Author's Note: I'm so sorry this chapter took so long, guys! I had planned to get this out WEEKS ago. But unfortunately, a busy schedule and a lot of unplanned happenings delayed me, and for that, I'm sorry. I hope this chapter more than makes up for it.

There is a section of this chapter that was largely inspired by the original Jurassic Park novel, the chapter titled: Versions 4.4. There is a great reading/exploration of this chapter by Klayton Fioriti on youtube. I swear the more chapters I put out of this story, it's like this guy is reading my mind, because he seems to put out a lot of J.P content that directly links to my work or backs up a lot of my headcannons for what is to come in this story. Please give him a watch, he's very good!

Please don't forget to review, and warning of mild violence.

August 3rd, 2011

"How did this happen?"

Mills' eyes scanned the email, scrolling the bar down further and further. A part of his brain couldn't compute how this was possible, let alone try to explain it to his employer. He could feel Benjamin stood over his shoulder, his icy presence pressing down on Mills' back. Mills tried to keep hold of his nerve and not fidget around like a school-boy getting his first lecture from the headmaster. But it was hard to do so with damning evidence laid out before him on the screen.

The email was from an unknown user, though Benjamin had made it clear whom he suspected. The email consisted of pictures, at first one could mistake them for landscape shots of trees, until one noticed the familiar chimney stacks and Victorian-era roof-slats hidden amongst the treetops. Then the pictures brought into tight focus on one figure in particular. Maisie, playing outside on the play-equipment she'd been bought last spring. One picture was distant but showed her leaning back on the swings. Another showed her crouched to peer at a snail. A different showed her skipping about, brandishing a stick like a sword. And the list went on that showed a decent long-term surveillance. At the bottom of the email were left only two words: We Know.

"Sir," Mills began, "I have no idea how there could've been such a massive security breech. But rest assured, I will do everything in my power to make sure this house, and its secrets, are safely guarded."

Behind Benjamin, the pitter-patter of torrential raindrops slapped against the dark windowpane. "This needs to be contained, Eli. I will not have my family taken away from me. I trust no one else to do what must be done."

Mills struggled not to swell with pride. "I think it would be best, Sir, if we go on temporary lockdown until we can be sure our security is back up to scratch. I'll have a platoon of men here by sunup." At the suggestion, Benjamin nodded. "And you know who sent this?"

"It's obvious. They've been attempting to wring information out of me for months. I didn't give them what they want."

"And now?" Mills pressed. "Have they sent you any demands since you received this email."

"No," Benjamin shook his head, troubled. "This was the last message I received – only an hour ago."

"I'll have some men look into it–"

The pair were interrupted by a soft knock at the door. Benjamin hastily shut down the laptop, and the pair of them stood straight as Iris poked her head in through the door. She glanced between them, but they said nothing. "Sorry to interrupt Mr Lockwood, but Maisie has been asking for you."

"Oh?" The response was almost lost as a crack of thunder boomed almost directly overhead.

Iris winced at the sound. "Yes, sir. She refuses to go to bed until you tuck her in."

"Tell her I'll be there momentarily," Benjamin said and waited for Iris to leave the study, before turning back to Mills. "Remember, Mills. You're the only one I trust with this. Keep my family safe."

The lights of the house twinkled between the water fragments that fell from the heavens. The forest helped to hide the great mansion from view, but it also helped to allow interlopers to creep into the territory. Nine sets of footfalls carefully crept through the undergrowth, nine men stalked closer to the Lockwood house. Their black gear further helped them to blend in with the night, the rain that filtered through the canopy above dripping from their bodies, though they gave no complaint.

The leader of the group, a man with a surly expression and a tattoo of a viper on the back of his left hand, held up a fist to signal for stillness. The group stopped and hunkered down around their commander. With a countdown of fingers, the group of nine synchronised their watches for a 60-minute countdown. Only one hour; one hour to get what they'd been assigned to do. One hour to get in and get out to meet with their extraction. Each of the men had been briefed of the consequences of missing that time. If they weren't at the rendezvous, they would be left behind. The Commander then began to split the nine into teams of three. He did not communicate with words lest it tip their good luck out of their favour. All the Commander needed to do was point to the individuals he needed. He sent the first three in to make way for them.

