And the Artist smiled at what might be

It took a good month for James to get his affairs into order. Not only did he have to put his two weeks’ notice in for his current job, he also had to deal with the hassle of his apartment lease and everything having to do with moving. It was probably a good thing that he didn’t have much in the way of personal items. Any furniture and appliances that hadn’t come with the apartment were sold off. Unwanted clothes were donated or given away, he gave his silverware and cooking utensils to Good Will. None of it was needed since he’d be relocating to Isla Sorna.

Honestly, a small part of him thought it to be hilarious. Anyone who knew him but didn’t know about his upcoming move might think him suicidal which had resulted in a few concerned friends and coworkers showing up, unexpectedly, to check on him. James was far from it, however, and eagerly looked forward to his new job. It was the opportunity of a lifetime and he ran different scenarios through his mind in an attempt to prepare himself for what he might encounter. Of course, he knew it was really a waste of time since he knew he’d still end up being amazed. Dinosaurs!

Arguably, the biggest hassle was getting his plane tickets arranged to arrive on the scheduled day. On the bright side, he wasn’t the one footing the bill. Otherwise, he would have been a bit crankier about the whole thing. Either way, the flight down to Costa Rica ended up being fairly boring, even if he did take a few journals with him to read on the way. The helicopter ride from the mainland to Isla Sorna was marginally better, but only because it was hard to squash down the building sense of excitement. This meant that he all but vibrated out of the helicopter when it finally landed and he curiously looked around the port that seemed to be still heavily under construction.

A jeep honked its horn and he made his way down to where it’d parked then climbed into the front passenger seat. Sitting in the driver’s seat was a man in his mid-thirties as he offered Kurt his hand, he introduced himself, speaking in a British accent. “Afternoon. I’m Robert Muldoon, you’re Dr. Kurt?”

“I am, but call me James.” Reaching over, James shook the other man’s hand and then vaguely gestured to indicate the construction around them. “Lots of work going on. How’s the worker facilities?”

“Good to meet you. They’re finished. All of the main facilities are built and online, have been for a few months. The same goes for the grow out pens. John wanted to expand the size of the docks since he was able to secure rights to Isla Nublar to the northeast, earlier this year.” As they pulled out of the docks, Robert continued explaining. “Isla Sorna is meant to design and grow the dinosaurs. Lets you scientists figure out what works and what doesn’t. Isla Nublar is where the park is going to be at.”

James nodded as he looked out the window at the jungle before looking back to Robert. “Do you know what species are planned?”

“I do not. That’s a better question for Dr. Wu. I was really just sent to pick you up and give you a brief tour.” He gave the other man a quick glance. “I think they’re only making a handful of dinosaurs, at the moment. Something about making sure it’s stable. I’m not a man of science, I make sure whatever is made doesn’t escape.”

“Animal wrangler?”

“Ah, more or less. Officially, I’m the Park’s warden and will oversee any transportation of the dinosaurs. John liked my work in his Kenya reserve enough that he asked me to come work at his Park. I couldn’t turn him down.” A faint smile formed on his face. “I just hope he knows what he’s doing. There’s a number of things that could go wrong, and I’m not a man who likes to utter the words ‘I told you so’.”

James made a soft noise of acknowledgement. If the Park eventually had carnivores, then someone overseeing security was a must. Though, he also supposed, that the herbivores could be dangerous, given that most of them were thought to put an elephant to shame in their size. Still, he didn’t question further, more excited about the notion of seeing where he’d work.

The drive was largely silent as the jeep made its way down the road till they reached the Worker’s Village. As they slowed and passed through the gates, Robert gestured and spoke. “Living quarters are over there. Cantina’s there. That little shack there is the medic. You’ll be carpooling on most days, since everyone works at only a handful of places and usually have the same shifts. I suggest getting friendly with your coworkers and finding people you don’t mind riding with.”

“Sounds reasonable.” James replied as the jeep slowly made its way through the encampment and picked up speed once they’d left. “Where are we headed to, now?”

“Embryonics Administration. Everything on the island is designed around that one building. Do you know which department you’re in?” He glanced at James who nodded.

“Genetics.”

“Then you’ll be working under Dr. Wu. You’ll be able to ask him all your burning questions when we get there, since he’s the head scientist.” At the other man’s noise of interest, Robert looked over to James and couldn’t help but laugh. “Excited, I take it?”

