Clawen ♡ Second Time's the Charm

Chapter 3: Undetected

The silence in the car was almost unbearable, so Owen decided to break it before it completely consumed them.

"So what kind of dinosaur are we going to be looking at?" he asked casually. Claire, relieved that someone was talking and also relieved that she actually had an answer, turned to him briefly.

"Our first genetically modified hybrid, a new species created from scratch through advanced gene splicing. We call her the Indominus Rex," Claire replied, unconsciously repeating exactly what she had told the Verizon Wireless investors. Owen couldn't contain a snort at the sound of its name. Claire gave him an irritated look.

"The Indominus Rex?" Owen chuckled despite Claire's clear annoyance. He couldn't resist pushing her buttons, especially because it always got a reaction out of her. "What kind of name is that?"

"We needed something 'scary' yet easy for the kids to say. You should hear a three year old try to say 'Archaeornithomimus,'" she explained as patiently as she could. The butterflies in her stomach and the shyness she had felt when Owen placed his hand on her shoulder were long gone. Instead, she felt a spark of irritation ignite once again.

"See, you're already an expert at pointing out everything wrong about something, and all I've given you is two words. An entire paddock should be no problem for you, should it?" she asked sarcastically. If his difficult attitude gets him fired, maybe he can become a critic or something...

"Trust me, by the time I'm done, you'll probably have to delay the release of the 'Archaeornithomimus' because it'll take you at least two months to fix everything I find," Owen said lightheartedly. Claire rolled her eyes.

"Always so full of yourself," she muttered under her breath. She checked her watch and let out a small sigh of relief when she saw the time. They were right on schedule.

Soon, the trees began to thin out and reveal a huge enclosure in the clearing. The stained walls of the paddock stood out from the rich green sea of forest that surrounded it. Claire steered the car closer to the entrance of the observation room and around the corner before turning the engine off and climbing out. The breeze ruffled her hair and she led Owen up the stairs, her heels clanking loudly against the metal steps.

They entered the room and found themselves looking through the thick wall of glass that separated them from the Indominus Rex's paddock. One of the workers, Nick, was on duty to supervise the paddock. He greeted Claire amiably though she merely nodded in his direction as she spoke with Owen.

"What's this thing made of?" he asked.

"The base genome is a T-Rex; the rest is... classified," Claire answered. She squinted her eyes, trying to locate the creature through the trees and shrubbery.

"You made her and you don't even know what she is?" Owen commented dryly. Claire glared at him.

"It is the lab's responsibility to create our assets. And it is our responsibility to present them to the public," she snapped. God, what is his problem? Owen raised his eyebrows.

"How many of them are there?"

Claire threw him a frustrated look. "One. We have one Indominus Rex. That should be enough to satisfy the public as long as the public is not as demanding as you."

"I wasn't thinking of the public," Owen said. You idiot, he wanted to add. "Animals raised in isolation aren't always the most functional."

"We don't need her to be able to obey commands like those raptors of yours. She's fine how she is," Claire replied crisply. She sighed and turned to Nick. "Can we drop a steer, please? I don't know why she isn't coming out."

Nick looked up from his sandwich, his mouth covered in crumbs. Claire bit her lip to keep from reprimanding him about minimizing his food intake while on duty. After all, the last time she chastised him had resulted in the sandwich being hastily gobbled and crumbs being sprayed everywhere.

A crane lowered a hunk of meat into the paddock and Claire nodded in approval. Owen, however, furrowed his brow at the sight of the crane. "You feed it with that?"

"Yes. We can't exactly spoon feed it, but if you're willing to lose a limb, then be my guest and go in there and feed her with your hand," Claire spat. Her tone was sharper than she had intended, but she couldn't focus on that.

Where is it? Why isn't it coming out to feed? She paced a few feet along the wall, her eyes roaming the enclosure. Owen glanced at her; immediately, he was able to see the slight panic in her eyes. He decided not to shoot her a smart reply right now.

Claire marched over to a screen on the wall and forcefully jabbed at a few buttons. A machine started to scan the paddock for any thermal signatures of the Indominus. She felt a cold fear rising in her chest as, one by one, each section of the paddock was scanned. Her fingers trembled and she sucked in a shuddering breath. She vaguely heard Owen approaching from behind, vaguely felt his warm hand on her back as she concentrated on the screen.

Owen placed his hand on her back and drew himself closer to her. Claire tensed when she felt his warm breath on the nape of her neck, but she was too stressed to pay much attention to him. The machine beeped to signal that the scanning had finished. Four words appeared on every section of the paddock: No thermal signatures detected.
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