《The Guide to Murder》 Prologue In the beginning, God created dinosaurs. While pleased with His creations, they were still lacking. After a time, He wiped the slate clean and created Mankind. They worshiped Him as the dinosaurs were unable to. And it was good. Man gazed in wonder at the behemoths that came before them, wonderful and terrible beasts. ¡°Surely, we were created in His image!¡± they cried as they pointed at the bones. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.¡°Why shouldn¡¯t we do the same as Him?¡± Man asked of the sky. Once more, dinosaurs lived, a bastardization of order. And it was good. Man remained unsatisfied with his creation and sought to perfect it. Trial and error, death and mutation; the careful manipulation of the genome. His hand turned against his brethren in shameful ways that made God weep softly. But at last his work was done, the perfect dinosaur had been created. And it was Murder. Book 1: Theoretical Possibilities
Dr. James Kurt is a young geneticist, tired of the daily slog that comes with working in research laboratories. When InGen posts a vaguely worded ad, with benefits beyond his wildest dreams, he jumps at the chance to do something greater. Despite minimal information about the job and knowing next to nothing about what he might be doing, he isn''t one to ignore a blatant opportunity. It''s a decision that not only places him in a pivotal position to aid in the creation of Jurassic Park, but will ultimately lead to the modern-day monster.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Everything has a beginning, even things most Murderous.
1.1 In the Beginning 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¡­¡±If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°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?¡± 1.2 The Blank Canvas 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?¡±The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°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.¡± 1.3 Basic Frameworks Even masterpieces begin with a rough draft For the next few weeks, James was incredibly busy. Not only was he working in the lab, he spent his off hours going over the files of what Henry and his team had previously tried. The genome they were working with was far from complete, but rather than wait for more samples and painstakingly piece it together, Henry had chosen to try to fill the gaps with modern DNA from a species on the taxonomic tree. This was something that Dr. Sorkin frequently expressed her frustrations over. James could see both sides. While sequencing the full genome would allow for them to clone a true to life dinosaur, it was also cost prohibitive and time consuming. Whereas using filler DNA would create something with obvious flaws, it could still be used as a starting point to allow them to get an idea of the dinosaur¡¯s needs and possible behavior. However, James didn¡¯t see why both methods couldn¡¯t be used. Start off with the dinosaurs using filler DNA and as the genome was progressively sequenced, each subsequent ¡®generation¡¯ could be truer to the real deal. It was an idea he planned on voicing to Henry, at some point, because they were still having issues with the organism self-terminating. However, with each attempt, the mass of cells was living longer and longer. Owing to his virology work, James was the lucky bastard who got to inject the frog ovum with the modified DNA. The frog ovum wasn¡¯t going to be the permanent means of incubating the future dinosaurs, they had a number of unfertilized avian eggs to use for that, but the frog ovum allowed them to easily watch the developing mass of cells to pinpoint where things went wrong. Carefully, he pulled the needle out and poked a button to apply a small electric jolt to jump start the cell division. ¡°Batch G-059 is a go.¡± After carefully putting a lid on the petri dish, he passed it over to his coworker who took it over to the incubator slash camera. As it turned out, the light that shined up was just the perfect temperature to incubate the frog ovum. After a moment, a live feed of 10 petri dishes with frog ova appeared on the projector screen. Five were with the usual DNA they¡¯d been using, inserted at different points while the other five housed new DNA at the same points. Sighing quietly, James pulled off his gloves and glanced over at Henry. ¡°I think we¡¯re getting close. The last one survived nearly six hours before it terminated during the third cleavage.¡± ¡°I hope you¡¯re right. I almost feel we¡¯ve spent more time picking apart the genome of living animals than we have prehistoric ones.¡± Henry replied, his eyes locked on the projector screen as he waited for the first cell division. It wouldn¡¯t be for another three and a half hours, but he¡¯d reached the point that he felt that if he stared at it long enough, nothing would go wrong. ¡°It¡¯s not time wasted. By having those genomes sequenced, we¡¯ll be able to move faster when we are successful and move on to other dinosaur species. The first step is always the hardest.¡± James couldn¡¯t help but feel optimistic about this alteration. They¡¯d switched from Struthio camelus DNA to Hyperolius viridiflavus DNA. While the common ostrich was likely closer on the taxonomic tree than the common reed frog, it had become painfully clear that the avian DNA was a massive flop. ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right.¡± Henry sighed as he briefly glanced at his watch in order to have an idea of when the ova should be showing signs of developing. ¡°I¡¯m simply¡­Frustrated. We¡¯ve made steps forward, but they¡¯re stumbled baby steps.¡± ¡°Such is the way of science, Henry. Just watch, one of us will cock up and that¡¯ll be the thing that solves our issues.¡± He grinned slightly at the laugh he got from the other man. The three hours dragged on, and a subtle tension settled in the lab as everyone watched the projector, waiting for the clock to hit three and a half hours. Like clockwork, the ova divided: all five of the ova with frog DNA neatly split into two while only three of the ostrich spliced ova split. From behind James, someone quietly whispered ¡®oh my God¡¯. ¡°¡­Who¡¯s going home tonight?