There was Nothing

Arriving early had always been a trait that James meticulously followed. It not only allowed him to plan for unforeseen circumstances, it also tended to make a good impression on employers. ‘First to arrive, last to leave’, they always said. In any case, it made for good recommendation letters. He’d certainly need them in order to convince InGen to allow him to work in the labs at their latest venture, whatever that might be.

Of course, he hadn’t known what he’d been applying to when he sent them a fax of his resume. The job listing they’d posted had been…Vague at best. Still, the yearly pay had been phenomenal and was easily double his current salary. Then again, working in research laboratories, sequencing the genomes of bacteria hardly paid well. James supposed that understanding the genetic structures of bacteria could prove beneficial in the future, but he felt that his talents were being wasted.

So, he used some of his vacation days and flew out to Palo Alto, California from New York for the interview. As it stood, he knew that his educational background would be a bit unorthodox. With a major in virology and a minor in genetics, he knew that he’d be at a disadvantage. However, he hoped that his current experience in a research lab would prove useful to help him in the rat race.

Unsurprisingly, there were several people in the conference room where he’d been told to wait. He noted several different ethnicities, ranging from Asian to Indian to Middle Eastern…But everyone in the room had one thing in common: they were nervous. It was an opportunity of a lifetime and no one wanted to fuck it up.

At one end of the room, a table had been set up with pitchers filled with the token ice water and iced, unsweetened tea. A tray of different fruits had been set up next to a tray of sugar cookies; James couldn’t help but wonder if they were bland or not. After fetching himself a cup of water, he sat down at the table and quietly reviewed his papers. Two copies of his typed resume and a handwritten list of questions that he wanted to ask.

One by one, their names were called in alphabetical order. He hadn’t bothered to make small talk with anyone else in the room. There was no telling if InGen wanted one person or several people, but for the time being? Everyone in the room was his competition.

“James Kurt.”

He glanced up as his name was finally called before pushing himself up to his feet and following after the woman. Several minutes later, he found himself taking a seat in front of five men who sat at a board room table. For a brief moment, he looked past them and out the window to allow himself to enjoy the view, then he focused back on them. “I apologize, I wasn’t expecting this type of interview and I’m afraid I only brought two copies of my resume.”

An older man, one he recognized as John Hammond, faintly smiled. “Don’t worry. We’ve all reviewed the documents you faxed to us. This is more of an informal interview and is geared towards finding out more about you as a person. Resumes and letters of reference can only tell us so much…But where are my manners? I’m John Hammond. To my right is Franklin and Edward. To my left is Carlos and Roger. Now, why are you interested in our job listing?”

“I presently work at a research facility to map out the genomes of different bacteria.” James started, and then hesitated for a moment. “Given that the facility relies on government grants, the salary isn’t too impressive and I honestly feel my talents are going to waste. Considering InGen is offering an impressive yearly salary, I’m working on the assumption that you have something big you’re working on. Yes, I’m helping to advance science and have my name as a co-author on several published papers but it’s…”

“Boring?” Franklin suggested.

“Honestly? Yes.”

“You have a minor in genetics. You realize this puts you at a disadvantage, even if you have experience in research.” Carlos pointed out.

“Of course, but I like to think that my knowledge with virology and bacteria means that I pay more attention to avoid contamination.” Finally, he sighed. “Admittedly, it’s hard to answer questions without knowing the type of job you’re offering.”

Hammond smiled, this time, a full one. “We designed the interview that way. I only want the best for this job. You know, I’ve actually read a few of your published papers. I, personally, found the one titled Theoretical Possibilities: An Examination of Using Viruses in Genetic Engineering’ to be fascinating. If you don’t mind, could you explain your thoughts behind it?”

“Of course. It’s a fascinating area where I could likely talk for hours, but to summarize? Viruses ‘reproduce’ by using host cells as factories. Some of them go so far as to alter host DNA rather than just attacking the cells. Theoretically, it could be possible to simply alter a virus so that it delivers a payload…Meaning it might be possible to cure genetic diseases. Granted, technology isn’t that advanced yet.”

“He’s ambitious.” Edward noted.

Franklin leaned back in his chair. “Since we’ve ventured onto the topic of hypotheticals, I have a hypothetical question for you. Say we wanted to clone an animal. How would you do it?”

“Well, I suppose it would depend on what type of animal it is.” James replied, as he thought. “Dr. Dizhou cloned a carp by injecting DNA from one fish into the egg of another about twenty years ago. Then he did it again about a decade later, but used an egg from an entirely different fish species. So, I imagine you could use something similar. I’m not sure how well it’d work, however, with anything other than fish and amphibians.”

Slowly, Hammond nodded, as if in agreement. “What if you had bits of the DNA missing?”

“What do you mean?”

“Say you had a genome, but important parts of the structure were missing. What then?”

“I’m not entirely sure.” He frowned.

“Humor me? There’s no wrong answer.”

“I suppose you could treat it similar to what Dr. Boyer and Cohen did and introduce foreign DNA to act as a plug of sorts. Probably from the same species, if possible. Otherwise, you’d have to use DNA from another species that’s as similar as possible.” Finally, he shrugged. “But this is all hypothetically speaking.”

He ended up answering a few more questions, mostly benign ones relating to the idea of being willing to relocate, before being shooed back to the conference room he’d been in earlier. There, he actually did make a bit of small talk since there were only three people who were going to be interviewed after him…Mostly because they were all told to stay and he’d be bored as fuck, otherwise. Evidently, Mr. Hammond and the others had planned on making a decision after all of the interviews.

A solid hour later, the woman from earlier stepped into the room and called out several names, James’ being one of them. “Please follow me. The rest of you may leave.”

He allowed himself a quiet sigh of relief since it meant he’d made it to the second stage of interviews. At least, that’s what he assumed it to be. Instead, four sealed packets sat on the table and Hammond gestured for them to sit down. “Given the nature of your new job, you’ll need to sign several documents, including an NDA.”

Curiously, James opened the manila folder and skimmed over the corporation’s logo to reach the prefacing letter. ‘Jurassic Park’? He frowned and read further, feeling the sensation of excitement building up. It all sounded impossible, but at the same time, the questions he’d been asked made sense. There wasn’t any other reason to be asking about cloning or genomes with missing segments. These crazy bastards were wanting to clone dinosaurs!

Carefully, he exhaled a soft breath to calm himself. He wouldn’t be able to focus, otherwise. After taking a moment to center himself, he continued through the paperwork. The NDA made plenty of sense and was the typical ‘Do not talk about this to anyone’ that he’d signed plenty of, over the years. He signed it and set it to the side.

The next document had to do with releasing InGen from any wrongful death suits, information about next of kin, etc. He supposed that if they were successful in cloning dinosaurs that there was the possibility of sharp claws and plenty of teeth. Still, if the whole thing was successful? Well, he’d be leaving a fucking massive mark on history. He signed it without much hesitation. Finally, he pushed the finished documents towards Hammond.

“When do I leave for Isla Sorna?”