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a65232-joshywoshy · 4 years

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Colorado Crybaby

Chapter 12

Penny carefully maneuvered the van out of the parking garage. Having lived in the Denver area all her life, she knew exactly where Buckley was from here. She had glanced at the paperwork in the folder she was given while walking out to the van. They would enter through the main gate on East Mississippi, but from there, she would have to ask. The only other clue from that point was:

Phoenix Project

Sunlight Tower

Nth Floor

Penny had no idea what that meant. She asked everyone else in the van about it, but no one had been on base to begin to theorize it. Rachael read the papers as they drove. Robert wanted to look at them but got carsick easily, so he decided it was best not to. Kim glanced over the information, but didn’t feel motivated enough to memorize anything.

“So… Kim. Welcome to Imagine Innovations. I promise you, this is not something that happens all the time around here. You’re very special to go on a trip like this. I’ve been with this company for years and I’ve only just now gone to a special project like this.” Penny seemed slightly in shock that they had gotten this opportunity. She had heard that only the best at the entire company had ever gotten a chance to assist on a special project.

“I see.” Kim said. “Well, this is definitely a first day of work that I’ll never forget.” She was smiling, happy to be a part of this adventure.

Rachael was in full detective mode. She studied the papers, trying her best to memorize them. The papers mostly detailed the project goals and staff involved. There was very little detail about this ‘Computer’ they would be working on. Occasionally she would glance up to see where they were, but she was already lost. She hadn’t lived in Denver long enough to memorize any major roads yet. For this particular day, she was relying very heavily on Penny. Even though Rachael was the second most experienced in her department, she felt as though she was least experienced with navigating this city. She wasn’t good at navigating any city, even her hometown, without some kind of assistance.

“Kim, he said you were good with computers, right?” Robert was curious about her abilities.

“I’m good at software, and only on certain operating systems. I’m not the best with hardware. Hopefully this is just some kind of server rack or something. I just don’t understand why their I.T. guys can’t figure this out. And if they can’t figure it out, what makes us special?” Kim didn’t really feel like she had anything of value to contribute to the group.

“And why ask a guy with medical experience for help?” Robert asked rhetorically. “I don’t know if the boss man is a genius or crazy. I’m really leaning towards crazy at this point.”

“We should talk to the project lead when we get there.” Rachael was still looking at the paperwork. “James, is his name. He should know how we can help.”

“That sounds like a plan.” Penny didn’t look away from the road. Most of her attention was on the road. She wasn’t driving recklessly, but she made sure not to sit behind slow traffic. There was an odd sort of pressure to do well for Mr. Pendleton that she felt. It was like she wanted to make a parent proud. He wasn’t her father, by any stretch of the imagination, but she felt it nonetheless.

There was some time where they all rode in silence. Everyone was thinking, trying to piece together as much as they could in an effort to solve a puzzle that wasn’t even in front of them. After a few more minutes, they arrived at the main gate.

“Good afternoon, Ma’am. What brings you here today?” Military Police in fatigues were stationed here, checking all vehicles coming and going.

“We’re here for the Phoenix project. We’re with Imagine Innovations.” She showed the man her I.D. that she pulled out of the manila folder, then the cover sheet of the documents. The man spoke into his radio, communicating their arrival to some official on the base.

“Unit three niner, party of 4 headed to sierra 1. How copy?”

The reply was louder than his voice, simply because the radio was loud. Penny and Rachael could clearly hear the voice on the other side.

“Copy. Standby for escort. We’re putting fresh eyes on sunlight.”

“Solid copy. Standing by for escort.” The man looked up at Penny. “Ma’am, If you could wait here, we’re gonna have you escorted in to where you need to go, okay?”

“Yes, sir.” Penny had never been around this kind of military presence before. Neither had Rachael. They both looked nervous. Kim was paying attention, but had seen too many military movies and knew this was all standard routine.

“I have a cousin that I visit at Fort Bragg all the time,” Robert said. “This is standard stuff.”