¡± Henry asked, softly, as he finally tore his eyes away from the projector to look at the people around him. No one spoke up. ¡°Noted. Okay. We have an hour before the next divide. Cathy, go radio the cantina, tell them to dish up meals for everyone here and I want you to go get it.¡± After getting a confirmation, he shifted his attention to the rest of his coworkers. ¡°This is promising and we might just have a new record, tonight.¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Henry, when do you consider it a success and when do you want us to terminate the eggs?¡± ¡°Let them develop. The frog ova will self-limit the number of cells that can develop and either the cells will terminate on their own, or the ova will burst. I¡¯d rather see the latter happen.¡± Henry gave a faint nod to Cathy as she ducked out of the lab. Slowly, the hours ticked by with the muted excitement steadily growing. By the 5th cleavage, 7 hours and 32 cells later, all of the ova with ostrich DNA had self-terminated while only one of the frog DNA ova had self-terminated. It was nearly 26 hours later when the membrane of the four remaining ova finally ruptured, resulting in tired, but excited cheers. Henry leaned forward from where he¡¯d perched on a stool, his hands wrapped around a mug of coffee whose contents had long since cooled. ¡°Radio the mainland and tell them to call John. I want them to tell him: we popped the frog egg.¡± The next two weeks were a flurry of activity as the lab worked to bring the incubators online and waited for the go ahead from John. While the incubators were supposed to come up to the set temperature and humidity within a few hours, Henry was nothing short of a perfectionist and wanted several days of monitoring. This was a trait that James deeply admired. Besides, it gave them all something to do while they waited for the green light. When they finally got the go ahead, the lab was filled to the brim with contagious excitement. Now that they had a potentially viable genome, they needed to figure out the correct incubation temperature, humidity, and length of incubation. Thankfully, the last need would largely be something that would happen on its own. Carefully, James pipped open the ostrich egg and injected the altered DNA before tapping the button to provide the electric jolt. Then, he quietly sighed in relief that it was done. The first egg had been beyond stressful because everyone in the lab had crowded around him. While confident in his abilities, he¡¯d been half afraid that he¡¯d do something to completely mess everything up, but it had all gone well, thankfully. After passing off the egg, he watched it get carried to the incubator, to join the other four eggs, before looking to Henry. ¡°How long do you think it¡¯ll take?¡± Henry could only shrug. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ll put up a white board, tomorrow, and people can write down their guesses. Person who¡¯s the closest gets 50 to spend the next time they go to the mainland. Personally, I think it¡¯ll be close to an ostrich¡¯s incubation time of a month and a half.¡± They had four incubators total, each with five eggs to total 20 eggs. Each incubator had been set at a slightly different temperature and with a humidity level of 30% in order to find the optimal temperature. Later tests could check for optimal humidity, but all the values they were using were standard for ostrich eggs. At that point, it was a waiting game and the lab shifted their energy towards sequencing another dinosaur, Parasaurolophus. With the tentative success with the common reed frog DNA, the plan was to use that to patch up the missing sequences. It gave them something to do and was more productive than waiting on eggs that might possibly never hatch. However, as the weeks passed, excitement and hope grew. While all but two of eggs at the higher temperature had terminated early on and one of the eggs at the lower temperature had too, all the eggs at the mid-range temperature were steadily growing. Candling and weights taken had proven this, so they knew whatever was inside was growing, but there was a subtle worry that it¡¯d come out deformed or only live for a handful of minutes after hatching. On the 47th day of incubation, one of the eggs from the mid-temperature clutch chirped. Immediately, the lab finished what they were doing and waited with a palatable tension. One by one, each of the eggs began to periodically chirp softly. The two high-range eggs were the first to hatch on the 48th day. One of them managed to crack the shell before it passed; its sibling never attempted. A quick egg autopsy revealed a perfectly formed dinosaur in the egg that cracked, but the one that didn¡¯t attempt housed a strange creature that looked to be more frog than dinosaur. The low-range clutch didn¡¯t fare much better and the three that hatched were all universally weak. They all passed within an hour of hatching. This left the mid-range clutch and James sorely hoped that they¡¯d make it. So much time and effort had been put into these twenty eggs, just to see them all die was beyond demoralizing. It was on the 50th day that the mid-range clutch began to hatch. The creatures inside chirped loudly and the eggs wiggled as they fought to free themselves; the lab watched and collectively held their breathes. Quite suddenly, the egg in the middle of the clutch popped open, and a dinosaur tumbled out. It was dark green with light green spots and had bluish colored eyes that had already started to look muddy. After a moment of lying there, it shakily raised its head and looked around before loudly protesting the current state of affairs. On June 12th, 1986 at 1:34 pm, the world¡¯s first cloned dinosaur hatched. 