![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daegaer posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
escapefromrealitySimon starts planning for Dr San's visit and sees one of Henry and John's projects.
"We'll start with a tour of the genetics facility, I thought," Simon said, "before moving everyone to the park. We'll have a reception that evening and then a tour of the park the next day."
"Ken San, really?" Henry said. He sniffed, looking somewhat superior. "He doesn't have the exposure of Ian Malcolm. I suppose he's never called me a mad scientist in words the public can understand but he doesn't think much of my work."
"He's a brilliant scientist," John said, a delighted smile on his face. "Henry, I've been reading his work for decades, thinking, So Chinese academics really can make it in the west! I look forward to showing him some of my real work."
"He's worked with Alan Grant," Simon said. "He could persuade him to come back, maybe even to retract some of his more damaging statements."
"That man would need to be drugged and kidnapped to come back," Henry said dismissively. "At least he never called me a mad scientist," he muttered.
"It was megalomaniac with a God-complex, wasn't it?" John said impishly. Henry gave him a flat, dirty look. "Maybe we should concentrate on Dr Sattler," John said. "Do you think her legs are still as good as they are in those old photos?"
"John," Simon groaned, "You can't talk about women that way. Western women just don't like it."
"Do you think Chinese women like it?" Henry said. "Rein it in, Dr Ni. If you want to discuss leg structure we can look over the problems with the wyvern again."
"I'm just being light hearted amongst my fellow men," John said. "Of course I'd never say that to Dr Sattler herself. I respect her highly! Any lady of InGen can tell you that."
"Yes, of course," Simon said. "Now, what projects are you going to show Dr San?"
"The processes for the creation of your little birthday gift, of course. Then Henry and I have been working on something a little more ambitious –"
Simon felt excitement bubble up within him. He tried not to smile too broadly. "Yes? What is it?"
"We've successfully recreated one of Dr Ni's projects," Henry said with clear pride. "It's not the largest of them, but it's a good start." He called up a series of images on his work station.
"Is it a wyvern?"
"We're working on that," John said. "We do have hatchlings, though they'll have to be recycled."
"What? No!"
"Simon, nature is cruel and cryptid research is crueller. Look at what Henry's trying to show you."
Henry was proudly showing him images of what was very definitely a bird. Or maybe a dinosaur. It was certainly brightly coloured, with red and green and yellow feathers. One image of the long trailing tail spread out showed a flash of starkly black and white feathers as well.
"It's an early bird?" he said.
They shook their heads.
"It's an elderly stegosaurus? John, Henry – tell me!"
"It's a phoenix," John said happily. "Isn't she beautiful?"
"There's some really delicate work in this," Henry said. "The modification of the base creature, the manipulation of the colouration – "
"Wait: it really is a bird?" Simon said. He squinted at the images, looking at footage of the phoenix raising a scarlet clawed foot and imperiously pushing away one of the Confuciusornis that had ventured too close. He thought about the book of legends of the world he'd had as a boy. "Does it burst into flame?"
"That's the European phoenix," John said. "This is the Chinese one, which is a sign of blessed peace and prosperity and is thus a perfect creature to bring to the park with people you want to impress."
"You can't really have spent your time in your secret research making legendary indicators of prosperity," Simon said.
"You underestimate how superstitious those in power can be. This was complicated work, Simon. Henry really enjoyed making her."
"I'm grateful!" Simon said. He paused. "Could you make a bird that burst into flame?"
They looked at each other.
"Maybe," Henry said.
"Yes," John said. "But after I've made you what you really want. Come with me."
They went to one of the incubation rooms and John beckoned Simon to a case with heating lamps. Furious high-pitched screeching was coming from it. Simon stared avidly at the four creatures within, taking in their serpentine bodies, the way they buffeted each other in uncoordinated fury with spindly wings and their undeniably odd-looking legs.
"Wyverns," John said. "Not my finest moment, I have to say. I need to sort those legs out. I'll euthanize these and see where things went wrong."