A military humvee pulled up on the other side of the gate and turned around to face into the base.

“If you’ll follow them. Have a good day, folks.” The officer backed away from the van and Penny drove forward. The humvee drove ahead with Penny keeping pace behind.

“I’ve never been escorted into a military base before.” Penny said. She was still slightly nervous, but she also had an excited energy about her now.

“It’s just like the movies.” Kim said, smiling.

They drove only a few minutes before arriving at a tall building where the humvee parked. Penny parked the van and everyone got out. A man stepped out of the humvee who wasn’t wearing fatigues.

“Good morning, folks. I’m James Howard, the project lead here. Come on in.”

Everyone exchanged good morning’s and handshakes, then they followed him inside the building.

“We’re going to need you to leave all your belongings here. You won’t be needing them.” He motioned to a folding table set up in the lobby as a makeshift staging area. “This includes cell phones, wallets, everything. It’s all in the interest of preserving intellectual property, of course. Okay. With everything here, we’ll head on down.”

After placing all of their stuff on the table, they followed him down a short hallway to a single elevator with very wide doors. The wood grain in the elevator and the architectural design of the building seemed to suggest that the building had been built in the 1950’s. It seemed to have not been well past that date either, as a few cobwebs lined the ceiling corners. As the elevator doors shut, James put in a key above the buttons and turned it. He then pushed the button for floor “N”.

“Finally, some privacy.” James turned to face everyone as the elevator went down, no doubt towards a basement of some sort. “Welcome to project Phoenix, a joint collaboration between Imagine Innovations and the 566th Intelligence Squadron of the United States Air Force. This is the brainchild of Howard Pendleton and Doctor Javier Vasquez. You’ll probably understand this better as a holodeck type device. Basically, the thing on Star Trek where you can tell a computer to put you in any time or space and boom, you’re there. The only problem is... “ James chuckled “it’s kind of embarrassing, but the most brilliant mechanical and I.T. minds in the state can’t figure out how to make it work. So we needed a different approach. Completely off the wall, out of the box ideas. That’s where you 4 come in. You think differently than we do…”

Behind him, the elevator doors opened to a room with pipes, wires and cables and panels lining every wall. Buzzing and humming could be heard everywhere. LED panels and laptop screens were everywhere. Six technicians were all busy with their tasks, none of whom looked at the visitors. They were all too focused.

“So… think differently.” James gestured to the room. “I suppose we could start in here, though.”

In the middle of the room was a smaller room with a single, heavy door on it. Inside the room, the walls, floor and ceiling were featureless save for their dark green color.

“This is the room where a user will experience the holodeck type environment. Simplex 1000 can give you a brief overview.” James ushered them in the small room.

A computer generated voice sounded from speakers buried within a maze of wires and cables nearby. “Welcome to the Phoenix: Post Holographic Optical Enhancement of Neurologically Imaged Xerography. Original designation, Simplex 1000. Programmed to manage the hologram and monitor conditions of human occupants such to allow their continued safety and enjoyment.”

“Whoa. This is Star Trek stuff.” Rachael said.

“Yep. That’s what we do.” James explaining things as if this complicated machinery was his toaster; a simple machine that everyone should know and understand. “Could you all just hang out in there for a sec? We’re going to start one of the support machines. You’ll hear some humming. Nothing to worry about. I need to get something behind the door, too. So I’m going to move it real quick. It doesn’t lock, if you’re worried about that.”

They stepped inside the large, dark green colored room. It had featureless metal walls, interrupted only by the entry door. James closed the door behind them. It was pitch black.

"It's so dark in here." Robert said quietly. His voice boomed in the enclosed space. "Why did we agree to this again?"

"Because money pays the bills and the CEO thinks we’re talented," Penny said. She started to sound a little stressed. She didn't like the dark. She wasn't afraid of it, but this kind of dark was beyond nighttime darkness. There was no light to see at all.

A humming began and it started to grow in loudness and intensity.

"I guess that’s the machine James mentioned?" Kim said.

Everything went white.

