Jurassic Kratts

Shutting Down The System

In the control room, the atmosphere was one of resignation, even as the sun's rays filtered in through the windows. Hammond and Arnold were debating as to their next course of action, while Malcolm, bandaged but still in pain, hung around with Ellie and Muldoon, hoping for something positive for a change.
"No, no, no, that's crazy, you're out of your mind, he's absolutely out of his mind–"
"Wait a minute. What exactly does this mean?"asked Ellie, her wandering attention returned to the two gentlemen.
Before Hammond could answer, the door parted as the two Wild Kratts ladies burst in, excitement evident on their faces. Aviva and Koki had gone outside not long before, whether to receive the fresh morning air or to get away from the ever growing tension inside, no one knew. Neither of them had gotten much sleep the night before, that much was clear from their disarranged hair and the bags under their eyes. But something was causing the their spirits to lift, beaming smiles illuminating in the gloom.
All eyes were on the pair. "Guys, we have great news," began Aviva, Creaturepod in hand, hardly able to contain her joy. "The bros called. They've made it through the night in one piece, along with Jimmy, Alan, Lex and Tim. They're on their way as we speak. "
"That's wonderful news," said the paleobotanist, now sharing her friends' enthusiasm.
"Wonderful needs indeed."agreed the entrepreneur, relief clear in his voice.
"Nothing can stop those blokes."added the game warden with a chuckle.
"When will they get here? If they will.."asked the injured mathematician, earning an elbow to the ribs from Muldoon.
"According to the Kratt bros, they'll arrive in about an hour, maybe two."added Koki, oblivious to the last part, before asking, "So what did we miss?"
  At this point, Ellie returned her attention to InGen's CEO. "You were saying, Mr. Hammond?"
  "Hmm? Oh, yes."muttered Hammond, clearing his throat before he responded, "We were talking, ladies, about a calculated risk, which is the only option left to us. We will never find the command Nedry used. He covered his tracks far too well, and I think it's obvious he's not coming back. So shutting down the system–"
"I will not do it. You'll have to get somebody else, because I will not." interrupted the lead technician.
"–shutting down the system is the only way to guarantee wiping out everything he did. If I understand correctly, all the system will come back on their original start-up modes,"Hammond continued, addressing the trio. As Aviva noticed, for the first time since yesterday, the twinkle had returned to the old man's eyes. Turning back to Arnold, he asked, "Correct?"
"Theoretically, yes, but we've never shut down the whole system. It may not come back at all."said Arnold doubtfully.
"But would we get the phones back?" asked the paleobotanist.
"Yeah, again, in theory."came the reply.
"What about the lysine contingency? We could put that into effect."thought the game warden out loud.
  "What's that?"asked the three ladies simultaneously, much to their own surprise.
"That's absolutely out of the question."said the entrepreneur.
"The lysine contingency– it's intended to prevent the spread of the animals, in case they ever got off the island, but we could use it now." Arnold answered. "Dr. Wu inserted a gene that makes a single faulty enzyme in protein metabolism. The animals can't manufacture the amino acid lysine. Unless they're continually supplied with lysine by us, they'll go into a comma and die."
  "How would we cut off the lysine?"wondered Ellie.
"No trick to it. Just stop running the program. Leaving them unattended."
At this point Malcolm spoke up. "How soon before they become comatose?"
"It would be totally painless– they'd just slip into unconsciousness and they die."
"And how long before that happens?"
  "About— seven days, more or less."
"Seven days?! Seven days?!"exclaimed Ellie incredulously.
  Aviva's palm was on her forehead as she muttered sarcastically "Bueno. Maravilloso."
  "That'll– it'd be a first; man and dinosaur all die together. John's plan."deadpanned the mathematician.
The next thing Arnold knew, he felt his shirt collar being yanked forward as he made contact with Koki's brown eyes, which were narrowed in anger.
"Listen here, buster."muttered the Tortuga technician venomously between clenched teeth. "In case you didn't get the memo: People. Are. Dying! And much sooner than seven days! So unless you want that to continue happening, I suggest you shut down the system!"
There was a brief moment in which no one dared to speak. Aviva and Ellie exchanged glances. Before long, Hammond stepped forward. "Will you please shut down the system?"
  In answer, the park technician heaved a defeated sigh. Koki took that as her cue to release her grip on Arnold's collar. "You asked for it–" With that, he got to his feet, slowly making his way across the room to a red metal box on the wall. Taking a key from his belt, the technician unlocked the door, which opened to reveal four switches inside. One by one, he flipped them off, leaving only a single lever left. His hand hovered over it. "–and you got it." he flipped the lever.
  Every monitor, every terminal, every light shut out, plunging everyone into near-darkness. A moment of silence.  Finally, after what seemed an eternity, Arnold turned back to the box, flipping the row of safety switches back again, before hesitating by the main switch. "Hold on to your butts." With that he threw the final switch.
  Nothing happened. Another pause. "Listen. Which of you knows how to handle a gun?"asked Muldoon, breaking the silent atmosphere. At that point, the Tortuga computer whizz noticed a faint green light from the corner of her eye. Approaching the source, Koki came to the monitor, the only mechanical thing in the room that's on. The left hand corner of the screen displayed only two words: /system ready.
"It's alright! It's on! It worked!"announced the Tortuga technician triumphantly, grabbing everyone's attention.
"Wait a minute. What do you mean "worked"? Everything's still off!"wondered Malcolm incredulously, looking around the darkened room.
  "The shutdown must have tripped the circuit breakers."answered Arnold, approaching the monitor. "All we have to do is turn them back on, reboot a few systems in here– the phones, security doors, half a dozen others–but it worked!"
  "And where are the breakers?"asked Aviva.
  "Over in the maintenance shed. Other side of the compound. I'll go out there. Three minutes, and I can have the power back on in the entire park."
  "I'm going too."added Koki. That being said, the two technicians prepared to leave, but not before the three women shared an embrace. 
  "Good luck, Koki."whispered Ellie.
"Be careful."cautioned Aviva.
"We will."reassured the computer whizz with a wink. With that she followed Mr. Arnold to the exit.
"Just to be safe, I'd like to have everyone else in the emergency bunker until Mr. Arnold and Mrs. Bambrick return, and the whole system is back on its feet again."announced Hammond to those that remained. No time was wasted as the game warden and the paleobotanist carried a Gerry rigged stretcher that held Malcolm down the narrow path that led to the emergency compound, followed by Hammond and the Tortuga inventor. Guys, thought Aviva. Please be careful.