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Description
  I honestly never imagined I would work for a private company, especially with my background. For the longest time I felt certain and secure in my position with the university, so sure that petty things like funding and grants would never dry up. Then one day they tell you that there is no room in the budget for you and that is that. After all those years of research and work, you are just kicked to the curb with nothing but a big fancy science degree that no one really cares about. Yes, having a PhD in genetics sounds wonderful in the world of academia, but out in the real world it just translates to "big know-it-all who costs more than some undergrad." I tried to get into other programs and universities, but their ships were already full. All the other smart science folk clinging to whatever life rafts they have, knowing that once that program sinks, they will drown just like me. What you get is just pity and half-hearted assurances of "well, if something opens up, we will let you know." It is either that, or some bozo telling you to go after a smaller position, that demanding things like health insurance and higher pay is foolish. "Just start small and work yourself back up," they say. "You can't expect someone to just take you in as some lab manager right off the bat. You got to work for that." If I was fresh out of college, yeah that may have been good advice, but when you have things like insurance, taxes and a mortgage, you can't exactly be accepting minimum wage.

  So there I was, trying to find any form of work when I was contacted by this company called Gen-Core. I had heard about them before, but had never really put any thought into going into that line of work. They were a huge company that worked with genetics and technology that took advantage of that field. While they did produce some high-class equipment, they also had always seemed shady to me. They did good work, but their methods and morals always seemed questionable and profit-based. Working for them felt like the equivalent of working for Monsanto, just selling your soul to do some nasty CEO's bidding. But when you are faced with a mountain of bills and a quickly fading future, a devil's deal didn't seem so bad. So when they called me up that day, I listened. They wanted me to come in and work on a huge project of theirs. It was top secret, so they didn't give much in sakes of details, but they did list a nice fat number when it came to a salary. While the money was enough to make me drool, the mystery of the project also piqued my curiosity. The work would be done in a remote location, with housing provided at the lab itself. I would be flown in with a team of other scientists to work non-stop on this top-secret project. If all went well, we would be going home rich and famous. It honestly sounded like a line you would feed to a washed up actor, but I took the bait. Things were not going well for me here, so why not take the risk and give it a shot? If it turned out to be some cult or an organ-harvesting scam, then at least I wouldn't have to worry about bills again.

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While being brought into Gen-Core and this top-secret project seemed shady at first, I started to get excited as the process went along. Though there were many meetings and a forest's worth of paperwork, the mystery and secrecy started to make me feel like I was some kind of secret agent. Going through all these trainings and the constant talk of confidentiality made me fantasize that I was being brought in to study aliens and other science fiction nonsense. It seems silly to feel that way, but it was doing wonders for me. Only weeks before I had been depressed and wondering where everything went wrong, and now here I was being brought into some high-paying company for a tantalizingly mysterious project. When they told me that the facility was in South America, I should have been worried. Instead, I was further intrigued and even more determined to learn what was going on. If I backed out now, I would forever be wondering what they were doing there. So in the end, despite all the secrecy and forms, I shook hands with Gen-Core and prepared for my trip down south.

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When you do research in academia, you are constantly pinching pennies and keeping a close watch over your budget. So many corners are cut and so many projects are cored out to compensate for such things. In that line of work you sneer and turn your nose up at the scientists who sell themselves out to big Pharma and other money-grabbing companies. You talk about how they are contorting science to just make money, and you shake your head in shame when you see them flinging millions of dollars around like it was worthless confetti. When you start working for one of these rich, "corrupt" companies, though, your view changes quite a bit. Sitting in their company jet on a cozy flight to South America will make you start wishing such treatment never stopped. It certainly made me loath the idea of ever flying coach again! In a few hours, I would be touching down somewhere in Brazil, where I would meet with a driver who would take me to the facility. It would be a long drive to out in the middle of nowhere, and that would be the place I would call home for the next few months. That would also be where I finally meet the rest of the team, as they were being brought in from all over the world. Either this would be an amazing opportunity to work on some world-changing project, or I was going to wind up being one of those hostage scientists for a James Bond villain.

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When I finally got to see the facility, I was blown away. It looked almost exactly like one of those secret labs you would see in some spy movie or science fiction film. Tall barbed wire fences separating the facility from wild jungle and layers of gates and checkpoints that seemed to stop you every five feet. The building itself was a slab of concrete and metal, so armored and bulky that I was positive it was built to withstand a bunker buster. Unfortunately my brain compared it to a high-security prison, which you never wanted to think about when you called such a structure home. Right here was most definitely the point of no return. You couldn't exactly call it quits after seeing a place like this. I am sure I would probably get executed and my carcass thrown to the ants in the jungle. Not exactly happy thoughts to be having on your first day, but I was the one who got me wound up in this.

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At last I finally got to meet the team, and I have to say my spirits are up after seeing them. Though they were complete strangers, their interest in science and their devotion to their fields brought a lot of familiarity to the table. It's like meeting someone who has the same hobby as you, you may not know them, but you already have a lot to talk about and bond over. The rest of the team is: Dr. Kambel, who works primarily with gene sequencing; Dr. Haymond, who is a wiz when it comes to genetic engineering; Dr. Oswall, who focuses more on heredity and and the likes; and at last Dr. Taylor, whose work with genetics is mixed with the field of ornithology. Getting to talk with them was wonderful, as we all hit it off quite well. As we talked about our previous work, I recognized a lot of their projects and ideas from my academia days. Sharing stories about our research brought back a lot of good memories, and my worries from before seemed to fade. If these were the people I would be working with for the next couple of months, things were going to be just fine.

