Super Dinosaur Fun All Day Long!
By johnnedwill
The children came bouncing into the bedroom at six o'clock in the morning, waking their parents with screams of joy. "It's Christmas! Wake up! Christmas! We want out presents!"
Jared Smith pulled the covers over his head, hoping that his children would take the hint and leave him alone. However, they were not going to be thwarted. Leah, his partner, rolled next to Jared and whispered into his ear, "Better do something before they get out of hand."
"Before they get out of hand?" Jared whimpered. He knew that Leah was right. They would not have a moment's peace unless he gave their children something to occupy them. Resigned to his fate, Jared sat up and, with a sweep of his arms, gathered the children close. "Alright! You're excited, aren't you?"
"Yes!" the three children chorused.
"Come on, then!" Jared rolled out of bed, glad that Leah had not given him his 'Christmas present', and dragged the children with him. They landed on the floor ion a giggling heap.
"What is it, daddy?"
"Is it our present?"
"Can we have it now?"
Jared got to his feet and led the children in a procession down the hallway. "You'll see," he said with mock-aloofness.
"It's going to be good!"
"Is it a big present?"
"Can we see it now?"
"Hush," Jared told his children. "And wait. You'll find out." The group stopped at the door to the children's playroom.
"It's old," Jonathan, the eldest of the three complained. The playroom had originally been built for him, some five years ago.
"Not fun," Maria pouted. As the middle child, she was always trying to be more grown up than Jonathan.
"It's for babies!" the youngest of the trio, Carla, whined.
Jared held up his hands in a gesture of parental surrender. "I know! that's why your mother and I have made it your Christmas present - a new playroom. It's got all new modules built in. It's going to be fun again." I hope, Jared thought. It had cost him a lot of money to buy the necessary upgrades.
"How?" Carla stared intensely at her father, her curiosity fuelled by childish suspicion.
"Why don't you see for yourselves?"
Jared flung open the door to the playroom and ushered the children inside. In its current, quiescent state, it was just a room with plain white ceiling, floor and walls. The nature of the new smart-matter mechanisms played tricks with perception and made it difficult to judge the room's actual dimensions. To Jared, it looked like he and the children were suspended in an indefinite void.
Jonathan folded his arms. "It doesn't look fun to me."
His father smiled at him."Oh, just you wait. Hey, Jeeves!"
A sparkling pillar of smart-matter grew up from the floor. "Yes, Mister Smith?" The light from the terminal pulsed in time with the plummy, British accent.
"Initiate playroom, please Jeeves."
"At once, Mister Smith." The pillar morphed into a thin slab with a screen in its centre. "Which simulation would you like?"
"Go on, kids," Jared said. "You can pick."
The three children crowded around the terminal, arguing amongst themselves about what they wanted to do. It took a few minutes for the squabbling to die down.
"I want to be a Lost World princess," Carla shouted. "On an island," Maria added.
"And with dinosaurs!" Jonathan demanded.
The playroom cam to life. Fractal growths erupted from the floor and walls, changing shape and colour as they grew. The celling changed to become a dome of washed-out pale blue with streaks of white moving across it. From hidden vents came the scent of leaves and heat- rotted vegetation. In only a minute, the sterile void had been transformed into a lush tropical grove.
"Wow!"
"Wow," Jared agreed. He was glad he had let the sales representative talk him into the extra environmental control modules. "What do you think?"
Carla fingered one of the leaves in wonder. "But what do we do?" she asked the others.
"Jeeves!" Jared shouted.
A florid-faced man dressed in a tan safari suit and pith helmet stepped out of the vegetation. "You called, sir?"
So, this was the avatar that had been set for this scenario. Jared didn't approve of the implications behind the 'Great White Hunter' skin, and made a mental note to correct it later. However, it would do for now. "Yes," Jared said. "Is there a tutorial mode? Something to get the kids into what they can do?"
Jeeves shot Jared a condescending glance. "Of course, sir. However." The avatar looks down at the three children, still dressed in their nightclothes. "the young ladies and gentleman should be more appropriately attired before undertaking any expeditions in the Lost World."
"Right!" Jared clapped his hands to attract the children's attention. "Go get dressed. Then you can play with your new toy."
Jeeves glanced sideways at Jared. "And what about you, Mister Smith?" Jared shook his head. "No. I think I'll have a lie-in, if that's alright with you." "Yes, sir."
Jared returned to his bedroom, where Leah was dozing. They spent a pleasant morning together, trusting that Jeeves - the house AI - to look after their children. The playroom was meant to be a safe space for them, after all.
Some time after eleven, the adults rose, showered and dressed. With it being Christmas Day, there were plenty of preparations that needed doing. On their way down to the kitchen, Leah stopped. "Could you just check on the children? They've been very quiet."
"They've probably been busy with the new playroom," Jared replied. "They'll be fine." "Would you check, anyway? Just to put my mind at rest? Please?"
Jared put a reassuring arm around Leah. "Alright. For you."
The air in the playroom was hot, humid, oppressive. Thick, green vegetation filled the playroom. Everywhere was shadows and twilight. It was very different from what it had been before. Some atavistic instinct called on Jared to flee this place before something found him. He ignored it, and took a cautious step into the playroom. "Hello?" he called out. There was no echo. His voice was absorbed by the jungle. "Anyone?" He took another step into the room.