To Rachael's horror, the room was now bright white and everyone was gone. The humming had stopped. There was no sound at all. The metallic smell was gone, too. There was… nothing. Rachael didn't feel anything touching her feet anymore, either.

My feet? I was wearing shoes. She looked down to see her bare feet. She had been wearing shoes when she walked in. Her pants were gone as well, but around her hips was a diaper. Her shirt was replaced with a yellow crop top with a rubber duck on it. I certainly wasn't wearing that! Her thighs were odd, too. They were much fatter than normal. She looked at her hands and arms, too. Her hands were more bony and knobby than before. Her arms were fatter. What happened? Why did I change? Where's Penny?

She frantically looked around at everything. There were no shadows, no features, just white. There wasn't even a floor. Rachael wasn't falling, but she felt… suspended, as if in water.

Where's Penny?

Rachael called out. "Penny? Kim? Anybody?"

Only silence. She looked down again. She was still in a diaper. She slowly reached her odd hand toward the diaper to touch it. Her hand went inside of it.

A hologram. Her hand had gone inside of it, as if it wasn't there. But what about her hands? Her thighs now seemed much larger as well. She slowly reached down to her thigh. Instead of the skin she expected to feel, she felt the fabric of her suit pants. So I AM still wearing my clothes. I just… look different. Where is Penny?

She called out to Penny again, louder. She listened carefully for banging or some other kind of noise that might mean someone was here. Still silent. The thought of Penny dying crossed Rachael's mind. It was a terrible thought. I miss her, Rachael thought. I want her back. I need to see her again.

With that, Penny popped into existence to Rachael's left.

"PENNY!!! Are you okay?"

"Rachael!" Penny looked over at Rachael. "Yeah. I'm fine. Whoa. You look, different. That's a cute diaper. Where did you… what happened to your hands and legs?!?!"

Rachael now knew that whatever she felt, Penny could see what Rachael was seeing. "Nothing, actually. Your diaper's pretty cute too."

A similar situation had happened to Penny as well. Her breasts got bigger and her legs now had cellulite all over them. Her feet had become much larger. She was wearing a slightly too short baby blue t-shirt.

"Ah!" Penny blushed as she tried to cover her diaper. "What do you mean, 'Nothing happened'? Look at you!"

"It's a hologram or something. Watch." Rachael slowly lowered her flattened palm over the front of her diaper. When her hand should have stopped on top of the diaper, it kept going, eventually disappearing completely behind it.

Penny did the same with herself. "Mine too. This is weird."

"It's some kind of holographic projection, I guess. The diapers make sense if someone's messing with us, but I don't understand my weird hands and your cottage cheese legs."

"No way." Penny looked over their bodies again. "I've never told anyone, but I always thought my legs looked fat, and that my boobs were too big for my body. But that means that either someone knows more about us than we realize, or they've got a direct feed into our brains. Where's Kim?" Penny called out to her "Kim! Where are you?"

"Did you hear me when I was calling you a few minutes ago?" Rachael stopped to think about it. Maybe she's right in front of us. Penny was to my left when we walked in. That should mean that Kim is right in front of us. Rachael tried walking. It was as if something was holding her in place. She could move freely, but there was nothing for her to move on or against.

"No, I didn't." Penny was trying to move around now, "Why can't we move?!"

"So Kim probably can't hear us. How long was it before you saw me?"

"A few minutes?"

"Did you do anything in particular to get to me?"

"I tried swimming to you, but that didn't work."

"What about mentally? Did you do anything special mentally or emotionally?"

"Not really. I don't think."

"Hmmm… You showed up right when I thought about missing you. I wonder if I do the same for Kim…"

Rachael closed her eyes and focused. She hadn't known Kim for very long, but it would still be sad to lose someone to a corporate project like this. She wanted Kim back.