The Commander waited and watched patiently. He saw only two security offices through his binoculars. Very quickly, they were taken out. Glancing up to the sky, the Commander watched and waited. Timed for a close lightning strike, the group suddenly saw an EMP pulse that cut short all the electrics in the house. With one snap of his fingers, the Commander sent his men down towards the house at a sprint. At the garage door, another group of three broke off from the main group and diverted down to sweep the house for any valuable assets. The Commander and his two men made straight for the old servants' passages that would lead them upwards into the offices of the house. He worked from memory of a blue-print he'd received earlier that week. His men followed him without comment, as they travelled further into the dark house.

February 15th, 1987

John Hammond levelled Benjamin Lockwood a tired look. "Benjamin, honestly. We have investors, we have the company, we have you and I. Do not worry yourself over money."

Benjamin pulled on his tie to try and work it loose. Damn it, he'd been up all night and now he was struggling in the office heat. "John, I know you want everything to be perfect – I do as well. But we need to be realistic. Construction, employment, insurance; it all adds up eventually."

"Ben," Hammond smiled as he reached over to pat his dear friend's shoulder as if they were blood brothers. "Our park is going to be the finest thing this world has ever seen. We will make an entertainment paradise for not only our customers, but our dinosaurs as well. To achieve that, we must spare no expense."

"Perhaps we could spare no expense if we didn't have to keep paying out for new iterations of our animals. The resources needed to create entirely new lifeforms is very expensive, John. We cannot afford to create three or four versions of the same animals indefinitely."

"Henry is doing his best," John mildly defended. "It is not his fault some of the DNA strands require further work, and we cannot see the full effects of that until the animals are here."

"John, all I'm asking is that you allow me some autonomy to bring in some more money."

Knowing that he wasn't going to win this fight, Hammond sighed and threw up his hands. Benjamin later left the office and began to walk around the building housing the labs. Construction had expanded the main building and its nearby workers village, even as they'd made leaps and bounds in terms of the dinosaurs they were starting to house. Despite his complaining, Benjamin had to marvel in awe at what he and Hammond were creating. It was if they were building an entirely new world out here.

Footsteps loudly slapped against the linoleum floor. Benjamin glanced up in order to see the young Henry Wu marching towards him. Benjamin could only guess at what had this man's hackles up. He held a folder in his hand that he clutched tightly to his front as he stopped right in front of Benjamin.

"Mr Lockwood," Dr Wu bowed his head by way of greeting.

Benjamin nodded back warily. "Dr. Is anything the matter?"

"Well," Wu huffed. "Just Mr Hammond getting in the way of my job with his sentimentality. That's why I've come to you. I'm hoping that you'll be more openminded then he will once I present this to him." Quickly, he thrust the file to Benjamin. "I really think you should consider my recommendations for phase 2. I think we should go to version 4.4."

Benjamin's brows shot up almost to his hairline. He hadn't paid that much attention to the lingo of the scientists and Hammond, but THAT one he knew. "You want to replace all of the current stock of animals? What's wrong with the dinosaurs?"

"Look," Wu said, and his voice dropped low as if he feared being overheard. "As we stand here, almost no one in the world has seen a living dinosaur. Nobody knows what they're really like. The dinosaurs we have are real, but in certain ways they're unsatisfactory, unconvincing. I could make them better."

That sounded expensive. "Better in what way?"

"Allow me another try at manipulating the DNA. Let me restock what we currently have. They'd be something the public could really be entertained by. I could make them so much better – I could make art!"

"But Dr Wu," Benjamin held up his hand to try and slow the man's ramblings, to attempt to reason. "What we have here is real dinosaurs."

"I don't think we should kid ourselves here," Wu scoffed, "the past is gone. We can never recreate it. All we've done is reconstruct the past, or at least a version of it – and I think I can make it better."

"Better than real?"

"Why not? After all, I've already modified them to bring them to life. We gave them growth hormones to make them big as quick as possible. Why stop there? Why not create the dinosaur that the visitors want to see? One that is more acceptable to the visitors."