"Dad!"
A small shape leapt from the tangle of vegetation and threw itself at Jared. The two fell into a thicket of tough grass. "Ow!" Jared struggled among the sharp blades. "What was that - ?"
"Dad!"
"Daddy!"
Two more figures emerged from the shadows of the jungle. Jared recognised them as Jonathan and Carla. Maria was already lying on top of him. "What's going on?"
Maria rolled off her father and onto her feet. "You almost stood on one of those," she announced and pointed at something innocuous-looking pile of leaves on the ground in front of the door. It was right where Jared would have put his foot. The leaves twitched and throbbed, as if angry at having been denied their desire.
"It is a species of carnivorous plant, sir. Native to this land." Jeeves' Great White Hunter avatar helped Jared to his feet.
Jared stared at the plant. "Is it dangerous?"
"There are safety protocols in place, sir."
The children swarmed around their father, pulling him deeper into the verdant gloom.
"We've seen things, daddy ... "
"... Tigersandlionsand ..."
... Dinosaurs!"
"Dinosaurs?" Jared looked at Jonathan's wonder-filled expression. "There are dinosaurs in here?"
"Come on! They're just over the hill!"
Jonathan charged off; the others followed behind him. Jared and Jeeves were last of all. Before long, the jungle trail took them to a cliff above a narrow valley, cut from the rock by a meandering river. Tall, thick swathes of grass grew along the banks of the river, carpeting the valley floor in a verdant green. And, amongst it all, stood a herd of about a dozen long-necked saurians. Jared tried to remember the names of these creatures. He had once been a geeky kid, obsessed with dinosaurs. "Diplodocus?" he asked, hesitantly.
"No, silly," Carla chided him. "They're apa-, apata-."
"Apatosaurs, Miss Carla," Jeeves interrupted. A glowing rectangle appeared in mid-air, showing a close-up of one of the dinosaur herd. "But it is a genus of the family Diplodocidae."
The children listened, fascinated by Jeeves' lecture. Jared was more interested in the scene going on below. On the far side of the valley, where the jungle began again, Jared could not shake the feeling that something was lurking there, just out of sight. "Jeeves?" he asked.
"Sir?"
"Is there something else out there?"
A pair of binoculars appeared in the avatar's hands. "It appears to be a species of predator, sir. A ceratosaurus, if I'm not mistaken." Another information screen formed in the air next to Jared. This one showed a graphic of a two-legged predator, with small forearms and a mouth filled with curved teeth. "Children! Come here!" Jeeves announced. "This should be interesting."
The children clustered around Jeeves. "What is it?"
"You are bout to see a predator on the hunt. Please observe carefully."
The herd of apatosaurs did not seem concerned by the presence of the ceratosaurus. They continued to graze, dipping their heads into the tall grass and pulling off great mouthfuls, before raising their long necks to chew and swallow their meal. It was only when the ceratosaurus leapt from its hiding place that the giant herbivores noticed.
There was a blur of movement almost too swift for the eye to capture, and the ceratoraurus landed on the neck of its victim. It had timed its attack so that the apatosaur's head was buried in the grass and could not see to react. The predator's limbs scrabbled for purchase on the apatosaurus, shredding its skin. Jaws opened and bit. The apatosaur emitted a surprisingly shrill honk, then raised its neck and thrashed it around, trying to dislodge its attacker. The other sauropods realised that they were in danger, and the herd fragmented and scattered, trampling everything before it in fear.
The children shrieked - partly in terror, but more in glee. They watched the grisly attack play to its conclusion, fascinated at the drama. Jared watched as well. His stomach churned, and he tasted bile in his mouth.
Jeeves remained calm. "You can see," the AI said to the children, "how the ceratosaurus attacks from cover. This is because it is what is called an ambush predator. It lies in wait, then attacks its prey at an opportune moment. Typically, it prefers a quick kill. Given the difference in size between it and its prey, this strategy makes sense."
As Jeeves lectured the children, the ceratosuarus continued to strike at the apatosaur. The giant creature's struggles grew weaker as the predator tore out lumps of flesh, opening a bloody hole in the apatosaur's neck. From the treeline, more ceratosauri emerged, hissing and eyeing each other warily.
"Being primitive creatures," Jeeves continued, "they do not have a well-developed pack instinct. They do not trust each other. They will wait for their prey to die, then scavenge what they can."
The apatosaur finally collapsed, its body convulsing as its lifeblood oozed out onto the grass. The ceratosauri took this as a signal to advance. They rushed forward to begin their feast, ripping at the apatosaur's still-warm body and hissing at each other if they got too close.
"Well, children," Jeeves said. "What do you think of that?" "Gross,"Jonathan said with a grin.
"Eww," Maria echoed her brother.
"Cool!" Carla shrieked. :Can we see it again?"
Jared separated the group. "I'm going. You guys enjoy yourselves. Jeeves - I will have a word with you later."
"Of course, sir," the avatar replied. "As you wish."
Jared walked away from the others, then summoned the exit.