quickly.
Jack nodded.
He was used to this—people knowing who his mom was.
When he was much younger, he used to answer the door and find strangers outside asking if his mom was home and if she'd give them an autograph or an interview. Lots of creeps obsessed with the macabre and the history of Jurassic Park. Jack was used to slamming doors in random people's faces, but he couldn't do that here.
"It's cool your mom is a legacy guest." Gray said, "did you know that the original park could have run for three days with only three staff members?"
"Hmm." Jack hummed in response.
"So," Gray looked down at his feet as they shuffled along. They'd already done most of the rides in the park proper, now they were moving on to the shows and the field experiences. "What does your mom do now?" He asked. He looked up and raised his camera to his face as they walked into a new section of the park.
Something about the way Gray asked it had Jack believing that he was sincerely curious. "She's a museum curator."
"Whoa." Gray lowered his camera and grinned eagerly, "What museum?" He asked.
"The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History." Jack answered. It had always bothered him that people saw his mom as just the lady who survived Jurassic Park or the lady who has survived dinosaurs three times. Well, it bothered him more that that was all people wanted to talk about with him. Anything he knew about her experiences was second-hand. He hadn't been there!
But Gray didn't ask him anything else beyond that. Instead, he turned and asked, "Why do you think we're not allowed to see the Dilophosauruses?"
Jack scrunched his nose up in disgust, "Don't they spit venom?" He asked in response.
"It's not like it can melt glass." Gray pointed out.
"You want to risk it leaking out onto someone?" Jack asked with a laugh. "They say it can cause paralysis in as fast as five minutes with as little as five milliliters of venom." Grays eyes widened excitedly.
"Hey, losers, if you're done having your little nerd-circle," Zach called to them. He was walking slightly behind them, but was still ahead of Zara, "you're walking straight into the kiddie zone."
"Actually, it's called the Gentle Giants Petting Zoo." Gray corrected his brother. "It has baby herbivores, but," He looked at Jack, "I doubt they'll have a baby ankylosaurus."
Jack didn't mind, he didn't like petting zoos. A nasty encounter with a goat back home made him weary of being on the same side of the fence as the animals. "That's fine. I just want to see a dinosaur." He told Gray, "It'll probably be filled with really little kids anyways."
Sure enough, they came upon the fence to the petting zoo soon after. Or, at least, they would've seen the fence if there wasn't a wall of people in the way. Jack stood on his tiptoes in an attempt to see what baby herbivores were inside, but he just wasn't tall enough. Since they'd stopped walking Zara had caught up to them. She was on her phone, though, and didn't seem to even notice them.
"Can you see anything?" Gray asked, jumping up and down beside him.
"No." Jack shook his head.
"Zach, lift me up! I can't see!" Gray continued to bounce.
"I'm not dad, and you're not five." Zach refused.
"I can still ride the triceratops." Gray pointed out.
"Gray, come on!" Jack waved for the other boy to follow him. There was a bench ahead that no one was sitting on. They ran, ducked around Zara, and jumped onto the bench. Gray immediately raised his camera to his face again, and Jack began to scan the dusty ground of the petting zoo.
"I'm forty-seven-and-a-half inches." Gray added. But Zach was no longer listening.
"Triceratops, Apatosaurus, Stegosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Gallimimus." Jack said out loud, pointing out each one to Gray so he could get a picture of them. Inside, workers were smiling and standing nearby the animals that were currently being ridden. Something about the sight of a baby triceratops, panting in the heat, and struggling to walk with an eight-year-old on its back made Jack want to yell at the kids to get off the animals. He frowned, his hand returning to his side.
It was as if he was suddenly aware that the animals…were...not happy. That the parents watching their kids were not happy. That the workers tensely wrestling a screaming kid off of a baby apatosaurus was not happy. It made him feel sick to his stomach. Why would the park put the animals through this?
"This place is for little kids." Zach deadpanned, clearly not enjoying himself.
"Yeah, I know." Gray sounded less enthusiastic than before, "Wanna go on the spinning dinosaur eggs again?" He turned and asked Jack.