"You want to make puppets, fictions, something that's already inside their imaginations." Oh, Benjamin could just imagine Hammond's disappointment. He would hate to settle for anything less than close to the real thing, the unexpected, the magnificent. "But in doing that, they wouldn't be REAL."

"But they're not real NOW." Wu snapped. "That's what I'm trying to tell you, there isn't any reality here."

"And then what do we do with our current stock, hmm?" Benjamin asked with a scolding eye. "What would you have me do with the current animals you want to just throw away in preparation for the new?"

Dr Wu shrugged, as if uncaring. "Do what you want with them. They are still miracles of science they can still be worth a fortune to us in terms of resources."

Or a fortune to someone else… Benjamin realised as a lightbulb lit up in his brain. It was a risky move. He knew Hammond would be furious with him when he found out. But he'd also just bargained with Hammond to allow him to get a little money back from these dinosaurs. Pharmaceutical companies, research labs, they would pay a hefty price for bits and pieces of such raw genetic material. And all that money could be put into funds for this park. Benjamin himself didn't like the idea much; the thought of selling off these wonderful animals for profit made the inside of his chest feel hollow. But a little voice, one that sounded suspiciously like his father's, told him to do whatever it takes to achieve his goal.

He thrust the folder back into Dr Wu's hands. "Continue into version 4.4. But only in the sense that your research will allow these animals to be healthy and long-lived. You will not mismanage our dinosaurs, just so you can create something acceptable to our visitors. And in the meantime, with the old specimens… I'll see what I can do with them."

August 3rd, 2011

Deep beneath the great house, the Indoraptor slept on. Chin tucked into his curling tail, he took his time to breath. Only in sleep was he allowed true peace. Men and their prods haunted his waking hours. After his little escapade through the woods, the hated-human had spotted his wound. He wasn't sure if they'd figured out his escape, but they had still punished him greatly. No Sister in two moons, all his time spent on their infuriatingly pointless exercises, or their maddening postures of dominance he refused to allow. But the night… sleep… it allowed a little bit of peace from his near constant rage.

Abruptly, the musty night air was disturbed. New scents began to mingle in the ever-so-slight currents all around. They were unknown. The Indoraptor opened his eyes. In this dark abyss carved out below the earth, there was an equilibrium he was familiar with. But it was gone. The silence of the world below was broken. He could hear footsteps, quiet ones, but his ears still strained to pick up the sound. His stomach twisted. This was not right. It wasn't morning yet, his keepers were never here at this hour. This was unusual, therefore it could only mean trouble.

Hurriedly uncoiling, the Indoraptor pressed his tail to the back of the cage, letting the shadows be his ally. He gave a sharp cry, a warning for the intruders to stay clear. There was a pause. And then, slowly, the handle to his room opened. In stepped three humans he was unfamiliar with. They were garbed head to foot in their strange second-skins, the colour of his own black scales. They were bulky, he could smell the plastic covering them, as well as the mouldy scent of rain in trees. From the outside, in the forest. These were not just intruders in his realm, but intruders in the whole of the Father's kingdom. Their scents reeked of meat that had been left in the sun too long, a scent of wrongness, of bad-blood.

"Holy cow…" whispered the lead one. He pulled a little black box from his shoulder and spoke into it. "This is beta team to alpha team. Do you copy?"

The black box crackled, and the Indoraptor hissed in surprise at the sharp and loud noise. "Copy that. What's wrong?"

"Sir… we got something. I don't know what it is. But it's scaly and full of teeth. Over."

"Bag it. We take whatever's of value. Over and out."

The lead human turned to the other two. "You heard him! Find me some bolt cutters and get that thing open."

Whilst the other two rummaged around the room, the lead one knelt close by the cage door. The Indoraptor did not move. Did not once move a muscle other than to keep his eyes on the foe closest to him. The human uttered words to him, supposedly soothing, telling him how good he was, mistaking him for an infant due to his non-threatening behaviour. The Indoraptor let him believe that. Soon, the others had handed their leader a large clumpy piece of metal. He pushed it against the lock, squeezed and snapped it off. Cautiously, they opened the cage door, and another human offered the leader the chain and collar he was familiar with.

