The beaked herbivore plodded over to the leaf pile, taking a few moments to check both for predators and rivals before digging in. The ferns were eaten first, followed by several cabbages mixed into the pile for variety and nutrition - the large-nosed dinosaur found them particularly appetizing. It would occasionally stop eating to survey its surroundings again - predators were practically unheard of in this new land, but others of its own kind wouldn't hesitate to bully it off the plant pile if they had the chance. Fortunately, none were making any moves, but that could change at any moment. Only with constant vigilance could rivals be deterred.

At the nearby viewing deck, Ted couldn't help smiling at this sight.

"So," asked the bespectacled redhead beside him, "how's the feeding going?"

"Very well," was Ted's reply. "Newbies handled the job well enough."

"Good. Sounds like you haven't had any big problems with our newest hires."

"Not really. You?"

"Nothing aside from some teasing about my name."

Ted smirked. "You're a redhead working in the botany division named Pamela. Teasing is inevitable."

"Yeah, but Poison Ivy usually has orange hair."

"What about in The Batman? And I mean the cartoon, not the new movie."

The red-haired girl thought for a second, then shrugged. "Eh, one among dozens isn't really a good sign. Besides, I ain't a yank like you or her."

"Fair enough."

"Were any of our newest team members surprised to see our big-nosed friends?"

"A little," confirmed Ted. "A bit like me the first time I saw these big boys and girls. When Nigel said he was bringing back more Psittacosaurus, I expected that maybe we would see another Yutyrannus or two among the rescues, not a herd of Altirhinus."

"Well, to be fair to Nigel, he did say he was going to go for the type species, Psittacosaurus mongoliensis. Would've been the wrong place and time to meet those tyrannosaurs."

"Be that as it may, it was still a shock."

"It was. The Choyrodon, Harpymimus, and those choristoderes were icing at that odd cake, weren't they?"

"Yep. They were. Look, I need to get back to botanical research. Unless you have something to do there, then -"

"I'll come with you - these guys are proving the dung for the next set of fertilizer tests, and today's the delivery date for it."

"Oh. Well, condolences to our sinuses, then."

XxXxX

Botanical Research Zone, Carboniferous Section

Ted glanced down at tiny 'saplings', for lack of better term. While these plants only came up to his waistline, several mature specimens were already large enough to make an impressive canopy. Among those the plants procured for the park from lost times, these had been some of the fastest growing ones to be resurrected from extinction.

"So, how're these Lepidodendron doing?"

"Growing nicely," was Pamela's reply. "The first few ones grew…significantly faster than expected, but these few are more in line with what scientists had theorized. We should have enough to begin assembling the Carboniferous Quagmire expansion ahead of schedule."

"What about the ones assigned for medical research?"

"Those were already set aside for testing. Results have been good so far. There's so many possibilities for them, and the painkillers alone would justify investment in further research."

Ted rolled his eyes. "Ah yes, money - the one thing that can grease the wheels for any major discovery."

"If it keeps interest in the park, I'm all for exploiting certain discoveries for profit. I love plants, but I'll make some sacrifices if the overall goal of conservation can be advanced."

"No disagreement there. Good will only takes you so far."

XxXxX

Primary Saltwater Fishery/Aquaculture Unit

Hadir looked over the tank, taking notes on how many fish he found inside, as well as how healthy they all looked. With how many piscivores the park had to feed, and how picky some could be, making sure they had enough of their favorite meals was a colossal challenge for the staff, but then again, so was feeding all of the other residents.

"So," asked a redheaded woman with a distinctly Scottish accent, "all the fish up to snuff for feeding…was this group for Pteranodon or Geosternbergia?"

"The latter, Fiona," answered the Arabic pterosaur handler. "Pteranodon prefer different fish for treats."

"Not a surprise - everyone has a different palette. So, how are your wife and children enjoying the park?"

"They are ecstatic - my children have never been to a large zoo before, so seeing all the animals here has been the best experience of their lives. My wife was beaming when she saw how happy they were."

"Nice. Glad they got a chance to experience this place before the rest of the world did - they got a chance to be proud of you before we have to deal with crowds and all the problems they bring."

"Eh, such is the life of those working in zoo and wildlife preserves, isn't it?"

"..Yeah, it is."

XxXxX

Park Nerve Center

"And done!"

Perhaps that exclamation had been unnecessary, but Paul didn't care - setting up the virtual training schedule had been difficult, so victory had naturally brought indulgence with it. At least now the rest of the staff would be able to continue teaching the new hires without having to worry about eating into each other's time slots. With that issue addressed, they could begin planning out the advanced training schedules, which would of course mean more work for the park's tech team. That task might not be as hard as managing the park's computer systems or geothermal power plant, but it was still a challenge.

One that had already burned out Paul's current apprentice, Piper Adams - the blonde was passed out at a nearby desk, training schedule for plesiosaur care resting completed just under her face. Paul was glad she didn't drool in her sleep, otherwise he'd need her to do it all over again. Still, she had managed all of her assignments shockingly well.

Paul wondered how much that applied to the rest of the new hires. The only one he was certain was managing well was Cady, and that was because her parents, Betsy and Chip, were careful on how to walk her through things.

Paul was only thirty five, but he was still a part of the park's old guard - the ones who had been hired before the plans to go public had been finalized. They had faced many challenges, but that would be nothing compared to when the masses came through the gates. Construction for various amenities guests needed were still ongoing, though most were scheduled to finish in about a month or so - enough time for training to be done before the grand opening. The real challenge would be staffing everything, which was what set the original generation apart from the new blood: with a public park, you needed more people working all the time to account for the various issues guests could bring. Not just the need to interact with guests, but to keep them from harassing the animals, or getting eaten by said animals.

And then, of course, would come the issue of publicity - nosy reporters, corporate espionage, misguided animal rights groups, and worse. These were things the old guard had never even considered.

But this change would be inevitable. Paul would not deny it.

Hopefully, it wouldn't be too hard to adjust to.

XxXxX

AN: Short chapter, yes. I needed to get back in the swing of things.

I wanted to reintroduce the characters I was migrating over from Returned From Extinction here, so that you all can get a feel for them before they appear in the main story, in part because some of them won't be showing up for a while due to their fields of expertise not being relevant for the next few chapters (the next five or so rescues won't involve marine animals, for example, so Fiona has no reason to show up since she's a marine specialist).

Regarding the Altirhinus shown in this chapter: Altirhinus and the formation it comes from are from the same time and location as the one the type species of Psittacosaurus, P. mongoliensis, is known from. Since I added P. mongoliensis into this story and couldn't find any other good animals to add in with it, Altirhinus and its friends now live in the park. They will get more focus later.

Regarding specializations, Ted is a general animal keeper, Fiona a marine specialist, Hadir specializes in birds and pterosaurs, Pamela is a botanist (and a total shout-out to Poison Ivy, though she prefers Power Girl), and Paul is a computer worker.

Read and Review at your leisure, and edit the tropes page when you can. This is Flameal15k, signing off!