"Uhh," Jack hesitated, jumping down over the back of the bench. He looked back at Zara who had stopped following them and was still on the phone. Part of him worried that Zach and Zara might ditch them if he and Gray went on the Egg Spinner ride. He looked at his phone, how long had it been since he'd left the hotel room? He looked back up, "Gray's good with numbers." He thought, "Gray? What time did we leave the hotel?" Gray took Jack's wrist and turned it so he could see his phone.
"It's been an hour and twenty minutes." Gray answered, "Why?"
"Twenty minutes since mom last texted." Jack wondered if he should be worried. He put his phone back in his pocket.
"Hey, kid?" Zach nudged him as they walked by the petting zoo. Jack looked up at him expectantly. "You cool?" Zach asked.
"What?" Jack asked.
"Are you cool?" Zach asked.
"Sure?" Jack wasn't sure what he meant by that.
Zach looked over his shoulder, back where Zara was. He licked his lips anxiously then nodded to himself. "Scatter." He suddenly grabbed Jack and Gray's shoulders.
"What?" Jack asked.
"Go," Zach waved them both in front of him, "run!" Gray took off, which instantly set Jack in a run "Go, go, go, go!" Zach quietly urged them. Jack glanced back, noticing that Zach was grinning, and Zara hadn't noticed they'd left. Jack grinned and turned back around, running faster to catch up to Gray.
They ran back up through Main Street, Zach occasionally reaching up to shove one or both of them. Jack laughed; it was like being back home with friends.
They made it to the steps of the innovation center when an announcer's voice came on over the loudspeakers of the park.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the next T-Rex feeding will begin in approximately ten minutes—,"
The rest was drowned out because Gray suddenly turned and grabbed Jack's arm jumping up and down," T-Rex! T-Rex! T-Rex!" He turned to his brother, "Come on, man, come on!"
Zach held up a hand in an attempt to calm his brother down, "Okay!"
"Let's go!" Jack raced Gray across Main Street.
He could hear Gray laughing behind him, and Zach further behind going, "Wait!"
They scanned their wristbands at the entrance and climbed the stairs to the viewing area. There was already a crowd waiting, but Jack just turned and told Gray, "Hang on!" Gray reached out and grabbed a fistful of Jack's jacket. Jack began to squeeze through the crowd, and he managed to fit between two adults who were eagerly videotaping and taking selfies in front of the large glass window. The feeder had just thrown a flare down on the forest floor.
"Look!" Jack exclaimed; his finger pressed to the glass.
The flare landed just beside a goat that was tethered to the ground.
They could feel a rhythmic tremor in the ground before they saw it. The Tyrannosaurus Rex. Its head was massive, and a big golden-green eye was focused in on the flare and the food beside it. It snarled, stepping forward closer to its meal. The goat seemed completely unaware!
"Eat it! Eat it! Eat it!" A little kid cheered nearby.
"Did you know," Gray asked, "That the T-Rex had approximately sixty teeth but that the one here is missing a tooth and it hasn't grown back?" Before Jack could answer him, the T-Rex chomped down on the unsuspecting goat. Jack could still hear the crunching of the bones as the crowd cheered. "Who-oa!" Gray exclaimed beside him.
Jack watched with wide eyes as the muscles in the T-Rex's neck contracted and jiggled as it attempted to swallow the goat in two bites. "This is amazing." He breathed, the plight of the baby dinosaurs already a distant memory.
The T-Rex didn't stay long after it had finished eating, but Gray refused to move, watching until the T-Rex was out of sight before he said, "Did you know that is the same T-Rex from the original park?" He asked.
Jack nodded.
"I wonder how it got those scars." Zach thought out loud, rejoining them as they turned and began to walk out.
"From the velociraptors." Jack answered automatically. He knew the stories by heart. His mom had been in the old visitor's center and was trying to escape the velociraptors when the T-Rex suddenly appeared and fought them.
"Velociraptors?" Zach scoffed in disbelief.
"Yeah," Gray chuckled, "There were no velociraptors on the island, they all died off before the park even opened. Jurassic World had to make all new ones."
Jack didn't want to argue about it. He trusted his mom and Ian on matters concerning the original park. Before he could take the steps down to exit the viewing area, a deep vibration suddenly shook the floor. He could feel a low rumbling in his chest, and he slowed down, allowing Zach and Gray to walk by him as he stopped and looked back out the viewing window.