But he wouldn't be putting it on.

As the human-leader reached out to push the collar over his head, the Indoraptor watched, and waited. When they were inches apart, the Indoraptor suddenly lunged. His teeth snapped around the collar and yanked. The human cried as he was pulled off balance. Startled, the Indoraptor slashed out with his long claws on his overly-big hands. Quite by chance, his middle claw sliced open the human's exposed neck. Red blood fountained out and drenched the floor. A scent, of metal and meat and life washed over him, and the Indoraptor was felt a sudden ravenous hunger. There was a desire in him to see more of this red stuff, to touch it, to feel it while it was still warm.

Shouts erupted outside his cage. The humans were pointing small guns at him. The Indoraptor screeched and sprinted out of the still open door. He leapt up onto the closest human, and by reflex he didn't even know he had, his big sickle toe claws sank into his pray as he collided with it. More screams sounded, as he bit and clawed in a quick frenzy.

BANG!

The loud noise made him jump, startled. His long tail lashed out and tripped the other human's legs out from under him. As he fell to the floor, a drive to hunt, to chase, to kill, drove its way through the Indoraptor's brain. Abandoning the human he'd wounded so terribly, he dove for the fresh one. Body acting without ever having prior knowledge of what to do, he clamped his jaws around the face and neck. He didn't know whether to squeeze or to tear at the flesh – so he ended up doing both. He only stopped when the black box on the dead leader's shoulder made another noise. It broke the Indoraptor from his stupor long enough to regain control of his impulses and he hissed at it. He wasn't hungry anyway, but he had to admit… his first kill had been good. The rush of adrenaline, the speed, the thrill of feeling the heartbeat of another wither and stop under his claws… it created such an addictive feeling.

But now he was free to do as he pleased. Maybe he could navigate the walls and corridors until he found his way to Sister? He had smelt her earlier, when the humans in white coats had come to poke him with needles. Her scent had been polluted with evidence of disease. That knowledge made him want to go to her immediately, to discover for himself if she was alright. And besides, they'd been kept apart again, and that needed to be remedied.

Cautiously stepping outside his room, he hunkered down to all fours, pressing his nose to the cold metal floor. He sniffed about, turning his head left and right as he followed her earlier scent. As he moved, an impatient tick ran through his body, echoing out through his toe claws in a consistent one-two, one-two-three rhythm. And with that strange staccato following him, he prowled out towards the upper reaches of the house.

Mill rubbed his tired eyes from underneath his glasses. God, he needed more sleep. His numb fingers typed out at the keyboard on his desk, trying to rewrite the same sentence he'd been trying to compose for the past five minutes. His eyes stared dully at the glare of the computer screen. Attempting to direct his unfocused brain, he pulled up a load of other files in order to cross-reference. He'd promised Mr Lockwood he'd catch these crooks, and if he wanted to have them by the balls, he needed to be thorough.

The door opened, and Mills at first groaned, because he thought it was Mrs Cheng, the cleaner, come to dust his office as she always did at 5am. Had he been up all night? It wouldn't surprise him, he'd gotten stuck at his desk like that before; but he honestly did think –

And then he looked up and saw the three men dressed in black body armour. Mills went to shout the alarm, rising from his chair to meet the intruders head on. But the leader was already reaching around his desk and grabbing hold of his shirt. The man pulled and Mills was launched forward. Flying over the desk, he landed roughly on the floor, painfully twisting his arm as he landed on it wrong. He moaned, winded, and was unable to respond as two other sets of hands hauled him up and held him confined, his wrists locked behind his back.

Mills seethed with anger as he watched the huge beefcake sit in his chair and begin typing away at his computer. "You won't find anything!" he snarled breathlessly. "It's all password protected!"

The man levelled a look at Mills, and he spotted chilling eyes, one brown, and one green. The man held up a black flash drive. "Never underestimate what Dodgson is capable of."

Mills went still, his blood cold. Dodgson. Mr Lockwood had tried to warn him, but he hadn't thought it possible he'd be this obvious. But there was no denying it. If Dodgson was involved, then this was more serious then just a hostile takeover. This was BIOSYN.