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This fantasy of being surrounded by best friends and helpful colleagues was unfortunately tainted when we met with the head of the facility. Jerry Conwel was the big boss of this place, and I could tell from the very start that he was going to be a major pain. First thing was the fact that he was clearly a business man, some CEO from Gen-Core who was brought down to run the show. Just to listen to him ramble about our backgrounds in genetics and whatnot made it painfully obvious that he knew next to nothing about the field. The way he talked about us and what we would be doing made him sound like a manager of a baseball team who never played the sport. Right off the bat I knew he would be the type of boss who would complain about the lack of progress despite having no clue how genetic engineering works.

We all received an earful from Jerry as he went over the history of Gen-Core and hyped up his own company for what seemed hours. Slide after slide of fancy looking buildings and cliche scientists holding colorful beakers, it was a joke. Everyone else was rolling their eyes or almost falling asleep. All of us had PhDs and papers published under our names, and Jerry felt the need to treat us like school children. At last, he got to the project we would be working on and we all sat up in our seats. He made a lot of hubbub about how we would be changing the world and making breakthroughs that would go down in history. At last, with great pride, he told us we would be bringing dinosaurs back to life. The room went silent, as we tried to figure out if he was joking or not. Dr. Haymond started laughing, as she was sure this was some kind of prank. Dr. Oswall wasn't too pleased with the news, as he thought this was some kind of insult to his work. To be dragged all the way here for some childish idea was ridiculous. It took a lot for Jerry to calm us down, and he tried to explain things to us. Gen-Core had recently obtained samples of dinosaur DNA and wanted to use it to bring them back to life. Such an achievement would bring world fame, as well as a boatload of money. Jerry went on about how people would go crazy for the chance to see real life dinosaurs, and such a thing would bring in an endless revenue that would finance future projects. Though he tried to make it sound noble and sciencey, I couldn't help but imagine that we were going to be making tourists traps. If we were even successful, what would come out would probably wind up at some zoo for kids to ogle and point at. Not exactly a noble goal. Regardless, we were being paid a generous amount of money to do this, and we were also kind of shackled to this project. The amount of paperwork we signed prior to getting here made it practically impossible to bail out now. If I quit and went home, they could probably arrest me the next time I farted under the claim that I had taken company resources from the cafeteria and tried to disseminate it amongst the public. So in the end, we all agreed to go forward, no matter how stupid it all sounded.

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  Jerry took us on a tour to show us the facility, and I think it helped win some of us over. The labs here are crammed packed with the best equipment and technology the world has to offer. I can't imagine any of us had the luxury to even have access to some of this stuff, let alone have full reign over it. There were so many labs and rooms that I am sure we could get lost in them for days. Amongst them were pens and rooms designed to hold animals and specimens, further showing how confident they were that we were going to be successful. Kambel had noticed that they had colonies of rabbits on hand, which he asked Jerry about. Jerry looked to us with a smile and told us that they were food for the raptors. So now we were bringing raptors back to life. Of course we were. We asked "why raptors" and he told us that "people don't care about things that eat grass." The kids love raptors, which made it even more obvious that we were working to make exhibits for a zoo. So much for furthering science.

At the end of the day, Jerry laid out the plan for us. The five of us would be using this DNA to recreate raptors for the company. We had free use of the facility and anything we asked for would be given to us. Jerry would over see the whole project, keeping an eye on our progress and approving any and all decisions. That was unfortunately the one thing he made sure to beat into our heads. He was the boss, what he said was law. What made it infuriating was the fact that he still tried to act buddy-buddy with us. Going on like he was going to be a cool, laid back boss, despite the fact we all knew he was some corporate pawn. No doubt being placed as the head of such a project was going to give him a god complex. At least I have the others to talk to and rely on. Be it success or failure, I am still receiving a paycheck and surrounded by some brilliant minds.

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Work on this crazy project just started, and already Jerry is being a pain in the neck. We have hardly had a chance to even glance at the samples and he is asking for a timetable. "How long will this take? When can I tell them to expect results?" He is acting like we are building a house, and he doesn't even know how to read the blueprints! We keep telling him it will take time and we will let him know, but I still catch glimpses of him haunting the halls and doorways. Thank goodness I have the others to talk to. Just one month alone with him would drive me crazy. It is probably a good thing for him that there is armed security around here, as it would keep me from strangling him. On that note, it is kind of unsettling that we have armed guards around here. Thankfully they are not hauling machine guns around, but still. It makes you wonder what they are worried about.

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We succeeded in getting a good look at this raptor DNA sample and I have to say it is quite...odd. The strands are clearly degraded in certain parts and there is a whole slurry mixed in with it. Now, obviously, we should expect for centuries old DNA to be a little worn, but that isn't what is strange to us. There seems to be parts of the DNA and genetics that appear to have been tampered with. I know it isn't the right way to word it, but there are chunks that almost seem new. For what we thought was a raw sample, it doesn't quite fit. It is like hauling the chassis of an old car out of a scrapyard to find that it has brand new headlights. Did someone work on this before? Are we not the first ones who have been assigned to this project? If we are the second team, then what happened to the others? I am probably getting paranoid, but it is worrying. Those guards with guns seem even more frightening now.