“Of course. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and one that I’m still shocked over since it just about fell into my lap. I didn’t expect to get selected since I only have a minor in genetics. My major was in virology. However, Mr. Hammond seemed to like what I had to offer.” It still felt like a dream, but one that was rapidly becoming a reality. Likely, he’d still be in a state of disbelief up until he actually started working.

“John does that. He knows what he wants to achieve his goals and will only accept the best. His entire motto for the future Park is ‘spared no expense’, which translates into not only the best for the guests, but the best employees for the job. He’s a good man. Ambitious and a dreamer, but a good man.”

“You don’t agree?” James asked, picking up a somewhat resigned tone to the man’s voice.

“Dreams are fine, but they need to be grounded in reality. I just have concerns about the whole idea, that’s all. That’s part of why he hired me as his game warden: I have concerns, I tell him these concerns, then he usually implements something to try and ease these concerns. Modern animals are dangerous, but we know their behavior, what makes them tick. Can’t say the same for dinosaurs. I don’t doubt that they can be brought back, but I worry we won’t be able to contain them…Which would be a very bad thing since he’s wanting it to be a tourist attraction.”

While James was able to understand Robert’s point of view, he saw it as almost pointless fearmongering. How many instances of medical advancements had been halted by similar views? How many others were delayed? However, rather than voicing these thoughts, he merely nodded politely. There was no point in trying to explain things and he wasn’t in the mood for a potential argument.

Once they arrived at the Embryonics Administration building, he gave a slight nod to Robert as he got out of the jeep. Then, he gave himself a moment to sooth his nerves before walking into the building where he allowed himself a half second to enjoy the air conditioning. He suspected the biggest hurdle he’d face here was getting used to the damned heat and humidity. There were a few people milling around and James frowned slightly, unsure of where he might find this Dr. Wu.

As it turned out, Dr. Wu found him first. While he stood there, feeling a bit dumb, a man of Asian appearance approached him and offered a warm smile as he held out his hand. “Are you Dr. Kurt? I’m Henry Wu, the lead geneticist here.”

James shook the other man’s hand with little hesitation and felt himself starting to grin; Henry seemed to radiate muted excitement. “Please, call me James, unless you prefer we’re all formal with each other?”

“No, things are fairly lax here. I’m really only a stickler about preventing contamination in the lab.” Henry replied as he gently ushered James over to the other people and introduced him. “Now that everyone is here, we can start the tour.”

Overall, James was already impressed with the place when he was told it ran on geothermic power. That alone minimized any potential disruptions brought on by power failure. There had been more than a few instances where he’d had to cut important work short thanks to impending power fluctuations. He still looked over the equipment with a critical eye, however, but found himself pleased when everything was current gen and state of the art. Spared no expense, indeed.

As they began wrapping up the tour, Henry asked for questions, prompting James to ask his big, burning one. “Which dinosaurs are you planning to clone, first? You mentioned still being in the stability testing phase.”

Henry gave a quick nod. “Right. The big hurdle at the moment is figuring out what modern DNA can be spliced into the dinosaur DNA that will fill in the missing DNA but also remain stable. Presently, we’re running into the problem of the organism failing after a few cell divisions…But to answer your original question, Gallimimus. It’s an omnivorous theropod, and we thought that it would be a good starting point since it can also be used to see what modern foods, if any, the dinosaurs might be able to stomach.”

A woman to James’ right spoke up. “Say they can’t handle modern plants or meat, what then?”

“Glad you asked. InGen has a smaller genetics facility in San Diego that’s working on bringing back prehistoric plants. Last I heard, they were making a great deal of progress. Since plants are inherently less bitey than dinosaurs, they get to be on the mainland. However, version one of any dinosaurs we produce will essentially be used as a test run. They’re not expected to be healthy, nor live long, and it’s planned that they’ll be euthanized within a few weeks of hatching. It’s phase one of my roadmap.”

This time, a man form James’ left. “And what is your roadmap, Henry?”

“Phase one is to find out what filler DNA works the best and what needs the dinosaur has to have met to thrive. Phase two is what I consider built in population control. All dinosaurs will be designed to be female and lacking the ability to produce lysine, meaning they’ll need it supplemented in their diet to survive. Phase three and beyond will be producing Park ready dinosaurs with the occasional genetic tweak as we discover any problems. It’s my hope that when we reach Phase three that there won’t be any major alterations that need to be done.”

While those around him seemed to have mixed emotions about Henry’s plan, James felt nothing short of excitement. Finally, he spoke again when it seemed that no one else wanted to pipe up. “I, for one, look forward to what we’ll create.”

“Fantastic. Then I look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow morning. 8am, sharp. Please don’t be late.”