The T-Rex had come back to a lot of guests' surprise. It seemed to be staring into the viewing area, even though they were hidden. Jack had never felt his heart race faster than when he realized the large golden-green eye was staring straight at him. Its lips pulled back in a snarl. Jack's eyes widened.
"Hey, Jack!" Gray called. Jack looked down the stairs that led out the viewing area, "You coming?" He asked.
"Coming!" Jack answered, not looking back at the T-Rex. As he raced down the steps, his phone began to vibrate in his pocket. Jack pulled it out, a picture of his dad and him on a road trip they'd taken last year popped up on his screen. He nodded for Zach and Gray to lead the way while he answered.
"Hello?" Jack answered, holding the phone to one ear and covering his other.
"Hey, champ!" His dad cheerfully answered, "How's the park?"
"Awesome!" Jack exclaimed, grinning, "We just watched the T-Rex eat!"
"Whoa-ho," His dad laughed, "That sounds cool! So what—hang on…We?" He asked.
"Yeah." Jack nodded, though he knew his dad couldn't see, "Some manager lady's nephews are here and we're hanging out."
"Is that your dad?" Gray asked. Jack nodded. "Hi, Mister Jack's dad!"
"Dude!" Zach lightly slapped his father upside the head.
Max heard it all the same and laughed, "Well, I'm glad you're making friends. You wouldn't be you if you didn't make friends everywhere you went." Jack smiled. "Say, have you heard from your mom?"
Jack paused, "Uhh. Not for, like, thirty minutes or so…why?"
"No reason." Max reassured him, "Just seeing if you've been checking in with her. You know how she gets." Oh yes, Jack knew. "Alright kiddo, I won't keep you from your friends. It's been a pretty quiet day here, so hopefully it stays that way. And I hope you and your mom have a fun weekend."
"Thanks, dad." Jack smiled.
"Alright, bud. It's been real. Love you."
"Love you, too." Jack said quickly so Gray and Zach wouldn't hear him.
"Look!" Gray pointed to his map, "It says the Mosasaurus has a feeding in half an hour! Let's go!"
Jack slipped his phone back into his pocket and rejoined the other boys.
Masrani found Sara in the oddest of places. She was sitting on a bench in a quiet part of the 'In an egg' exhibit. This exhibit was next on the chopping block. Sure, kids liked walking through the quiet, warmly glowing halls as they learned about the embryonic development of a dinosaur, but it just didn't turn the turnstiles enough to justify keeping it for another season. He was thinking of turning it into a virtual reality exhibit. Maybe allow some of the more…temperamental animals to be viewed from a place of complete safety.
Masrani pushed thoughts of business aside and looked back at Sara, who had her head buried in her hands. In all the years Masrani had known Sara—and he didn't really know her—she had never been so…afraid?
No.
That wasn't the word.
Unsure was better, but it still didn't encapsulate exactly how she'd just reacted.
It was unexpected.
Her fingers were clenched around fistfuls of her silver hair, pulling it out of the braid that was draped over her shoulder. She didn't speak, and Masrani had to look hard to ensure she was even breathing.
The book she'd been carrying sat beside her on the bench. It must've been the pictures he'd been wanting for all these years.
Masrani walked over, noticing how tense Sara's body grew as he drew himself closer. He gently bent down, picked up the photo album, and sat it aside. He sat down with a heavy sigh next to Sara and waited until she was sitting back up straight to hold the book out to her.
She hesitated, but only for a moment. She gently took the book from his hands, placed it on her lap, and leaned her head back against the wall with a heavy sigh.
Masrani said nothing.
He'd gone about this whole business between them in the worst way imaginable. He was man enough to admit that now. He was used to getting his way, he had the means and the money to make anything that he desired come true but seeing what he'd done to Sara…he knew he'd messed up. He was, however, surprised that she hadn't left the island entirely.
"You know," Sara's voice was low. Masrani glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. "I had nightmares for about a year after my eleventh birthday." She was quiet for a moment. "Dad played it off as though I'd seen a scary movie…and he did so much to make sure that what I'd seen…what I'd lived through…he thought if I believed it was fake then it would stop."
Masrani wished he could've gone back to his meeting with Steven Webb and punch the man. Take a page out of Malcolm's book and just assault people who piss him off. Not that Steven Webb had pissed him off, but perhaps a warning that he'd lied to his daughter would've been nice. Then they could've avoided this whole situation. A punch would feel justified. He rubbed his jaw absentmindedly where Malcolm had socked him all those years ago.
