Super Science
Ch 84: Triassic Park
"Thank you very much for seeing me despite your busy schedule, Professor Izuku. Especially when so many people are flooding in every day to get their quirks removed or a new one placed into them.", an old man cordially greeted and thanked the young man.
The man was well into his late 60s, somewhat short and plump, with white hair and a white beard, thick glasses, and a safari outfit coupled with a cane that had an amber mosquito fossil inside.
Sitting across from the old man in his office, Izuku smiled back at his kindness and told him, "Of course, it's an honor to meet a man of science and paleontology such as yourself, Doctor Hammond. But what exactly is it you wanted to talk about?"
"As I'm sure you already know, your most recent creation of the Paleo Pets has been a huge success.", Hammond began vaguely.
The Paleo Pets, an idea created by Professor Genus and green-lit by Egon, is a line of highly modified dinosaurs that are made to be completely domestic house pets. The process is long, tedious, and expensive making the animals expensive as well. They are much smaller than their larger cousins, unless they were small in the first place, colorful, and completely domestic so they are fully reliant on humans due to their care. As of now the only ones they have in stock are the Paleo Raptor, Triceratops, and T-Rex.
Izuku blows out a raspberry as he says back, "You don't have to tell me twice. Were back ordered for months and couldn't make those babies quick enough. It wasn't only a matter of time before someone did something like this. May as well try to be the first ones to control the eventual storm."
Hammond chuckled and said in agreement, "I couldn't have said it any better myself."
"So what do the Paleo Pets have to do with anything?", Izuku asked back.
"I heard from my sources that you can revive long-extinct dinosaurs.", Hammond answered.
Suddenly a ton of weapons all sprang up out of nowhere and pointed at the man Uziji carefully asked him, "How much did you hear and from whom?"
Jammonds pushed the barrel of a gun from his face and told him with a closer eye smile, "I only know the way you revive them, not the manner you do it. As for who, that would be Japan's own Prime Minister."
"How?", Izuku prompted further.
"We used to be old lovers.", Hammond replied with a start-eyed gaze.
"So that's how.", Izuku gripes at the thought of it. After shivering in disgust he retraced the weapons and asked the old man, "But I still don't get what you want from us?"
"I want to open a park!", he finally told him with zeal and child-like excitement in his voice.
"A park?", Izuku repeated.
Hammond shook his head and explained, "A park filled with dinosaurs and other extinct animals from every era of Earth's history. A place that is fun for everyone of all ages, knowledgeable, and most importantly, affordable ."
"Doctor Hammond, that's all well and good, and I can see that your heart is in the right place, but not your head.", Izuku admitted, making the man falter in his excitement. Making Izuku feel bad at seeing the downer old man, following up to tell him, "Look I'm not saying the idea is crazy….actually yeah, that's exactly what I'm trying to say. A park filled with unknown creatures from unknown eras of history. I've seen enough horror and monster films to know that it could do nothing but go south."
"Don't you think you're being a bit pessimistic?", Hammond questions him.
Izuku shot him a look and said back, "No, I'm being realistic. Look, when I was ten I would've killed to see a T-rex in real life. But I'm older, wiser, and know that's a bad idea. We don't know anything about these animals. What if we try to contain them and find out we can't?"
"What is the point of taking a risk if you are too scared to do it?", Hammond argued.
"What is the point if you can foresee the risk overtaking the reward?", Izuku argues.
Hammond sits back and with a sigh inquires, "Haven't you already revived many dinosaurs?"
"Yes, and they came out brain dead. Only when we bred them did we get something not…brain dead.", Izuku tried to explain it as best he could without giving away too many details.
"I assumed that. You have to be getting these creatures for your Paleo Pets somewhere.", Hammond guesses.
Izuku grunts in frustration at the man's persistence and offers him, "Then let me show you what the wild version of the cute, cuddly, domesticated versions look like."
Izuku then brought Doctor Hammond into the Creature Division where he was brought down an elevator on the lower floors. There in one of many different high-tech cages was a small group of velociraptors fighting one another over a cow carcass. All of them were jumping around and biting one another while striking with their claws for a bit of the dead bovine. The sound they made was even worse than any movie could produce and it sounded more like a murder scene was taking place!
Hammond could only stand by in shock at this sight and say, "Oh, my."
"Yeah.", Izuku agreed.
Shaking himself out of his shock, Hammond insisted, "But still you must understand, the world would benefit from so much learning about these creatures. And as you said, if you don't do it someone else will. And they may cut corners and then seize the blame on you.", Izuku still looked steadfast in his decision as he kept his arms crossed and glazed hard. So Hammond tried again and prompted him, "Isn't it better to try and control the outcome? If someone does make a dinosaur, you have a place to put it."
This made Izuku's ears go up and he began to think about this to himself. And the more he did, the more it made sense. They had been robbed once, who's to say it couldn't happen again? And this time something even worse comes from it or gets out of hand than just one Xenomorph. What if they don't have the facility to hold it? It would be better to have more space, just in case.
Finally, he caved and told the old man, "Oh alright, you've convinced me. But it will take time to plan everything out, and then make. Which won't be cheap."
Hammond smiles at this and tells the teen, "I'll spare no expense in making sure it is off the ground, operational, and safe. In addition, I'll be sure to funnel 40 percent of the income to your facility."
"Well, I gotta admit that is quite-.", Izuku began to say until his phone rang. "Oh hold on a second.", he told the old man while looking at the caller ID and answering, "Hello?"
"Is this Professor Izuku Midoryia?", a voice asked over the line.
"It's Doctor, but yes. Though who is this?", Izuku answered.
The voice, now sounding irate, half yelled at him, "My name isn't important, I want to complain about the product that I bought!"
"What product? We have many.", Izuku inquired.
The voice groaned and yelled at him, "The dragon I bought! It's completely unmanageable, plus it ran away! I want my money back!"
Izuku froze as he heard this word and didn't speak for so long that the person on the other end yelled to get his attention. When he snapped back, he clutched the phone tight and dangerously asked the person, "What? Dragon?!"
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