||𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 20𝐭𝐡, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟎||

"An alternative to what?" growled Click, still drawn to the erratic story his jailor had given. The frazzled doctor, now perched upon the ledge of the nearest wall, stared blankly ahead into the darkness, letting only a slither of light touch the fuzz of his flesh. He didn't give a response for some time; perhaps he was considering what to say after recalling his daughter's death. Her memory still fogged his mind, too much to function as he would himself. Wu exhaled in grief, only allowing his eyes to falter toward the voice behind the wall.

"To fate," Wu whispered miserably. "To life."

Click's brow raised.

"A wanton choice to better another, yes..." His head turned to Click. "No miracle or nightmare ever comes without a tradeoff. That's just how life goes."

"Oh, is that right?" Click gritted his teeth. "Death is a failsafe to joy -- how stupid are you? If I thought like that-"

"Then you wouldn't have met Seven."

"Seven and Janet do not, and will not replace each other," retorted the frustrated trainer. "They are two lives that I valued for an eternity, and one is no better than the other. Goodness, Henry..." Click shook his head, "the more you talk, the less human you sound. You lost your daughter, and you call it a blessing in disguise?"

Wu flinched. "That's not what I mean."

"But that's what I hear," Click snarled back. "You saw her as a profit for your own interests, you didn't even mourn her."

"I did mourn her, I loved her!"

"Then why is she dead?!"

Henry whirled around, eyes growing red with tears. For a minute nobody spoke; Wu stared upon the angered trainer, listening to his prior words with hatred and pain. He parted his maw, thinking to Autumn once more, then shook his head. And then, just through that haze of anguish, came a speck of light. A twinkle, something that set Click on edge.

"She wasn't."

Click's eyes narrowed, hands raising toward the glass. "But you just told me-"

"Because you jump to conclusions too often," he said softly, slumping back onto the ledge. "Everyone believes that what's put in the ground... stays in the ground. That a skeleton is just another amusement for the public eye in a museum, but the past..."

Wu paused. A flutter rushed into Click's stomach, heaving his soul until his legs dared quake. Click drew closer to the wall in interest.

"If she's not gone, then where is she?"

Henry didn't reply.

"Henry..." Click pressed against the wall. "Henry, what did you do?"

Wu took a second breath, lips quivering and pursuing as his words broke free.

"The indominus rex..." He began, "was made of many DNAs. That of the past; Carnotaurus, Giganotosaurus, Majungasurus, Rugops, Therizinosaurus, Velociraptor and Tyrannosaurus Rex. As well as modern animals; cuttlefish, tree frogs, and vipers."

He slowly stood up to look upon Click.

"But I left one out. The worst one of all..."

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With skin stained in blood and swarmed with sweat, Doctor Henry Wu slowly motioned toward the gateway of the hospital, letting the neon glow of the sign above to shroud him in blood red heat. Each step was a painful one, riddling his soul with the guilt he held, and the misery yet to come. Nobody seemed to notice him as he walked through the gateway -- he had switched his outfit to that of a doctor's whitecoat, enough to fit in with the crowd of madness. Nor did they question the strange needle he gripped in his right hand, trembling against the seams of his pants. His shoulder was bruised by countless civilians and doctors swarming the area; new victims of the prior stampede flooded through the gates, screaming for help. But all Wu heard was the pounding blood in his ears, and the shakiness in his breath.

He rounded through each hall, retracing his steps from earlier until he finally broke through the doorway to Autumn's room. The white blanket was still placed over her body. And she was still... so deathly still.

Henry's tears broke even before he could process anything. He whimpered and choked on it, fingers rattling against the needle knowing what he had to do. For a brief moment Wu glanced out the window of the door, ensuring nobody was watching, then walked to Autumn's side. The hand holding the needle rested to her forehead, feeling the cold, lifeless skin through the blanket that concealed it. Henry sniveled, hard, his other hand slowly drawing toward her limp arm dangling from the side.

"Forgive me," he whispered.

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Click's eyes widened.

"What all creatures lack..." Wu went on, a finger lowering toward the inner bend of his arm, "is free will. We desire to be more than what they are -- that is what our society has driven us toward. No animal can mimic that, they are restricted to life's needs: eating, drinking, sleeping, fighting, copulating. But to satisfy the needs of Jurassic World and INGEN: to make something scary enough to militarize but smart enough to think, I... had to take an extreme measure. So I gave them an extra gift."

He lifted his arm, showing Click the many cuts and bumps on his arm; scars from fresh needles that prodded at his flesh. Already did the trainer fall for a loss of words, too stunned to speak, and too horrified to believe it.

"After I lost Autumn, I started running tests for Biosyn's next line of weapons," said Wu, hiding it away again. "We had... taken the original indoraptor from Lockwood's Mansion as a basis; authorities left it for us to scavenge since our Indominus DNA was crushed in the stampede. Thanks to Mills." Wu clicked his tongue. "We kept the indoraptor in cryostasis... neither dead nor alive. But the key ingredient to every monster is his maker, and so I... reluctantly..."

He shook his head.

