#dinodominion

[mr-creative-91]

Story by Luis Perez

Art by Luis Perez

Dino Dominion: Battle of Dinosaurs created by COLOPL, Inc.

I opened the door to my apartment and after closing it and throwing my keys onto the small stand to the side I sat my satchel onto the couch and made my way to the fridge. I pulled out the milk and poured myself a glass. I then reached for a banana from a bowl on the kitchen counter and sat myself onto the couch. My apartment had an open feel to it with a bar stand separating the kitchen from the living room.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I needed to find another job. I reached for my laptop inside my satchel and booted it up. It’s not that I didn’t like sitting around drawing all day, but having to sit all day and be yelled at by people, was getting really annoying. I don’t know how I was able to manage three years at that call center. It was only recently that I wanted to jump off the building’s roof and end it all.

Once my laptop was booted up I accessed the internet and began my search for another job:

Housekeeping…no.

Retail…nah.

Restaurant server…nope.

Call center…definitely not.

Security…well it’s always been a thought. I continued looking through the advertisements when I scrolled upon one in particular: Laurasia: Genetic Technology, Inc. I figured with the name it must be some type of museum and I always found dinosaurs to be extravagating. I clicked on it and a white page pulled up with the name of the company and a brief description:

Laurasia: Genetic Technology, Inc.

A biological venture project incorporated from a university laboratory. The lab houses cutting edge biogenetic and cloning departments, and grew exponentially after developing successful cures for complex diseases. They are very experienced with paleontological findings and the posting of scholarly materials.

We are looking for security personnel to help secure the buildings facility. No high school diploma needed. No prior experience needed. A will to protect and best attitude are a must.

It wasn’t much to go off of but I thought I’d give it a try. It’s not every day that I find a job that requires no high school diploma, which I did have, or any experience. I filled out the required information including my name, prior work, highest education, and so on and so forth.

I then reached a questionnaire. There were only fifty questions and some of them were quite odd. It asked me if being on an island for nearly 2 years would be a problem, and there was also a question about if staying in the forest for almost a week would be okay with me. At one point I thought it was a joke and was about to stop, but I decided to keep going anyway. It took little over a half hour to complete it and once I was done I closed the laptop and turned on the television.

Two days later after getting back home from work I checked my emails and noticed one from Laurasia. I opened it with excitement:

Dear Mr. Perez,

We are glad to inform you that you have been selected among a few others for this job opportunity. Your pay will be a start of $20 an hour.

This job does require you to live onsite. Living accommodations will be provided for you during this time.

Attached is a plane ticket that will depart to our location within the next four days. We look forward to hearing back from you.

Sincerely,

Laurasia Advisor Sherrill

“A month?” I uttered out loud. I sat back on my couch and looked around the apartment. I stayed here for about maybe ten minutes just thinking, contemplating the pros and cons of this opportunity. I finally decided; I would be leaving. I sat back up and replied to the email stating that I was happy to leave and would be on the flight. I closed my laptop and looked around my apartment. It was always clean so I didn’t need to do anything there. I did however head to my room and pack some clothes and a few of my own personal items.

I then notified family and friends of my departure and after one last get together with family I was on my way.

The turbulence on the plane made me slightly uncomfortable, but a message from the captain informed us that we were only five minutes away from our destination.

Finally, I thought. Eighteen hours on a plane can make you feel just a little claustrophobic. I leaned back and cranked the ac to max.

The plane landed in Hawaii and I exited the plane. As I stepped out from the hallway I noticed a woman holding a Laurasia sign and another woman holding a Gondwana sign. I walked up to the woman with the Laurasia sign and raised my hand up a little.

“Welcome to Hawaii sir,” she greeted me. “If you would kindly make your way down this hallway and into waiting room area one I will be right with you shortly.” I followed her orders and headed to waiting room one where I noticed a few other people waiting as well. I took a seat by myself and waited.

And waited.

I pulled my tablet out and began playing one of the games on it. It was nearly two hours later when I had noticed that the waiting area had filled up to thirteen other people.

The woman with the sign then walked in and softly clapped her hands to get our attention. I put my tablet away and stood up, stretching as I did.

“You have all been selected for the job of a lifetime. Notice, there are only 14 of you here. Originally there were twelve thousand applicants. You all have the will and integrity we’re looking for, don’t disappoint yourself or them.”

“What do you mean?” someone from the room asked. “What exactly are we going to be doing?”

“You’ll see soon enough,” the woman with the sign replied. “Now then, your journey continues through this hallway and to our private plane where you will be escorted to Isla Dormir. From there you will be assigned a tenured agent and assigned your very own team. Any questions?” We all remained quiet. “Very well. Let’s go.”