Penny screamed. Rachael opened her eyes then she screamed. Before them was a black, dragon shaped creature. It had 2 arms like a person, but they were covered in black metallic spines. It stood on 2 legs, with a thick, long black tail behind it. Two horns on its head also looked like they were black metal. It's belly was smooth, with a scar diagonally across it. Below that was…

A diaper? No way. Rachael studied the dragon creature more carefully. The creature didn't seem to be charging at them or even make any sound to suggest aggressive intentions. The dragon seemed passive, even though it stood twice their height.

Kim's hair. It has Kim's hair.

The creature had similar hands, though gray, that looked like Kim’s. The mouth was the same, as well.

Rachael cautiously spoke. "Kim? Is that… you?"

The large black eyes looked up at her. Then the face smiled. "Hey, Rachael. Penny." The voice was still Kim's regular voice.

"Kim?!" Penny was in shock. "You're a… dragon… type thing."

"Kim, quick question." Rachael started making connections in her head. "How do you view your inner self? Have you ever done or said something that made you feel like a monster?"

"It's…" the large black eyes looked away. "It's complicated."

"No details necessary. I figured it out. Girls, we're looking at our own internal view of ourselves. Like, a digital representation of our mental self... which is why I look the way I do." Rachael looked down at her diaper again. “Penny, Kim popped into here when I thought about missing her. So I need to do the same for Robert now."

Rachael thought about mourning for Robert, then he appeared.

All three girls gasped. Robert’s body was transparent. At least, they assumed it was his body. At first, they saw Robert as himself, the man they met at the office. A shorter woman his same age with red hair on her head then appeared in his place. She wore a long green dress and had a look of disgust on her face. The next person to appear was a male teenager wearing black clothes, short black hair and eye liner. His face looked agitated. Another person was a short Hispanic female who wore cargo pants and a bandana over her hair. She was smiling. Lastly, there was a small male child, dressed only in underwear who looked terrified. After the child, the cycle restarted with Robert’s original self. All of the people were somewhat transparent, as if they weren’t fully there.

“Robert… you…” Rachael didn’t understand how this could align with anyone’s mental imagery of themselves. “We think we’re looking at our own mental image of ourselves… but you…”

Robert looked despairingly at each of them, then at his chest to watch the changes happen. Every person that took his place seemed to move exactly as the original Robert did.

“D.I.D.” Robert said softly.

“What?” Rachael and Penny were even more confused.

“Dissociative Identity Disorder.” Kim answered for him, with a nod of understanding.

“Most people call it split personality disorder. Now everyone gets a front row seat to the freak show I really am.” Robert looked at the ground, as did the other people that he seemed to be. “These are my alters. The fractions of my personality.” He said their names as they popped into existence. “This red haired girl is Sarah. She is my focus. Teenage boy here is Luke. He just kinda acts out. Imelda, for when I need to get stuff done. And Robert, and... me.”

He said his name when the boy had appeared.

“The kid has your name?” Penny asked.

Robert sighed. “The kid is me. 5 year old me that’s about to have his world shattered into a million pieces.”

Everyone went silent. They understood what he was implying.

“I’m so sorry,” Rachael said softly.

“It’s okay. Life sucks. So I guess we got this stupid holodeck going. Now what?”

Rachael felt a bump from something. It felt like a physical bump, but nothing had touched her. She felt an emotional presence pull on her attention.

“What was that?” Rachael asked.

The room went black and the loud humming returned. It started to get quieter and softer as the Phoenix seemed to power down. The door opened and technicians walked in to begin checking everyone’s condition.

No one was injured or even uncomfortable. With the light coming in from the doorway, Rachael could see that everyone was back to normal. Everyone was wearing business suits again. Everyone was a normal human being and there were no strange sensations surrounding Rachael anymore.

“That was our first successful test.” James had walked in. “Is everyone okay?”

“Yeah. We’re fine. Right guys?” Rachael waited for everyone to confirm. “We’re fine.”

“Congratulations. That’s a huge step forward for all of us. Thank you. If you’re all good to go, then you’re done for the day. We have a ton of data to crunch now. I’ll let Mr. Pendleton know how things went. Given your success, he may want you back here tomorrow. I have all of your numbers, so I’ll be in touch tonight if we need you again tomorrow or not. Elevator will take you right back outside. Don’t forget your stuff on the way out.”