"Forcefully... is the right word. I forcefully drew some of my DNA to feed the next of kin. Twelve fresh indoraptors... newly improved hunters for the modern man. But that same DNA in the Indominus Rex and the Indoraptor was hidden in them -- they carried on my hubris. I feared what happened at Lockwood would happen again. So, whether by madness or by grief... eight of those twelve indoraptors were given a different DNA to test."

Click's jaws slackened. "Autumn."

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Wu pushed the needle into Autumn's vein, coldly watched the motionless blood flood into the vial. His eyes lifted an inch to gaze at her covered face, then darted down; another tremor rocked through his soul. He couldn't bear to look again. Shuddering an extra breath away, he waited for the vial to fill before pulling away, wiping her arm off any excess blood, and lowering it back to the table. He let another second pass by, gripping the crimson needle by the palm of his sweaty hands, eyes staring off into the distance. Wu took one step away. Paused. Then another. Before the tears could break again, he shoved through the back door, sprinting toward the entrance.

And vanished into the night.

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"Varied amounts," continued Wu, watching the horror rise in Click's eyes. "The DNA took on different personalities, different actions, often new visual appearances in each of the eight. Seven... was given the biggest dosage, more human than raptor. But the other four creatures that turned were the ones with my DNA. Two became stillborns, a third died mid-life. And the fourth... killed the rest of them."

"Killed?"

"That happened a year ago," explained Wu. "It was growing erratic being around the others. Then one day, it snapped. The massacre lasted... thirty minutes before Dodgson gave the go ahead to kill, and by then it was too late. Seven was the only survivor. The last of my Autumn. The product of my greed and desires... the last piece of my family."

A tear fell down the doctor's face; he wiped it away quickly before Click noticed.

"I couldn't... hold a funeral for her. Or apologize. Or... save her. This was the only way to hide my mistake and keep my sanity in check."

"Then why let Dodgson kill her?" growled Click. Wu closed his eyes.

"It's best that I bury the past, now," he whispered, nodding once more. "I've lost too much to go on... and done too little to change anything for the better... I don't even exist anymore."

He paused for a moment, refocusing on Click.

"Now INGEN's dead. Jurassic World is gone. And Autumn..." Wu's eyes blinked up to Click. "You know better than me, Tom. There's no shame in accepting the truth, no matter how terrible it is. We can only do so much when we mourn. Even going as far as replacing our losses with something that feels... real. Alive, even, but-" He shook his head a second time. "But it'll never be the same-"

The two men suddenly jolted as a blaring siren burst above them, red fire lights flashing on and off across the room. The two looked around, only to feel a rumbling noise echoing beneath them, followed by faint gunshots.

"Wow..." Click rolled his eyes. "Those are some really good cages..."

"Stay here."

Click scowled. "Not like I have much of a choice."

Ignoring Click's comment, Henry hurried over to the doorway and shoved the doors wide open, vanishing just beyond Click's line of sight. The trainer pressed a hand against the glass wall, eyes narrowing in confusion to the strange event unfolding. Just seeing Wu dash off like that, Click knew something was terribly wrong.

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"We lost twenty, sir."

"I'll live with that-"

"Hey!"

Dodgson whirled his head from the video control center, noticing an angered Henry Wu storming toward him. He flicked his hands in a 'shooing' motion.

"It's alright Henry, nothing's wrong-"

"You told me you had this under control."

"I do," growled Dodgson, turning to him. "Just... a slight mishap."

"Is that right?"

"Calm your nerves, alright?" Dodgson raised both hands leisurely to the frantic scientist. "It's nothing serious. Just some of Seven's DNA was put into the project-"

"Without my approval?" 

"You do realize we have a deadline?"

Wu shook his head, pointing to the dead cameras. "I guess history does have a funny way of repeating itself, doesn't it?"

"Oh, shut it with the commentary -- Hey!" he snapped his fingers at a leaving soldier. "No, no -- Nobody's going down there until I confirm. I don't want buffoons opening paddock doors like an Escape Room idiot and giving them options. We sit tight, all of us, and wait. See what he does, then we'll make our move."

The scientist glared at the camera screens, gritting his jaws until his gums ached of pain. Briefly did Lewis's hands slip into the mix of his vision, then a snap.

"Wu. Stop it. You're panicking. Stop panicking."

"I'm not panicking."

"You're panicking. Here-" he gave him a piece of gum, to which Henry reluctantly slapped away.

"Really?"

"Every time I hear those words, the situation gets worse."

"Well, both assets are still on the campus," Lewis huffed, picking up the fresh stick of gum to put in his mouth. "So long as they don't get to the construction site, we should be good."

"They're hybrids," Wu corrected, looking upon the bloodstains of the surviving cameras. "They're smart enough to find a way out, they always do. You need to think two more steps ahead of this."

"I already did." Dodgson tilted his head to the doctor, taking in his words for a moment, then nodded. "They're not going anywhere."

"And the town-?"

"This island is our quiet little quarantine," Dodgson growled, evading Wu's coming question, "and I intend to keep it that way. Clearlake will be fine, nothing can swim that far."

He turned back to the fizzing cameras, staring into the static blackness with a hungered look in the eyes.

"What are you up to..."