1.4 Hypotheticals Though limited by technology, the Artist yet dreamed The next year ended up being a whirlwind of excitement for James. Not only had the common reed frog DNA turned out to solve almost all of the viability issues, the lab had begun sequencing and cloning other species of dinosaurs. The Galimimus had already progressed to phase three of Wu¡¯s plan and they¡¯d begun mass production of the dinosaur several months ago, as well as figured out the appropriate sized egg; the ostrich egg had been far too big. Parasaurolophus had just begun mass production with the third species, Triceratops, finishing phase two. With three species under their belt as finished and two nearly ready to be shipped to the Park, Wu had gained permission from John to try something a bit more ambitious for their fourth species: Brachiosaurus. Previously, Triceratops had been the largest species of dinosaur to clone with an estimated max weight of 13 tons. At a max weight of 64 tons, Brachiosaurus made the Triceratops look like an ant. Overall, James had come to enjoy his coworkers and found them a great deal more agreeable than all the other places he¡¯d worked. As was typical when a large group of doctorates congregated in the same area, there had been verbal posturing to see who¡¯d gone to the more prestigious school, who had published or co-published the most papers, and other such comparisons. Once everything had been compared, it turned out that most of them were on the same playing field. Though, those in the lab who¡¯d been in research positions, such as James, had a bit of a ¡®leg up¡¯ in the published paper area. However, in the scheme of things, it wasn¡¯t enough to really impact things. Once more, John Hammond proved that he¡¯d only wanted the best of the best for his ambitious project. His work life hadn¡¯t been the only thing to see changes. Against his better judgement, James had started dating one of his coworkers, Cathy, eight months prior. He wasn¡¯t one to form romantic relationships where he worked, owing to the problems that could form from it, but they got along far, far too well¡­To the point of them tossing around the idea of potentially getting married. Neither of them were really sure about the idea, despite the constant encouragement from their coworkers. To add onto the changes in his personal life, James had quickly become good friends with Henry. The two of them had immediately pegged each other as men who were interested in pushing the limits of current genetic sciences. However, thanks to how busy the lab had been, they had never gotten any time to really sit down and share a few drinks, as they¡¯d always talked about doing. When the Brachiosaurus DNA turned out to be viable with the common reed frog DNA, they got the chance to do just that, the following day. Hammond had given the entire lab a week off, for not only making progress in creating park ready dinosaurs, but also how they had been able to sequence multiple dinosaur genomes. So, naturally, the bulk of the lab went to the mainland since they were in between projects, due to awaiting more ostrich eggs, and because the mass production aspect was handled by a different department. After getting his chicken pasta and beer, James made his way around the patio tables to where he saw Henry sitting; most everyone was by the DJ, dancing to music. Not his sort of thing. Sitting down across from the other man, he offered a smile. ¡°Not a fan of dancing?¡± Henry looked up from his salad and closed the journal he¡¯d been attempting to read; the music hadn¡¯t done much to help in that regard. ¡°I¡¯m afraid not. However, I thought the offer of free food was too much to pass up.¡± He glanced over at a table when someone laughed loudly. ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t say I am, but coming out of the lab never hurts, lest I start looking like a cave dweller.¡± Lightly, James indicated the journal that sat to Henry¡¯s left. ¡°Am I disturbing you?¡± ¡°Oh, no. I brought it to read over dinner and hadn¡¯t been aware that they¡¯d be playing music. If I¡¯m honest, I¡¯ve been wanting to talk to you about one of your papers. Theoretical Possibilities. John included it when he sent me your resume. While I don¡¯t know a large amount about virology, I still found the idea of genetic engineering via viral delivered payloads to be fascinating. Do you mind explaining your thoughts behind this?¡± If he¡¯d been a bird, James would have preened from the flattery. ¡°Of course. It would essentially provide a cure for any number of genetic illnesses. We know several illnesses are sex chromosome linked, hemophilia, for example. Presently, it has no cure, but imagine if we could specifically target the gene causing the clotting issues. We could not only prevent someone from passing the faulty gene on, but we could cure someone who has the illness.¡± Henry leaned back in his seat and took a sip of his water, thinking things over for a moment. ¡°What about cancer? It¡¯s known that faulty tumor suppressor genes can cause the formation of different cancers, independent of exposure to carcinogens.¡±If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Theoretically, yes. However, we¡¯d need to find the faulty genes, first. Otherwise, it would be more of a shotgun effect and could be more disastrous, than anything.¡± Lightly, he tapped his finger on the table as he tried to calm the churning thoughts he had. ¡°Honestly, anything could be altered as long as we know where the gene is at. Our work with the dinosaurs has proven this. While science has managed to sequence the human genome, we¡¯re still figuring out which gene affects what function. Until that¡¯s known, we¡¯re going to be limited on what we¡¯re able to do. Unfortunately, the bottleneck of progress is technology, the very thing that allows us to do what we¡¯re able to do.¡± Having resumed eating, Henry slowly nodded on occasion to indicate that he was still listening to the other man. When he was able to speak again, he gave James a smile, one that said he was thoroughly enjoying the conversation. ¡°Hypothetically speaking. You suddenly had the technology to do everything in your paper. What then?¡± This question caused James to go silent as he considered it. Quite a few things would be possible, some of them veering into the ethically questionable. Finally, he made a slight shrug. ¡°The sky would be the limit.