We were escorted to the plane, a very fancy plane to be exact. They served us a great meal and even had massage seats. The plane took off and after another 6 hours in a cramped plane we finally arrived. We didn’t need to scatter to a window as a live feed from outside the plane showed us the island. It was beautiful. The plane landed and we all stepped out of the plane and onto the runway. In front of us was a thoroughly modern and cut-off-place laboratory. People approached us and began taking the other people from the flight. One of them walked up to me:

“You’re team is on the way,” he said. “They’re just running a little late.” After he left I found myself standing alone.

The island was beautiful, lush, and untouched it seemed. The plant life was so rigorous and magnificent I couldn’t bear to look away. The air was so breathtaking it literally felt as if I was breathing for the first time. It was so clean and fresh.

“Hey there,” a voice cried out. I turned to see a woman running up to me. She had black hair that was really wavy and fell gently down the side of her face. She was dressed in a very different uniform that I had thought. She had military boots on with brown pants on with straps attached to them with a gun holster and a knife in its seethe. She also wore a red shirt with a green jacket along with brown finger free gloves. “You must be the new hunter. I’m Chloe Anning, I was also hired as a hunter.” Hunter? What exactly did I get myself into? Before I could even talk she continued: “I know you’re tired from your flight, but we need to get your credentials set up. Can you give me your information?” She pulled out a digital device and handed it to me. I began to enter my information and while doing so I asked:

“You mentioned being a hunter? I thought this was a security job.”

“It is,” Chloe replied with a smile. “You’re duty will be to protect the island. We call ourselves hunters here instead of security.”

“I’m done,” I said handing the device back to Chloe.

“Okay,” she replied, “you’re all set. You can keep that device, just make sure not to lose it. This device keeps you updated with everything on the island. It sends you information from the Lab, updates you with missions and it will also help us know your location around the island and contact you if needed.”

“That’s great,” I replied putting the PDA into my pocket. I noticed Chloe start walking back to the building and I followed. “I’m still a little concerned here. I’m being paid well, but I still have no idea what my job would entail. It would be nice if someone could clue me in…”

STOMP!

A gigantic creature emerged from the bushes near the laboratory. I dropped my bag and backed away quickly. This creature had a very long neck with spikes sticking out from the back of its neck. It reached for one of the trees and began chewing on the leaves. Chloe seemed to be unmoved by the creature.

“It…can’t be…” I stuttered.

“Yep, it’s a dinosaur,” a voice called out from behind me. Now all the secrecy made sense. I turned to see a light brown haired woman approach. She was dressed in a purple dress with a lab coat on. “You must be Luis E. Perez. Welcome to Isa Dormir, the island of miracles. My name is Sophia Owen. I’m a doctor who specializes in paleontology and biogenetics. It’s nice to meet you.” I was speechless. I still couldn’t believe I was looking at a living dinosaur! Seeing my dumbfounded reaction, she let out a gentle laugh. “Ancient animals have survived and roam freely on this island. They are riveting to research, but are also incredibly dangerous. That’s where you come in.” I gave her a strange look.

“I’m not sure what exactly you expect me to do against these enormous creatures,” I replied, my voice shaky.

“Don’t look so worried,” Chloe stated. Just then the dinosaur approached us and lowered its head. I didn’t know if I should run but I stayed and held my breath. The dinosaur released some sort of moan and licked my face. The force caused me to stumble backward.

“She seems to like you,” Sophia stated. “She’s been roaming around the Lab and it seems it was meant to be. She’s yours.”

“Mine?” I asked surprised.

“Yep,” Sophia replied. “You’re going to need her.” I looked over to the dinosaur and smiled. I slowly reached my hand up and rubbed the top of her head.

“That device will also help you identify the dinosaurs you encounter,” Sophia stated. I pulled out the PDA and selected the Dino Identifier and took a picture of the dinosaur. It identified it as an Amargasaurus.

“She’s not the only one you’re going to need,” Chloe said. “Follow me.” Chloe led me to an area on the other side of the Lab. The fields beyond the lab were huge with a large fence in the distance. We came up to a huge cargo freight with a dinosaur logo on the sides. Chloe approached the control pad to the side and pressed a few buttons. It opened and three dinosaurs emerged. I scanned them to identify them as Shantungosaurus, Zhejiangopterus, and an Edmontosaurus.

“Not bad,” Chloe stated. “You’ve got some pretty nice dinosaurs. You’re going to use them to take on the other dinosaurs out in the wild.”

“What?” I asked as I opened my eyes wider. “I need to fight other dinosaurs?”

