In the Name of Expediency
John Hammond looked at the proposal in his hands, then over the paperwork to the two scientists in his on-site office. Henry Wu was, as always, enthusiastic and energetic. The young man was always looking to push the boundaries of genetics and allow for greater control over the appearance and nature of the creatures that they were bringing back to life in the lab. Opposite him was the visibly fuming Laura Sorkin. The sallow-faced woman was a perfectionist of the highest degree. It had initially been one of the reasons he'd hired her.
"Henry, this is a rather... large departure from what I was asking of you." John taps the sheets of paper, keeping his voice mild. "I was a bit concerned about the frog DNA being used as a patch already, even if it does allow for quicker and more stable growth of the embryos, the fact is that until they've lived out their lifespans we have no idea what effects it will have on their behavior and even their bodies. This goes
far beyond that concession." Laura smirked and began to open her mouth, while Henry's excited mien grew sullen; but John held up a hand to forestall the woman's crowing. "That being said, I want to hear your personal reasoning behind this, not just the raw data you put together here." He taps the sheets again.
Henry runs a hand through his hair and sighs, looking every inch the put-upon teen explaining something that should be obvious to his parents. "My reasoning is three-fold. One is that the more research into chimera genetics that we perform, the more likely it is that we'll be able to create human-applicable procedures. Ways to treat things ranging from sickle-cell anemia all the way to genetically-tailored cancer killers. But the only way to
get that experience is by performing this research. The chimera project will allow us to see how far we can push the compatibility of genetic sequences from not only different animals, but from entirely different branches of the evolutionary tree. We chose a predator as a base mainly because they tend to be shorter-lived than most prey species; thus their growth is faster and will allow for a shorter window to observe any issues as they crop up. Secondly, it will allow us to fine-tune the techniques we use at the current time to make the process faster and more efficient. Meaning fewer specimens dying during the gestation process. Finally, it will allow those of us in the lab that are currently engaged in what has sadly become routine work to stretch our mental muscles in order to keep our minds sharp and open to new possibilities." All three of them knew that he was really talking about himself with that reference.
Laura had had enough at that point, and
erupted. "John you cannot
seriously be considering this foolishness! It's already bad enough that you went along with this frog DNA Frankenstein patchwork job. But now you're considering something even
more extreme? At this point why not just try to create
dragons." She spat the word with acidic bile. "This completely disrespects these poor creatures, violating their genetics to the point that they can't even be called dinosaurs anymore, but merely genetic
freak shows." She sputtered to a stop, her ire spent for the moment. John looked at her levelly, and Sorkin blanched.
"Your opinion is noted Laura. But Henry has made several valid points in his favor. I'm not a hundred percent sure it will produce anything viable at all, but the benefits outweigh the risks, and the chance to make sure that more of the standard dinosaurs survive to full term with fewer issues is not one to be passed up. Not to mention the medical applications." He turned his focus to Henry, who was biting back a smug smirk in the face of Sorkin's disbelief. "Henry, I'll authorize this project, but as of right now you're the one that its success or failure will most fall upon. I wish you the best of luck, but I want to be kept informed on any major hiccups. I'll not turn this into a money pit, do you understand?" Henry nodded as Laura boggled. "Good, then you're both dismissed. I have a meeting with our new game warden in twenty minutes; he's coming to begin familiarizing himself with the island's terrain. Have a good day, the both of you." With that firm dismissal, John turned his attention back to the paperwork, leaving Sorkin and Wu to see themselves out.