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Jerry is at it again, complaining about lack of results and progress. He keeps saying that we need to work faster and that we "should have had an egg by now." It blows my mind how ignorant and annoying he is. He acts like you can put dinosaur DNA into a chicken and have it pop out baby raptors like it was a vending machine. It's absurd. We are working as hard as we can, trying to reconstruct this sample with what we have and he is still ticked off. Like I predicted, this buddy-buddy thing is wearing off fast.

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Parts of this sample don't make much sense, and we are hitting a roadblock because of it. Something about how it was preserved has added odd parts to the mix and we aren't sure how to proceed. Of course this gave Jerry a conniption and he demanded that we charge onward regardless. He keeps saying he wants a dinosaur, not excuses. We keep telling him it is delicate and slow work, but he won't hear of it. I am starting to wonder if this mysterious first team didn't just throw themselves off the top of the roof. Maybe that is why this building has so many shutters and locks.

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Still doing our best to scrap together a viable sample and Jerry is throwing an ultimatum down. He wants us to attempt genome insertion within the month so that we have eggs to show to the corporate heads. Apparently the big wigs are getting restless and he wants something to impress them with. It is ridiculous. There is no way we can guarantee such a thing, but he is adamant about it. We told him that there is a huge chance something will go wrong and it will be a failure, but he doesn't care. He says he approves all shortcuts and work arounds, and that he will take the blame if something goes wrong. Yeah right.

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We have worked nonstop for the last couple days, and we may have a chance of pulling this off. We looked at the tampered parts of the genome and got some ideas from it. Whoever had worked on this before had made some breakthroughs, and we have been able to patch some things together by observing their handiwork. Maybe this crazy scheme will work. Maybe.

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The samples have been injected and added, and now all we have to do is wait. Maybe an egg will come out of it, but most likely not. I know all of us are worried about what will happen when Jerry finds out that this test failed. Most people would take it in stride and say try again, but I know he won't. That jerk is so obsessed with pleasing his bosses and making a name for himself that he won't take any form of failure. Clearly this guy never worked in science before.

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I can't believe it. It worked. Four eggs survived the process and we have four honest-to-goodness eggs sitting in the incubators now. Everyone is thrilled, especially Jerry. He is already calling up people about our success, even though they haven't hatched yet. Haymond has tried to tell him to not get his hopes up, as the embryos could fail to develop but he can't be stopped. At least he is happy for now, maybe this will buy us some more time.

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They hatched. I can't believe they hatched. After all the crap we pulled, all the corners we cut and we still managed to birth four raptors. Everyone is so surprised, we hardly know what to do now. Never have I expected to pull something like this off. All of us are flabbergasted, except for Jerry. He has been talking pictures and videos non stop, sending it all to his higher ups. He has been boasting our success as loud as he can and I overheard him talking about "turning up production" like this is some kind of assembly line. Right now, I don't care. I just made a freaking dinosaur. I am going to need some time to recover from that.

One odd note is that the raptors came out featherless. I wonder if the original tampered DNA had anything to do with that.

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They are only a few weeks old and Jerry is already talking about making more. He wants us cranking out samples and pumping out eggs as fast as we can, even though we haven't had any time to test and observe the young ones. For all we know, they could drop dead tomorrow. Or they could have some defects or health issues, we have no clue! For Jerry, though, he doesn't care. They aren't animals, they are products. He has already mentioned starting to work on making T-Rexes, because of course that is the next step. I am already worried about how we are going to care for four previously-extinct carnivores and he wants to keep churning them out like Furbies.

The raptors seem to be itching themselves a lot. I wonder if something is wrong with the humidity or environment of their holding pens. We should check that out.

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The raptors have been growing quite rapidly, which we can't tell is normal or not. Its not like we can waltz down to a pet store and pick up a "How-to-Raise Raptors" book. The one thing we do know is that they seem to be sick. They are making wet coughing sounds and they have been leaking from all orifices. I sure hope we didn't bring these poor things to life just so they could die from the flu. Taylor has been asking Jerry if we could contact someone or bring someone in to check on these poor creatures but he refuses. This project is not only top secret, but it is his baby. He refuses to let anyone come in and spoil it. He just keeps telling us to fix them. It makes me sick. Taylor is pretty torn up about it. He hates seeing those things suffer.

They are still scratching themselves a lot. They have started to make themselves bleed from all the itching. It is probably from the disease. I hope we can find a way to cure them soon.

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Something is horribly wrong. The raptors' growth has taken an abysmal turn, and we are not sure how or why. Their scales are falling off and their bodies are forming these terrible growths. I don't think it is a sickness anymore, there is something very wrong with their bodies. We must have screwed something up with the genome, we had to have. All those shortcuts must have overlooked some issue or failure, and now these poor things are suffering because of it. They are in constant pain and they make the most horrible screeching sound. Jerry's bragging and boastfulness is gone, and he is now in "blame everyone" mode. He keeps saying we screwed something up and that he thought we were the best in our field. We just yell back that he was the one who demanded things be done in a rush, but he won't hear of it. I wonder if his higher ups are tearing into him for this failure. Haymond has seen him pacing around on the observation deck, looking at the horrible things that are suffering because of him. The phone calls he takes are a lot less happy sounding and confident. He doesn't say much about it, but I think things are going to be changing around here. Maybe they will send someone competent, but that is probably a fool's dream.

