Chapter 210: An old dream

Jocelyne couldn't relax. The others had already retired for a while, but she wasn't calm at all. She couldn't stay still in her bed doing nothing. Hammond had made sure she had every kind of comfort, from books to video games, but she didn't want to take out her frustration on them. She eventually chose to just take a walk. Hammond had told her that she could move freely in her mansion, so she might as well take a stroll. And then she wanted to enter the strange corridor she had glimpsed when they entered. She quickly went down the stairs and found herself in the hall. She wondered if Hammond didn't want strangers to pull out into the hall, but if he did, why not put a door in it? It was obvious that the elderly tycoon didn't care so much about that. So she turned the corner and entered the corridor. What she saw surprised her greatly. The corridor was very long and was completely in a straight line; whoever built it seemed to have paid close attention to detail. A red and gold carpet crossed it perfectly in the center. On the sides, positioned with millimeter precision at the right distance from each other, there were an infinity of wax statues representing animals. But not just any animals: animals that to define mythological would have been an understatement. Jocelyne approached the first statue. It was a bird and vaguely resembled a fororaco, but it had a longer tail and larger, clawed legs; the beak had various horny points and was full of teeth, which birds commonly didn't have. Some horns also emerged from the back of the skull. Below the sculpture, a gold plate read: "Entelorhacos - DNA: 50% entelodon, 50% phorusrhacos. Habitat: savannas. Position in the food chain: scavenger. Skills: heat resistance, low need to hydrate, fast adaptability" "So... this is supposed to be a hybrid?" Jocelyne thought as she looked at the mysterious bird. She quickly turned her head and looked at the statue that stood in front of the entelorhacos. This time it was a snake; he was very large and from the shape of his body was clearly a constrictor, but his gaping mouth clearly showed poisonous teeth that he shouldn't have had. In addition, on the sides of its head there were two membranes of skin open like a fan and on the muzzle it had two bony ridges. The plaque this time read: "Dilophoboa - DNA: 50% titanoboa, 25% dilophosaurus, 25% chlamydosaurus. Habitat: swamps. Position in the food chain: apex predator. Skills: spits poison, very slow metabolism, fast adaptability" So they were really all hybrids. Those statues represented animals created by fusing various creatures. Jocelyne remembered what Ian, Alan and Ellie had told him about John Hammond's dream, which the tycoon himself had given up, of repopulating the world with hybrids. Had Hammond built a museum of the world that he had hoped to make? Maybe he wanted to keep those statues as a memorial? Jocelyne went to another statue. This time it depicted a dinosaur, apparently from the ankylosaurid family, but it had a shell more like that of a turtle and its front legs raised above the ground. The plaque read: "Nundangosaurus - DNA: 50% tuojiangosaurus, 50% nundasuco. Habitat: forest. Position in the food chain: herbivore, but if necessary a scavenger. Skills: resistance to power shots lower than those of a medium-caliber weapon, fast adaptability" She looked at another statue. This time it was a small dinosaur, similar to an ornithomimus, but completely devoid of feathers and with a head of a triceratops, whose collar was covered with thorns like that of a styracosaurus. It also had bony points on its back. "Dracoceratops - DNA: 35% dracorex, 35% triceratops, 20% styracosaurus, 10% lizard. Habitat: forest. Position in the food chain: herbivore. Skills: strength, resistance to drought, quick adaptability" Yet another statue. This time a pterosaur similar in size to a quetzalcoatlus, but with a particularly strange beak with a kind of double curvature at the tip, and a large colored crest on the back. "Tropeogopterus - DNA: 50% tropeognathus, 50% zhejiangopterus. Habitat: cliffs. Position in the food chain: fish-eater. Skills: speed, improved vision, fast adaptability" Again. This time the hybrid was even more frightening: from the shape it was similar to a tyrannosaurus, but it was smaller and covered with a thick mantle of blue feathers, and in addition the shape of the hind legs was different and had three toes on the front ones. "Yudon - 50% yutyrannus, 40% troodon, 10% kingfisher. Habitat: forest. Position in the food chain: medium-ranking predator, scavenger. Skills: intelligence, high resistance to high temperatures, fast adaptability" Again. This time it was a real giant. It was a carnivorous dinosaur with t-rex legs but with a more massive body and a crest similar to that of a ceratosaurus, but much more conspicuous. "Suprannotitan - DNA: 50% tyrannotitan, 50% supersaurus. Habitat: forest. Position in the food chain: high-ranking predator, omnivorous if necessary. Skills: strength, endurance, intelligence, quick adaptability" One after the other, Jocelyne read the plaques placed under the statues one by one, admiring with a strange feeling of magnificence the hybrid ecosystem dreamed of by Wu and Hammond. "Cerazinosaurus - DNA: 50% ceratosaurus, 50% therizinosaurus. Habitat: savannah. Position in the food chain: omnivore, scavenger. Skills: long claws, heat resistance, quick adaptability" "Tapejalosaurus - DNA: 50% tapejara, 50% monofolosaurus. Habitat: mountains. Position in the food chain: hunter, scavenger. Skills: faster flight, greater intelligence, quick adaptability" "Suchoripterus - DNA: 65% suchomimus, 30% dsugnaripterus, 5% marine crocodile. Habitat: river areas, swamps. Role in the food chain: fish-eater. Skills: greater strategic ability to fish, quick adaptability" "Smithetoceras - DNA: 50% smilodon, 50% sinthetoceras. Habitat: savannah. Role in the food chain: medium-ranking predator. Skills: greater balance, speed, resistance to drought, quick adaptability" "Koolasaurus - DNA: 50% koolasuchus, 50% sarcosuchus. Habitat: river areas. Role in the food chain: apex predator. Skills: mimicry, resistance to climate change, resistance to water acidity, fast adaptability" "Pyrodon - DNA: 50% pyroraptor, 50% carnotaur. Habitat: steppe. Role in the food chain: high-ranking predator. Skills: mimicry, speed, intelligence, quick adaptability" Jocelyne went on for hours. There were at least a hundred statues. Zalmonodon, xinatodon, stegoceratops, unayrinchus, sigosuchus, rajastega, pteraquetzal, dakoderma, leptostega, prionodon, pelecanipteryx, chromaspino, parasaura, pachigalosaurus, pachiceratops, ostaposaurus, ousaurphiaurus, metauroraphonarchus, metaurusaurusormimriaunkus, armonodon indricoceros, mamotherium, alangasaurus, glithronax, liosichtodon, limnorinchus, labirintosaurus, diplotator, iguanosuchus, gorgosuchus, giganocephalus, geolamosaurus, erliphosaurus, ankylodocus, allogmius, archaeophicyon, other spinoraptor... Jocelyne was amazed at how painstakingly Hammond had worked to create the perfect ecosystem. Each hybrid was perfectly designed to belong to its predestined ecological niche. Oddly, too, all the gold plates among the abilities had the words 'fast adaptability', as if it were an omnipresent element of the hybrids. Eventually, Jocelyne came to a large room at the end of the corridor. Inside there were only four statues; three were arranged on either side of the room and one in the center. The three statues on the sides all depicted very particular hybrid dinosaurs. One was huge, at least fifteen meters long, with massive jaws and claws and white skin; another was smaller, with a flattened snout, dark in color and numerous spines emerging from the back and tail; the third, finally, was completely black with a yellow stripe on the sides of the body and seemed to correspond to the definition of 'perfect killer', because at the very sight it was clear that it was created to hunt and kill in a super efficient way. Their plaques were larger than those of the other statues and what they reported was written in large letters. "Indominus rex - DNA: 50% tyrannosaurus, 5% velociraptor, 5% carnotaur, 10% giganotosaurus, 5% majungasaurus, 10% therizinosaurus, 2% rugops, 2% deinosuchus, 0.3% cuttlefish, 0.5% tree frog , 0.2% pit viper snake, 5% viavenator, 2.5% pycnonemosaurus, 2.5% quielmesaurus. Habitat: forest. Role in the food chain: superpredator. Skills: camouflage, thermal control, endurance, strength, superior intelligence, quick adaptability. Status: 1 specimen realized, deceased" "Scorpios rex - DNA: 50% carnotaur, 25% tyrannosaurus, 10% velociraptor, 10% tree frog, 5% scorpionfish. Habitat: forest. Role in the food chain: superpredator. Skills: thermal detection, endurance, strength, poisonous quills, quick adaptability. Status: 2 specimens realized, deceased" "Indoraptor - DNA: 50% indominus rex, 50% velociraptor. Habitat: all. Role in the food chain: superpredator. Skills: strength, endurance, intelligence, overdeveloped senses, speed, reinforced skin, fast adaptability. Status: 1 specimen realized, deceased" But these mighty predators weren't the ones that attracted Jocelyne's attention; rather it was the creature in her center that made her eyes widen. It was a monster at least eight meters tall and nearly twenty meters long, with the head of a triceratops, the teeth of a tyrannosaurus, the body of a giganotosaurus, the legs of therizinosaurus, the armor and spiked club of an ankylosaurus and the deadly bony points of a stegosaurus. It was a real mithological creature. Only in observing the wax statue of Jocelyne did she feel the urge to retreat; it was as if those googly eyes were staring at her ravenously. The plaque on this statue was the largest of all, and read in block letters: "Ultimasaurus - DNA: 20% tyrannosaurus, 20% giganotosaurus, 10% therizinosaurus, 10% stegosaurus, 