“In a way yes,” Chloe stated. “Now, as for how to control these dinosaurs…”

“Help!” A scream came out. “Somebody help me!” I turned and on a hill up ahead was a young girl followed by a Parasaurolophus. I knew which one that one was.

“That’s Emma!” Chloe shouted.

“Oh dear,” Sophia began, “why did Emma go in there alone?”

“We’ll use this as your training, Luis E. Perez!” Chloe stated. “Please, use your dinosaurs to help her!” I didn’t know what I was doing but I quickly rushed forward and called out:

“We need to help her!” I shouted. My dinosaurs rushed by my side and ran forward. The Zhejiangopterus landed behind Emma and released a squawk forcing the Parasaurolophus to stop. The Amargasaurus, Shantungosaurus, and Edmontosaurus swung their massive tails at the Parasaurolophus knocking it back onto the ground. It stood up and bellowed before turning back and running into the forest.

“Victory!” I shouted with a huge smile and forming fists into the air. My dinosaurs came back along with Emma.

“Oh…um…thank you!” Emma said with a large smile. “I accidentally broke the DNA sample of the Para…um, the dinosaur with the weird head…”

“Parasaurolophus, Emma,” Sophia joined in, “you need to let Chloe take care of these tasks from now on.”

“I’m sorry,” Emma replied. “I actually have a lot of things that need to get done today.”

“No problem,” Chloe states and turns to me, “we’ve got Luis E. Perez here now too. If you could start with giving him a tour of the Lab. I have other tasks to attend to.”

“Same here,” Sophia replied. “I have research I need to be getting to.”

“Alright!” Emma said with a smile. “Let’s get this tour started. Follow me. Don’t worry about your dinosaurs. They’ll stay out here and will be here when we get back.” Emma began walking toward the Lab and we entered. The building was huge and was very high tech. The doors slid open and had holographic technology.

“This building is amazing,” I stated looking around and the high tech wonders.

“It only gets better,” Emma stated. She led me into a large room filled with large monitors in the front and desks scattered about the room.

“This is the Task Room,” Emma stated. “This room monitors all of the islands activities and once a task is completed a hunter selects complete on the PDA you received and the task is sent via satellite to this room. You will rarely ever need to be in this room as you will be out exploring the island.” Emma then led me to a different part of the building; a room filled with lab equipment of all kind. The room was three stories high and housed state of the art equipment.

“This is Sophia’s lab where you might be spending a bit of your time with her,” Emma stated. “You’ll work close with her later on to get more used to the science-y stuff.”

“How are you enjoying the tour so far?” Sophia asked from her desk. I turned over to her and stumbled over my words before finally replying:

“I’m enjoying it very much.”

“That’s great,” Sophia replied. “Do you have any questions for me while you’re here?”

“I do actually,” I stated. “Earlier before the second flight I noticed next to the girl who had the Laurasia sign, was a woman holding a Gondwana sign.”

“Ah yes,” Sophia said. Her tone had changed. “Gondwana is our rival corporation. They’re station not too far from us. They’re a pharmaceutical company owned by a global conglomerate that deals in everything from baby bottles to rocket ships. They’re mainly known for spending large sums on paleontological studies and have taken part in a large number of historical finds. You won’t need to worry about them just yet. For now continue with the tour.” Sophia returned to her work and I followed Emma out of the room and down a few corridors until we reached a hallway with doors on either side of the hallway. She opened one of the rooms and we stepped in. Inside was a bed, a closet, two shelves, a dresser, and a nightstand.

“This is your room,” Emma stated. “You can leave your things in here.” I placed my bags onto the bed and turned back to Emma.

“And that’s the building,” Emma stated. “I’ll leave you to get settled it.” Emma left me to decorate my room with things that I brought. I then received a text message on the PDA from Chloe telling me to come to the parking lot. Once I was outside I saw Chloe next to a green hummer jeep.

“Hello hunter,” Chloe greeted me. “To end the day I thought I would show you how you would be getting around the island.”

“It’s mine?” I asked admiring the jeep.

“It’s the companies,” Chloe replied, “but yes it’s yours while on the island. This jeep is top notch and has been modified to fit all the terrains on the island. It’s run on solar power and requires little to no fuel most of the time.”

“This is awesome!” I replied running my hands over the side of the jeep.

“Soak up all the enjoyment,” Chloe said with a soft smile. “Tomorrow we get down to the real work.”

I was on the adventure of a lifetime and I was being paid for it! There wasn’t anything else I could ask for, but there were many dangers that lay ahead, for the path was unclear and the journey unknown.

To Be Continued…