Aqua (Jurassic World)

Chapter 9

Claire came up to me before I got in the paddock after feeding my two boys. She wore her usual white attire, though I could tell her heels were getting muddier in the winter weather.

It had been 2 years since I met my boys. Now they were twice my height which made them giant. But they were still gentle with me somehow.

I only ever returned from the paddock with a few bruises, muddy and wet, that was a lot better than dead. If anyone else came remotely close to the paddock while they weren't eating or off swimming, Kori would alert Berilo and they would attack.

"The Aquarexes are out-growing the fence for their paddock," Claire explained, her eyes flickering to them nervously.

It was true, Berilo was only a metre shorter than it and he was not even close to finishing growing yet.

"Dr Wu warned us of this a few months in advance, we suggest you evaluate the enclosure and make sure it's full proof," Claire said then quickly added. "It's still not finished."

"Alright," I nodded. "As long as you drop me off back here when we're finished."

She nodded and we got into her fancy white car that looked out of place amongst the forest. "Berilo, is the bigger and lighter coloured one, he's very strong and playful and he's more of the alpha of the duo. Kori on the other hand..."

"The sponsors figured out names, remember?" Claire cut me off to remind me.

"Oh... right," I looked out the window, they'll always be Kori and Berilo. We drove past a small enclosure that still had people working on it, it looked like it was made of concrete and in the shape of a hexagon. Somehow that took my attention away from Claire.

"Whats in that enclosure?" I ask pointing at it.

She glanced off the road and then turned back to it a few moments. "That was a failed hybrid experiment, Asset Containment suggested we don't show it to the public because its unpredictable."

That probably was only half the truth, from the 2 years experience at the park I knew that when they hid something it was often because A. It was not pretty. Or B. They didn't want to show tourist how badly their dinosaurs get treated and how it affects their mental health. There were some pretty smart people who would catch on pretty quickly if they had time to examine the evidence.

I knew this because I had overheard Claire and Owen talking about it once or twice. I felt like any trainer or anyone that worked with the dinosaurs knew this already. I bit back a response and watched as the pen disappeared behind us.

"Your hybrids are the first that have ever seemed to work," Claire broke the silence.

"What do you mean 'seem to work'?" I asked her, while I appreciated her saying 'your hybrids' I didn't like the wording, maybe I was reading into it too much.

"Well, I mean, they are quite stable considering our history with hybrids," Claire says, not saying anything else.

"I love them very much," I tell her sternly. She probably knew that but I wanted to know how she would respond.

"Everyone knows you do, but you know, you won't be able to go in with them while the publics around," Claire tells me and I look up at her frowning.

"Why not?" I ask defensively. It was fair if they were doing a research thing but I could do that in the enclosure, that would be so cool wouldn't it?

"Because everyone thinks someone died by the rex-" Claire cut herself off. I knew what she meant though and it made my blood boil.

"I had no say in that video being posted, it was taken out of context," I folded my arms across my chest. "They didn't see my face, it's fine."

"Everyone thinks that they're killers and that's how Masrani wants it," Claire said simply.

I let out a loud huff then said. "If you want people to experience the majesty here, then you should show something other than death. Mosasaurus eating a shark? T-rex eating a goat? I know how the lab designs the hybrids, only combining the most dangerous species."

Claire went silent and I couldn't help but smirk. "Even you know better."

We came to a construction place, it looked like it had been built half way, it still needed to be taller, we got out of the car and I left Claire to inspect myself without telling her.

You walk down a path to get there, everything seemed pretty open, not as dense as the forest they were used to, then there was a big wall reached up at least 20 feet and they had the scaffolding to make it 50. I followed the path along the wall and it switched from concrete to glass as I went through a tunnel down.

It was a viewing tunnel and you could see the habitat. There was water and it was at least 30 metres deep, from the viewing tunnel you couldn't see the bottom. It just got darker the deeper.

I felt my stomach churn and I quickly exited the tunnel. So far I hadn't seen the gate, I guessed it would be on land. So I walked around the paddock Sure enough there was a gate and I inspected it, it opened from the outside and hoped it didn't have a button to open it from the inside.

Since I had already taught Kori how to use buttons, he would probably teach Berilo. I opened the gate and walked in.

I saw there was no way to open or close it from the inside which posed a challenge if I wanted to see them again. Throw me some fresh water and food everyday and I seriously wouldn't mind living with my boys. Maybe some clothes once in a while.

That thought made me a lot happier. But I knew that wouldn't work.

Inside the paddock, tall trees lined the edges but it was mainly just a clearing. There was a crane for delivering food.

I didn't see anything for enrichment though. I'd have to talk to Claire about that.

Apart from the big gate, there was a small door. I went through it and it led me out of a place with 'staff only' on it. I went up some steps and into a viewing place, it wasn't finished yet but I guessed when it was, it would be like a tunnel, with glass to look into the enclosure and circle around the enclosure.

I hoped all the glass was very thick, at-least a metre thick or like the glass in aquariums.

Claire found me and asked what I thought. I gave her an honest review then asked. "Can we have some enrichment toys in there?"

"Like a zoo animal?" she raised a brow.

"I mean yea... they need something to do except swimming and sleeping," I remind her.

"I don't think that's much of an option, Caliste," she tells me and then we walk to her car.

"I mean, sure there's two of them, but that's a smaller paddock than they used to and something to do would really entertain guests," I needed to convince Claire of this but it seemed she was really putting her foot down on this one.