¡± ¡°All of that silence and thinking for that answer?¡± Henry raised his eyebrows before laughing. ¡°I want to hear your honest answer. I¡¯m legitimately curious.¡± ¡°It¡¯s true. There wouldn¡¯t be any limits outside of ethics. It would also usher in the idea of multi-transgenic organisms. The idea of being able to custom make pets, for example.¡± James hesitated for a moment before quietly sighing. ¡°Super soldiers. Imagine a soldier who could carry his gear without fatigue, see in the dark without night vision goggles. Faster, stronger, sturdier.¡± Henry was silent a moment before abruptly smiling. ¡°You¡¯re suggesting adult humans who¡¯ve been genetically altered via targeted viral modification?¡± When the other man nodded, hesitantly, he couldn¡¯t help but laugh. ¡°I didn¡¯t peg you as a transhumanist¡­But the idea of multi-transgenic organisms would be a difficult one to tackle. I know geneticists have tried in the past, but¡­¡± ¡°The genome unravels itself.¡± James finished with an unhappy sigh. Of course, those were just in cell culture studies. There was no telling what would happen to a living organism, potentially something similar to radiation sickness. ¡°That¡¯s part of the reason why I applied to InGen. The idea of successfully cloning dinosaurs was science fiction a year and a few weeks ago. Not only have we cloned them, they hold genetics belonging to another animal in them. Already, we¡¯ve laid the foundation for multi-transgenic organisms.¡± This caused Henry to make a soft sound of agreement. ¡°We have, and in that year and few weeks, we¡¯ve already successfully cloned three, almost four more dinosaurs, with each time between getting shorter. Considering how viable the common reed frog DNA is, I almost want to say we can skip the testing phase. However, John won¡¯t go for it. He wants each new line to be tested in the frog ova first.¡± ¡°Speaking of the DNA, when do you plan on going back to the Gallimimus to patch the DNA from the bones InGen recently purchased?¡± ¡°Right now, John wants us to get the dinosaurs he has planned for Phase 1 finished before we start work on updating the genetic libraries, unless the lab doesn¡¯t have anything going on. He¡¯s hoping for a soft open for investors in ¡¯92 or ¡¯93¡­But I think we¡¯ll be done with everything, before then. He has 12 on his list and if we keep going like we have?¡± He shrugged at James. ¡°We¡¯ll be by ¡¯90 or ¡¯91.¡± Curiously, James leaned forward. ¡°Do you know which dinosaurs?¡± Henry nodded. ¡°We¡¯ve already cloned Gallimimus, Parasaurolophus, Triceratops, and are working on Brachiosaurus. For herbivores, he wants to include Herrerasaurus, then a nice number of carnivores: Dilophosaurus, Compsognathus, Troodon, Pteranodon, Velociraptor, and the biggest of them all, Tyrannosaurus. He¡¯s mentioned Tylosaurus, but I¡¯m not sure if he¡¯s made up his mind on that one, yet.¡± ¡°That¡¯s an impressive number of dinosaur species, and you said that¡¯s Phase 1?¡± Leaning back in his chair, James mused over this idea for a moment. ¡°Do you know how many phases he has in mind?¡± ¡°Three, I think, but he¡¯s only talked about his plans for Phase 1. While I look forward to knowing more about what he has planned, I¡¯m going to satisfy myself with what¡¯s already on my plate. Once we finish with the Brachiosaurus, John wants us to try our hand at Dilophosaurus followed by Tyrannosaurus.¡± Henry finally pushed his plate to the side for it to be picked up by the waiter. ¡°He wants the Tyrannosaur to have a juvenile with her, but I¡¯m not sure how well that idea will work.¡± ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Paleontological evidence suggests cannibalistic tendencies in all stages of the life cycle. While a female may lay two or three eggs, the first to hatch would be the strongest. It would then eat its¡¯ siblings as they hatched¡­Which isn¡¯t too dissimilar from how some bird of prey chicks will kick siblings out of the nest. It¡¯s a means of insuring survival of the fittest, and considering what Tyrannosaurs had to contend with, there wasn¡¯t room for the weak.¡± Henry offered a slight shrug. ¡°However, there¡¯s also the possibility that the Tyrannosaurs were scavenging. A hatchling eating a dead sibling would prevent detection by larger predators while an adult would get an easy meal.¡± ¡°Mm. I could see where that could cause some issues. I suppose we¡¯ll find out when we have the first batch hatch.¡± As it stood, James was excited to see a number of the dinosaurs that Henry had listed, the Velociraptors in particular. Paleontology had suggested that they were immensely intelligent for years, and he was curious to find out if that was the case or not. ¡°It could. If nothing else, we¡¯re learning a great deal about dinosaur behavior, just from what we¡¯ve been doing¡­Not to mention, the advances in genetic engineering, as we¡¯ve been discussing.¡± Henry finished off his drink and offered the other man a smile. ¡°Well, as much as I¡¯d like to sit and chat, I have an early phone call in the morning. Though, we really do need to sit down and talk some more. I¡¯d love to hear more about your ideas.¡± After giving a nod of farewell, Henry left, leaving James to quietly muse over everything he¡¯d learned tonight and what the future might bring. 