You smiled as the Japanese men gaped at the Terror Birds as they followed their surrogates around the enclosure on Nublar. You'd followed through on your idea, checking with Alexis on what the company was that had made the game, Final Fantasy. The big birds had been some kind of enemy, but the translator was relaying a lot of enthusiasm for using the birds in their advertising campaign for the next game in the series.
Especially since the Cassowary DNA had had an unintended side effect after all, though thankfully not a behavioral one. Namely that some of the Terror Birds were showing signs of plumage coming in that was black, a strange reflective dark blue sheen, and a dark green coat of feathers under the yellow down. Even the yellow birds were showing variations, some becoming almost a light golden yellow, while the majority were a more intense canary yellow.
The licensing and promotional fees that were outlined by your legal and financial team when it came across your desk had you calling to make absolutely sure they'd remembered to convert the Yen into Dollars. After receiving confirmation that yes, that was the correct number of zeros, you'd approved the deal. Combined with the money that you'd gotten from Disney for following through with their Sparrow revival project was phenomenal. And they'd agreed to lend you some imagineers as well!
Of course with the first of your animals actually up and alive, you need to select a Chief Veterinarian for the park. You're not as paranoid as your father when it comes to hiring from outside the company though, so there are several candidates that spring to mind.
[][Vet]Gerry Harding. The chief Veterinarian for the San Diego zoo, the man is something of a legend in the business. Especially in the fields of disrase diagnosis and treatment. He's also a hard-headed son-of-a-bitch who has a history of setting his heels and squatting in place once he's reached a conclusion.
[][Vet]Ethan Sobrosky. A soviet ex-pat, Ethan is often not what people picture. Thin, soft-spoken, and with a demeanor that helps put people and animals alike at ease, he's got an extensive background in dealing with physical injuries on animals from his time working in a Kenyan game reserve. A suggestion from Muldoon, he does note that Ethan doesn't like to talk about his past.
[][Vet]Amelia Bittman. Your mentor and the chief veterinarian of the Columbus zoo. Her specialty lies in animal behavior and social structures, and she's an old hand at dealing with infant animals. But bringing her in may be seen as you stacking the staff in your favor though and cause some resentment.
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With the Terror Birds growing quickly, Ray Arnold brings a point to your attention that had previously been overlooked. While the lab spaces on Nublar were adequate, with the large number of construction projects happening, it was likely to have a negative effect on your animals. You need to set up a proper set of enclosures for observation, isolation and socialization before putting them in view of the general public.
You just need to figure out where to put it all.
[][Site B]Sorna. Largest of the Five Deaths proper, it has the largest landmass and the most variegated terrain. It will allow you to place enclosures where they would best suit the dinosaurs, but it's a lot of ground to cover in the event of a containment breach. With a lot of places for even a huge dinosaur to hide.
[][Site B]Pena. Isla Pena goes to the opposite extreme. It has a much more limited space to work within, its terrain is fairly uniform, and there's practically no place at all for a dinosaur to hide. However it could be too small, especially if some animals turn out to need larger amounts of space than expected. And specialized enclosures will have to be constructed specifically to suit the needs of each species.
[][Site B]Tacano. While larger than Pena, it's still the second smallest of the islands and has a lot of rugged territory unsuited for growing crops, though it can support trees and grasses easily enough. It has enough terrain variations that it would be easier to create enclosures without needing as much specialized construction. It also has less places to hide than Sorna. Though "less" is not "none". And it still runs the risk of being too cramped.
[][Site B]Matanceros. The northernmost of the islands, it has lush jungles and steep mountain ranges. It's also out of the path of the worst of the tropical storms that move through the area. It has a decent area to create enclosures without risking cramped spaces. It's also the least geologically active of the islands, meaning it will be more difficult to generate the power the facilities will require and may inhibit adaptation and upgrades to the systems and facilities.
[][Site B]Muerta. Unlike Matanceros, Muerta is an island often wracked by storms. However it's also an island with plenty of even ground, a relative rarity in the Muertes Archipelago. And while the storms can inflict heavy damage, the heavy weather could be ideal to create a lot more power, giving the island a lot more flexibility in upgrading in the long term.
