Prompt #5 I told you so.
His Three Favorite Words
Ian Malcolm and Dennis Nedry walked around the Adventure Inn, exploring the beautiful hotel. They had to wait another day until Lex Murphy returned with Alan Grant. Then they would return to Isla Nublar as a group and team up with the InGen staff. Malcolm was eager to start planning. The goal was clear: defeat Lewis Dodgson and kick his team off the island. Both men knew it would take time. For now, they had to wait patiently for everything to come together.
They went outside to the pool. Some kids splashed about, and their parents sat nearby watching them. Malcolm sat in a lounge chair near the pool, and Nedry sat in the adjacent one. Although he appreciated the serene scene, he was worried about everyone else on the island. How were Ellie, Tim, Arnold, Muldoon, and Dr. Harding faring? He hoped Dodgson wasn't giving them more hell, but that was wishful thinking. He knew the risks when he and Lex put their plan into action—everyone did.
For some reason, Malcolm thought of Henry Wu now, and how Nedry had tried warning the InGen staff that he had defected to Biosyn. Nobody listened to him because of his history of betraying InGen and causing hell with the Biosyn team. Malcolm had listened to Nedry that night in Hammond's bungalow, when Nedry explained why he had returned to Isla Nublar: to make them aware about Dodgson's plan to take over InGen and Jurassic Park. His words fell on deaf ears as he had successfully achieved persona non grata status—person not welcome. More importantly: Henry Wu was a trusted member of the InGen staff, making Nedry's claims outlandish and downright laughable. At worst, Nedry was projecting himself into Wu.
That's what everyone thought that night. It was the same night the Biosyn team kidnapped Nedry and Muldoon. After that, Arnold's focus was on finding Nedry and Muldoon. He wasn't worried about Wu betraying InGen at the time—because it was all a bogus lie in his mind. Arnold didn't have an ounce of trust in Nedry. Malcolm realized now that Arnold couldn't accept the truth about Wu, even when it stood right in front of him. Over time, Wu became distant and cold, especially once Dodgson showed up on the island. Malcolm and Ellie noticed Wu's changed attitude, especially once Dodgson showed up. Dodgson went under the guise of "Cameron Thorne" and Wu spent an inordinate amount of time with him. That was when Malcolm began to consider that Nedry was telling the truth…
Malcolm shielded his eyes from the sun. He had gotten lost in his thoughts about Henry Wu, and now he voiced them aloud to Nedry, who appeared to be sleeping in the lounge chair.
"You were telling the truth when you tried to warn us about Henry's betrayal."
"Where did that come from?" Nedry sat up, his curiosity piqued.
"I was just thinking about Henry Wu."
"Gotcha. What about him?"
Malcolm remembered Nedry's notebook with the lists of names from both Biosyn and InGen. Wu's name was listed under Biosyn and when he found out, he lashed out at everyone. Malcolm thought of mentioning it and then decided not to. Instead, he focused on Wu's behavior.
"It's like he became a different person once he started following Dodgson. He used to be approachable, and then he became detached. Very standoffish."
"I can picture it. He sure didn't like me exposing him in John's bungalow."
"Yeah, but you were right…" Malcolm sighed. "I don't know about you, but I hate being right all the time."
"I don't hate it at all, in fact, I see it in a more optimistic way." Nedry laid back in the lounge chair, completely relaxed. "You know what my favorite three words are? 'Told', 'you', and 'so'."
"Actually, those are my favorite three words too." Malcolm was serious, but even a slight smirk flashed across his face.
"Really?" Nedry scoffed, amused.
"That weekend when Dr. Grant, Dr. Sattler, and myself came for the initial park inspection for John—along with Don Gennaro and Hammond's grandkids—if it had failed spectacularly as I had predicted, I would've told John the same thing."
"'Told you so'? Yeah, I can picture it!"
"That would've been predictable, even for me."
"Well, lucky for you, I came back that night from making my special delivery at the east dock!"
"Lucky for all of us," Malcolm corrected him.