This Savage Land: Intermission One
Apr. 13th, 2007 08:42 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsWhen the tour group beds down for the night, someone has a call to make.
Phil watched the kids and their chaperones set up their tents while Eddie helped them with the campfire. Walking away from the camp area to where the Conservatory's Jeep was parked, he released the foil-covered balloon that would carry an antenna above the triple-canopy foliage, enough to get a cellular signal out. Connecting the antenna to the Jeep's phone, he dialed a number.
"This is Jonas."
"Yeah, it's Phil. We've got them all here."
"Was Mister Wyndham's ability successful?"
And therein lay the question. Eddie's ability to evolve or devolve an organism had been incredibly useful to Mr. Casper and his friends so far. And here were a group of young mutants - the perfect group for Phase One of the plan. Mutants, Jonas had explained, were the result of nature gone wrong. An anomaly of Natural Law, caused by Man's mistreatment of the planet. If Eddie's power could restore the mutant gene to its correct, human state, then perhaps that would bode well for their ability to restore the planet as a whole.
"Doesn't look like it. Apparently devolving a mutant isn't something in his bag of tricks. I don't think any of them picked up on it, but Phase One is a bust."
"Then, Mister MacDuff, we must move on to Phase Two. I want you and Mister Wyndham to seal the Conservatory and meet us at the University."
Phil wiped his brow, glancing over at the camp. "Leave them here, then? And the subjects in the pens?"
"Why, release them, of course." Jonas Casper's voice was tinged with amusement. "Mutants are purported to be the next stage in evolution. Perhaps they should be reminded of the price of progress."
"I got it," Phil replied, ending the call and reeling in the floating antenna. It was a cold-hearted thing they were about to do, but like all their actions to this point, it would serve a greater purpose. Palming the keys to the Jeep, he walked back to the campsite, surreptitously holding up two fingers to his fellow Conservatory employee, letting Eddie know that the plan had moved to Phase Two. Eddie just nodded as Phil clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.
"All right, folks. Thank you again for accompanying us through this tour of the Mesozoic Biofloral Conservatory. We'll bed down here for the night, and hike back early tomorrow morning. But for the moment, if I could make a request, if everyone could just reflect on what they've seen today. This is how the world was before humans ever stepped foot on it," he smiled, his teeth white amidst his dark beard, lit by the flickering firelight. "Just take a few moments and think about the current state of the world, and what you've seen today. Just keep that in mind for when you leave here, all right? Now, let's get some shut-eye, okay?"
Phil watched the kids and their chaperones set up their tents while Eddie helped them with the campfire. Walking away from the camp area to where the Conservatory's Jeep was parked, he released the foil-covered balloon that would carry an antenna above the triple-canopy foliage, enough to get a cellular signal out. Connecting the antenna to the Jeep's phone, he dialed a number.
"This is Jonas."
"Yeah, it's Phil. We've got them all here."
"Was Mister Wyndham's ability successful?"
And therein lay the question. Eddie's ability to evolve or devolve an organism had been incredibly useful to Mr. Casper and his friends so far. And here were a group of young mutants - the perfect group for Phase One of the plan. Mutants, Jonas had explained, were the result of nature gone wrong. An anomaly of Natural Law, caused by Man's mistreatment of the planet. If Eddie's power could restore the mutant gene to its correct, human state, then perhaps that would bode well for their ability to restore the planet as a whole.
"Doesn't look like it. Apparently devolving a mutant isn't something in his bag of tricks. I don't think any of them picked up on it, but Phase One is a bust."
"Then, Mister MacDuff, we must move on to Phase Two. I want you and Mister Wyndham to seal the Conservatory and meet us at the University."
Phil wiped his brow, glancing over at the camp. "Leave them here, then? And the subjects in the pens?"
"Why, release them, of course." Jonas Casper's voice was tinged with amusement. "Mutants are purported to be the next stage in evolution. Perhaps they should be reminded of the price of progress."
"I got it," Phil replied, ending the call and reeling in the floating antenna. It was a cold-hearted thing they were about to do, but like all their actions to this point, it would serve a greater purpose. Palming the keys to the Jeep, he walked back to the campsite, surreptitously holding up two fingers to his fellow Conservatory employee, letting Eddie know that the plan had moved to Phase Two. Eddie just nodded as Phil clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.
"All right, folks. Thank you again for accompanying us through this tour of the Mesozoic Biofloral Conservatory. We'll bed down here for the night, and hike back early tomorrow morning. But for the moment, if I could make a request, if everyone could just reflect on what they've seen today. This is how the world was before humans ever stepped foot on it," he smiled, his teeth white amidst his dark beard, lit by the flickering firelight. "Just take a few moments and think about the current state of the world, and what you've seen today. Just keep that in mind for when you leave here, all right? Now, let's get some shut-eye, okay?"
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