Sara looked down at the album and gingerly opened it up. The pages were stiff, and they crinkled as Sara delicately pulled them apart. Masrani's eyes widened as he looked at the first picture.
John Hammond was shaking hands with the doctors, he recognized them as Malcolm, Grant, and Sattler. Another man stood in the background with a scowl.
"I guess he never thought I would ever see a living dinosaur again." Sara said, her voice barely above a whisper as she turned the page.
Photos of Isla Nublar from out over the ocean, a portrait shot of Hammond in the back of a jeep, and a dinosaur.
A brachiosaurus, to be exact.
"I thought that everything that had happened was a dream. Or a nightmare." Sara stopped turning the pages. "I was made to believe it was all fake, that it'd never happened or that I had imagined it." She wasn't looking at him, and she'd stopped turning the pages. "But it was real. It was all real and he lied to me." Her voice wavered. "He disowned me for doing the same thing he had done."
Masrani raised an eyebrow but said nothing. From what he understood, Sara had been disowned for impersonating her father, but he understood what she meant. They'd both made the mistake of falling into business with John Hammond, and both reaped what they had sown.
Sara took a deep breath and handed the photo album back to Masrani. "There is nothing to protect now. Nothing to keep." She sounded broken. Masrani reached for the album and had to act fast when Sara dropped it. He caught it with a surprised exclamation, half leaning off of the bench. He sat back slowly; half expecting Sara to change her mind and take the book back without warning. She didn't move. She didn't even look at him.
Masrani frowned and looked at the book in his lap. Suddenly, it didn't seem so priceless. He turned and looked at Sara. In the glow of the walls, she looked aged, tired. There were two scars on this side of her face, one half hidden by her hairline, and another cutting across her cheek. She'd endured far more than any person should've and he'd made her life even more of a living hell these past seventeen years. Her eyes were closed, and her breath came in shaking waves. Even though he didn't know her that well, he could tell she was trying to remain composed and not cry.
Masrani grimaced, then stood up with a groan. "Miss Webb?" She opened her eyes, then looked up at him. He offered her an arm, "May I show you my park?" He asked.
"The mosasaurus was thought to have hunted near the surface of the water, where it preyed on anything it could sink its teeth into." The announcer in the mosasaurus stadium announced.
Jack looked at his phone. It had been almost three hours since he'd last heard from his mom. He frowned and looked back up at the beautiful water. It looked really clear, but he figured it must've been either really deep or deceptively dark because he couldn't see the large animal that was surely swimming around inside.
"Meaning turtles," The announcer checked off on her fingers, "large fish, even smaller mosasaurs." Jack heard a mechanical grinding sound, and he looked up.
"Oh, yuck." He grimaced and nudged Gray. The other boy grimaced but raised his camera to take a picture.
They watched as a Great White Shark was dangled on a pulley system out over the water. "Okay folks," The announcer said as the shark came to a stop over the water, "Let's see if she's still hungry after already eating today."
There was a tall pole the pulley line was connected to in the center of the half circle auditorium. And the shark stopped midway between the first row of guests and the pole. "She's a little shy," the announcer said coyly, "so be nice and give her a hand when she comes out."
"Zach," Gray nudged his brother. Jack turned to see Zach was busy frowning at his phone. "Zach, Zach!"
"Look!" Jack jumped up and pointed.
There was no warning.
One second the water was still, the next a great big snout burst from under the surface! Then the curves of a skull followed, then an eye, a spiked spine, and front flippers. A loud roar escaped the animal as it opened its massive jaw. The animal chomped down on the great white shark and Jack was surprised to see that it almost seemed to pause in mid-air.
The whole auditorium was holding its breath.
With a sharp twist of its head, the mosasaur had ripped the shark treat off the pulley with a metallic -ta-twang- and began to fall back into the water.
Jack grinned excitedly, then quickly tensed up as the huge wave the mosasaur created washed over the concrete barrier and soaked the front ten rows. Jack, Gray, and Zach all let out shocked shouts and looked at each other with huge smiles. The crowd laughed and cheered at the splash.