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The mutation and growths have reached a horrible level. I can't even understand what is happening to them. Malformed limbs, warped mouths and disgusting hairy growths.  The entire time these things screech and hiss as their bodies bend and twist. None of us can stand to look at them anymore. It hurts just to hear them suffer. We made the mistake of asking Jerry if we could put them down and he lost his mind. Started screaming and yelling about how this was our fault and that we ruined everything. He refuses to terminate them, saying they are the one thing we have left. He has pretty much stripped us of all clearances and authority. We can't go near their pens anymore, as he is afraid we will kill them without his permission. "Sabotage" he calls it. The raptors are locked down by his command and we are only allowed in our labs so we can continue to try to fix our errors. Jerry stays in his office all day. I haven't even seen him eat or do anything else but mope at his desk. Every phone call he has to answer seems to drain him more and more. I would feel sorry for him if it wasn't for the four tortured creatures he forced us to make. If he ever gets the heart to put them out of their misery, than maybe I could find some sympathy for him.

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Something has happened, but Jerry won't tell us what. He just came storming into our lab today and demanded we destroy the samples. All of them. We were floored by the demand. He refused to tell us why, he just started yelling at us to pretty much torch everything. The samples, our work, our data, all of it. Delete it, trash it or destroy it. He wants all of it gone. Taylor asked if that meant that the raptors would be put down but Jerry didn't even look at him. I feel sorry for Taylor, as he cares so much for those poor things. We can still hear their pained cries, and I know it is tearing him up every time he hears them. Jerry just walked away, leaving us to do his bidding. We have no clue what is going on. We are all worried about what is happening. If we are purging all this stuff, then what will happen to us? If we have nothing to work on, what use are we to these twisted company?

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Kambel figured it out, and now I know why Jerry is so freaked out. Kambel was going through the news today and found out that Gen-Core has just been pulled into this massive lawsuit. Some other company called InGen claims that Gen-Core has stolen research and materials from them, and from the sounds of it they have a very strong case. Tons of research and samples were apparently taken from their labs, and Gen-Core was the ones behind it. No doubt all this has been used to further their own research and projects. It makes me wonder how many "breakthroughs" and products that Gen-Core has boasted about are actually based on stolen research. All of us are terrified now, as this explains why Jerry was so adamant about destroying the samples. We were eliminating evidence. Those "tampered" DNA samples weren't from some previous team Gen-Core employed, they were stolen straight from InGen. If that is the case, then this whole place is coming down. Stealing something that valuable and rare from the company will no doubt guarantee that they come at us with everything they got. Haymond claims that we shouldn't be held responsible since we didn't know, but I am worried that one scrap of paperwork out of all the crap we signed will dump all the blame on us. Even if we are scot-free, are reputations are ruined. We will always be associated with this corrupt, thieving corporation. I never should have signed on for this, never. I got greedy and now I am stuck on this sinking ship with the rest of them.

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A helicopter just landed on the facility's grounds and that spells our doom. We heard from Jerry that an investigating team from InGen was coming to scour our facilities and prove the company's theft. I don't know what they will find after we destroyed everything, but I am sure they will come up with something. I have heard these folk are ruthless, and rightfully so. Gen-Core stole something incredibly valuable, so they are going to make sure we all burn for it. Jerry has practically barricaded himself in his office, terrified to face them. He has practically lost his mind these last couple of days. I think he finally realized that the company is not planning on saving him anytime soon. He was so sure that we would take all the blame that he didn't even think of the possibility of Gen-Core throwing him to the wolves. Poor sap. The rest of us have agreed to give these guys anything they ask for, hoping that they go easy on us. It is clear that Gen-Core has abandoned us, so why should we stick our necks out for them? If these guys tell us to strip down and do the hokey-pokey, I will do it in a heart beat. I will be as helpful as I can and do everything to show them that I am on their side. This wasn't my fault. I was just a scientist down on his luck. I didn't steal those samples, none of us did. We were tricked and we are more than happy to turn on Gen-Core and pay them back for this treachery. The investigating team just walked in, and I am ready to greet them with open arms. They don't look to happy, but then again, why should they? Jerry sure is going to get it no-

The alarms just went off and the building is going into lockdown. We have no clue what happened, but the security systems are on full blast. The shutters just came down and sealed all the doors and windows. It doesn't make any sense. What is going on? Did the InGen folk accidentally trip the alarm when walking in? It couldn't be, not with this level of lockdown. Only Jerry can control that sort of thing. Now that I think of it, he could do that from his office! But why? Was this some last ditch effort to delay the inevitable? If he was hoping to lock out the investigative team, he screwed up. They are locked in here with us! He has clearly lost his mind! Pulling a stunt like this is only going to make things worse for-

There was a gunshot, we all dropped to the floor. Everyone is hiding and ducking behind furniture, trying to figure out where the shooter is. I don't see anyone, not even the guards. Now that I have a moment to think, the gunshot didn't come from the lobby. It sounded muffled, and from down one of the halls. Like the hall where Jerry's office is. There hasn't been any other shooting, so I am starting to think the worst. Something is terribly wrong. I don't hear any more gunshots, just us cowering in our hiding spots. Wait, I do hear something. Something else in the halls. It's like a wet hissing sound, and the clicking of something on tile. Is it Jerry? Is it someone who got hit by the bullet? I have to see- no. Oh god no. No no no no no no no no.

Oh god help us. Oh god no.

No

No

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This has always been one of the scenarios I wish was played with Jurassic Park. I know it is far fetched and scientifically stupid, but I think it is a fun idea. I know I probably screwed up some of the science bits, but there is no way I am doing enough research to make this silly premise logically sound. I mean the serious, scientific parts of those movies have been thrown away long ago, so why not make some crazy fun out of it? They were already thinking of doing dino-human soldiers, so why not?