March 2nd, 1987

Benjamin knew something was wrong when he finally came home from the Muertes Archipelago and saw an unfamiliar car in his driveway. Sleek, black, a Hummer, with tinted windows. As he strode up the steps to his front door, he didn't even have time to open them before a figure burst through them and launched itself at him. Benjamin almost fell back down the stone steps, before he caught himself and the girl in his arms with a burst of startled laughter.

"Father!" the 13-year-old cried giddily. Almost as quickly as she had clung to him, she let him go, and looked up at him excitedly. "Did you many dinosaurs? How big are they? Are they fully grown yet? Are there still some babies left? What species has Uncle John got? When can I–"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down there," Benjamin chuckled.

The click of Iris' heels struck the hard floor as she stomped towards them. She crossed her arms and dramatically sighed. "I swear, she has more attention for these fictitious beasts than she has for the real world. If you offered to drop her off amongst them, she'd live as one."

Ah, poor Iris. Whilst she never discredited Benjamin's ambitions, she found the concept of dinosaurs being brought back to life to be a little too far for her imagination to comprehend. She'd said she would believe it when she saw it. And unfortunately, that doubt manifested into jabs at Maisie, even if she loved her like her own flesh and blood. Iris just preferred it when girls stuck to girl-things.

But Maisie gave as good as she got, as she turned a scathing eye on her nanny. "I would. They eat only the most nutritious of diets: mouthy governesses."

"Now you two," Benjamin gently scolded. "Maisie, that wicked sense of humour will get you into a lot of trouble someday, if you're not careful."

The girl looked ashamedly at the floor. "Sorry, father."

He nodded and turned to his long-time friend. "Iris, who's car–"

The housekeeper immediately appeared to pale slightly. "I-I tried to stop him, sir. Said you weren't entertaining visitors. But he insisted. He barged in – he's waiting for you in your study."

Benjamin left the pair of them there, determined to meet this intruder and exile him from his sanctuary. But as he opened the door and beheld the interloper, he stilled. He recognised the man all too well. Handsome square jaw, roman-nose, light brown hair and eyes that would make women swoon. His build was tall and broad, but his movements belied a danger that was prominent in the confident smirk he sent Benjamin's way.

Benjamin had to make an effort to keep his lip from curling. "Lewis Dodgson."

Oh yes, the infamous agent Dodgson. Soon after INGEN had been established, naturally a competitor had arisen: BIOSYN. The company were rather infamous even now for amassing and utilising technology they stole from others. And Lewis Dodgson was their number one thug. Benjamin had heard he'd once been a employed by the federal government. It would explain his certain skills in intimidation, interrogation, spying, extortion, hacking, combat, the list went on.

Dodgson's smirk widened. "Mr Lockwood. Hope I'm not interrupting anything. But I heard you just got back from a little business trip. I thought it best if we talk in person."

Closing the door firmly behind him, Benjamin kept his face calm and cool as he strode past the interloper to sit behind his desk. "And what would we need to talk about?"

"Mr Lockwood," Dodgson began, sitting himself in the opposite seat – even though Benjamin had not invited him to do so. "I represent a few people that are very interested in the new frontiers you're investing in."

"Frontiers?" Benjamin pretended to be confused for the sake of saying he tried; even if he knew that if Dodgson was here, it meant BIOSYN already had a good idea of what Hammond and he were up to. "You must be mistaken."

"I don't joke, Mr Lockwood." Dodgson's eyes suddenly turned hard, in a manner that Benjamin found it difficult to keep his composure and stare right back. "My employers know what you and Mr Hammond are up to."

"BIOSYN have barely been up more than a year, yet you're already garnering a reputation for theft, espionage and sabotage." Benjamin decided to throw away pretence entirely, and cut deep for a scathing remark. "Tell me, how does it feel to work for a company so creatively impotent that they have to resort to taking ideas from real innovators?"

"I don't know. How about you tell me how it feels being an underappreciated second fiddle to Hammond?"

"What?"