1.5 Savagery Quietly, the Artist observed the creations to see which would fit for his plans By the time March of 1988 had arrived, James¡¯ life had taken a dramatic turn. Cathy and him had finally tied the knot in August of 1987 and happily announced the news that they were expecting in December of the same year. Because of her pregnancy and the hassle of going back and forth for prenatal checkups, Cathy chose to return to America. While James wasn¡¯t a fan of this, he knew it was important. Afterall, he had a son who was due in June. After a great deal of deliberation, they had decided to name him Michael Fredrick. It wasn¡¯t easy staying in contact with Cathy and it required weekly use of the satellite phone, but James managed it. He knew he wasn¡¯t supposed to tell her about the ongoing lab work, since she was officially off the project, but he did so anyway. She¡¯d invested too much time to be kept in the dark. Besides that, he felt that he could use her experience for the few issues they occasionally encountered. Work at the lab remained steady with most of the dinosaurs planned for phase one having been finished. All that remained were Tyrannosaurus Rex, Velociraptor, and Pteranodon. John had chosen to delay the sequencing of the Tyrannosaurus genome due to Robert¡¯s insistence. The game warden hadn¡¯t felt comfortable with the planned fencing around the enclosure, which resulted in going back to the drawing board to come up with something that would satisfy him. When work finally began on the Tyrannosaurus genome, it moved quickly. By this point, they were all experienced and the act of putting the DNA into frog ova was only a courtesy towards John. It was his project and he was funding it, but none of the scientists in the lab felt that it was needed. However, none of them were willing to try and skip it since John requested weekly updates. If nothing else, it only added a day to the schedule and they were ahead of the planned timeline. In the scheme of things, it really didn¡¯t hurt anything. Steadily, time ticked closer to when the Tyrannosaurs would hatch and James anxiously waited for the first hatchling to tumble out; several of the eggs already had cracks. The lab had a betting pool, as they always did, on if the hatchling dinosaurs would be cannibalistic like current literature claimed. Already, the dinosaurs they¡¯d created had shattered a number of preconceived notions about the ancient beasts. Brachiosaurs, for example, had proven to be warm blooded, opposed to cold blooded. Despite the time spent in the lab, James still felt excitement on the papers he could write once the Park opened and his NDA ended. Granted, any papers he wrote would have to pass through InGen¡¯s legal department to make sure he hadn¡¯t accidentally divulged any trade secrets. James looked up from his microscope to stare at the wall for a moment. The idea honestly annoyed him, because he was certain that most of what they¡¯d done here would qualify as trade secrets. As Henry passed behind him, James turned slightly in his chair. ¡°Hey, Henry? Any word from John on what he wants us to work on next?¡± Really, it was going to be a bit of a coin flip since they¡¯d only have two left. ¡°Or what does he have planned?¡± Henry paused to James¡¯ right. ¡°Velociraptor. He wants us to save the Pteranodons for last, owing that they¡¯re a bit different than anything else we¡¯ve worked on. Besides that, they¡¯re still working on the aviary. Once we finish with them, he wants us to begin work on updating the current genomes since a breakthrough has been made in growing the dinosaurs.¡± Looking up at the other man with a slight head tilt, James raised an eyebrow. ¡°Oh? What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Adding a specialized growth hormone to accelerate dinosaur maturation. Right now, it¡¯s practically a given that the dinosaurs won¡¯t live to their full lifespan and will need to be replaced within a few years¡­Especially the first few species, since we¡¯ve learned a lot about altering their DNA. If nothing else, it¡¯ll allow us to rapidly replace the dinosaurs as the ones currently in the park die off or begin to have health problems.¡± Slowly, he nodded. Early on, several of the Galimimus had died due to susceptibility to modern day illnesses. A native bird had passed on a respiratory tract infection that the young dinosaurs had no immunity to, prompting the creation of another department to study dinosaur immunology and work on vaccinations. While unfortunate, the setback had resulted in no further losses since it¡¯d become standard for the hatchling dinosaurs to be immunized shortly after hatching. ¡°I assume that¡¯s why we brought in another incubator that¡¯s solely dedicated to hatching Compys?¡± Henry followed James¡¯ amused glance towards the incubator in question. Presently, it had fifteen former chicken eggs in it, with hatching scheduled to start next week. At a quick incubation period of 25 days, they were easily mass produced and had quickly become the guinea pigs for any sort of change relating to the dinosaurs. While the Compys were largely considered adorable due to their musical chirps, no one was allowed into their pen alone thanks to a loose pack behavior and their tendency to attempt to overwhelm handlers. ¡°Animal rights activists would have a field day if they knew what we were doing with those damned things.¡± James didn¡¯t care for them, not after one of the little bastards had tried to take off his finger while he¡¯d been trying to help its sibling out of the egg. ¡°But they¡¯ve honestly proven to be useful in testing things out for the dinosaurs.¡±This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°Correct on both counts.¡± Henry agreed before he quietly snorted. ¡°They were testing the growth hormone back when we were having to dedicate two of the incubators to Compys. Evidently, the first few versions of the hormone caused unregulated tissue growth that resulted in numerous cancerous growths.¡± This information prompted James to make a face. Personally, he didn¡¯t care what happened the little fuckers, but it was an appropriate response to what had been said. ¡°Was there any type of cancer that it caused, over all, or did it just throw everything into overdrive? ¡°The latter.¡± If that was the case, he could definitely see why the growth hormone had undergone extensive testing. He could also see why the growth hormone was needed, even if he wasn¡¯t a fan of the idea. They were, more or less, developing a product and it wouldn¡¯t work out very well if that product took five or six years to reach adulthood¡­Which very well might be the case for the larger dinosaurs. Certainly, the Brachiosaurs had put on an incredible amount of weight each day, but 30 pounds was drop in the ocean compared to 64 tons. ¡°Well, I look forward to see the Velociraptor hatchings. I¡¯m curious to know if they¡¯re as intelligent as what the literature claims.