Description
  I honestly never imagined I would work for a private company, especially with my background. For the longest time I felt certain and secure in my position with the university, so sure that petty things like funding and grants would never dry up. Then one day they tell you that there is no room in the budget for you and that is that. After all those years of research and work, you are just kicked to the curb with nothing but a big fancy science degree that no one really cares about. Yes, having a PhD in genetics sounds wonderful in the world of academia, but out in the real world it just translates to "big know-it-all who costs more than some undergrad." I tried to get into other programs and universities, but their ships were already full. All the other smart science folk clinging to whatever life rafts they have, knowing that once that program sinks, they will drown just like me. What you get is just pity and half-hearted assurances of "well, if something opens up, we will let you know." It is either that, or some bozo telling you to go after a smaller position, that demanding things like health insurance and higher pay is foolish. "Just start small and work yourself back up," they say. "You can't expect someone to just take you in as some lab manager right off the bat. You got to work for that." If I was fresh out of college, yeah that may have been good advice, but when you have things like insurance, taxes and a mortgage, you can't exactly be accepting minimum wage.

  So there I was, trying to find any form of work when I was contacted by this company called Gen-Core. I had heard about them before, but had never really put any thought into going into that line of work. They were a huge company that worked with genetics and technology that took advantage of that field. While they did produce some high-class equipment, they also had always seemed shady to me. They did good work, but their methods and morals always seemed questionable and profit-based. Working for them felt like the equivalent of working for Monsanto, just selling your soul to do some nasty CEO's bidding. But when you are faced with a mountain of bills and a quickly fading future, a devil's deal didn't seem so bad. So when they called me up that day, I listened. They wanted me to come in and work on a huge project of theirs. It was top secret, so they didn't give much in sakes of details, but they did list a nice fat number when it came to a salary. While the money was enough to make me drool, the mystery of the project also piqued my curiosity. The work would be done in a remote location, with housing provided at the lab itself. I would be flown in with a team of other scientists to work non-stop on this top-secret project. If all went well, we would be going home rich and famous. It honestly sounded like a line you would feed to a washed up actor, but I took the bait. Things were not going well for me here, so why not take the risk and give it a shot? If it turned out to be some cult or an organ-harvesting scam, then at least I wouldn't have to worry about bills again.

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While being brought into Gen-Core and this top-secret project seemed shady at first, I started to get excited as the process went along. Though there were many meetings and a forest's worth of paperwork, the mystery and secrecy started to make me feel like I was some kind of secret agent. Going through all these trainings and the constant talk of confidentiality made me fantasize that I was being brought in to study aliens and other science fiction nonsense. It seems silly to feel that way, but it was doing wonders for me. Only weeks before I had been depressed and wondering where everything went wrong, and now here I was being brought into some high-paying company for a tantalizingly mysterious project. When they told me that the facility was in South America, I should have been worried. Instead, I was further intrigued and even more determined to learn what was going on. If I backed out now, I would forever be wondering what they were doing there. So in the end, despite all the secrecy and forms, I shook hands with Gen-Core and prepared for my trip down south.

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When you do research in academia, you are constantly pinching pennies and keeping a close watch over your budget. So many corners are cut and so many projects are cored out to compensate for such things. In that line of work you sneer and turn your nose up at the scientists who sell themselves out to big Pharma and other money-grabbing companies. You talk about how they are contorting science to just make money, and you shake your head in shame when you see them flinging millions of dollars around like it was worthless confetti. When you start working for one of these rich, "corrupt" companies, though, your view changes quite a bit. Sitting in their company jet on a cozy flight to South America will make you start wishing such treatment never stopped. It certainly made me loath the idea of ever flying coach again! In a few hours, I would be touching down somewhere in Brazil, where I would meet with a driver who would take me to the facility. It would be a long drive to out in the middle of nowhere, and that would be the place I would call home for the next few months. That would also be where I finally meet the rest of the team, as they were being brought in from all over the world. Either this would be an amazing opportunity to work on some world-changing project, or I was going to wind up being one of those hostage scientists for a James Bond villain.

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When I finally got to see the facility, I was blown away. It looked almost exactly like one of those secret labs you would see in some spy movie or science fiction film. Tall barbed wire fences separating the facility from wild jungle and layers of gates and checkpoints that seemed to stop you every five feet. The building itself was a slab of concrete and metal, so armored and bulky that I was positive it was built to withstand a bunker buster. Unfortunately my brain compared it to a high-security prison, which you never wanted to think about when you called such a structure home. Right here was most definitely the point of no return. You couldn't exactly call it quits after seeing a place like this. I am sure I would probably get executed and my carcass thrown to the ants in the jungle. Not exactly happy thoughts to be having on your first day, but I was the one who got me wound up in this.

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At last I finally got to meet the team, and I have to say my spirits are up after seeing them. Though they were complete strangers, their interest in science and their devotion to their fields brought a lot of familiarity to the table. It's like meeting someone who has the same hobby as you, you may not know them, but you already have a lot to talk about and bond over. The rest of the team is: Dr. Kambel, who works primarily with gene sequencing; Dr. Haymond, who is a wiz when it comes to genetic engineering; Dr. Oswall, who focuses more on heredity and and the likes; and at last Dr. Taylor, whose work with genetics is mixed with the field of ornithology. Getting to talk with them was wonderful, as we all hit it off quite well. As we talked about our previous work, I recognized a lot of their projects and ideas from my academia days. Sharing stories about our research brought back a lot of good memories, and my worries from before seemed to fade. If these were the people I would be working with for the next couple of months, things were going to be just fine.