"Oh my God!" Gray laughed, shaking his brother by the arm, "That was awesome!"
Jack staggered back into his seat as a hydraulic hiss came from both sides of their row. He sat back down as the announcer said, "Okay, hold on tight," Their seats began to descend into the ground below. "We're going to give you an even closer look at our mosasaur."
"No way!" Jack thought, refusing to blink in case he missed even a second of the action.
They descended underground, where massive glass windows looked out into the water. From down here, Jack could hear the mosasaurus singing, like a whale, as it shook the shark in its mouth. Half of the shark ripped off, and the crowd's cheers erupted as the animal swam around in a circle, giving them all the opportunity to see every angle.
Its body reminded Jack of a whale, if a whale had a second pair of flippers further back on its body and if its tail moved side-to-side, and if its tail was nearly as long as its body, and if it was shaped more like a tadpole tail. Its body was a green-ish Gray, with arbitrary blue stripes and spots across its tail and spine.
"It had eighty-eight teeth!" Gray shouted over the uproarious applause.
"Hey, you guys wanna see something else cool?" Zach asked.
Jack thought of his mom. She probably wanted him to get back to the hotel. It'd been over three hours, and the deal was he'd get an hour in the park. "But…" Jack thought as Gray looked at him with excitement in his eyes, "If she wanted me back that badly, she would've texted me." He smiled and nodded, "Yeah!"
They had to push and shove their way through the crowd that lazily meandered outside the entrance to the Mosasaurus Lagoon. Once outside, Zach took the lead, "You dino nerds want to see dinos?" He asked, looking over his shoulder at the two of them, "I'll show you dinos."
"We already saw the T-Rex and the mosasaurus," Gray thought out loud. "Where else would we be going?"
"The velociraptors aren't available for public viewing." Jack pointed out, "Maybe to the Gallimimus Valley? Or the Treetop Gazers?"
"But those are all herbivores." Gray pointed out.
"Some people think Gallimimus might've been an omnivore." Jack counter argued.
Gray frowned and thought for a moment, "Maybe the Aviary?"
Zach groaned, apparently exhausted by their conversation about dinosaurs, "The gyrospheres." He finally said, "We're going to the gyrospheres."
The Brachiosaurus was as warm and soft as Sara remembered them being. She smiled as the massive head rested on the guardrail where she was standing. "Hi, old girl." Sara said gently, stretching one arm to stroke the length of the animal's massive jaw. She briefly wondered if this was the same one she'd seen the very first time she'd ever seen a dinosaur—or…rather, previously believed to be the very first dinosaur she'd ever seen—or if it was the same one that had woken her up the morning after the T-Rex attack.
Either way, the kind eyes and wide smile of the animal made Sara smile like an excited child.
The nostrils at the top of the animal's head widened and contracted as it breathed. Warm air blew over Sara's head as she breathed.
"Does that feel good?" She laughed as she gently scratched the animal's jaw. The brachiosaurus blinked slowly, a pleased, purr-like bellow rumbled in its chest and vibrated Sara's chest.
"You certainly have a way with the animals." Masrani's voice was quiet behind Sara.
"I treat them like animals." Sara responded. "And not like exhibits or performers." Then she narrowed her eyes as she pulled her hands back and scratched the snout of the animal with the palms of her hands. "Is she one of the originals?" She asked.
"Yes." Masrani answered. "There were five when we came to the island."
"There were ten before." Sara thought, "The island must've reached an equilibrium after we left." She pushed aside the negativity. Five had survived which was what mattered. She smiled as the brachiosaur pulled away and turned her head to graze elsewhere. A bolt of pain ran down her left arm and her hand began to cramp. She nonchalantly leaned on her right hand, leaning as far forward over the guardrail as she was comfortable doing to watch the animal. Her hands throbbed painfully, but Sara made no move to show her discomfort. She knew the pain would pass; it always did.
"Your knowledge would have been greatly appreciated when we were cleaning up the park." Masrani turned, ready to leave.
Sara gave the brachiosaur one last look before she turned and walked alongside him. "I wasn't quite ready to come back. Not at that point."
"You would've made quite the animal handler." Masrani pointed out.
"Animal handler?" Sara asked.