¡± James paused and then quietly chuckled. ¡°I assume Robert is throwing a fit about them and whatever their enclosure is planned to be?¡± Henry made a noise of agreement. ¡°Supposedly, they¡¯re highly intelligent with complex pack behavior¡­But you¡¯d be wrong. Right now, he¡¯s focused on current security measures with the dinosaurs presently on Nublar. He won¡¯t begin giving recommendations for the velociraptors until he has better data on their behavior. Robert just wanted the Tyrannosaurus paddock to have extra security measures since she¡¯ll be the largest predator in the park¡­For the time being. I don¡¯t know if John has something bigger planned, later down the road.¡± There were certainly larger theropods. Spinosaurus, came to mind from James¡¯ light research. Honestly, he had an interest in seeing a number of dinosaurs brought back to life, due to how giddy it made him feel to see an ancient beast taking a breath for the first time in millions of years. However, he¡¯d have to be satisfied with whatever John tasked the lab with recreating. For now, anyway. ¡°Hey, I think the eggs are starting to hatch.¡± Someone called out from the other side of the room. Henry and James glanced towards the incubators, glanced at each other, and immediately got up to look. It wasn¡¯t anything they hadn¡¯t seen dozens of times before, but hatching a new species always brought the same sort of excitement to it. Sometimes, it took all day for the hatchlings to free themselves from the eggs, other times it only took a few hours. Whatever the case might be, someone would remain at the lab to watch over them. However, by the time they reached the incubators, a large chunk of shell had fallen off the hatching egg, revealing a patch of pebbled, medium grey colored skin. The dinosaur within the egg squirmed, causing another crack to form before it finally gave another kick and popped the top section of the egg off. It flopped onto its back and blinked rapidly as it stared up at them. After resting for a moment, the hatchling squirmed again and freed itself from the egg before flopping over on its side to rest. ¡°Seems to be lively.¡± Henry mused as he pulled on a pair of latex gloves in order to carefully remove the larger remains of the egg. However, he kept a close eye on the Tyrannosaur hatchling. Prior batches had taught them that the theropods could have a very robust biting instinct right out of the egg. However, this one seemed uninterested in trying to nip at him. Instead, it finally managed to get itself onto its belly where it partially curled up to take a nap. ¡°Hm. Keep an eye on it. I can¡¯t tell if it¡¯s tired or weak.¡± By the time James left for the day, several more eggs were in the process of hatching, but likely wouldn¡¯t finish until sometime that night. He didn¡¯t think much of it and instead focused his thoughts on calling Cathy to see how she was doing; she had a prenatal visit scheduled and he was excited to find out how his son was doing. As it turned out, both her and Michael were doing well, which meant the conversation shifted towards the hatching of the Tyrannosaurs. As was expected, she wanted to know if the hatchlings proved to be cannibalistic and James promised to let her know as soon as he found out. When he returned to the lab the next morning, it was a flurry of activity, more than he¡¯d ever seen. As someone moved past him, carrying a bucket of cleaning supplies, he grabbed their arm. ¡°What happened?¡± He was met with an unhappy look. ¡°The Tyrannosaurs decided to cannibalize each other, last night. There¡¯s only two left in each incubator. Henry had to euthanize one of the hatchlings in incubator three because it was still alive after they¡¯d eaten part of it while it was still in the shell.¡± James released his coworker¡¯s arm and blinked a few times as he looked towards the incubators. After a moment, he walked over. Sure enough, the interior of the incubators had spots of blood in them with the remaining Tyrannosaur hatchlings looked quite fat and happy as they slept. Each of the incubators had a divider slotted down the middle to prevent the hatchlings from getting to each other. No doubt, the two would otherwise try to kill each other when they finally woke up from their food induced slumber. All of this meant that Henry had been correct and John¡¯s idea of have having an adult Tyrannosaur with a juvenile wouldn¡¯t work. The only way it would is if it were a mother-daughter pair, which was something that wouldn¡¯t happen. In short, these creatures wouldn¡¯t work for his hypotheticals. James hadn¡¯t really considered them, in the first place, considering their size. However, he couldn¡¯t rule out the notion of being able to tinker with their genetics to adjust their final size. Still, a creature that would cannibalize each other, despite there being ample food available, wouldn¡¯t work¡­Even if it was paired with human intelligence. Something that was capable of working with others was needed. The two halves needed to complement each other and he had yet to find what he wanted. 1.5 Kinship And the Artist found the perfect creature, one of cunning and sharp intellect Michael was born on June 14th, 1988 and had been as healthy as could be, much to James¡¯ delight. It meant missing three weeks of work to be with Cathy and his newborn son, but he hadn¡¯t minded; the lab was still finishing up on the Tyrannosaurus genome and Henry had promised they would hold off on the Velociraptor until he returned¡­Even if it meant starting work on the Pteranodons, instead. It was a gesture that James appreciated greatly, owing to his personal and still secret interest in the raptors. Well, that was a lie. He¡¯d confided in Henry, owing to their frequent conversations about the future of genetic manipulation. Henry was still firmly in the camp of custom creating an animal by way of building the genome from scratch while James wanted to use an existing genome, likely human, and altering it. They didn¡¯t truly butt heads over the differences in ideas, but instead had friendly debates where they tried to poke holes in each other¡¯s theories. Neither of them were willing to completely