"Okay, returning to potential military applications of a miniaturized Indominus Rex," Claire says. "Drawbacks besides being difficult to transport?"
"She still wouldn't be easy to transport, not given how happy she's been to walk down to the meat locker and back, she likes to move-- but she'd still be damn difficult to feed, water, entertain, and contain. What were you saying about eating the tourists, Lowery? When a Jeep gets low on gas, it doesn't eat the driver. And there's enough Velociraptor in an Indominus to make containment next to impossible in the field."
"My god, yes," Barry agrees. "A raptor is like an octopus. Even if they have enough room, enough things to do, they try to figure out how to get in and out-- because they see us do it, and they like to copy, and solve puzzles, and get attention. Foxtrot will probably be the same, she just decided to go big with her first escape attempt."
"A raptor-sized Indominus would be even worse-- you've seen her arms and hands, Foxtrot has enough reach and dexterity that if she were Blue's size, you could only stop her with… maybe electrostatic screens for locks. Put one in the field and they'll be destroying the tent before you can say 'bad girl.' … Not you, Charlie, you're just invasive," Owen promises, reaching up to offer chin rubs. Charlie enthusiastically butts against his knuckles, so Owen rubs along her jaw.
"More than that," Barry says, "the whole idea would end the career of any military department that tried to support it. Too many protests. Those dolphins and seals, the sharks Owen worked with, were never meant to see combat, and the Navy has been up-front about that since marine mammal work was declassified. Hoskins wanted to take an animal, a land animal with no real natural habitat left, and send it into combat to get shot at, tear gassed, blown up. You can't finance genetic engineering without publicity, and you can't get good publicity when you send an animal off to die."
"An inadequately studied animal," because that is an issue, too. That's a huge issue. "Any of you guys know how many people you'd call if you wanted to host a conference between every person who might possibly be considered an expert on Velociraptors as living animals?"