Masrani nodded, "Every clutch born is assigned an animal handler, helps the animals to recognize humans so they're more likely to trust when humans come by their paddocks for feeding, medical care, and routine check-ups." He waved his hand dismissively.
"Hmm." Sara hummed in response. The pair exited the Treetop Gazers walk and Masrani nodded to one of the staff members by the exit.
"All clear." The staff member said into a walkie talkie attached to his shirt collar.
"You know," She didn't look at Masrani as she spoke, "My first year working with Sarah, there was this animal keeper," she squinted in the sunlight, wishing she'd brought her sunglasses, "He was the one to go into the different exhibits whenever guests or the lab personnel reported an animal looking injured or sick." Masrani looked at her as they walked. "Anyways, he went in one day when a lazy lab personnel told him that the lion was just laying in the sun, not responding to outside stimuli." Sara remembered how the entire park seemed to shut down that day. "So, he goes in, kneels down right by the lion's head and gives him a poke." She snapped her fingers, "Took a chunk out of his arm, just like that. The man who basically raised him." Masrani pursed his lips, unimpressed. "And when I worked with my father on movie sets, the animal handlers would constantly tell us that even the most well-trained wild animal is still a wild animal, and is one bad second from reminding everyone on set of their power." She added.
It didn't really bother Sara that much, there was plenty of well-documented evidence showing that wild animals raised in captivity, even when raised by the sweetest, kindest, most gentle people, would always let their primal instincts take over. Eventually the owners or the keepers would be mauled, and in especially dangerous cases, they would be killed. If Masrani didn't want to listen to the evidence, there was no use in trying to change his opinion.
"Can lead a horse to water." Sara thought, "Can't make it drink."
She absentmindedly paid attention to what Masrani was telling her, things about the park and the animals, upcoming attractions and rides, and the progresses they'd made in science thanks to Henry Wu's research.
Sara's mind came to a screeching halt as her body locked up. Masrani turned back once he'd noticed she was no longer walking with him and looked back at her curiously. "Henry Wu?" She repeated. He'd mentioned a 'Henry' earlier, but it didn't seem to sink in that it was the same Henry. "Of course it's the same Henry! You knew that! Why didn't you realize it sooner?" She scolded herself.
Masrani nodded, "Yes, the very same." He answered. "Henry's work in recreating DNA from almost nothing is unparalleled."
"For a good reason." Sara thought, feeling like she'd just taken an ice bath. "He isn't a scientist, he's Victor Frankenstein." But she bit her tongue. It was clear Masrani had respect for Henry. "Maybe he has changed." She tried to reason with herself as she resumed her pace beside Masrani. "Could we go see Dr. Wu?" She asked curiously.
Masrani thought for a moment, then nodded, "I suppose we could stop for a visit before I show you the control room."
And he led the way back to the innovation center.
Sara tried to remember what she knew about Henry Wu. He'd seemed so enthusiastic and pure minded when she'd first met him in ninety-three. "No…I apparently first met him in eighty-six…" She reminded herself. She shook the confusing thoughts away; she was still struggling to wrap her head around the fact that she'd been entangled in Jurassic Park's business longer than she'd been aware of.
Thinking back to her memories of Henry Wu, Sara tried to remember their meeting. He quickly grew critical and hostile once she and Ian had questioned his methods of population control. She hadn't seen him again after leaving the lab. She hadn't even thought about Henry Wu until a magazine came to The Museum in The Rockies. Other archivists and professors were talking about how their jobs would soon be a thing of the past since Henry Wu could simply make an extinct animal live again. She never heard his name again and hadn't thought of him in nearly two decades.
Once inside, instead of going into one of the colorfully themed exhibits, they walked past the statue of John Hammond and into a hallway labeled 'Hammond Creation Lab'.
What would he be like nowadays? Would he even remember her? Why hadn't he said anything before? If he hadn't recognized her in ninety-three—and there had only been a seven-year gap between their first and second meeting—why should she expect him to remember her now after twenty-two years?
Sara hesitated for only a second as Masrani smoothly walked into the lab. There were tables overflowing with paperwork and strange vials of liquid. Several computer screens showed the constant monitoring and scanning of DNA sequences. Memos and plans were written on a whiteboard bolted to the back wall.
"Henry?" He called into the lab.
"Ah, Mr. Masrani, what a pleasant surprise." A familiar voice answered.