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This fantasy of being surrounded by best friends and helpful colleagues was unfortunately tainted when we met with the head of the facility. Jerry Conwel was the big boss of this place, and I could tell from the very start that he was going to be a major pain. First thing was the fact that he was clearly a business man, some CEO from Gen-Core who was brought down to run the show. Just to listen to him ramble about our backgrounds in genetics and whatnot made it painfully obvious that he knew next to nothing about the field. The way he talked about us and what we would be doing made him sound like a manager of a baseball team who never played the sport. Right off the bat I knew he would be the type of boss who would complain about the lack of progress despite having no clue how genetic engineering works.

We all received an earful from Jerry as he went over the history of Gen-Core and hyped up his own company for what seemed hours. Slide after slide of fancy looking buildings and cliche scientists holding colorful beakers, it was a joke. Everyone else was rolling their eyes or almost falling asleep. All of us had PhDs and papers published under our names, and Jerry felt the need to treat us like school children. At last, he got to the project we would be working on and we all sat up in our seats. He made a lot of hubbub about how we would be changing the world and making breakthroughs that would go down in history. At last, with great pride, he told us we would be bringing dinosaurs back to life. The room went silent, as we tried to figure out if he was joking or not. Dr. Haymond started laughing, as she was sure this was some kind of prank. Dr. Oswall wasn't too pleased with the news, as he thought this was some kind of insult to his work. To be dragged all the way here for some childish idea was ridiculous. It took a lot for Jerry to calm us down, and he tried to explain things to us. Gen-Core had recently obtained samples of dinosaur DNA and wanted to use it to bring them back to life. Such an achievement would bring world fame, as well as a boatload of money. Jerry went on about how people would go crazy for the chance to see real life dinosaurs, and such a thing would bring in an endless revenue that would finance future projects. Though he tried to make it sound noble and sciencey, I couldn't help but imagine that we were going to be making tourists traps. If we were even successful, what would come out would probably wind up at some zoo for kids to ogle and point at. Not exactly a noble goal. Regardless, we were being paid a generous amount of money to do this, and we were also kind of shackled to this project. The amount of paperwork we signed prior to getting here made it practically impossible to bail out now. If I quit and went home, they could probably arrest me the next time I farted under the claim that I had taken company resources from the cafeteria and tried to disseminate it amongst the public. So in the end, we all agreed to go forward, no matter how stupid it all sounded.

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  Jerry took us on a tour to show us the facility, and I think it helped win some of us over. The labs here are crammed packed with the best equipment and technology the world has to offer. I can't imagine any of us had the luxury to even have access to some of this stuff, let alone have full reign over it. There were so many labs and rooms that I am sure we could get lost in them for days. Amongst them were pens and rooms designed to hold animals and specimens, further showing how confident they were that we were going to be successful. Kambel had noticed that they had colonies of rabbits on hand, which he asked Jerry about. Jerry looked to us with a smile and told us that they were food for the raptors. So now we were bringing raptors back to life. Of course we were. We asked "why raptors" and he told us that "people don't care about things that eat grass." The kids love raptors, which made it even more obvious that we were working to make exhibits for a zoo. So much for furthering science.

At the end of the day, Jerry laid out the plan for us. The five of us would be using this DNA to recreate raptors for the company. We had free use of the facility and anything we asked for would be given to us. Jerry would over see the whole project, keeping an eye on our progress and approving any and all decisions. That was unfortunately the one thing he made sure to beat into our heads. He was the boss, what he said was law. What made it infuriating was the fact that he still tried to act buddy-buddy with us. Going on like he was going to be a cool, laid back boss, despite the fact we all knew he was some corporate pawn. No doubt being placed as the head of such a project was going to give him a god complex. At least I have the others to talk to and rely on. Be it success or failure, I am still receiving a paycheck and surrounded by some brilliant minds.

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Work on this crazy project just started, and already Jerry is being a pain in the neck. We have hardly had a chance to even glance at the samples and he is asking for a timetable. "How long will this take? When can I tell them to expect results?" He is acting like we are building a house, and he doesn't even know how to read the blueprints! We keep telling him it will take time and we will let him know, but I still catch glimpses of him haunting the halls and doorways. Thank goodness I have the others to talk to. Just one month alone with him would drive me crazy. It is probably a good thing for him that there is armed security around here, as it would keep me from strangling him. On that note, it is kind of unsettling that we have armed guards around here. Thankfully they are not hauling machine guns around, but still. It makes you wonder what they are worried about.

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We succeeded in getting a good look at this raptor DNA sample and I have to say it is quite...odd. The strands are clearly degraded in certain parts and there is a whole slurry mixed in with it. Now, obviously, we should expect for centuries old DNA to be a little worn, but that isn't what is strange to us. There seems to be parts of the DNA and genetics that appear to have been tampered with. I know it isn't the right way to word it, but there are chunks that almost seem new. For what we thought was a raw sample, it doesn't quite fit. It is like hauling the chassis of an old car out of a scrapyard to find that it has brand new headlights. Did someone work on this before? Are we not the first ones who have been assigned to this project? If we are the second team, then what happened to the others? I am probably getting paranoid, but it is worrying. Those guards with guns seem even more frightening now.

