Jurassic Kratts

Technical Difficulties

   Since the teams parted ways on that cloudy afternoon, Aviva, Koki, and Dr. Ellie Sattler spent their time assisting Dr. Harding, Jurassic Park's head vet, in caring for Frillina the Triceratops, who was regaining her strength by the minute. The three-horned vegetarian, despite her fearsome exterior, was a gentle creature, and very affectionate toward her helpers. The only problem was that the eight-ton ceratopsian didn't know her own strength, as was the case when she unwittingly knocked down Aviva  when trying to nuzzle the inventor with her snout.
  But when the first drops of rain came, it was time to go. This was particularly hard for the trio who had grown attached to the benign herbivore. "Goodbye, Frillina."said Ellie, caressing the ceratopsian's frill, her voice thick with emotion. "Get well soon and stay away from those West Indian lilac berries."
  "We'll miss you a lot, big girl."added Koki, her hand on the herbivore's nasal horn.
  "Get better soon, sweetie. We'll never forget you."said Aviva, embracing Frillina's massive head, tears running down her eyes. Then a thought occurred in the inventor's ever functioning head, which brought a radiant smile on her face. "Dr. Harding, can you take us a couple pictures with Frillina, please?" The veterinarian rolled his eyes in amusement before he obliged.
   Several snapshots later, the three women loaded on Harding's jeep before the trip back to the Visitors Center. As they drove off, Aviva took one last glance at the Triceratops Meadow, and saw Frillina peacefully grazing before the three-horned vegetarian gazed in their direction. The Triceratops then uttered a loud bellowing call, prompting Harding to say," That's her way of saying goodbye."
They made it to the Visitors Center at the same moment the torrential downpour came crashing down. After exchanging farewells to the veterinarian, the trio made their way up the stairs towards the entrance. To their surprise, the lobby that was full of hustle and bustle earlier in the afternoon was now empty as an abandoned hermit crab's shell.
"Chris, Martin, Jimmy! We're back!"called out the inventor, but only her own echoes answered her. "Alan?"she heard Ellie call out. Same response. No one greeted them. Strange, thought Aviva. They should probably be back by now.
"There's no one around here," announced Koki, having returned from a fruitless search around the halls. "It's like a ghost town in here."commented the paleobotanist.
"I'll try contacting them with my Creaturepod."Aviva replied, reaching for said gadget. "Nothing. The storm's messing with the signal."she said after several unsuccessful tries. ¡Ay caramba! She cursed mentally.
"Don't worry, Aviva. I'm sure they're on their way right now."reassured Ellie, sensing her new friend's worry. The three had grown closer than they thought possible. The inventor smiled at the paleobotanist's understanding. "Thanks Ellie." At that moment John Hammond appeared, descending the staircase to greet the visitors. But something about the look on the old man's face told them that something was wrong. Very wrong.
"Good evening, ladies. I'm afraid I have some grave news. Follow me, I'll explain on our way to the control room."
****Three Minutes Later****
  Once they arrived at the control room, Aviva could hardly control herself, after mulling over all they'd been told. From what Hammond had informed  them, some  good for nothing hacker named Dennis Nedry had done something to disrupt the park's security. The only thing on her mind was the fact that the other visitors, along with her friends and her dearly beloved, were stranded in the park, in the middle of a tropical storm, at the mercy of fearsome predators that would make mincemeat of the largest and fiercest creatures they've met on their travels.
She wasn't the only one. Ellie and Koki were also eaten up by anxiety, pacing around as head technician John Arnold, a negro wearing a white suit and tie, worked around on the hacker's work station, which looked worse than Jimmy's quarters on New Years. The Wild Kratts inventor was startled out of her thoughts when Muldoon appeared in room.
"Well?"inquired Hammond, seeing the game warden. Muldoon had been sent to look for Nedry, and force him back to undo the mess he started.
"There's no sign of him anywhere."came the reply.
Arnold's cigarette was practically burning his lips, reduced to nothing but a stump as the technician was hard at work before the computer, hands typing furiously, determined to make sense of the mass of incomprehensible commands piling on as he examined each one in futility.
"Are we getting anywhere with these procedures of yours?"asked Koki doubtfully. "I mean, what's hanging us up?"
"I ran a key check on every stroke Nedry entered today. It's all pretty standard stuff, until this one–"
"Which one?" asked the Tortuga computer whizz, approaching the monitor, joined by everyone else.
"'Keycheck/space -0 Keycheck off safety -0.' He's turning the safety systems off. He doesn't want anybody to see what he's about to do. Now look at this entry, that's the kicker. 'Wht. rbt. obj.' Whatever it did, it did it all. But with Keycheck off, the computer didn't file the keystrokes. Only way find them is to search the computer's lines of code one by one."
"How many lines of code are there?"asked Koki.
"About two million." Arnold replied.
"¡Dos millón! Maravilloso."muttered the inventor sarcastically.
"That would help." deadpanned Koki, rolling her eyes, until she noticed something among the scattered papers. Reaching out, she grabbed a familiar business card, one with a red V for its logo. Her eyes narrowed. Zach Varmitech. 
  "What's wrong, Koki?" asked Aviva, noticing her friend's dark look. The technician simply handed her the business card. Soon enough, the inventor's gray eyes hardened. ¡Ese chiflado!
  "Koki, Aviva? Is everything okay?"asked the paleobotanist, noticing the changes on her friends' faces. All eyes were on the pair.
  "The hacker that caused all of this, Mr. Hammond," Aviva began," He was working for our old friend Zach Varmitech." 
"Who's Zach Varmitech?"asked the paleobotanist.
"We'll talk about it later," Koki replied.
   "Oh yes, I remember Mr. Varmitech. He had a dark air about him. Didn't like him."replied the entrepreneur, recalling the time when the evil inventor asked for a business partnership. Of course, Hammond refused. "What could he possibly be up to this time?"
"Whatever it is, it can't be good."answered Koki.
Once more, the old man turned to Muldoon. "Robert, I was wondering if you would be good enough to take a gas jeep and bring back my grandchildren."
"Sure." replied the game warden.
"I'm going with him."piped up Aviva, determined to find her friends.
"Me too."added Ellie, same thoughts on her mind. Muldoon simply nodded.
"I'll stay here and see what I can do."said the Tortuga technician.
As the trio made their way for the door, Hammond stared out the windows in front of the control room, lost in a million thoughts, so much so that he didn't hear Mr. Arnold calling to him. Only a hand on his shoulder brought him out of his trance, and he turned to see Koki, who gestured to the park's technician.
"I can't get Jurassic Park back on line without Dennis Nedry."