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"Alright boss, here's our final product for your baseline system. We call it the Helix Operating System." Greg's smile was wide as he showed you the system. It used an interesting series of iconography and division of processes to allow it to integrate different systems.
"You can basically plug just about anything into this baby, or unplug it, and there'll be absolutely no disruption to the rest of the system. I mean you'll probably have to upgrade the basic framework in a few years if you really wanna be riding that wave, but even the system components can be disengaged without the system crashing totally. So you can upgrade separate components as you go!"
You beam. You don't pretend to understand the full details behind how this works, but what little you did know was enough to be highly impressed. "This is absolutely fantastic work Greg. Top notch stuff!"
The genius' grin gets even wider. "Great to hear boss! That makes what I'm about to ask more reasonable." Your heart sinks for a moment. "See, with the speed that we delivered on this project, I think that a bonus for my crew and I isn't out of line; wouldn't you say?" And with that your stomach unclenches.
Honestly given everything you'd heard about him and his team, on top of the speed they'd worked at; they'd been practically a godsend. So a bonus of some kind isn't out of line. Probably not money though, if he wanted that he would have asked for it straight up. Greg is blunt like that you've found.
[][Bonus]Front of the Line. Each member of the team will be invited to the grand opening of the park along with a plus one for a week-long stay. Any members of the team with children will have them accommodated for as well.
[][Bonus]Lifetime Pass. Instead of just giving them a one-week taste; why not go all-in? Give them a lifetime pass to the Park. It'll be up to them to arrange lodgings, transport, etc, but they don't have to pay an extra entrance fee, and it'll literally last them a lifetime.
[][Bonus]A Favor. Sometimes the most valuable thing in the world can be a promise of assistance at a later time. Offer Greg and his team a favor, within reasonable limits of course, at a future point in time. And then have it written up and notarized because like hell are you going to stake this on a handshake deal when you know it could be abused.
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Wu is looking at you expectantly as you go over the records and observations for the Terror Birds. You nod in acknowledgement as you absorb the information. The Terror Birds seem to have been a bit misnamed due to their actual habits. Though how much of nurture vs nature is playing into that is a bit hard to say. Either way so far there have been no significant incidents, and the fledglings are responding positively to human interaction; taking their cues from their surrogate parents.
"I've got good news in regards to the success rate of viable clones and the number of patches that I need to perform in order to get a stable genome. The next project should prove to go smoother, even if I'm going back quite a bit further." There's an intense light in Wu's eyes as he says that. One you unfortunately recognize. Professional jealousy. While he was the one that brought back the first major animal that's good for more than a side exhibit, the fact that Sorkin is getting to play with dino DNA first is a sore spot for the man.
"I have to agree. This was very well done, and the results have certainly been more than acceptable. For the next stage I do agree that you should be able to move the clock back a bit farther." The next era back would be the Cretaceus era, which was very much a period with a large number of highly recognized dinosaurs. Including the infamous Tyrannosaurus Rex and equally well-known Triceratops.
[][Wu Next Step]T. Rex. Well, you know what they say. Go big or go home. And the T-Rex is going to be as big as it gets in terms of predators. One thing that you're unsure of is the rate at which it will grow; but given that lions take several years to reach maturity, you're willing to take the risk. And if you start by hand-rearing it (well by "you" you mean your team) then there's a solid chance that you may be able to at least acclimate it to humans, but definitely going to have to be careful.
[][Wu Next Step]Velociraptor. Still a predator, but roughly the size of a peacock or especially large turkey rather than big enough to look down on a giraffe. It'll be a step along the same lines as the Terror Birds, but with more risk as to what they may act like. They're pretty much going to have to be hand-reared as well; at least for the first batch or two.
[][Wu Next Step]Ankylosaurus. Take a 90-degree turn from predators and see about a more quadrupedal herbivore. Also one that's highly recognizable, though a bit less likely to go for ramming attacks into their enclosures. No idea how long they'll take to get to full size of course; but you're praying that they're going to be like rhino calves, who are frankly just over-armored puppies with no concept of how heavy or strong they actually are.