"Do you have to?" Simon said, looking up in horror. "Snow – the dragon you gave me, surely he's the same sort of creature? You can use his pattern –"
"Simon," John said. "These would grow considerably larger. Those legs wouldn't support them; would you be that cruel? These aren't modified Sinornithosaurus like your little fellow. I thought, here I am in the good old US of A, why not use some of your lovely American T. Rex material? It's just far too heavy for the wings, that's why not!"
"You're giving me flaying T. Rexes?" Simon felt that he might have to sit down.
"No, Simon," Henry said. "We're not."
"Not yet. I went back to one of my preferred materials. These eggs-" John indicated another case. " – should have more successful, though smaller wyverns for you in a few weeks. We really should just have gone for the Asian dragons, Henry. There wouldn't have been any errors."
"The customers expect what they expect," Henry said with a shrug. "The outside display, Dr Ni?"
"Of course," John said. "Simon, if you could come go with Henry. I'll be just one moment -"
As Simon stepped away John pulled a surgical mask over his face, and picked up two bottles from a counter, coming back to the wyverns' case. When Simon looked back the case was already filling with thickening vapour and John was putting the bottles away before washing his hands.
"Shall we?" John said merrily, shaking droplets from his fingers.
It was kinder, Simon told himself, taking a last look back at the case. It was surely kinder.
Outside he was brought to a large artificial pond, another new addition to the facility. The water looked cool and inviting, and the bare concrete edges of the pool were disguised with careful planting of bushes and small trees providing a little grove beside the water. The whole thing was fenced in with a tall, electrified fence of the rating Simon had seen used for the park's more aggressive inhabitants.
"What's this?" he said.
"You just can't bring genetic material in without it being subject to outside supervision," John said. "We weren't subject to anything like that. I'd like to present a project made with material from the Americas and brought home – well, not home, to North America – at last!"
One of the male techs came up, carrying a large bucket. It contained a fish that was barely contained within it, and that was gasping in agony.
"Hey," Simon started in disapproval.
"Dr Wu, here it is," the tech said, putting the bucket down.
"None of the girls wanted to come out?" John said. "Shame."
He took a control out of his pocket and pressed some buttons. The hum of electricity at the edge of Simon's hearing stopped. John unlocked the gate and picked up the bucket.
"What's in there?" Simon asked urgently.
"Dr Ni, take care," Henry said, scanning the bushes by the edge of the pool.
John took a few steps in through the gate and set the bucket down, keeping an eye on his surroundings. He hauled the fish up and lung it awkwardly into the water with a loud splash, then stepped back and locked the gate again. The fish floated on its side for over a minute, beating the surface of the water with its tail, then gave a quick jack-knife movement of its whole body and vanished safely into the depths.
Everyone stood there in silence and then there was movement in the bushes. Simon felt his breath shudder in and out in uneven gasps as a mottled brown body thicker than a man's torso slid noiselessly over the edge of the pool and into the water. It went on and on and on, smooth muscles under shining scales until at last the tail vanished into the water. There was a brief churning under the surface and then stillness.
"We didn't feed the specimen for some time to maximise the chance of it emerging for you," Henry said.
"You were starving that - that – " Simon said.
"Titanoboa-based hybrid," John said. "Don’t go for a swim, Simon! I'm sorry it's not a dinosaur or a dragon, but it is rather amusing, isn't it? Let's put the current on again. It can be curious."
As he spoke the water rippled and a massive head broke the surface, rising up on an immense column of scaled flesh. Simon and the tech took inadvertent steps back. The creature raised a crest from its skull as it regarded them; the fish didn't seem like it could have been much of a meal for such a huge being. Then it lowered its crest and swam to the side of the pool, emerging to lie in a massive coil in the sunlight, its eyes still upon them.
Simon stared at John in astonishment, finally realising what it meant to have worked on cryptid research. The man had made him a Naga.
"We'll start with a tour of the genetics facility, I thought," Simon said, "before moving everyone to the park. We'll have a reception that evening and then a tour of the park the next day."