"Let's face it, Mr Lockwood. Hammond wants nothing but your money and your connections. He's a parasite – sucks up everything and leaves with the spoils. He might call you a partner, but he doesn't let you in, not really. And once he's done with you, he'll throw you away like so much trash. But half this venture with him is yours, by rights." Dodgson leaned his elbows on the edge of the desk, and Benjamin had the instinctive response to cringe away. "My employers would know exactly how to appreciate someone like you. Someone with vision, someone who knows how society needs to progress into the future. If you would break off with Hammond, bring your work to us, we could see it be properly used."

"And what would you offer me in return? Money?"

"My employers are willing to write any kind of numbers on a cheque. We could reimburse you of all the money you've invested into Hammond's disaster-waiting-to-happen."

"You know what? You're the real parasite here." Benjamin scoffed, shaking his head. "You think I would betray my best friend, a man whose vision and purpose inspires me? For what? Money? You're wasting my time."

Finally, Dodgson's patience began to wear thin. "Mr Lockwood! Don't you get it? We could use this technology to make sure this benefits humanity – not just used for a cheap circus!"

"Like what? Extort them? Hunt them? Or throw them in a lab for the most lethal and torturous of experiments?" he scowled, his voice low and lethal with its cold fury. "I would rather die before giving those magnificent animals to the likes of you."

"You already did." The words made Benjamin freeze. Dodgson snorted. "What? Didn't do a thorough check of who you were selling those early versions too? Look at it this way, Mr Lockwood. With or without your help, BIOSYN will be getting their hands on this technology – on those animals. You can either be a part of humanity's next step forward; or, be a footnote under Hammond's shoe."

"Get out of my house." Benjamin growled.

Seeing as he was getting nowhere, Dodgson rolled his eyes and stood, brushing his jacket off as if the very air Benjamin breathed was disgusting. He strolled out with all the care and confidence of a man who knew he'd lost nothing. Benjamin let him go, not paying attention anymore. All he could focus on was his rolling stomach, and the thought of those poor animals he'd given away.

August 3rd, 2011

"Well I'll be…" the intruder at the computer murmured. He stared at the screen, and Mills dreaded to think of what he'd found in the files that flash-drive had managed to unlock. "And here I thought she was just a kid he was hoarding away. A relative we could use, but this…"

Mills felt his stomach clench. Oh no. They knew about Maisie. Trying not to alert the two goons that still held him prisoner, Mills attempted to reach his fingers for his watch on the opposite wrist. If he could just push one button on the side, it would alert the entire house-hold of an emergency. He needed to call in the cavalry, these men couldn't be allowed to leave this building with such sensitive information.

The leader at the computer reached for his walkie-talkie. "Omega team, this is alpha team. Change of plan. I want you to find a little girl. She is of extreme value. Do you copy?"

The answer was almost immediate. "Copy that, alpha team. We're split up and heading for the bedrooms. We'll – ARRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!"

Everyone in the room cringed away at the scream that erupted from the walkie-talkie. Mills felt his two captors go rigid in sudden fear. Their leader recovered quickly and tried to scramble back for control. "Omega team do you read me?" No answer. He began to flip through the channels. "Beta team, report in!" Nothing. "Omega? Do you copy!"

No one spoke.

Mills kicked out his leg into one of his captor's knees. He heard a crunch that made him squirm, but it was enough to hear the man go down, wailing. Surging upwards, Mills threw off the hold of the singular man that still held him. Unprepared for such movement, his grip loosened enough for Mills to wriggle free and run for it. He wasn't stupid. He knew he had no combat skills that could hope to match these guys. His only chance was to get away. As he did so, he pushed his emergency button on his watch. He raced around the corner, even as he heard the shouts of the hostile agents pursuing him.

It was time to rally the rest of the staff and kick out these invaders!

The Indoraptor was sore and jittery. He wasn't used to all this adrenaline, not used to all this commotion. He'd injured a few other intruders in his quest to find his Sister. He was close now. Her scent was strongest here: up a short incline of stairs, to a level ground where remained on final door. From the heavy scent of sleep and warmth that permeated this area, the Indoraptor took note that this must be her den, where she slept. Well, now it would be his too, he reasoned with himself. Pack had to stick together, his instincts told him.