abandon their ideas, but both agreed that neither were possible at this point of time. Once he returned from his vacation, the lab began work on the Velociraptors, given that the completed Tyrannosaur genome had been passed on to the production floor. It wasn¡¯t anything they hadn¡¯t done several times before, but there was always a subtle excitement to the lab when they were finally able to move on to a new project. For James, he was excited for an entirely different reason. The Velociraptors were arguably one of the few dinosaurs they¡¯d worked on, so far, that matched what he wanted. That being said, he had a quiet concern that the current literature on them would be absolutely, positively wrong. When it came time for the clutch to hatch, James volunteered to stay. If they hatched during the night, it would give him a few hours of uninterrupted time to observe them. It wasn¡¯t likely, given that the clutches were specifically incubated to hatch within the same block of time, but there were always stragglers. Which meant that he was absolutely unsurprised when the first egg cracked, right on time. It meant that he¡¯d timed his work just perfectly, today, and only needed to do a little bit of last minute clean up before he was able to join the others as they crowded around the incubators. Of course, the dinosaur didn¡¯t immediately hatch, but the first egg crack was¡­Special, in some way, because it was the first breath an extinct species had taken in millions of years. Three hours later, towards the end of the shift, the first Velociraptor tumbled out of its shell. The hatchling was a muted grey color with brown-grey mottles. Muddy colored eyes that were already showing hints of gold scrutinized the faces that were all but pressed against the glass. Opening its mouth, the hatchling hissed before trying to wobble up onto its feet. It immediately fell over, but was very determined to prove that it wasn¡¯t scared of them. ¡°Well. Aren¡¯t you adorably feisty?¡± James all but cooed, prompting Henry to look away to hide the quiet snicker he was making. ¡°Of course, you would think they¡¯re cute.¡± Someone off to Henry¡¯s right grouched. ¡°I imagine you¡¯ll stop thinking they¡¯re cute when one takes off your finger?¡± This was, no doubt, a jab at how he¡¯d nearly lost a finger to one of the Compys. James made a sour look at his coworker. ¡°Compys are also stupider than a chicken, which is really saying a lot.¡± Softly, Henry sighed and carefully inserted himself into the budding argument in order to, hopefully, defuse it. ¡°We¡¯ve all nearly lost a finger or two when dealing with the carnivores. It¡¯s one of the risks of working with them.¡± James shifted his attention back to the hatchling, pointedly ignoring his coworker as he made mental notes about the creature. Most hatchlings were either fussy or sleepy after freeing themselves from their shell. This one was alert, but defensive. Any sort of movement caused it to immediately focus on the perpetrator and let out a throaty hiss or warning. The creature was clearly smart enough to recognize them as being a different species while the others had been more interested on if their next meal was going to be delivered or not. By the end of the shift, several more eggs had hatched, which signaled that it was time to feed the firstborn hatchlings and mark each with a spot of color using non-toxic paint. It simply made it easier to know which hatchling was being talking about; 3-Blue would indicate the hatchling with the blue mark in incubator three. Marking them was easier said than done. While still a bit uncoordinated with their limbs, the hatchlings¡¯ claws had dried and hardened which meant James needed gloves. The gloves also meant that his hands were spared from small, sharp teeth. However, he quickly noticed how the four other hatchlings in the incubator were watching him handle the first. Curiously, he kept the first in his hand after marking its rump and began feeding it. By the fourth chunk of meat, the young velociraptor had calmed and stopped trying to claw him. Instead, it eagerly watched him while it waited for the next chunk of food. Once it was done eating, he set it back into the incubator and scooped up the next. Interestingly, it fought a bit less than the first and calmed as soon as it saw the food. By the time he picked up the fourth hatchling, the youngsters had stopped squirming and trying to claw him, entirely. Instead, it patiently waited to be fed. It fascinated him on how they¡¯d learned so quickly by simply watching. After setting the fifth down next to the small pile of sleepy raptors, James smiled slightly. As much as he wanted to watch them, he still had two more incubators to tend to. Everything in the lab was as scheduled as humanly possible, which meant the hatchlings were fed at specific times plus or minus a few minutes. By the third day, all three incubators had learned the feeding schedule and eagerly waited for James to feed them. He¡¯d, quietly, decided to run his own experiment and fed the hatchlings of one of the incubators in a specific order while the hatchlings of other two incubators were fed at random. The two random ones frequently argued and jockeyed to get food, while the one with a specific order waited patiently for their turn.