"Ken San, really?" Henry said. He sniffed, looking somewhat superior. "He doesn't have the exposure of Ian Malcolm. I suppose he's never called me a mad scientist in words the public can understand but he doesn't think much of my work."
"He's a brilliant scientist," John said, a delighted smile on his face. "Henry, I've been reading his work for decades, thinking, So Chinese academics really can make it in the west! I look forward to showing him some of my real work."
"He's worked with Alan Grant," Simon said. "He could persuade him to come back, maybe even to retract some of his more damaging statements."
"That man would need to be drugged and kidnapped to come back," Henry said dismissively. "At least he never called me a mad scientist," he muttered.
"It was megalomaniac with a God-complex, wasn't it?" John said impishly. Henry gave him a flat, dirty look. "Maybe we should concentrate on Dr Sattler," John said. "Do you think her legs are still as good as they are in those old photos?"
"John," Simon groaned, "You can't talk about women that way. Western women just don't like it."
"Do you think Chinese women like it?" Henry said. "Rein it in, Dr Ni. If you want to discuss leg structure we can look over the problems with the wyvern again."
"I'm just being light hearted amongst my fellow men," John said. "Of course I'd never say that to Dr Sattler herself. I respect her highly! Any lady of InGen can tell you that."
"Yes, of course," Simon said. "Now, what projects are you going to show Dr San?"
"The processes for the creation of your little birthday gift, of course. Then Henry and I have been working on something a little more ambitious –"
Simon felt excitement bubble up within him. He tried not to smile too broadly. "Yes? What is it?"
"We've successfully recreated one of Dr Ni's projects," Henry said with clear pride. "It's not the largest of them, but it's a good start." He called up a series of images on his work station.
"Is it a wyvern?"
"We're working on that," John said. "We do have hatchlings, though they'll have to be recycled."
"What? No!"
"Simon, nature is cruel and cryptid research is crueller. Look at what Henry's trying to show you."
Henry was proudly showing him images of what was very definitely a bird. Or maybe a dinosaur. It was certainly brightly coloured, with red and green and yellow feathers. One image of the long trailing tail spread out showed a flash of starkly black and white feathers as well.
"It's an early bird?" he said.
They shook their heads.
"It's an elderly stegosaurus? John, Henry – tell me!"
"It's a phoenix," John said happily. "Isn't she beautiful?"
"There's some really delicate work in this," Henry said. "The modification of the base creature, the manipulation of the colouration – "
"Wait: it really is a bird?" Simon said. He squinted at the images, looking at footage of the phoenix raising a scarlet clawed foot and imperiously pushing away one of the Confuciusornis that had ventured too close. He thought about the book of legends of the world he'd had as a boy. "Does it burst into flame?"
"That's the European phoenix," John said. "This is the Chinese one, which is a sign of blessed peace and prosperity and is thus a perfect creature to bring to the park with people you want to impress."
"You can't really have spent your time in your secret research making legendary indicators of prosperity," Simon said.
"You underestimate how superstitious those in power can be. This was complicated work, Simon. Henry really enjoyed making her."
"I'm grateful!" Simon said. He paused. "Could you make a bird that burst into flame?"
They looked at each other.
"Maybe," Henry said.
"Yes," John said. "But after I've made you what you really want. Come with me."
They went to one of the incubation rooms and John beckoned Simon to a case with heating lamps. Furious high-pitched screeching was coming from it. Simon stared avidly at the four creatures within, taking in their serpentine bodies, the way they buffeted each other in uncoordinated fury with spindly wings and their undeniably odd-looking legs.
"Wyverns," John said. "Not my finest moment, I have to say. I need to sort those legs out. I'll euthanize these and see where things went wrong."
"Do you have to?" Simon said, looking up in horror. "Snow – the dragon you gave me, surely he's the same sort of creature? You can use his pattern –"
"Simon," John said. "These would grow considerably larger. Those legs wouldn't support them; would you be that cruel? These aren't modified Sinornithosaurus like your little fellow. I thought, here I am in the good old US of A, why not use some of your lovely American T. Rex material? It's just far too heavy for the wings, that's why not!"
