Sabotage in the Saurid Park

 Synopsis: A Sonic Underground retelling of the 1992 Steven Spielberg film Jurassic Park (based on the Michael Crichton novel). The royal family and their servants are among a select group chosen to tour an island theme park populated by creatures created from prehistoric DNA. While the park's mastermind assures everyone that the facility is safe, they find out otherwise when various ferocious predators break free due to sabotage and go on the hunt.

 

 

Chapter 1—Invited

 

            One day, Dashiel was reading a book about the Neolithic Era of Mobius. It was a very thick paperback book. He had already finished the pages on the settlement of Möbekli Tepe, and now he was coming to the pages on the settlement of Çatal Hüyük.

 

This sure is interesting. We've come so far from the ancient peoples of our planet, but at the same time we're all the same.', Dash thought to himself, completely absorbed in the massive, but fascinating tome.  Thus far, he had been the only sibling out of his family to have gotten up so early, simply to indulge himself in a bit of reading.   So as not to awaken his siblings, he decided to move his study to the library that was upstairs in the Crystal Castle so no one else would be disturbed.

 

                There was a chiming that emanated from Sonic’s portable wristlet.    He had been sleeping soundly up into this moment.   It was a weekend and so far, as he had remembered in his schedule, nothing of importance had been planned.     Slightly annoyed, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and groaned.  

                ‘This had better be something interesting.’, he thought to himself.  To his right, Amy was still idyllically lost in her dream world, blissfully smiling.    Shifting himself to the bed’s edge, he picked up his wristlet and pressed the button.    A hologram appeared.   It was Doctor Hodges.   He didn’t know who this individual was, but from his dress, he could tell this man was distinguished, learned and quite wealthy.  

                ‘King Sonic, I do realize that this message comes to you with a hearty invitation to the grand opening of my latest attraction !   You and your family have been selected as some of the unique guests to my very own Saurid Park !’, the bespectacled man in the hologram announced, eagerly.    From the hologram, he could see that Parker Hodges had not been sitting down, but instead was descending into his own park via helicopter.

                ‘If you think this view is something, wait until you see it for yourself.   I’ve taken the liberty of giving you access to the park digitally.  Once you arrive, your wristlet will allow you entry, simple as that.’, Parker explained.   

                ‘Technology certainly is a marvel.   I need to let my family know.   They’re going to be psyched !’, Sonic thought to himself.   The whole family adored dinosaurs and if it was true from what little he knew of Parker Denver Hodges, Esquire, he was aware that this man was nothing short of a genius.   He had kept up to date with the doctor’s experiments and findings, as well as DNA biomodification.    Apparently, this man had done what was thought to be impossible.    This human being had brought dinosaurs back from death.   

 

Chapter 2—First Class Treatment

                Once the family had been informed of their excursion, it was unbridled excitement and joy rippling throughout the AI tour.    They had been given their own monorail guide into the park and even an automated Jeep ride through Saurid Park’s insanely gargantuan doors.    Everything had been unbelievable, and their treatment had been beyond satisfactory.    However, Amethystia couldn’t shake a premonition she had about the predators that were kept behind cages, fortified with electricity or not.  Something definitely wasn’t sitting well because they had a fundamental flaw in their design.   She knew that if someone wanted to unleash chaos unlike anything Mobius had ever seen, all they had to do was have access to the main circuit breakers in the control room.   Not just anyone would’ve had the clearance, but there was a shifty-eyed, mousy little Gecko who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but Saurid park.    His name was Cam and from the looks of it, he loathed his job, he hated the Doctor, and he especially abhorred the creator of the park, whom the family hadn’t met yet.   Leery of Cam and his sinister aura, she kept an eye on him and reminded her siblings to do the same even though she was told she was being paranoid.   

                The park was vast, teeming with life of all kinds.   There were waterfalls, mountains, valleys, and plenty of lookouts where invitees could see the Saurids, and there were thousands of them.   It was nearly time for lunch, and the tram was being driven to the cafeteria, where their meal would be provided for them, completely gratis.

                ‘We haven’t met our generous host yet.’, Sonia noted aloud.    ‘He will be joining us.  He wanted to extend a VIP invitation to you personally.’, another scientist working with the Doctor, named Sylvia stated.   Sylvia was a silver fox, and all this inclusivity felt a little suspicious at best.   Whoever the host was had gone far beyond the pale of what was considered ‘warm and open’ and was beginning to come off perhaps, a bit creepy. 

                "We're waaaaitiiiing, Mr. Hodges.', Dashiel said impatiently, imitating his father.  Doctor Hodges was soon joined by a well-dressed squirrelmunk named Samara who greeted them all gregariously, pouring out the charm wider than his million-dollar smile. 

            ‘You haven’t seen anything yet, my dear comrade.’, Samara began.   Firstly, the trillionaire fed them, led them to a cinema room where they all watched an educational movie about DNA and then to an automated ride that would escort them through every single Saurid species in the park. 

            The family was impressed with how the King Saurid ate, but Amethystia didn’t feel comfortable being so close to the raptor enclosures.   With how everything was laid out, all it would take was one circuit to  fail and all the saurids would rampage once they realized that they could break free from their cages.   She knew that Cam had to be scrutinized but still, no one ever listened to her or paid her any attention.   She was the middle child and suffered from having her elder brother Dashiel always take the lead.  Maverick, though he was intuitive, didn’t tune in to his discernment since he was too distracted by the amusement and incredible nature of the park.   Plus, all of them had been placated with their favorite foods, enough to make them sleepy and complacent. Amethystia hadn’t fallen for that sort of hospitality and would stop at nothing to be heard, even if she continued to be mocked.