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. If nothing else, it spoke volumes about their intelligence, even at such a young age. Despite this, they were surprisingly aggressive and as soon as they were able to move around began fighting with one another. However, it wasn¡¯t the same type of aggression as the Tyrannosaurs, instead, it was an attempt to find position in the budding pack. Once the hierarchy had been established, typically with the firstborn being the leader, things calmed down. However, it proved to become an issue with the two incubators where he¡¯d fed them at random. In those incubators, the raptors relied more on their pack leader and feeding at random caused fights among the pack members. One such instance resulted in injury and subsequent euthanization of a hatchling, which threw the entire group into disarray and caused the rest of them to be euthanized because of further injuries from pack infighting. It wasn¡¯t his proudest moment, but certainly proved to be an important learning point for him. However, it drove home how routine and consistency was important for the raptors, especially with how the incubator where he¡¯d remained consistent in his feeding lacked these issues. As the weeks passed, the remaining incubator where he¡¯d been inconsistent with his feeding order rapidly became unhandleable due to their increasing aggression. Much like the other incubator of hatchlings, these too, were euthanized. James was honestly fine with this, they really only needed one incubator to check viability of the DNA and has much as he hated the idea, the remaining incubator was reaching the point where they too, would be euthanized. It was just as well, despite having clearly imprinted on him in some fashion, they were still becoming aggressive. James reasoned that it was largely because the hatchlings weren¡¯t handled much outside of feeding and physical examinations, meaning they were barely humanized. Despite this, they¡¯d learned a handful of simple commands, already. All and all, it told him that Velociraptors were the ideal species for his hypothetical hybrids. Though, the dinosaurs were on the small size and additional work would need to be done to make them larger. However, Velociraptors were the only Dromaeosauridae member they had access to, despite the larger Deinonychus existing. When the day arrived for the hatchlings to be euthanized to make way for the second generation, James opted to visit the hold area of the facility, instead. There, the hatchlings were cared for while they grew until they were large enough to be transported to Nublar. It allowed the workers to carefully scrutinize the hatchlings and cull out any weak ones that would be a drain on resources. There wasn¡¯t much point in trying to nurse along a weak hatchling when her sisters were twice as strong. Quietly, he watched the young Tyrannosaur as fed her. She was only a few weeks old, but had put on an impressive amount of size already thanks to the growth hormone. Her four sisters had been culled early on thanks to her showing the best projected growth rate among all of them. James glanced at the clipboard attached to her pen that showed the week¡¯s schedule for feeding, cleaning, and vaccinations. Evidently, they¡¯d chosen to name her Rexy. Not the most original name, he supposed, but it worked well enough. Rexy was slated to be the Tyrannosaur who would be one of the star attractions on Nublar, and James honestly looked forward to seeing her in her enclosure. She still had several more months of growth till she¡¯d be moved, however. As he watched her pick at the chunks of meat, he mused over what the finished park might look like since he hadn¡¯t seen whatever plans John had drawn up for his vision. It made him wonder if the man planned on covering the island entirely, or if he intended on leaving most of it wild. Only time would tell, he supposed. It was several months later, when they had finished work on the Velociraptors and Pteranodons that John invited them to Isla Nublar. He wasn¡¯t ready to allow them to tour the park, given that many of the enclosures were empty. However, he did want to show them the future genetics lab. While the lab on Sorna had been state of the art, the one on Nublar made Sorna¡¯s look like something backwater and ancient. James slowly looked around the lab; most of the equipment still covered in protective plastic sheets and hadn¡¯t been connected to anything. He only half paid attention to John; the place was designed to be a bit of a show room for the tourists and would partially be taking the place of the grow out pens on Sorna. Any dinosaurs created here, would be ¡®finished¡¯ genomes, with the idea of eventually phasing Sorna out of Phase 1 dinosaurs and into Phase 2. With it only being late ¡¯88 with plans of a soft open for investors in ¡¯93, they had plenty of time to finish up the dinosaur genomes and begin work on Phase 2. Though, all of this made James wonder who John planned on having in the Nublar lab. Would some of Sorna¡¯s crew make the move, or would he just hire new people entirely? These were the questions he mused over as he examined one of the incubators. Though, he looked over to Henry when the man stepped up next to him. ¡°This makes the lab on Sorna look like absolute shit.¡± Softly, Henry laughed and nodded as he ran his hand over the top of the incubator. ¡°It does. I¡¯ve been in contact with John with specifications on what equipment and how I wanted the lab designed, based off of the various complaints we¡¯ve had with the Sorna lab. The equipment was all custom made for the lab¡¯s needs. The incubators, for example, have a modular egg plate system. Meaning we can change the plate to suit whatever size eggs we¡¯re needing to incubate. Saves us from having to pad the egg holder.¡± All and all, it was excellent news, but James couldn¡¯t help but feel a slight stab of jealousy towards whoever would get to work in the lab. Then again, whoever worked on Nublar would have to deal with tourist tours and that wasn¡¯t too appealing in his mind. ¡°Any word on how John¡¯s going to staff it? Or is he keeping that close to his chest?¡± ¡°I wanted to talk to you about that, actually. John wants to pull me off Sorna and move me here to manage the lab. Since he¡¯ll need to hire new people to staff it, he wants someone experienced to manage it and teach them the ropes.¡± Finally, Henry looked to James and had a faint smile on his face. ¡°If you¡¯re willing, I¡¯d like it if you took over the Sorna lab in my stead. I¡¯d still be your superior and you¡¯d direct questions to me, as we¡¯ve always done, but you¡¯d be in charge of the lab. John left the decision to me and will promote whoever¡¯s name I give him, no questions asked.¡± Honestly, the offer caught James off guard but it was the exact thing he¡¯d hoped for when he sent in his initial job application to InGen. Looking to Henry with a smile, James nodded. ¡°I¡¯d like that.¡±