James turned to stare at a laptop screen just like the other technicians were. They seemed transfixed by whatever data they were looking at.

The four of them got back into the elevator silently and rode it back to the lobby floor. They had just seen each other in an extremely intimate light and the moment was too fragile for talking. 2 friends and 2 near-strangers had a look into each other's minds that is usually reserved for lovers in a romantic relationship. At the very least, those were details reserved for an intimate conversation between the closest of friends. Now that information was on full display. They had been ushered away too fast to ask if what they saw was also seen by the technicians. Such an outpouring of information was even more exposing. Even more compromising. They could ask tomorrow.

A ding sounded as they reached the ground floor again. Still silently, they gathered their stuff from the table and walked outside. No one wanted to talk yet. Penny unlocked the van and they climbed inside.

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tiawritesgood · 6 years

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Jurassic: The New World, Chapter Three

Claire’s blaring phone woke her and Owen from their fitful sleep.

“Did you find Maisie?” Claire asked as an answer.

“What? Maisie is missing?” Karen responded.

Claire sighed. “I’m sorry, Karen. I should have called. Maisie… we think she was kidnapped this morning.”

Owen tried not to be disappointed. He climbed out of their bed to use the bathroom while Claire spoke with her sister.

“Oh my God, Claire! How did this happen? Who took her?”

The reality of the situation sunk in for Claire. How dare she sleep while her daughter was missing? She’d been a mother for a day before the unthinkable happened. Whenever Claire was in charge, something terrible happened. Why hadn’t she learned her lesson with Jurassic World? After Maisie is rescued, Claire would leave her and Owen to live without Claire around to screw it up.

“Claire, where is your head? Come back to me.”

She sighed. “I don’t know what to do, Karen. We went to sleep after the cops left.”

“And now you’re refreshed and ready to find that little girl. Listen, Claire, the boys and I are coming over. We’ll help you search for Maisie.”

“Thank you, Karen,” Claire said.

Owen climbed out of the miniscule bathroom. “How is Karen?”

“She and the boys are coming over.”

He nodded. “Good. We need all the help we can get.”

“I’m a terrible mother,” Claire blurted. “You would be better off without me.”

Owen sat down on the bed and laughed. “It’s been less than twenty-four hours, Claire.”

“And Maisie is missing, then we went to sleep!”

He rubbed her back to try and calm her down, but Claire pulled away. “Listen, Claire,” he said. “There was nothing we could have done at five in the morning. Three hours of sleep cleared our heads. We’re ready to go.”

“We should have started looking three hours ago!” Claire cried.

“And done what? Scoured the woods? We know she’s not out there. Someone took her. Knocked down InGen’s door? That would have gotten us arrested. We’d be no help to Maisie from behind bars. Don’t beat yourself up about this. It’s not your fault and it’s not mine.”

Claire sobbed. She’d cried a lot the last few days. First, it was about the court appearance and worrying Maisie would be taken away. Now, it was because Maisie had been taken. Just not by the courts.

“What if we don’t find her?” Claire asked. She finally allowed Owen to wrap her in his arms.

“We will.”

“How can you be so sure?”

Owen adjusted them on the bed so he could look in Claire’s eyes. “We made it out of Jurassic World. We made it off Isla Nublar when it was basically exploding around us. We got out of Lockwood’s Estate. If we can get through all that, we can find our daughter.”

Claire knew she’d have to hear this over and over again before she believed it, but for now it was working.

A knock on the trailer door drew them out of the moment. Karen threw her arms around Claire the second she opened the door. “Oh, Claire. I’m so sorry. Tell us what we can do.”

Claire took in her nephews behind her slender sister. The boys got their father’s brunette hair and height. Zack towered over her and Gray seemed taller than the last time she saw him. Had it only been two weeks? They had come to pick up Maisie for the weekend so Claire and Owen could have some alone time. It felt like a lifetime ago.