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Jerry is at it again, complaining about lack of results and progress. He keeps saying that we need to work faster and that we "should have had an egg by now." It blows my mind how ignorant and annoying he is. He acts like you can put dinosaur DNA into a chicken and have it pop out baby raptors like it was a vending machine. It's absurd. We are working as hard as we can, trying to reconstruct this sample with what we have and he is still ticked off. Like I predicted, this buddy-buddy thing is wearing off fast.

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Parts of this sample don't make much sense, and we are hitting a roadblock because of it. Something about how it was preserved has added odd parts to the mix and we aren't sure how to proceed. Of course this gave Jerry a conniption and he demanded that we charge onward regardless. He keeps saying he wants a dinosaur, not excuses. We keep telling him it is delicate and slow work, but he won't hear of it. I am starting to wonder if this mysterious first team didn't just throw themselves off the top of the roof. Maybe that is why this building has so many shutters and locks.

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Still doing our best to scrap together a viable sample and Jerry is throwing an ultimatum down. He wants us to attempt genome insertion within the month so that we have eggs to show to the corporate heads. Apparently the big wigs are getting restless and he wants something to impress them with. It is ridiculous. There is no way we can guarantee such a thing, but he is adamant about it. We told him that there is a huge chance something will go wrong and it will be a failure, but he doesn't care. He says he approves all shortcuts and work arounds, and that he will take the blame if something goes wrong. Yeah right.

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We have worked nonstop for the last couple days, and we may have a chance of pulling this off. We looked at the tampered parts of the genome and got some ideas from it. Whoever had worked on this before had made some breakthroughs, and we have been able to patch some things together by observing their handiwork. Maybe this crazy scheme will work. Maybe.

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The samples have been injected and added, and now all we have to do is wait. Maybe an egg will come out of it, but most likely not. I know all of us are worried about what will happen when Jerry finds out that this test failed. Most people would take it in stride and say try again, but I know he won't. That jerk is so obsessed with pleasing his bosses and making a name for himself that he won't take any form of failure. Clearly this guy never worked in science before.

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I can't believe it. It worked. Four eggs survived the process and we have four honest-to-goodness eggs sitting in the incubators now. Everyone is thrilled, especially Jerry. He is already calling up people about our success, even though they haven't hatched yet. Haymond has tried to tell him to not get his hopes up, as the embryos could fail to develop but he can't be stopped. At least he is happy for now, maybe this will buy us some more time.

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They hatched. I can't believe they hatched. After all the crap we pulled, all the corners we cut and we still managed to birth four raptors. Everyone is so surprised, we hardly know what to do now. Never have I expected to pull something like this off. All of us are flabbergasted, except for Jerry. He has been talking pictures and videos non stop, sending it all to his higher ups. He has been boasting our success as loud as he can and I overheard him talking about "turning up production" like this is some kind of assembly line. Right now, I don't care. I just made a freaking dinosaur. I am going to need some time to recover from that.

One odd note is that the raptors came out featherless. I wonder if the original tampered DNA had anything to do with that.

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They are only a few weeks old and Jerry is already talking about making more. He wants us cranking out samples and pumping out eggs as fast as we can, even though we haven't had any time to test and observe the young ones. For all we know, they could drop dead tomorrow. Or they could have some defects or health issues, we have no clue! For Jerry, though, he doesn't care. They aren't animals, they are products. He has already mentioned starting to work on making T-Rexes, because of course that is the next step. I am already worried about how we are going to care for four previously-extinct carnivores and he wants to keep churning them out like Furbies.

The raptors seem to be itching themselves a lot. I wonder if something is wrong with the humidity or environment of their holding pens. We should check that out.

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The raptors have been growing quite rapidly, which we can't tell is normal or not. Its not like we can waltz down to a pet store and pick up a "How-to-Raise Raptors" book. The one thing we do know is that they seem to be sick. They are making wet coughing sounds and they have been leaking from all orifices. I sure hope we didn't bring these poor things to life just so they could die from the flu. Taylor has been asking Jerry if we could contact someone or bring someone in to check on these poor creatures but he refuses. This project is not only top secret, but it is his baby. He refuses to let anyone come in and spoil it. He just keeps telling us to fix them. It makes me sick. Taylor is pretty torn up about it. He hates seeing those things suffer.

They are still scratching themselves a lot. They have started to make themselves bleed from all the itching. It is probably from the disease. I hope we can find a way to cure them soon.

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Something is horribly wrong. The raptors' growth has taken an abysmal turn, and we are not sure how or why. Their scales are falling off and their bodies are forming these terrible growths. I don't think it is a sickness anymore, there is something very wrong with their bodies. We must have screwed something up with the genome, we had to have. All those shortcuts must have overlooked some issue or failure, and now these poor things are suffering because of it. They are in constant pain and they make the most horrible screeching sound. Jerry's bragging and boastfulness is gone, and he is now in "blame everyone" mode. He keeps saying we screwed something up and that he thought we were the best in our field. We just yell back that he was the one who demanded things be done in a rush, but he won't hear of it. I wonder if his higher ups are tearing into him for this failure. Haymond has seen him pacing around on the observation deck, looking at the horrible things that are suffering because of him. The phone calls he takes are a lot less happy sounding and confident. He doesn't say much about it, but I think things are going to be changing around here. Maybe they will send someone competent, but that is probably a fool's dream.