But as he quietly scratched his way up the stairs, he stiffened as he saw the same kind of human outside Sister's den as he'd encountered everywhere else in the house tonight. Garbed in black, stinking of untrustworthiness and clearly a threat. The human was hanging outside her door, meaning to intrude on Sister as she slept. Instincts told the Indoraptor that it was a cardinal sin to trespass on the den, on the nest where the pack called home, where they were most vulnerable!

The human reached out to open the door, and the Indoraptor would not stand for it. He hissed and launched himself up the final steps. He barrelled into the man as he tried to turn around. Large head hitting into the man's abdomen, he bowled him over. The pair of them fell down and tumbled together. Memories of the large cat in the forest came back to the Indoraptor, and he remembered through that experience hat he must do now. He kicked out with his back legs, shredding upwards and pushing simultaneously. The human was not anchored as the cat had been. So instead of him tearing open the human's second and primary skins, he instead launched him into the air. The human crashed into the far-wall, and fell down to the ground, splintering a heavy wooden table as he did. The human lay motionless and didn't get back up.

Knowing he wasn't dead, the Indoraptor clambered to his feet, and made to go after his kill. But then, a soft noise from the room beyond caught his attention, and he stopped. His attention came back to the door, his prey forgotten. Sister was beyond this final boundary. But how to get in? He peered curiously at the piece of metal sticking out of the wood. He remembered a similar shape on the door in the garage when he and Sister had snuck outside. He remembered watching her press it down until it faced the ground. Curiously, he reached his own long claws out until they rested on the top of the handle. When at first the weight of his own fingers was only enough to turn it a fraction, he applied a little pressure.

There was a soft 'click', and the door swung open on noisy hinges. The room beyond was dark, broken by moving starlight that originated from a little globe-like-thing on a table. A wooden structure with four beams pointed towards the ceiling was pressed against the right wall. On the far side was a door of glass that led out into the sky. The rain had stopped, and the moonlight it allowed in illuminated a small figure on a pile of soft furs and leaves – a nest.

Sister groaned as she sat up a little, eyes barely blinking open. "Jack? Wha'ya doin'?"

Her speech was garbled, the scent of sleep still heavy on her hot cheeks. Jack shivered his jaws to chitter softly, a reassurance that all was well. Without a second thought, he came up to her nest, and poked it with his snout. Soft and warm, a well built nest made for comfort. What a clever Sister to figure this out all by herself. He wanted to test it; pack slept together, after all. But he couldn't be sure if there would be more intruders. Best to be ready, not compromised by getting tangled in the bedding of the nest. So, he curled up on the fur of her floor, next to the nest, so he would be between Sister and the door. He didn't mean to, but as he lay there with golden eyes fixed on the entranceway, he felt the fatigue of the night begin to creep up on him. Soon, it was getting harder and harder to fight the droop of his eyelids, until finally, he was snoring as loudly as Sister was in her nest.

And that was how Jack and Maisie were found not an hour later, as Benjamin Lockwood and Eli Mills rushed as quickly as they were able to find the princess of the house. They and the rest of the staff had managed to find the bodies of broken bruised men strewn across the house, crying through pain and yelling about a monster. They'd managed to apprehend the other three agents that had captured Mills, but they needed to be sure that Maisie was safe!

As they came to the door, they froze, and their heartbeats stopped for one dreaded second. But as they recognised the girl sleeping peacefully in her bed, the dinosaur that lay curled up in slumber on her rug, and the man that lay in a crumpled heap on a shattered table with a clearly broken arm… they began to realise what had happened. Had this little monster sought to protect Maisie? Had it recognised danger and knew to guard her from it? In the pair of them began a fundamental change on that night. Benjamin Lockwood looked upon this beast with slow garnering respect, his mind ticking over how to reward (And perhaps even encourage) such behaviour.

As for Mills… he couldn't help but look upon the sleeping Frankenstein-dinosaur, and think of highly trained men it had ploughed through. What possibilities could this open up, he asked himself… Perhaps this little freak could be of some worth after all…