“Hey, Aunt Claire,” Zack said, taking his turn to hug Claire. He hugged Owen, too, as soon as his mom released him. Gray’s hugs were tighter than his older brother’s. It reminded Claire of the day he arrived at Jurassic World and surprised her by wrapping his arms around her waist. They’ve become much closer since that day. Claire didn’t want to be an island anymore. She wanted to connect with people, especially her family.

“You boys know a lot about computers?” Owen asked when their reunion was over.

Zack nodded. “I pretty much live on mine.”

“Me, too.”

Owen smiled. “Good. I need the two of you to do some research to help us find Maisie.”

“We’re on it.”

Zack opened his backpack and pulled out two Apple computers. “Gifts from Dad the last time he was too busy to take us for the weekend.”

Claire winced. Karen and her husband had tried to work out their problems after the park incident, but they ended up divorced six months later. The boys’ father was supposed to see them every weekend but he bailed on that obligation too many times to count. With Zack in college, their father pretty much disappeared from Zack and Gray’s lives. He still paid child support for Gray, at least.

“Do you guys have wifi?”

Owen and Claire looked at each other. The cabin would have cable and internet, but the trailer did not.

Zack caught the look and laughed. “No worries. We have hotspots on our phones.”

“Good, good,” Owen said. “Once the cabin is ready we’ll be out of the dark ages, but…”

“You don’t have to explain yourself Uncle Owen,” Gray said. Owen liked when Claire’s nephew used the title. He hoped one day they would make it official, though every time they got closer, Claire pulled away. Owen worried that Maisie’s kidnapping might be the end of what they had finally gotten back.

“Thanks, kid,” Owen said. “I need you both to search out Maisie and see if you can find anyone who might want to take her. Then we need you to investigate InGen and Biosyn. Tell me everything you can find about the two companies.”

“On it,” Zack said. He set up the kitchen table to get to work. Gray plopped down on the stool across from his brother and opened his laptop. “I’ll start with a few basic Google searches on Maisie. Gray, you look into InGen and Biosyn.”

Gray nodded and disappeared into his computer. With that taken care of, the adults left the boys in the trailer so they could talk without disturbing their progress.

“What do you want from me?” Karen asked. “Should we set up a search party or something?”

“You two stay here in case the officers come by or call with news,” Owen said to Karen and Claire. “I have someone I need to meet.”

Claire scrunched her brow. “Who?”

“I’ll tell you if any good comes out of it.”

She frowned but nodded anyway. “Be careful.”

Owen kissed her cheek and twirled his van keys around his finger. The used Dodge made more sense than his old truck, which they traded in a week after Maisie came to stay with them. Claire’s sedan was more practical, but the van had more leg room for long drives. It would also have more space should their family grow in the future.

Claire watched the van’s taillights until they were completely hidden by trees.

“I know this is a ridiculous question, but are you okay?” Karen asked.

“I want Maisie back,” Claire told her sister. “But I’m terrified of what happens when we do have her back.”

Karen nodded. “Parenthood is scary and hard. At least you and Owen have each other.”

That made Claire smile. She did have Owen. If the way he protected the boys at the park and Maisie at the estate were any indication, he was going to be an amazing dad. She was lucky to have him by her side through all of this.

“I don’t want to mess things up for them. I feel like all of this is my fault.”

“Oh, Claire, you know deep down that isn’t true.”

Claire wiped a stray tear from her cheek. “I keep telling myself that, but everything I touch goes wrong. The park, the rescue operation, now Maisie…”

“If you say they’d be better off without you, I might actually slap you.”

Claire remained silent. That was exactly what she planned to say.

“I’m going to use a Mom saying on you, are you ready?”

“Go for it. It can’t hurt.”

Karen wrapped her arms around her younger sister. “Trust yourself, Claire. You know more than you think you do.”

Claire snorted. “That’s a doozy.”