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The mutation and growths have reached a horrible level. I can't even understand what is happening to them. Malformed limbs, warped mouths and disgusting hairy growths.  The entire time these things screech and hiss as their bodies bend and twist. None of us can stand to look at them anymore. It hurts just to hear them suffer. We made the mistake of asking Jerry if we could put them down and he lost his mind. Started screaming and yelling about how this was our fault and that we ruined everything. He refuses to terminate them, saying they are the one thing we have left. He has pretty much stripped us of all clearances and authority. We can't go near their pens anymore, as he is afraid we will kill them without his permission. "Sabotage" he calls it. The raptors are locked down by his command and we are only allowed in our labs so we can continue to try to fix our errors. Jerry stays in his office all day. I haven't even seen him eat or do anything else but mope at his desk. Every phone call he has to answer seems to drain him more and more. I would feel sorry for him if it wasn't for the four tortured creatures he forced us to make. If he ever gets the heart to put them out of their misery, than maybe I could find some sympathy for him.

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Something has happened, but Jerry won't tell us what. He just came storming into our lab today and demanded we destroy the samples. All of them. We were floored by the demand. He refused to tell us why, he just started yelling at us to pretty much torch everything. The samples, our work, our data, all of it. Delete it, trash it or destroy it. He wants all of it gone. Taylor asked if that meant that the raptors would be put down but Jerry didn't even look at him. I feel sorry for Taylor, as he cares so much for those poor things. We can still hear their pained cries, and I know it is tearing him up every time he hears them. Jerry just walked away, leaving us to do his bidding. We have no clue what is going on. We are all worried about what is happening. If we are purging all this stuff, then what will happen to us? If we have nothing to work on, what use are we to these twisted company?

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Kambel figured it out, and now I know why Jerry is so freaked out. Kambel was going through the news today and found out that Gen-Core has just been pulled into this massive lawsuit. Some other company called InGen claims that Gen-Core has stolen research and materials from them, and from the sounds of it they have a very strong case. Tons of research and samples were apparently taken from their labs, and Gen-Core was the ones behind it. No doubt all this has been used to further their own research and projects. It makes me wonder how many "breakthroughs" and products that Gen-Core has boasted about are actually based on stolen research. All of us are terrified now, as this explains why Jerry was so adamant about destroying the samples. We were eliminating evidence. Those "tampered" DNA samples weren't from some previous team Gen-Core employed, they were stolen straight from InGen. If that is the case, then this whole place is coming down. Stealing something that valuable and rare from the company will no doubt guarantee that they come at us with everything they got. Haymond claims that we shouldn't be held responsible since we didn't know, but I am worried that one scrap of paperwork out of all the crap we signed will dump all the blame on us. Even if we are scot-free, are reputations are ruined. We will always be associated with this corrupt, thieving corporation. I never should have signed on for this, never. I got greedy and now I am stuck on this sinking ship with the rest of them.

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A helicopter just landed on the facility's grounds and that spells our doom. We heard from Jerry that an investigating team from InGen was coming to scour our facilities and prove the company's theft. I don't know what they will find after we destroyed everything, but I am sure they will come up with something. I have heard these folk are ruthless, and rightfully so. Gen-Core stole something incredibly valuable, so they are going to make sure we all burn for it. Jerry has practically barricaded himself in his office, terrified to face them. He has practically lost his mind these last couple of days. I think he finally realized that the company is not planning on saving him anytime soon. He was so sure that we would take all the blame that he didn't even think of the possibility of Gen-Core throwing him to the wolves. Poor sap. The rest of us have agreed to give these guys anything they ask for, hoping that they go easy on us. It is clear that Gen-Core has abandoned us, so why should we stick our necks out for them? If these guys tell us to strip down and do the hokey-pokey, I will do it in a heart beat. I will be as helpful as I can and do everything to show them that I am on their side. This wasn't my fault. I was just a scientist down on his luck. I didn't steal those samples, none of us did. We were tricked and we are more than happy to turn on Gen-Core and pay them back for this treachery. The investigating team just walked in, and I am ready to greet them with open arms. They don't look to happy, but then again, why should they? Jerry sure is going to get it no-

The alarms just went off and the building is going into lockdown. We have no clue what happened, but the security systems are on full blast. The shutters just came down and sealed all the doors and windows. It doesn't make any sense. What is going on? Did the InGen folk accidentally trip the alarm when walking in? It couldn't be, not with this level of lockdown. Only Jerry can control that sort of thing. Now that I think of it, he could do that from his office! But why? Was this some last ditch effort to delay the inevitable? If he was hoping to lock out the investigative team, he screwed up. They are locked in here with us! He has clearly lost his mind! Pulling a stunt like this is only going to make things worse for-

There was a gunshot, we all dropped to the floor. Everyone is hiding and ducking behind furniture, trying to figure out where the shooter is. I don't see anyone, not even the guards. Now that I have a moment to think, the gunshot didn't come from the lobby. It sounded muffled, and from down one of the halls. Like the hall where Jerry's office is. There hasn't been any other shooting, so I am starting to think the worst. Something is terribly wrong. I don't hear any more gunshots, just us cowering in our hiding spots. Wait, I do hear something. Something else in the halls. It's like a wet hissing sound, and the clicking of something on tile. Is it Jerry? Is it someone who got hit by the bullet? I have to see- no. Oh god no. No no no no no no no no.

Oh god help us. Oh god no.

No

No

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This has always been one of the scenarios I wish was played with Jurassic Park. I know it is far fetched and scientifically stupid, but I think it is a fun idea. I know I probably screwed up some of the science bits, but there is no way I am doing enough research to make this silly premise logically sound. I mean the serious, scientific parts of those movies have been thrown away long ago, so why not make some crazy fun out of it? They were already thinking of doing dino-human soldiers, so why not?