 

 

Chapter 3—‘Like Toppling Dominoes’ 

            Cam groaned and popped his shoulders from their aches, griping to himself.  Standing so long had really cramped his style.  He wouldn’t have been here had it not been for the full-ride scholarship he had earned, rightfully through study and elbow grease, but he held nothing but odium for the Park and everything that it represented.

            ‘All I have to do is overload the surge protector and oops !  Heh, heh.  Every failsafe comes toppling down, just like dominoes.  Nothing can contain the chaos now.  Nature, most definitely finds a way, Doctor Hodges.’, Cam thought to himself while slithering over at a lever that was indicating it was running nominally.   Cam acted as if he had tripped and fell over on the lever, pushing it to maximum efficiency output. 

            ‘And the walls came tumbling down.’, he thought to himself, his eyes shifting about, hoping no one had caught him in his crime.   As he was sneaking out of the control room, Amethystia saw him and smirked.

            ‘I knew you were trouble, but no one else believed me.’, she said, unsurprised that her intuition had been spot on about Cam’s lack of character.

            ‘What are you going to do about it, little hedgehog ?  It’s just you.  Alone.  Please. Don’t make me laugh.’, Cam mocked, making little condescending baby noises at her.   Amethystia had heard worse jeers from the jocks at her public school and she always showed them up with athleticism and gymnastic feats.    This wasn’t school, however.   With a whistle, she summoned Dashiel and Maverick.

            ‘What’s up, Sis ?’, Maverick asked.  Dashiel’s eyes scanned the room, and he caught the lever in its most forward position.  At this point, it was too late, and the exhibits were going to start storming the island.  

            ‘My work is already done here.  You can’t hinder a bunch of Saurids to hold back on their feral instincts !’, Cam cackled insanely.   Just then, Samara had called for security to get a hold of Cam and Hodges cranked the lever back to nominal power.  It wasn’t enough to contain all the Saurids, since over 3/4ths of them had escaped.   Doctor Hodges looked positively devastated but Samara didn’t seem the least bit shaken.  

 

Chapter 4—Saurid Park Crumbles

            Cam broke free of his shackles and laughed manically as he ran from the guards.

            ‘He who laughs and runs away…’, he began, before a bunch of dilophosauroids descended, spitting acid directly in his face.   He shrieked horrifically and Sonia shielded Amethystia and Maverick from seeing the carnage.   Dashiel covered his eyes himself as they were all escorted out by one of Samara’s private helicopters.   It was ironic that it had been one of the fleet of helicopters that Samara owned, the one that had brought them to the island to begin with.

            ‘Thus, an empire falls. I was foolish to try playing God.  Cam warned me.’, Samara said, morosely.   At least they hadn’t died and their scientists, well at least some of the scientists had come out unscathed.   Unfortunately, a lawyer who had to use one of the outhouses wasn’t so lucky.

            'We'll head back to the others at the visitor center. The helipad's nearby.', Samara said.

They ran as quickly as they could, never looking behind to sate their inquisitive minds. 

 

Chapter 5—Burn It !

            Doctor Hodges and Samara had concluded that the park, for better or for worse, should be incinerated.

            ‘But your life’s work…’, one of the hedgehoglets whimpered.  He was younger, so he didn’t understand that all of them had narrowly escaped death and were never coming back.  The island itself would be rebuilt, but it would become a recreation center, somewhere that would welcome weary travelers and lend people a place to stay who needed a bit of relaxation.

            ‘Burn it.’, Samara ordered.  Sylvia gasped. 

            ‘There has to be another way…’, she nearly pleaded.   Tears gathered in the squirrelmonk’s eyes.

            ‘Burn it !’, he bellowed.   Sylvia pressed a button in the helicopter that triggered a chain reaction that Samara had built into the island itself if something ever went awry.    Left and right, there were explosions going off.  

            ‘This is the best party ever.  I didn’t know we’d have fireworks.’, one of the more naïve and innocent hedgehoglets said, cheering.    The family held each other, keeping their sobbing to a minimum.   They were relieved that their fight for survival had come to an end.   Samara would have to start again, and Hodges would help them, but their research would have to be used for something else.    It hurt too much to think about, but they knew eventually, they would be using their wealth of information to cure incurable diseases and at last, beat such terrible threats as cancer, dementia, Alzheimer’s and even senility.   

 

Epilogue

            One of the hedgehoglets came to the dour realization that Saurid park was closed indefinitely.   One day, he would understand why, but in the current moment, he was far too pure to comprehend the meaning of the word ‘indefinitely’.   

            ‘We’ll return someday, but it’ll be a haven for tourists, thrill seekers and exhausted travelers.’, Sonic confirmed.  He had heard the news in a text from Samara himself of what his future plans were and what he and Parker were setting out to do.   The two had gathered themselves and their bioengineers from the embers of disaster and arisen like the mighty phoenix of myth to begin anew.  

            ‘Rollercoasters ?  Themed ones, I surmise.’, another hedgehoglet chimed in, a big grin spreading across her indigo face.  

            ‘Yeah, seems like it.  It’ll take some time to rebuild.’, Amy said, tousling little Sapphira’s quills.   

            All of them had to decompress from feeling so amped after that horrific chase.  Saurids would only be a part of their holographic history now, confined merely to the dust of the past and never remembered in the present but by only a few of them.   They would receive the counselling they needed, and they would return to a semblance of normalcy.   For now, however, Sonic couldn’t help but be grateful for his bed, his loving wife and queen beside him and the admiration of the family they had raised together.   No sooner had Sonic’s head hit the pillow after Amy had fallen to sleep, he curled around her, placing his arms around her chest.  He whispered a prayer and closed his eyes, thankful that he and those he loved would continue adventuring and protecting Mobius for another day.

 

To Be Continued…