“I know, but it’s true. What happened with the park and the estate, that stuff sucked. But you’re here now, and you’re a mother. You can’t let those mistakes define you. You’re smarter than that,” Karen told Claire.

“You know, this isn’t how I expected parenthood to happen. I wasn’t even sure I’d ever have a family, and now I have Maisie and Owen…”

“And me, and the boys. You’re not an island, Claire. You never were. You’re more like… a peninsula.”

They both laughed. “I don’t know what that means, but I’ll take it. Thank you, Karen. You being here means the world to me.”

“Hey, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be. Now let’s go see what the boys have learned about the possible kidnappers.”

They walked into the small trailer one after the other and sat down beside the boys, ready to come up with the next step in their plan.

Owen knocked on the door to the single-story ranch. The grey panels had been recently replaced, but the stone walkway was in need of repairs.

An older man with greying hair answered the door. “Can I help you?” He asked.

“Dr. Alan Grant?”

The man nodded. “That’s me.”

“My name is Owen Grady. You may have heard of me… I worked at Jurassic World. I trained the raptors.”

Dr. Grant looked hard at Owen’s face. “You look like you could use a drink. Why don’t you come inside?”

“Thank you, sir.”

Owen followed Dr. Grant through a narrow hallway and into a bright white kitchen. Dr. Grant poured them each a couple fingers of Bourbon and invited Owen to sit at the kitchen table. After his trip to Sorna, Dr. Alan Grant continued working at his dig site until his retirement, when he left Montana for Southern California. He continued to write about his experiences with dinosaurs and Owen noticed that, after Dr. Grant’s time on Sorna, the man seemed to fall back in love with dinosaurs. At least, he didn’t mind the dead ones. The live ones, though, were a different story.

“I’m assuming you didn’t come by to steal my alcohol,” Dr. Grant said.

“No, Dr. Grant,” Owen told him. “I came… well, have you heard about Maisie Lockwood?”

“Please, call me Alan,” he said. “I have heard of the girl. Lockwood cloned his daughter, right?”

Owen nodded. “Yes, and my… girlfriend and I, we adopted her. In fact, just yesterday we won custody. But then this morning… we woke up, and Maisie was gone.”

Alan’s face fell. “I’m sorry to hear that. Have you had any luck finding her?”

“No, but we have some leads. What do you know about Biosyn?”

“Now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a while,” Alan said. “I don’t know much. They were always years behind InGen in terms of research. There were rumors they were behind what happened at the first park, but those were never confirmed. Is that who you think kidnapped your girl?”

Owen shrugged. “It had to be them or InGen. They’re the only two companies who would have the gall to pull off something like this. InGen lost in court, so they’re our prime suspect. But if Biosyn is trying to get ahead of InGen…”

“They’re a pretty good suspect, too,” Alan finished for him. “I see your dilemma. How can I help?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure. I don’t know why I came here, exactly. I think I wanted to talk to someone else who got it.”

Alan finished his drink and poured another. “I read about what you did with the raptors. You know, those things almost killed me. A few times.”

“They’re highly intelligent creatures. If I didn’t imprint on them at birth, they would have tried to kill me, too. They did try to kill me, actually, when the indominus took over as the alpha…” Owen paused, a chill running down his spine. He could practically hear the genetically enhanced dinosaur purring outside Alan’s home, though Owen knew the thing was just bones in the water on Isla Nublar now.

“It doesn’t go away,” Alan said. “If that’s what you’re wondering. It’s been a long time and I still have nightmares about Jurassic Park and Sorna.”

“Did you ever visit Jurassic World?”

Alan drew a line in the sweat on his glass. “I thought about it. Ellie, Lex, Tim, and me, we were all going to go together, but we couldn’t do it.”

“And now there are dinosaurs living in the woods around your ranch.”

“Yes, there are. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.”

“It’s my fault,” Owen said suddenly. “If I hadn’t conducted the research on raptors, none of this would have happened.”

Alan took a deep breath and focused on Owen’s eyes. “That’s where you’re wrong, Owen. There are only two men at fault for all of this, and they’re both dead. We’re just stuck cleaning up their mess.”