20% triceratops, 10% ankylosaurus, 10% Indominus rex. Habitat: all. Role in the food chain: apex superpredator. Skills: all. Status: no specimen made" "Never was a name more appropriate" Jocelyne said without realizing it. The feeling of power that this dinosaur gave off, even if it was just a sculpture, was enough to make her skin crawl. "Yes, I always think so too" a voice behind her said. Jocelyne whirled around as soon as he heard that voice. Behind her appeared the elderly figure of John Hammond. "Excuse me, sir, I didn't hear you coming" "Don't worry, I don't blame you. My feet are too little noisy now to be heard at this distance" the old man murmured as he approached, staggering slightly but holding himself upright thanks to his cane. "And then I guess you were too intent on admiring my collection" Jocelyne nodded. "They are truly extraordinary creatures" she admitted. "Your dream was... fascinating. Strange, but fascinating " "Oh, but this isn't my old dream, girl" Hammond replied. "No. This corridor, and this room... are Henry's dream" Jocelyne looked at Hammond in amazement. The old tycoon sighed. "It was he who designed, studied, created and, above all, dreamed of these extraordinary creatures. I only wore money and a smile. I know how much it cost him. Sleepless nights, grueling work shifts, commitment, dedication... he mapped territories, studied ecosystems, ran endless computer simulations to make sure each animal covered a specific ecological niche. And then... it was over. The Indominus rex did what we all know, and I pulled back... I understood that I couldn't play God, and that I couldn't mess around with the rules of nature. But he... Henry... wasn't willing to let it go" The man's elderly eyelids trembled for a moment. "He believed it was possible to save the life of this world. He didn't want to give up. When we parted he told me..." He let out another sigh. "... he told me that he would have done anything to prevent humans from destroying this planet. I remember well the light he had in his eyes that day. It was the look of a person who would keep his promise, whatever the cost would have been" Jocelyne didn't know what Hammond was going through. She had never had a friend, a person to share a dream with. In a way, she had never even had dreams. Her life hadn't let her. "What is that?" she asked her pointing to the so-called 'ultimasaurus'. "I know the other three dinosaurs, but not this one" "That? That was Henry's latest project" Hammond explained. "What he has always dreamed of achieving. A perfect organism, suitable for any environment, that could survive in any circumstance, no matter how difficult. For a while he had bet on the ultimasaurus. But then he changed his mind. Even that project didn't satisfy him. When I asked him why, he replied that the ultimasaurus was far from being a perfect organism. It didn't matter, he told me, how much effort he put into it, how many modifications he made, how many extraordinary characteristics he guaranteed to his creatures; there would always be variables that he would not calculate in time. He wanted something that could fit everything, regardless of the will of the scientist who designed it. He continued to improve the adaptive abilities of his creations for a long time, so much so that they all eventually showed extraordinarily rapid adaptability to any environment, but it was never enough. He wanted something more. Something like..." "... the Mother Cell" Jocelyne concluded for him. Hammond nodded sadly. "When you told me about it, I immediately understood that he was behind it. I have no doubts in believing that it was he the one who triggered all this". He looked intently at Jocelyne: "This is also my responsibility, so I will help you. You will have my support. But I want your word: your men will have to bring Henry back alive" "I need a confession from Henry himself to prove the truth to the world. I would never give the order to kill him, he's too important" Jocelyne replied. "But you should know that I can only guarantee for him until he sets foot on the continent again. After that, what humanity will do to him will no longer be under my control" If there was one thing that history taught it was that people loved having an enemy to blame. And above all that when he found one he could react in a way that was an understatement to call brutal. There was a reason that even the worst tyrants always made sure to keep the people at bay: once people clicked the switch, no matter how many soldiers you had, you were a dead man. If Henry Wu had been found guilty, therefore, people probably wouldn't have let him live long. Hammond let out what sounded like a half sob. "It doesn't matter. Just bring him here alive" Having said that, he turned his back and walked away into the corridor. Jocelyne stayed in the room for a while looking at the wax statues, which were nothing more than the memory of a broken dream, then she too went back.