"You're giving me flaying T. Rexes?" Simon felt that he might have to sit down.
"No, Simon," Henry said. "We're not."
"Not yet. I went back to one of my preferred materials. These eggs-" John indicated another case. " – should have more successful, though smaller wyverns for you in a few weeks. We really should just have gone for the Asian dragons, Henry. There wouldn't have been any errors."
"The customers expect what they expect," Henry said with a shrug. "The outside display, Dr Ni?"
"Of course," John said. "Simon, if you could come go with Henry. I'll be just one moment -"
As Simon stepped away John pulled a surgical mask over his face, and picked up two bottles from a counter, coming back to the wyverns' case. When Simon looked back the case was already filling with thickening vapour and John was putting the bottles away before washing his hands.
"Shall we?" John said merrily, shaking droplets from his fingers.
It was kinder, Simon told himself, taking a last look back at the case. It was surely kinder.
Outside he was brought to a large artificial pond, another new addition to the facility. The water looked cool and inviting, and the bare concrete edges of the pool were disguised with careful planting of bushes and small trees providing a little grove beside the water. The whole thing was fenced in with a tall, electrified fence of the rating Simon had seen used for the park's more aggressive inhabitants.
"What's this?" he said.
"You just can't bring genetic material in without it being subject to outside supervision," John said. "We weren't subject to anything like that. I'd like to present a project made with material from the Americas and brought home – well, not home, to North America – at last!"
One of the male techs came up, carrying a large bucket. It contained a fish that was barely contained within it, and that was gasping in agony.
"Hey," Simon started in disapproval.
"Dr Wu, here it is," the tech said, putting the bucket down.
"None of the girls wanted to come out?" John said. "Shame."
He took a control out of his pocket and pressed some buttons. The hum of electricity at the edge of Simon's hearing stopped. John unlocked the gate and picked up the bucket.
"What's in there?" Simon asked urgently.
"Dr Ni, take care," Henry said, scanning the bushes by the edge of the pool.
John took a few steps in through the gate and set the bucket down, keeping an eye on his surroundings. He hauled the fish up and lung it awkwardly into the water with a loud splash, then stepped back and locked the gate again. The fish floated on its side for over a minute, beating the surface of the water with its tail, then gave a quick jack-knife movement of its whole body and vanished safely into the depths.
Everyone stood there in silence and then there was movement in the bushes. Simon felt his breath shudder in and out in uneven gasps as a mottled brown body thicker than a man's torso slid noiselessly over the edge of the pool and into the water. It went on and on and on, smooth muscles under shining scales until at last the tail vanished into the water. There was a brief churning under the surface and then stillness.
"We didn't feed the specimen for some time to maximise the chance of it emerging for you," Henry said.
"You were starving that - that – " Simon said.
"Titanoboa-based hybrid," John said. "Don’t go for a swim, Simon! I'm sorry it's not a dinosaur or a dragon, but it is rather amusing, isn't it? Let's put the current on again. It can be curious."
As he spoke the water rippled and a massive head broke the surface, rising up on an immense column of scaled flesh. Simon and the tech took inadvertent steps back. The creature raised a crest from its skull as it regarded them; the fish didn't seem like it could have been much of a meal for such a huge being. Then it lowered its crest and swam to the side of the pool, emerging to lie in a massive coil in the sunlight, its eyes still upon them.
Simon stared at John in astonishment, finally realising what it meant to have worked on cryptid research. The man had made him a Naga.
no subject
Date: 2022-05-14 11:58 pm (UTC)Wow, Simon. "Make me a bird that bursts into flame!" (At least John knows the correct answer to narcissist bosses everywhere--say yes, then ignore the request. Keep up, Henry.)
I like to think the women are off plotting John's death. :)
no subject
Date: 2022-05-16 02:16 am (UTC)