“Hammond and Lockwood had the ideas, but…”

“But nothing, Owen! Don’t you get it? Everything starts with an idea. They wanted to play with life and death, and now we’re paying for it. This is on them. None of it is on you.”

Owen carefully considered Dr. Grant’s words. He wasn’t sure he could believe them yet, but it made sense. Owen didn’t make the dinosaurs. Everything he did was a product of the labs Hammond and Lockwood started long ago. “You’re right,” Owen said.

“Damn right I am!” Alan laughed. “And about your little girl. I still have some contacts… I’ll see what they can do to help find her. If InGen or Biosyn have her, it won’t be easy, but we’ll get her back.”

Owen stood and shook Alan’s hand. “Thank you so much, Dr. Grant.”

“Owen, please. It’s Alan. I know we didn’t go through it together, but we’ve been through enough to be on a first name basis.”

Owen nodded. “Thank you, Alan. I really appreciate it.”

“One more thing,” Alan said. He pulled his wallet out and handed Owen a business card. Owen expected it to be Alan’s business card, but it was a therapist instead.

“What is this?” Owen asked.

Alan tapped the card. “Dr. Anderson is the best in the business. She saved Ellie, Lex, Tim, and me after Jurassic Park when she was fresh out of school. She moved her practice to California a few years ago.”

“Claire and I both saw therapists right after Jurassic World, but I stopped going when we ended things three years ago. I’m not sure if she still goes…”

“It’s worth giving Dr. Anderson a call, at least. She takes couples and individuals. You said you wanted to talk to someone who gets it, and Dr. Anderson is as close as you’ll get. At least, as close as you’ll get with someone who has a license to help you. And if that’s not your thing, my number’s on the back. You can reach out any time. I’m no therapist, but I’ll do what I can.”

“Thank you, Alan. This means a lot.”

Owen put the card in his pocket. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever use it, but just having it was a comfort.

Alan watched as Owen got into the dark blue mini van and drove off, back towards his makeshift home.

When Owen arrived, Karen, Claire, and the boys had a notebook’s worth of intel. He saw something he missed in Claire’s face. Hope.

“Can I talk to you outside?” he asked Claire. Karen and the boys busied themselves with the information, starting to outline a plan.

Claire and Owen sat on the steps of the cabin. “Is everything okay?” she asked. “Who did you go see?”

“Dr. Alan Grant,” Owen told her. “He was… one of the survivors from Jurassic Park. He was on Sorna once, too.”

“I remember him. We met once a long time ago. He thought Jurassic World was a bad idea. We should have listened to him.” Claire sighed. “Why did you go see him?”

“I needed to meet with someone who knew what it was like.”

Claire nodded. “Did you get what you went for?”

“I think so,” Owen said. “He reminded me that none of this is my fault. Or yours, for that matter. He said we’re just cleaning up someone else’s mess.”

“That sounds about right,” she responded. “I’m glad you got what you needed.”

“He said he’d help with Maisie, too,” Owen said. “He’s calling some people he knows.”

Claire looked relieved. “I feel like we’ve done nothing. On TV, when someone goes missing, there are search parties and tip lines and ransom requests… why is it so different in real life?”

“I think progress is quieter in real life,” Owen said. “Like the research Gray and Zack are doing, or the calls Dr. Grant is making. They’re all steps towards getting our daughter back.”

“I couldn’t do any of this without you,” Claire admitted. “I love you, Owen.”

“I love you, too.”

Owen kissed Claire hard on the lips, pulling her body close to his for just a few seconds before they had to pull away.

They smiled blissfully at each other until reality settled over them once again.

“Let’s get our daughter back,” Owen said. He stood and offered a hand to Claire, but she ignored it.

“Yes,” she answered. “We’ve got the beginnings of a plan.”

Together, they walked back into the trailer, but this time, it felt a lot like walking into a battle.

This was another war they were going to win, no matter what.

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