Sara swallowed, her mouth going dry as she slowly followed Masrani into the lab. There weren't many people moving around the lab, and fewer people watching through the glass, but Sara felt like all eyes turned to her as she stepped inside.
"Henry, I would like to introduce," And Masrani turned around to motion to her.
Henry Wu looked the same, and yet different. His hair was longer, but it was neatly combed back. He wore a black turtleneck, dark dress pants, and shiny black dress shoes. He didn't look as youthful as he had when Sara had last seen him, but he had aged well. His eyes widened almost imperceptibly, and he stood up from his chair.
"Sara Webb." Henry said quietly.
Masrani smiled and dropped his hand, "I see you remember each other." He said as Henry came around his desk and held out his hand. Instinctively, Sara reached out and took it, though she felt scummy as she pulled her hand back.
Henry's eyes looked over all of Sara as he stepped back, and he smiled. "Of course I remember you." He said. Sara said nothing, unsure of how to answer him. "You thought control wasn't possible."
"It isn't." She instinctively blurted out.
Henry chuckled and gestured to the lab, "I think you'll find that we have been in control for a long time."
"It's all an illusion." Sara shook her head, "That's all it has ever been."
Henry sighed irritably, "You sound like Malcolm." He raised his eyebrows, unimpressed.
Sara clenched and unclenched her fists by her side. "You sound like a man who has never had to run for his life because a velociraptor is chasing you." She wanted to say. Instead, she took a breath, calmed herself down, and said, "Complex systems have hidden regularities. Simple systems have unpredictable behavior." She squared her shoulders, "And I hope I get to say, 'I told you so' this time."
She wasn't sure how she expected her meeting with Wu to go, but that certainly wasn't what she'd had in mind. Her insides were shaking as she and Masrani left the lab.
"Henry can be a bit protective of his work, but I'm sure he actually appreciated seeing you." Masrani said, but Sara wasn't listening.
The more she saw, the more conflicted she felt. The park seemed safe; it had been operating for just over ten years at this point with little to no incidents. People were happy, the dinosaurs seemed content. But that feeling, the little worm that bore its way into her head simply couldn't let go of the facts. And the fact of the matter was, that it was only a matter of time before someone got hurt, before a dinosaur escaped, before something horrible happened that would set off a cascade of horrible events. A storm, a disgruntled employee, a mad scientist…
She didn't even notice how long they'd been walking and walking uphill too. Sara took a few deep breaths, her lungs burning as they approached a nondescript grey building built into the side of the mountain.
This was the control room. The entire building was designed to monitor every inch of the park. Sara honestly paid little attention to what Masrani told her as he showed her the main level which reminded her of mission control from NASA. People sat at monitors that showed different parts of the park, while a large monitor at the front of the room showed the park as a whole.
"As you can see," Masrani said as they walked up to the roof, "Jurassic World is completely safe, we have precautions for every imaginable event."
Sara squinted once more as they stepped out into the sun. They walked over to the slim blue helicopter that sat on the helicopter pad. From here, they could see most of Main Street. Masrani must've noticed that she'd gone quiet because he asked, "Would you like a water?"
"Hmm?" It took Sara a moment to realize what he'd said. She nodded, "Please." Masrani smiled and left her on the roof.
Sara watched him go, then turned and looked out over the park. The park was gorgeous, even if she admitted so begrudgingly to herself. The park reminded her of Disneyland, Universal Studios, and Busch Gardens, places where whimsy and science came together to form something transportive. On the island, she felt as if she were in a different time.
"John…what would you think of all this?" She wondered, crossing her arms as her eyes slowly trailed from the Mosasaur Lagoon to the T-Rex Kingdom. The park was so much more advanced than anything Sara would've dreamed of back in nineteen-ninety-three. She looked back on her tumultuous weekend with a strange sense of fondness and remembered the first park with a sense of nostalgic charm.
There was something so…innocent about that first park. All people needed back then was a tour. Of course, other attractions were seated to open up further down the line, but living breathing dinosaurs were the only attraction people needed back then. It was all that was needed to entrance the original guests.
A chill ran down her spine as the T-Rex roared in the distance.
I was doing some research and saw concept art for a walkthrough exhibit where you could be at head height among the brachiosauruses, so I had to include that. How could I not?!