Tooth and Nail

Life Finds A Way

The jeeps pulled up into what Olivia assumed was the visitors center. She stepped out of the car and walked in with the rest of the guests.

Olivia didn't know it but neither, Ian nor her brother took their eyes off of her. Allen was watching her because Ian was watching her. He wanted to protect her.

Ian was watching her because of the way she walked. My God did that man think she was beautiful. He smirked as he took bigger strides to walk beside her.

"Hi." He grinned down at Olivia.

"Hi." She smiled back, having to crane her neck to look up at the very tall man.

They walked on, listening to John ramble about the park. "So what do you think?" She heard Ellie say.

"That we're out of a job." Allen scoffed. Ian turned to him as they passed him on the stairs.

"Don't you mean extinct?" He smirked. Olivia couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips.

That boosted Ian's ego more than it needed to. He smiled to himself, knowing the beautiful girl found him funny.

"Cute laugh." Ian muttered. Olivia blushed, hiding her face so he wouldn't see it.

"Thank you." She mumbled back.

As they walked through, John rambled on and on about whatever it was he was talking about. Olivia only caught bits and pieces, too busy focusing on the man walking beside her.

Ian had completely pulled her in. His charm was working wonders on the young woman before him, and she couldn't get away.

"Why don't you all sit down? Uh, Donald, sit down, sit down." Hammond said as they entered some room with a large screen.

As they sat down, Hammond walked up to the screen and was greeted by what Olivia liked to call "Hologram Hammond."

Olivia watched as they explained how they used blood to make the dinosaurs. "How in the hell did they get million year old dinosaur blood?" She murmured.

"I think they're about to tell us that." Ian said sarcastically. Olivia just rolled her eyes and nudged his shoulder. He let out a snort.

An animated DNA strand came onto the screen and started to explain it. "This is freaking awesome." She marveled.

Ian chuckled. "Sure it is kid." He scoffed. "It is until someone becomes a dino dinner."

Olivia shook her head. "I guess I do have to agree with you there. This could end very badly."

"Very badly." Just as he said it, the ride moved on to look into some other rooms.

"Wait a minute. How do you interrupt the cellular mitosis?" Allen started to shout.

"Can't we see the unfertilized eggs?" Ellie asked.

"Shortly, shortly." John nodded.

"Can't you stop these things?" Olivia groaned.

"I'm sorry, it's kind of a ride." John said impatiently.

Ian and Allen out there hand on the bars and motioned for Ellie and Olivia to do the same.

Together, they pushed the bar open and filed out of the ride. With John following closely behind, they entered the incubation room.

The group walked over to a man with a clipboard. "G'day Henry." John greeted.

"Good day John." The man replied with a smile.

"It's turning the eggs." Olivia marveled, looking at the dinosaur eggs in the incubator. "Holy shit."

"Oh, perfect timing. I was hoping they'd hatch before I had to go to the boat." Dr Wu said, looking at the egg that was shaking.

"Henry, Henry! Why didn't you tell me? I insist on being here when they're born." Hammond tutted. "Come on. Come on, little one. Very good. Push." He cooed.

"There you are. There. They imprint on the first creature they come in contact with. Helps them to trust me. I've been present for the birth of every creature on this island." John explained.

Ian raised an eyebrow. "Well, surely not the ones that have bred in the wild." He scoffed.

"Actually, they can't breed in the wild. Population control is one of our security precautions. There is no unauthorized breeding in Jurassic Park." Wu countered.

Olivia just kind of stared, her mouth slightly open. "Shut you jaw." Allen muttered. "You'll catch flys."

Olivia glared at him. One of the movies he had shown her as a child was The Fly. Ever since then, she'd been absolutely disgusted and terrified of the insect.

Funny... Ian sort of looked like the man that played in the fly. Curious.

"Well that's because all the animals in Jurassic Park are female. We've engineered them that way." She heard Wu say, tuning back into the conversation.

"There you are." Hammond said, helping the animal out of its shell.

"Oh my God. Look at that." Ellie was fawning over the creature.

"Blood temperature seems like about high eighties, maybe." Allen observed.

"Wu?"

"Ninety-one." He confirmed.

"Homeothermic? It holds that temperature?" Olivia laughed. "This is amazing."

"Yep." Wu nodded.

"But, uh, again, how do you know they're all female? Did someone go out into the park and, ah, lift up all the dinosaur's skirts?" Ian asked.

Wu seemed mad the topic had been brought back up. Olivia however couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips. She didn't miss the smirk that grew on Ian's face.

"We control their chromosomes. It's really not that difficult. All vertebrate embryos are inherently female anyway. They just require an extra hormone given at the right developmental stage to make them male. We simply deny them that." He said irritably.

"Deny them that?" Ellie asked.

"John, the kind of control you're attempting here is, uh, it's not possible. If there's one thing that the history of evolution has taught us, it's that life will not be contained. Life breaks free. Expands to new places and crashes through barriers. Painfully, perhaps even dangerously. But... uh well, there it is." Ian said.

"There it is." John repeated.

"You're implying that a group composed entirely of females will... breed?" Wu chuckled.

"No, I'm simply saying that life... uh, finds a way." Ian said, almost mystically.

"What species is this?" Allen asked out if the blue.

Wu looked down at his clipboard. "It's a velociraptor."

Allen and Olivia shared a horrified look. "You bread raptors?" They said in unison. Just as they did, a Raptor shriek could be heard from an outside pen.

Olivia and Allen rushed outside without another word. They heard Hammond calling after them but couldn't care less.

These people were breeding death machines.